The Milwaukee Bucks have experienced a roller coaster start to their season. The good news is they’ve won 13 of their first 19 games and sit in third place in the Eastern Conference. The bad news is they’ve looked disorganized at times.

There were some growing pains to be expected under a first-year head coach and with the Bucks assimilating Damian Lillard to their team. However, do their struggles go beyond what was expected? Everyone seems to answer that differently.

As we battle with our feelings about the Bucks’ start, let’s check in on some notes I’ve made over the last week.

Here are some notes about the Milwaukee Bucks, including their strength of schedule to begin the season, playing with their food, and more.

Strength of Schedule:

Several formulas are used to determine the strength of each team’s schedule up to this point. One creative way is from powerrankingsguru.com. They begin by compiling computer rankings from sites like NumberFire, Massey Ratings, Team Rankings, ESPN and Sagarin to determine each team’s average ranking. Next, they measure each team based on the ranking of the opponents they have played this season.

By that measure, the Bucks have played the fifth-easiest schedule with an average opponent power ranking of 17.24. Milwaukee has had an early diet against teams like the Chicago Bulls (twice), Portland Trail Blazers, Charlotte Hornets, Washington Wizards (twice) and Detroit Pistons. Those teams all rank in the bottom eight of the composite power rankings. They also have the fifth-best record in the NBA.

Playing With Their Food:

Milwaukee seems to cruise through the first two-to-three quarters before turning it on in the fourth (more on their fourth-quarter performances next). Milwaukee has stretches where they look good, but there are more where they look disinterested and discombobulated.

Their defensive rotations are a mess due to miscommunication, ball-watching from several players, and confusion about who is supposed to help where. The result has been droves of points scored by their opponents.

They’re a good team that makes the game way more complicated than it has to be. They have a -1.5 net rating at halftime, as they often dig themselves a hole they need to crawl out of. They’ve shown they can crawl out of holes, but they shouldn’t be there in the first place. There’s an old adage in basketball about doing your work early (this typically applies to defending the post, but we will use our creative license to apply it to the entire Bucks team). Milwaukee needs to do their work early.

Clutch Performances:

The Milwaukee Bucks have played the fourth-most clutch minutes this season, a number you don’t typically see from a team with the fifth-easiest schedule. If we want to take a glass half-full approach, it’s that their 28.6 net rating during those clutch minutes is the second-best in the NBA (that even includes being -30.1 against the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night).

Damian Lillard has been tremendous in this area. He’s already established Dame Time in Milwaukee as a regular occurrence. He’s been elite at not only knocking down tough shots in these moments, but also making the right reads to get his teammates good looks. This could be a weapon for the Bucks in the postseason when they’ve typically struggled in the past.

Process Over Results:

It’s less about the regular season wins and losses at this point and more about how the team approaches the game. How are they defending their opponents? How are they running their offense to create advantages for their superstars?

Yes, they are 13-6 and are third in the Eastern Conference. But how they’ve gotten to that point is the most concerning. If Giannis Antetokounmpo takes seven three-pointers in a game, makes four of them, and the Bucks win, would you celebrate Giannis and the victory? Or would you say it’s great we got the win, and Giannis needs to relax on the threes? That’s where I’m at with the defensive scheme and the process the Bucks are going through to rack up these victories.

• Published on 12/01/2023 at 6:40 AM CST
• Last updated on 12/01/2023 at 6:40 AM CST