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Bucks’ early season weakness
Still show signs of power
By Steve Manske
A week into the season, the Milwaukee Bucks have shown one glaring problem: They don’t shoot the ball well on a consistent basis. If the Bucks are going to be a playoff team at the end of this season they had better start taking better shots and improving their team shooting percentage.
The Bucks are shooting a decent 45 percent from the field, but it’s only resulted in scores in the low 90s, game in and game out. The NBA is an offensive league, and with numbers like these you will find yourself at the losing end of the court on many nights.
One of the main reasons for the low shooting percentage is the play of big men Andrew Bogut, Charlie Bell and Charlie Villanueva.
None of those three are shooting the ball better than 40 percent. The problem is they are rushing their attempts and not looking for the best shot available. This team must quit settling for the jumper and not taking shots early in their possession.
Another contributor to the team’s offensive-end struggles is consistent failure at three-point shots. The Bucks are only 34 percent from behind-the-arc. That is a big surprise considering they have quality three-point shooters like Michael Redd, Mo Williams and Bell.
They must also share the ball more and take open looks, like they did last Tuesday night against the Raptors. The results proved the point with 31 assists for the night.
If the Bucks do that in every game, they will be a tough team to beat. As a team, when you put the ball into the hoop on a more regular basis, it will also help you on the defensive side. Bucks fans need to remember, it’s early in the season and with a bunch of new faces, it may take a little time for this team to gel before they excel on the offensive side of the court.
The positives you must take out of the season at its early stage is that the Bucks are playing solid defense, holding their opponents in the low 90s, and rebounding the ball fairly well.
The Bucks have many good shooters like Yi Jianlian, Redd and Williams, so I expect the teams scoring and shooting percentages to rise as the team continues to mold itself into one solid unit.
As of right now, if the Bucks continue to do these things well and improve their all-around play, you should see them take off and contend for a solid seed in the playoffs.
The NBA has a very long season, so you will have your ups and downs. As a key to success for the Bucks, they will need to be more consistent at each aspect of the game, and that will result in a very satisfying season.
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