Ch-ch-ch-changes

The Bucks defense is doing something different

I highly recommend listening to Zach Lowe’s latest podcast, on which he talks to The Athletic’s Bucks beat writer, the fantastic Eric Nehm. Link here.

I want to dig a bit more into two things they mentioned on that pod:

• The Bucks actually taking away the three-point line for the first time in the Mike Budenholzer era.

• Giannis Antetokounmpo fully committing to becoming a screen-and-dive guy despite being the obvious best player on the team, which would usually mean he’s the ball-handler in pick and rolls more often than the screen-setter.

Milwaukee used to be among the league leaders in allowing opponent three-point attempts, due to Bud’s philosophy of taking away the paint at all costs, even it meant letting opponents snipe away from deep. That is… no longer the case.