National Basketball Association

Milwaukee Bucks: Key Takeaways From Loss To Detroit Pistons - October 17

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 2:15 a.m. ET

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The Milwaukee Bucks showed more positive signs against the Detroit Pistons on Monday, but another dramatic collapse will certainly give them pause for thought after the loss.

Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

It might feel like deja vu, but the lopsided final score of Monday’s matchup between the Milwaukee Bucks and Detroit Pistons in the Palace of Auburn Hills certainly doesn’t capture the full story of how that game played out.

The Bucks started quickly and kicked on impressively throughout the first half, showing an offensive cohesion and a defensive focus that Jason Kidd could only dream about for when the season proper rolls around.

Having led by as many as 16 points in the second quarter, unfortunately, Milwaukee then capitulated in the third quarter, allowing a colossal run from the Pistons as soon as the second half opened up.

That will leave the Bucks with an understandable disappointment at failing to get a W again, but there were still positives to take from the action. Let’s face it, if you’re going to blow big leads in the NBA, the preseason would seem like a pretty good time to do that.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker continued to impress, but heading into the season, it seems as if Milwaukee’s biggest question is going to center on will they get enough help with Khris Middleton out injured.

What were the highlights and most important takeaways from Monday’s game with Detroit though? Let’s take a closer look.

Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

Can’t Stop The Run

Preseason is preseason and all of that, but there has been one glaring weakness to emerge from Milwaukee’s exhibition games that will also evoke memories of what went wrong last year.

The Bucks’ problem throughout their preseason schedule hasn’t been finding a way to play good basketball or getting out in front, rather their biggest struggle has come in hanging on to the sizeable leads they’ve built up.

Milwaukee’s opponents haven’t gradually worked their way back into games either, instead the Bucks have put together some truly remarkable collapses.

There’s no one constant to pinpoint as a cause, as the Bucks have given away games due to lopsided runs with their key starters on the floor and with their reserves in tandem.

One of the quirks of preseason can be the way in which coaches embrace adversity as a learning tool for their players, and as such, perhaps that acts as an explanation for Jason Kidd’s apparent reluctance to break up such runs with timeouts in somewhat meaningless games.

Saying that, considering tardy timeouts were an issue for Milwaukee last season, this will remain something worth monitoring when the season begins if the Bucks continue to leak big runs.

Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

Moose’s Second Unit Domination

For better or worse, with Michael Carter-Williams gone, Greg Monroe is going to have a lot of freedom in Milwaukee’s second unit this year.

There are certainly positives in having a proven, low-post scorer to turn to as the team’s alpha scorer on the bench, but what Milwaukee got a closer look at on Monday night is how the strategy of leaning on Monroe can also go wrong.

With the motivation of matching up against his former team, Monroe appeared to have something of a green light to go and get his when he was on the floor in the Palace of Auburn Hills on Monday. In 22 minutes of play, Moose attempted 19 field goals but only found the bottom of the net on six of those shots.

Although the box score officially shows Monroe as having had no turnovers in the game, some of his mishandled passes and haphazard shots effectively gave the ball back to the Pistons equalling an empty trip for the Bucks.

As Pistons legend Rick Mahorn noted in commentary, for as effective as Monroe can be when given the time to back his man down, he’s always going to go to his left in order to get his shot off. There are going to be nights when Moose’s interior force is going to win games for the Bucks in the second unit, but Bucks fans also have to be prepared for the games they’ll lose due to the one-dimensional nature of his offensive repertoire.

Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

Continued Defensive Pressure

One of the most apparent changes to how the Bucks have played in the preseason as opposed to last season has been the return of the high-pressure, switching defense that made them so successful in 2014-15.

Although Milwaukee didn’t shy away from looking to implement that same defensive strategy last year, their personnel were neither skilled or disciplined enough to be able to execute as required. The early signs on how this year’s group will cope with that defensive scheme are certainly promising though.

With Matthew Dellavedova in tow, the Bucks are taking no possessions off, and the full-court press is going to pester opposing guards on each and every play.

With greater pressure on the ball-handler from the moment the ball is inbounded, options and angles are significantly reduced, and a byproduct of that has been the long-armed switching being particularly effective.

The impacts range from Thon Maker providing an immediate contribution thanks to his size and posting a defensive rating of 94.5 in four games, to Jabari Parker picking off passes in the lane for an average of 1.4 steals per game.

Milwaukee’s overall defensive rating of 101.0 so far may appear to be middle of the road, but considering some of the dramatic collapses the Bucks have had in multiple of their games to date, those numbers are more impressive than they may appear on first glance.

Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

Point Giannis Putting On A Show

It’s become abundantly clear that Giannis can do very close to whatever he wants now, and in many ways his biggest limitation in the coming season may arrive in him learning when he should defer, and in which kind of matchup he’s better suited to just go and get his own points as a scorer.

For as impressive as most of Antetokounmpo’s contributions have been throughout the preseason, one of the standout differences between what he’s done in those five games and what he did post All-Star break last year has been the Greek’s assist numbers.

Although it’s worth noting that his teammates missing easy shots certainly plays into that number (looking at you, Greg Monroe), Antetokounmpo’s added aggression in going to the basket leads to a number of remarkable highlights, but also more turnovers than when he takes a more controlled approach to playmaking.

Sometimes, the highlights and turnovers even end up combined.

What makes Giannis so special is that he has become equally adept at taking over and calling his own number, as he is at setting up teammates. The next stage for the Greek Freak is going to come in finding the right balance between the two, but being able to do everything and then having to learn when to pear it back is certainly a good problem to have.

The Bucks will square off with the Pacers on Wednesday in their preseason finale, and then the time for real basketball will almost be upon us.