Bucks’ long-range plan is working
Don’t look now, but the Milwaukee Bucks are the best three-point shooting team in the NBA.
Through their six games and heading into a day off Saturday, the Bucks were first in the league in three-pointers made (108), second in attempts (246) and first in percentage (43.9%).
Head coach Mike Budenholzer wants his team to “let it fly,” so the volume isn’t necessarily new. But the rate at which those shots are going in is.
In 2019-20, the Bucks were fourth in the league in attempts from long range but 18th in percentage (35.5%). During their 60-win campaign in 2018-19 they were second in attempts but 15th in percentage (35.3%).
Since the start of the decade, the Bucks consistently have been ranked in the bottom half of the league in three-point percentage. They finished seventh in 2014-15 (36.3%) and 10th in 2016-17 (37%).
What has helped this season has been the hot starts of Donte DiVincenzo (63.3%) and Khris Middleton (48.5%). DiVincenzo is fourth in the league.
“He’s taking those ultra-confident ones,” Budenholzer said of DiVincenzo. “He’s coming down sometimes and just, almost unexpected from the defense. He’s just playing with a ton of confidence and letting
it fly.”
Bench players Bryn Forbes and Pat Connaughton have found their groove the last three games. The two guards are a combined 15 of 25 (60%) in that stretch. Ten Bucks players are shooting at least 40% from three.
“I think it’s been a weird year for a lot of us,” Forbes said. “We didn’t get open gyms and different things, so I know me personally this is my first month and a half of playing real basketball, five-on-five. I think just getting into a groove or getting into a rhythm, it’s not easy to do especially without playing enough. I think we had five days of preseason or something like that? It’s hard to do in that time. So I think just kind of catching a rhythm and there’s a lot of talented players and good shooters on this team that it’s bound to happen.”
Home court advantage?
The Bucks are bucking an early trend in the league, as they’ve opened the season 2-0 at home and 1-3 on the road. They are one of only three teams in the Eastern Conference and six teams in the league to begin the season unbeaten at home.
Heading into play on Saturday, teams in the East were just 21-20 at home and teams in the West are 16-20 at home. This comes despite the fact that road teams have to take and pass COVID-19 tests early in the mornings before they’re allowed to practice or have a shootaround.
“The one advantage with the home court is just familiarity,” Bulls coach Billy Donovan said before the game Sunday. “A lot of times you don’t get a chance to get into the arena the day before to practice or shoot, sometimes you may not have a shootaround, but yeah, you’re not playing against any raucous crowds. You’re not dealing with a lot of noise. I thin the home court advantage, of what it is during a normal season, is not there.”
Referee redux
With the shortened overall schedule and the league having teams stay in the same city for multiple games, the league is also keeping the same officials in cities for safety reasons. For instance in Miami, the Bucks had referees David Guthrie and Marat Kogut officiate both games of the back-toback
“There’s always a human element to sports and to what we’re doing,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer. “It changes things a little bit. I think obviously for safety and our health and the health of the officials it makes all the sense in the world.
“Maybe as coaches we could be, I guess, more humane; knowing you’re going to see that guy the next night you better be careful and know he’s probably sleeping on whatever it is you said. Maybe some self-restraint, which is probably never a bad thing for coaches. Maybe it’s more in order considering we’ll see these guys on multiple nights and more often.”