Doc Rivers discussed what the Bucks are looking to do defensively this season

More rotating, less guards in the paint, and physicality are central to Milwaukee's new defense

Doc Rivers answered questions from fantastic Milwaukee Bucks beat reporters Jim Owczarski and Eric Nehm ahead of the Bucks’ final preseason game on Thursday night, and the insight he shared on his plans for Milwaukee’s defense was fascinating.

On the last episode of the Gyro Step, Rohan Katti and I discussed the importance of rebounding and some of the new defensive tenets we’ve seen on display from the Bucks. Hearing the principles from the head coach himself, though, is always going to be insightful.

First, a disclaimer: I am not a scout or a coach or a scheme expert. I’m going to dive into some basics of different styles of defense, but I’m more interested in discussing what Doc says about the defense and a few principles than trying to act like I’m expertly diagramming exactly how the Bucks will operate.

That being said, I’ll share the full quotes from Doc first, plus the context of the questions, before going into my takeaways on what it all means. First, Doc was asked by Nehm if forcing turnovers is a focus of Milwaukee’s defense:

It looks like it. It actually isn’t. It’s just that the way that we’re playing defense, if you’re in the right spot early, which you should be, we talk about knowing your next job a lot. So if you’re standing there you’ve got a next job on defense. And if you know that, the better we get at that, we’re going to turn over a lot of guys. We had two or three in the second half [against Chicago] where the guy was just standing in the right spot and they literally threw him the ball. So it may look like it but all that would mean is our defense is really clicking.

Then, Owczarski asked about the inside-out focus of the defense mentioned by Delon Wright earlier that day:

That’s what helps the guards. In the past we didn’t do that, but now the guards know if there’s a drive they’re not responsible. That’s the big’s job. Their responsibility is outside the paint. And they have to get their body in the right positions to get there.

Owczarski followed up to inquire if that change to the defense will help Damian Lillard especially on that end:

That’ll help Dame on and off [the ball]. That’s Dame’s next step. On the ball he’s actually been pretty good, the numbers say that, with his hands. Off the ball is where he had to make the biggest jump. Now I’m kind of spelling it out for him. First of all, guards don’t want to be in there [the paint] anyway. Secondly, we’re a big team, why would our bigs be out and our guards be in? Both groups understanding that has been really good for us.

Finally, Nehm asked the last question of the video, wondering if Doc’s goal was the Bucks being a physical team like Cleveland, who “beat the shit” out of Milwaukee last year:

Yes. As big as Cleveland was last year, we’re even bigger in some ways. So we want to be that.

Firstly, I just love how much Doc says. After many years of Mike Budenholzer press conferences and non-answers, it’s just a joy to be able to analyze information conveyed by the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks. But what does all of this actually mean?

Unsurprisingly, it means the Bucks will be playing more like the Budenholzer Bucks than the Adrian Griffin Bucks defensively, although that was always going to be the case. The main difference between the Bucks defense in Bud’s tenure and what Doc is instilling seems to be not what the bigs do, but how the guards go about handling opposing drives/screens.

The Bud Bucks, of course, nearly always played drop coverage. The guard tries to chase the opposing guard over any screen while the big drops back, containing the drive until the guard can recover and get back to their assignment.

According to Doc, the new Bucks base defense will involve more peel switching, so if a defender gets beat on a drive or screen they’ll need to rotate out to the open man on the perimeter, as the defense in turn shifts to cover the ball.

Here’s an example from Bucks/Mavericks last night, of Delon Wright handing off Jaden Hardy to peel and pick up Klay Thompson, the man left open by the rotating help defense:

This style of defense is a meaningful change from drop as a base. While the focus is still on containing the paint, the whole defense has to be engaged and ready to rotate throughout the possession, vs actions mostly engaging the defenders directly involved in a pick-and-roll.

Of course there’s a lot of nuance in exactly how each team carries out each scheme to best cater to their players and try to limit opposing stars, and the Bucks have and will also run other coverages like switching 1-4 or 1-5 depending on the lineup, playing zone, and traditional drop. One of the most impressive parts of Doc’s playoff coaching was the variety of defensive looks the Bucks threw at Indiana.

Still, watching how Milwaukee executes more peel switching and rotating as they try to rebuild their hard-nosed defensive identity will be fascinating this season. We’ll certainly stay tuned to both the results and the process for the Bucks on both ends as they return to action on Wednesday in Philadelphia.