Milwaukee Bucks Newest Toy: Spain Pick-And-Roll

With the Milwaukee Bucks using the regular season to build good habits and set themselves up for postseason success, allow me to introduce its newest toy: The Spain pick-and-roll.

For many teams, the regular season is an opportunity to prove they can hang with the big dogs. It’s a chance to show they belong. For the Bucks, the only meaningful purpose it serves is for them to put into action what they practice. They are solely focused on getting just one percent better every day, knowing it will lead to bigger and better things when the second season begins in April.

One of their primary offensive focuses will be to improve in the halfcourt. According to Cleaning the Glass, they finished 2021-22 ranked fifth in halfcourt offense by scoring 115.6 points per 100 possessions. Unfortunately, that number plummeted in the playoffs when they finished 18th among the 20 playoff teams by scoring a putrid 106.1 points per 100 possessions. That would’ve ranked 28th in the regular season.

Part of their struggles can be chalked up to the loss of Khris Middleton. Middleton went down in the first round against the Chicago Bulls and missed the entire second-round series against the tough Boston Celtics’ defense.

It’s also true the Bucks need to get better in that facet of the game. Here is the Spain pick-and-roll, one of their newest weapons. Milwaukee ran this set numerous times in their first two games to varying degrees of success. Let’s start with the positives.

The Bucks created great looks in both of the plays above. It all begins with a screen for the ball-handler by the center. This usually takes place at the top of the key and happens when the defense is running drop coverage as their primary pick-and-roll strategy. In the picture above, you can see Brook Lopez setting a pick for Jrue Holiday while Joel Embiid is way down by the free throw line.

With Lopez’s defender preoccupied with stepping up and helping on the screen, Grayson Allen sneaks in behind him to set a back pick. Defensive communication and recognition is key because if they don’t pick up on what’s happening, it can result in the following:

The third step in this play is for the ball-handler to either hit the big man backdooring to the paint or find the guard popping to the three-point line for an open look. Anticipation is huge, as the window to find the open man can be small.

Milwaukee ran this screening action most often with Lopez as the big and Allen as the guard slithering from behind.

It wasn’t all rainbows and unicorns for the Bucks, as they had their share of ugly moments trying to make this configuration work. In the below video, neither Lopez nor Allen set actual screens, as they both tried to slip it and quickly slide to their next spots. Other times, they tried to read the defensive positioning and freelance, resulting in sloppy spacing and execution.

As the season progresses, there are plenty of variations Milwaukee can run out of this action. They’re setting the tone by running the basic sets at the beginning of the season and I fully expect it to evolve over the next six-plus months.

Head coach Mike Budenholzer preaches building good habits and getting better every single day. His players have fully bought into this philosophy. Trust that he has a long-term plan for this action and expect more to come.