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Coach Bud and the Bucks' defensive scheme is clear: protect the rim at all costs. This means drop coverage on pick and rolls, generous help on drives, and multiple players contesting shots at the rim. As a result, the Bucks are the best rim-protecting, defensive rebounding team in the league, ranking 1st in the league in Opponent Points in the Paint per game and 1st in defensive rebounding percentage.
However, this defensive philosophy often leads to leaving shooters open from distance. The Bucks allow the most three point attempts per game in the league. With the impact of the three-point shot growing vastly over the years, how can letting teams shoot so many threes remain a viable defensive strategy?
The answer (partly) lies within the context of the 3PA statistic. As it turns out, this stat is misleading. It gives no context with respect to the quality of three point shots allowed or the skill of the shooters.
In order to provide this context, I broke down the 3pt attempts allowed statistic into several different categories - by the three-point shooting frequency and accuracy of the shooters.
I categorized every player according to these parameters, based off of their three-point shooting statistics so far this season. For example, James Harden would qualify as a Frequent and Above Avg shooter, while Andrew Wiggins is an Above Avg frequency, Mediocre shooter.
After doing this, I then looked at the 3pt attempts allowed stat for each team, broken down into each of these categories.
However, this defensive philosophy often leads to leaving shooters open from distance. The Bucks allow the most three point attempts per game in the league. With the impact of the three-point shot growing vastly over the years, how can letting teams shoot so many threes remain a viable defensive strategy?
The answer (partly) lies within the context of the 3PA statistic. As it turns out, this stat is misleading. It gives no context with respect to the quality of three point shots allowed or the skill of the shooters.
In order to provide this context, I broke down the 3pt attempts allowed statistic into several different categories - by the three-point shooting frequency and accuracy of the shooters.
I categorized every player according to these parameters, based off of their three-point shooting statistics so far this season. For example, James Harden would qualify as a Frequent and Above Avg shooter, while Andrew Wiggins is an Above Avg frequency, Mediocre shooter.
After doing this, I then looked at the 3pt attempts allowed stat for each team, broken down into each of these categories.
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