The Milwaukee Bucks are dealing with some growing pains to start the season. This is totally expected considering how the front office pretty much revamped the squad when they brought in Damian Lillard over the summer.

Dame may just be one player, but there’s no denying that his arrival has completely changed the dynamics of this team — especially on the defensive end.

JJ Redick Calls Out Milwaukee Bucks

Former Bucks sharpshooter turned ESPN analyst JJ Redick has now shared his two cents worth on Milwaukee’s early-season struggles. The former NBA journeyman has a bone to pick when it comes to how the Bucks have significantly switched up their style of play on the defensive end:

“I think when you’re selling a gameplan and getting a player to buy that gameplan, that’s like 75 to 80 percent of it,” Redick said on a recent episode of his podcast, The Old Man & The Three. “Especially if you’re changing the habits — and that’s an important point. You’re changing the habits. Something that, frankly, has worked for the Bucks. They’ve been a Top 5 defense consistently with this core group.

“Obviously, they lose Jure (Holiday). But then to just change the schemes, particularly with a guy who was in the Top 2 or 3 in Defensive Player of the Year voting last year with Brook Lopez, it’s a little shocking.

“But the challenge to me is getting the buy-in. Because I don’t think NBA players are stubborn. I think NBA players are smart. NBA players can recognize if something works and if something doesn’t work. And if you have an older group, where something has worked consistently for years, and then to change that, there’s going to be some growing pains.”

The man has a point. For Redick, the age-old saying applies perfectly in this situation: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Well, the Bucks did the exact opposite when they opted to sacrifice their defense in order to bring in Damian Lillard — a decision that Redick seems to believe hasn’t paid off for Milwaukee just yet.

“I think when you have players on the defensive end overthinking on defense, you’re going to get beat,” he continued. “If you’re at the point where you’re like, ‘I literally don’t know what I’m supposed to do right now, I’m just guessing,’ you’re f**ked. You’re f**ked!”

On this week’s episode of The Old Man and the Three Things, @jj_redick talks about the importance of buy-in from players when it comes to changing defensive schemes.

Watch the full episode with @stevejones20 and @NekiasNBA: https://t.co/18HyBu0WjW pic.twitter.com/dRaZ3Y2WUe

— TheYoungManAndTheThree (@OldManAndThree) November 6, 2023

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