Defense has always been a major concern for the Milwaukee Bucks and this year is no exception. With so many people excited about the arrival Yi Jianlian, some are forgetting about one major problem: the Bucks once again failed to address their defensive problems in the off-season.

Offense was not a big problem for the Bucks last season, as they finished tenth in the league in scoring, averaging 99.7 points per game (PPG). With the additions of Yi and Desmond Mason, the resigning of Mo Williams, and a healthy Bobby Simmons and Charlie Villanueva, the Bucks offense remains in good shape and should even improve. The defense, however, may have taken a turn for the worse.

Milwaukee already was 27th in the league in scoring defense, giving up more than 104 PPG. The Bucks also ranked 29th in rebounding, 15th in steals, and 30th in blocks. On top of all that, the Bucks failed to re-sign Ruben Patterson. Patterson was by far the best defensive player on the team and probably the Buck’s MVP of last season. He was not only a shutdown defender, but also averaged 5.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists. Patterson’s replacement, Desmond Mason, was brought in from the New Orleans Hornets mainly to spark the Bucks offense. Mason is also a solid defender, but no where near Patterson’s level. “The Cowboy” averaged 4.6 rebounds and 0.7 steals for the Hornets last season. The Bucks also let go of their best interior defender, Brian Skinner. Skinner was never known for his offense, but averaged nearly six rebounds and a block for Milwaukee last season.

The Bucks will ask their returning players to step up on defense, and hopefully new coach Larry Krystkowiak can install the defensive toughness to this team that former coach Terry Stotts could not deliver.

The Bucks’ biggest weakness from last season was their interior defense. The Bucks must improve from being one of the worst teams in the league in rebounding and dead-last in blocked shots. It starts with center Andrew Bogut in the middle. Bogut was great at taking charges but seemed to be a little too passive overall on the defensive end, and gave up way too many easy baskets. It will take awhile for Yi to adjust to the physicality of the NBA, so Milwaukee really will have to rely on Villanueva to be a tough defender down-low and play with a lot more heart and energy than he did last season.

As for the Bucks’ perimeter defense, both Mo Williams and Michael Redd have never been the greatest defenders. However, Williams’ steals and rebounding totals were up from the season before, averaging nearly five rebounds and 1.2 assists: one of the few bright spots to the Bucks defense last season. Milwaukee will have to again rely on backup guard Charlie Bell to be a solid defender off the bench, and Redd will have to really focus on staying with his man and not getting burned so frequently.

The Bucks will definitely out-score a lot of teams this year with their high- powered offensive attack. However, if the Bucks hope to make any noise in the playoffs – or even make the playoffs for that matter – their defense must somehow dramatically improve from last season.

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