You'd be forgiven for thinking you've read this column before; chances are you already have. In fact, you've probably read these words so much over the past few years that you're sick of it.
Still, it must be said: if the Bucks plan to become a legitimate playoff contender this season, they will need to improve their defense.
Those words have become an annual refrain for Bucks fans. Scoring points has never really been that much of a problem. Stopping the opponents from doing the same, however, is another story.
Coach Larry Krystkowiak thinks he can get the team to start clamping down on the other end of the court. Again, it's a song that's been played over and over again, but let's give him the benefit of the doubt.
"We're spending 60 to 70 percent of our time in practice on defense," Krystkowiak said. "We start off with a bunch of one-on-one, two-on-two, three-on-three, four-on-four, and five-on-five with all the focus being on defense. The guys are concentrating on it and playing hard. I think we're making progress."
When practice opened this week at the Cousins Center, Krystkowiak placed an emphasis on defense. The team ranked at or close to the bottom of every major defensive category in the league last season, and only Memphis allowed its opponents to score at a greater frequency than the Bucks.
"I know we're going to get better," Krystkowiak said. "It's a pretty fine line. "
Krystkowiak says it all begins with rebounding. The Bucks were 29th in the NBA with 39.18 rebounds per game while their opponents averaged just a shade more than 43.
"If you're really a bad rebounding team, you might be one-for-three," Krystkowiak said. "To be bad at defensive field-goal percentage and bad at getting defensive rebounds means we were bad at both. If we could have got two more stops and turn them into misses for the other team, we go from 29th to 10th. Even one more puts us at 15th."
"I'm a firm believer that we can get one more a game and that takes care of that."
The Bucks also need to learn how to share the ball. Milwaukee was 12th in the league with a little more than 21 assists a night. But with Michael Redd averaging 26 points per game and Mo Williams adding 17a night, it was easy for opponents to zero in on the Bucks.
We know Redd is a talented scorer. We know Williams is one of the up-and-coming point guards in the league and can find his way to the hoop. We also know that Andrew Bogut is underused offensively. What we need to see is these three start getting stops and boards.
Luckily for the Bucks, this problem isn't an isolated one. Ask any of the other 29 NBA coaches and they'll tell you the number one thing that their teams need to address this season is their defense.
"You turn on ESPN and you see the highlights on 'SportsCenter,'" Krystkowiak said. "It's more a mindset. When you're growing up, you don't watch a guy take a charge or block a shot. Growing up, you get programmed to think that's the way it's supposed to be done."
The league hasn't helped the cause, altering the rules in an effort to increase scoring. Offense drives interest, which drives ratings, which pays the bills. But, as the adage goes, it's defense that wins championships.
Cliché or not, the Bucks have the potential -- in an aging, unproven and otherwise unimpressive -- Eastern Conference. Krystkowiak says that he thinks he can make the team better in that regard, but only time will tell.
After all, we've heard it before.
