Defending world champions the Milwaukee Bucks and Alphabet Brothers are both better than they were a season ago.
The Bucks have a record of just 8 wins and 8 losses this season, but their management has built a better lineup than they did a year ago. The Bucks have only lost 8-8 this season because they don't have Chris Middleton, Juil Holliday and Brooke Lopez for most of their games.
There are many reasons why the Bucks have performed better this year. They have better room, championship drought has been released from their chests, Grayson Allen has proven him to be one of the best three-point shooters in the league after Alphabet Brother, and their coaching staff see what is needed in the playoffs to win.
Let's take a closer look at four things that make the Bucks a better team than the championship.
space
While the Bucks' three-point shooting percentage this year is not as good as the Bucks hoped, their three-point shooting percentage has improved greatly overall. They lost Brin Forbes, but they joined Grayson Allen and the season has been fantastic for them. Their three-point shooting percentage is just 34.9 percent, no. 13 in the NBA, but they did it without the team's best three-point shooter, Chris Middleton. Also, Bobby Portis hasn't played much this year, and last season his three-point shooting percentage was one of the best in the league, and you'll find that the Bucks have better intervals this year.
When your team has alphabet brothers, the Bucks will always have empty seats. Every time Giannis touches the ball, the defense collapses because if they don't, he gets 2 points and the defense is likely to foul him. Giannis is the best basket player in the world. The Bucks noticed this a season ago, and they decided to replace Eric Bledsoe with Holliday because Holliday could create more space for the team.
Add to that the fact that Pat Connaughton is most confident off the three-point line in his entire career, and it's the best three-point team the Bucks have built around Giannis in his entire career.
No championship pressure
It's been 50 years since the Bucks' last championship before last year. Even though Giannis Antetokounmpo and Chris Middleton made them look stress-free, they did. When you're a two-time MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and Player of the World, not having a championship title puts pressure on you.
The Bucks don't have any of that this year, and the easiest way to do that is to see what the coaches are doing. They've noticed they don't need to take the regular season as seriously as they did a few years ago. Their health is the first condition for winning a championship. The Bucks understand that no matter what they do in the regular season, it doesn't matter until the playoffs arrive. Having a championship title allows them to do that. Giannis can also train in other parts of the game. We've seen that this season he's averaged three more goals per game than he's spent most of his career.
Grayson Allen
Grayson Allen is the lowest-key player of all teams signed offseason. He averaged 15 points per game for the Bucks, averaging eight shots per game and shooting more than 42 percent from three-point range. He is a more important addition than Brin Forbes because he can also defend. The Bucks were unable to play against Brin Forbes in some important positions in the playoffs last season because when he was on the offense of their opponents, their target was him.
Not only is Grayson Allen the elite catcher and shooter we're currently seeing, but he's also a good shot creator himself. Milwaukee fans saw this in the game against the Boston Celtics. Grayson Allen hit a cul-de-slam and pulled the game into overtime.
The craziest thing is that the Bucks traded Grayson Allen for Sam Merrill and a future second-round pick. They are clearly the winners of this trade, and it looks like Grayson Allen will be the starting point guard. Maybe when Donte divcenzo came back.
Coaching staff
Just like the players, the coaching staff is starting to feel pressure. Head coach Mike Budenholzer understands that if he hadn't won the NBA championship last season, he wouldn't have been the Bucks' head coach.
The Bucks' coaching staff also made key adjustments last season, which is partly due to their decline in previous years. Coach Budd and their other coaching staff allow the Bucks stars to play more than 40 minutes a night. In previous years, the Bucks' night Giannis and Chris Middleton played almost every game for no more than 30 minutes.
Compared to Giannis's entire career, Milwaukee is undoubtedly in a better position to win championships. When you have players around him, a coaching team finally knows what they need to do to win an NBA championship, which makes it easier for the best NBA players in the world to win another NBA championship.