(Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
It s no secret that Jason Kidd s first calendar year as an NBA head coach has been rocky. The last few days have been no different. In a move that shipped two second round picks to the Nets Kidd will now takeover head coaching duties for the Bucks last season s worst team in terms of overall record.
The Nets were dealt a terrible hand when starting center Brook Lopez went down for the season with a broken foot in December. To counteract his lack of a center Kidd orchestrated a longball lineup with each starting player bumping up a position Kevin Garnett to center Paul Pierce to power forward Joe Johnson to small forward Shaun Livingston to shooting guard and Deron Williams to the point.
It worked.
Brooklyn turned a 10 21 start to the 2013 season into a playoff run that ended at the hands of LeBron James and the Miami Heat in the conference semifinals. A team that at one point couldn t find a buoy caught a ship and sailed it back to a successful year one step short of a trip to the NBA Eastern conference finals.
Kidd s longball lineup improved the Nets offense however it did not have a large impact on Brooklyn s defensive game. But the Nets held opponents to a 0.6 of a percent worse field goal percentage and generated the No. 11 best defense in terms of points allowed per game because their length allowed them to switch onto different players seamlessly. Shaun Livingston whose wingspan is nearly seven feet had an overwhelming size advantage on nearly every point guard he matched up with. The same could be said for the other four players on the court.
Milwaukee obviously doesn t have the same pieces that Brooklyn does but they aren t necessarily short on length. Giannis Antetokounmpo has a 7 foot 3 wingspan and John Henson Ersan Ilyasova Larry Sanders and Brandon Knight all have cables for arms. If Kidd were to implement a similar approach in Milwaukee the mechanism of length could certainly aid the Bucks who finished No. 25 in the league in points allowed per game (103.7) last season.
Having drafted Jabari Parker who will most likely shoulder most of his minutes at power forward this presents an immediate conundrum. Parker has the ability to be an incredible talent as a stretch 4 but playing a 6 8 small forward also has its advantages. Their second round pick Damien Inglis has the versatility to guard multiple positions as well.
Here s what could happen if Kidd s transition to the Bucks yields the exact same improvements and retrogressions made in Brooklyn in his first year of coaching.
Milwaukee would jump five spots on the league rankings to No. 23 in points per game rise eight spots to No. 18 in field goal percentage become the No. 3 team in the league in opponent turnovers per game but would fall down to No. 28 in the league in points allowed per game.
There s no way of knowing if Jason Kidd brings his innovative system to the Bucks but it s worth noting that they could become a team that won just 15 games last season to formidable opponents.
Josh Planos has had his work featured at Rivals Bleacher Report Denver Post CBS Sports Radio Fox Sports Radio and ESPN Radio and is currently a columnist for the ESPN TrueHoop Network and FanSided. He loves interacting with readers via Twitter ( JPlanos).
SECTION section sports subsection null INITIAL commentConfig includereply true canvas_permalink_id washpost.com/8bvh5zpd9k allow_comments true commentmaxlength 2000 includeshare true display_comments true canvas_permalink_app_instance bg52e9xhqr display_more true moderationrequired false includefeaturenotification true canvas_allcomments_id washpost.com/km4ey0dajm comments_period 14 defaultsort reverseChronological includevoteofftopic false allow_videos false childrenitemsperpage 3 markerdisplay post_commenter Post Commenter staff Post Writer top_commenter Post Forum top_local Washingtologist top_sports SuperFan fact_checker Fact Checker post_recommended Post Recommended world_watcher World Watcher cultuer_connoisseur Culture Connoisseur weather_watcher Capital Weather Watcher post_contributor Post Contributor includesorts true includeheader true defaulttab all includeverifiedcommenters true includerecommend true maxitemstop 2 includereport true source washpost.com allow_photos false maxitems 7 display_ugc_photos false includepause true canvas_allcomments_app_instance 6634zxcgfd includepermalink false
UGC FROM ARTICLE
FINAL commentConfig includereply true canvas_permalink_id washpost.com/8bvh5zpd9k allow_comments true commentmaxlength 2000 includeshare true display_comments true canvas_permalink_app_instance bg52e9xhqr display_more true moderationrequired false includefeaturenotification true canvas_allcomments_id washpost.com/km4ey0dajm comments_period 14 defaultsort reverseChronological includevoteofftopic false allow_videos false childrenitemsperpage 3 markerdisplay post_commenter Post Commenter staff Post Writer top_commenter Post Forum top_local Washingtologist top_sports SuperFan fact_checker Fact Checker post_recommended Post Recommended world_watcher World Watcher cultuer_connoisseur Culture Connoisseur weather_watcher Capital Weather Watcher post_contributor Post Contributor includesorts true includeheader true defaulttab all includeverifiedcommenters true includerecommend true maxitemstop 2 includereport true source washpost.com allow_photos false maxitems 7 display_ugc_photos false includepause true canvas_allcomments_app_instance 6634zxcgfd includepermalink false
customFields published 1404156482/1404156482000/1404156482 tracking authors Josh Planos blog_name fancy stats content_category Sports in_url_headline how jason kidds longball lineup could help the bucks post_id 5977 section section sports subsection null show_ads true show_comments true allow_comments true published_date Jun 30 2014 7 28 02 PM close date Jul 14 2014 7 28 02 PM SECTION section sports subsection null INITIAL commentConfig includereply true canvas_permalink_id washpost.com/8bvh5zpd9k allow_comments true commentmaxlength 2000 includeshare true display_comments true canvas_permalink_app_instance bg52e9xhqr display_more true moderationrequired false includefeaturenotification true canvas_allcomments_id washpost.com/km4ey0dajm comments_period 14 defaultsort reverseChronological includevoteofftopic false allow_videos false childrenitemsperpage 3 markerdisplay post_commenter Post Commenter staff Post Writer top_commenter Post Forum top_local Washingtologist top_sports SuperFan fact_checker Fact Checker post_recommended Post Recommended world_watcher World Watcher cultuer_connoisseur Culture Connoisseur weather_watcher Capital Weather Watcher post_contributor Post Contributor includesorts true includeheader true defaulttab all includeverifiedcommenters true includerecommend true maxitemstop 2 includereport true source washpost.com allow_photos false maxitems 7 display_ugc_photos false includepause true canvas_allcomments_app_instance 6634zxcgfd includepermalink false
UGC FROM ARTICLE
FINAL commentConfig includereply true canvas_permalink_id washpost.com/8bvh5zpd9k allow_comments true commentmaxlength 2000 includeshare true display_comments true canvas_permalink_app_instance bg52e9xhqr display_more true moderationrequired false includefeaturenotification true canvas_allcomments_id washpost.com/km4ey0dajm comments_period 14 defaultsort reverseChronological includevoteofftopic false allow_videos false childrenitemsperpage 3 markerdisplay post_commenter Post Commenter staff Post Writer top_commenter Post Forum top_local Washingtologist top_sports SuperFan fact_checker Fact Checker post_recommended Post Recommended world_watcher World Watcher cultuer_connoisseur Culture Connoisseur weather_watcher Capital Weather Watcher post_contributor Post Contributor includesorts true includeheader true defaulttab all includeverifiedcommenters true includerecommend true maxitemstop 2 includereport true source washpost.com allow_photos false maxitems 7 display_ugc_photos false includepause true canvas_allcomments_app_instance 6634zxcgfd includepermalink false
customFields published 1404156482/1404156482000/1404156482 tracking authors Josh Planos blog_name fancy stats content_category Sports in_url_headline how jason kidds longball lineup could help the bucks post_id 5977 section section sports subsection null show_ads true show_comments true allow_comments true published_date Jun 30 2014 7 28 02 PM close date Jul 14 2014 7 28 02 PM
SuperFan Badge
SuperFan badge holders consistently post smart timely comments about Washington area sports and teams.
More about badges Request a badge
Culture Connoisseur Badge
Culture Connoisseurs consistently offer thought provoking timely comments on the arts lifestyle and entertainment.
More about badges Request a badge
Fact Checker Badge
Fact Checkers contribute questions information and facts to The Fact Checker.
More about badges Request a badge
Washingtologist Badge
Washingtologists consistently post thought provoking timely comments on events communities and trends in the Washington area.
More about badges Request a badge
Post Writer Badge
This commenter is a Washington Post editor reporter or producer.
Post Forum Badge
Post Forum members consistently offer thought provoking timely comments on politics national and international affairs.
More about badges Request a badge
Weather Watcher Badge
Weather Watchers consistently offer thought provoking timely comments on climates and forecasts.
More about badges Request a badge
World Watcher Badge
World Watchers consistently offer thought provoking timely comments on international affairs.
More about badges Request a badge
Post Contributor Badge
This commenter is a Washington Post contributor. Post contributors aren t staff but may write articles or columns. In some cases contributors are sources or experts quoted in a story.
More about badges Request a badge
Post Recommended
Washington Post reporters or editors recommend this comment or reader post.
You must be logged in to report a comment.
You must be logged in to recommend a comment.
Comments our editors find particularly useful or relevant are displayed in Top Comments as are comments by users with these badges . Replies to those posts appear here as well as posts by staff writers.
All comments are posted in the All Comments tab.
To pause and restart automatic updates click Live or Paused . If paused you'll be notified of the number of additional comments that have come in.
Articles Source here