After four tune-up games, we sit just five days away from opening night for the Milwaukee Bucks, when they host the Washington Wizards. Despite the preseason games’ results not meaning much (3-1 record),
there’s still plenty to dissect as we set our expectations of this new look Bucks team. Whether it’s Doc Rivers talking about multiple actions on sets for Gary Trent Jr. and AJ Green, Milwaukee rolling with a starting lineup not including Kyle Kuzma next to Giannis at the three, or what Giannis and Myles Turner look like playing next to each other. Yet a new combination of players, particularly the bench backcourt of Ryan Rollins and Cole Anthony, has caught the eye of not only Bucks fans but also the media and even the coaches.
While both of them are point guards, head coach Doc Rivers has talked all preseason long about how he would use them together and how good a fit he thinks it is. I can’t say I disagree with Rivers much on this one, as the “T-Shirt Twins” (shoutout to friend of the site Camile Davis for coming up with that one) do have very complementary skill sets on both ends of the floor. So, now that we have seen this lineup in all four preseason games, what can we expect from them once things get started on the 22nd? We’ll take a look at what the pair of point guards has been able to show us in the preseason, and how that might translate to when the games finally start to count.
Playing off each other well on offense
In taking a look back at three of the four preseason games (no film was available for the preseason opener against Miami), Anthony and Rollins have such clearly defined roles when they’re on the floor that they can play off of each other with ease. Doc talked about how he expects Anthony to be more of a floor general and run the offense, which is certainly something he did during the preseason.
In preseason, Anthony finished second on the team in assists per game with 4.0, just behind starter Kevin Porter Jr., who averaged 4.7. You can also see the poise that Anthony plays with, as shown by the play below. After dribbling through traffic, he keeps his eyes open and finds AJ Green open on the wing for one of his five three-pointers last Thursday:
Going back to how well Rollins and Anthony play off of each other: after the Pistons made a basket and with Rollins inbounding, he finds a streaking Anthony, who races down the court, then fires one of his patented long skip passes to Amir Coffey for an open corner three-point shot. Coffey nails it and helps the Bucks get back in front of Detroit late in the first quarter:
In this set, Jericho Sims is heading to the far wing to set up a hand-off with Amir Coffey, with Anthony setting a screen for Coffey to curl around on. When the Pistons defender denies Coffey the ball, Sims immediately flips the ball to Anthony into a pick-and-roll, where Anthony attacks the middle of the floor. With Sims cutting to the paint towards the baseline, Rollins’ defender floats to the paint to help cover Anthony’s drive and Sims’ roll. By doing that, it leaves Rollins wide open for a corner three. While the shot doesn’t go in here, you take that shot 10 times out of 10 and twice on Sunday. Finding an open three for a player who shot 40.8% from that distance is the best you can ask for:
This goes back to what Doc talked about after the Bucks’ 117-111 win over the Detroit Pistons. He raved about the two guards’ ability to play with each other, and allow Anthony to play as more of a table setter than a scorer, and Rollins to create plays and make shots:
“No, I think it can be really good at the one and two. I think Cole will help Ryan, cause Cole can run the team and Ryan can get downhill and make plays. I actually liked the lineup, I just thought they lost their composure a little today.”
This is just another example here, with Rollins and Anthony out there with Turner, Bobby Portis, and Trent, where Rollins’ defender heads to the middle as help with Turner rolling to the basket. With Tre Jones, Matas Buzelis, and Patrick Williams all ball watching, Anthony spots Rollins open in the corner for a three, which Rollins drains this go around:
This next one was just good play recognition by both Rollins and Cole. After getting the screen from Portits, Anthony heads to the middle of the floor again and sees Rollins and Kuzma in a similar area. In an effort to get Kuz the ball, who is the more open of the two players, Rollins heads towards the paint to set a screen on Williams. That causes Jones to switch out onto Kuz, allowing him to nail the jumper over the much shorter defender. I’m not sure if the play called for Rollins to do that, but if it didn’t, it’s an incredible heads-up play by Rollins to open up another teammate for a wide-open jumper:
This is a nice transition play from the pair, reminding me of times when Rollins played with Damian Lillard last season. After a miss from Chicago, Anthony has the ball and is going up the court pretty calmly. Midway through, he finds Rollins on the far side streaking down the floor. Sims does an excellent job of setting the screen ahead of time for Rollins, which allows him to get to the basket with ease and drain the left-handed layup to give the Bucks a 10-point lead. It shows a strong chemistry between the two guards to trust in each other to make that type of play happen:
Causing havoc on defense
Between Rollins’ athleticism and size and the quick feet of Anthony, the Bucks’ bench backcourt is shaping up to be causing opposing offenses headaches. The T-Shirt Twins will pick up ball handlers full court at times, whether it’s off a make or a miss. Outside of that, they do a great job of turning defense into offense, as on this play here, Anthony easily steals a bad pass from Duncan Robinson of the Pistons. The former UNC Tar Heel quickly turns it the other way and scores a layup:
This is just simply another example of how disruptive this pairing can be at times. After Kuzma missed a floater over two defenders, Rollins does a great job of cutting off Williams’ run in transition and staying strong. That causes Williams’ mistake to lose the ball, rolling into the arm of Rollins before getting the ball back up the other way:
Anthony spoke very highly of this new pairing before the Bucks game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night:
“Ryan got a lot of game, it’s been a pleasure to share the floor with my good brother. He can shoot the ball, he can pass, I mean, there’s not really anything he can’t do on the floor. He guards at a high level, so for me, it’s fun to get out there. He can handle the rock, I can handle the rock, we both can initiate the offense, and we’ve just been causing havoc on the offensive and defensive end.”
Here, after a Bucks make, both guards are pressuring OKC’s two guards to get them uncomfortable right out of the chute. With Rollins’ long arms, he puts Cason Wallace through hell, can poke the ball away, and gets an easy layup near the start of the fourth quarter:
What might even be more crucial is the dynamic play between Rollins and Anthony; it’s about the impact it’s having on the team as a whole. In this next play during clutch time, you have undrafted rookie Mark Sears pressuring the ball off a make from Coffey with the Bucks trailing by three. Sears snatches the ball away, hits the layup, and the foul to tie the game at 103-103. It’s such an important part that not only do they play well together, but it’s also impacting the rest of the team. Having young guys like that bought in and willing to do the work to come up with a big play, it doesn’t happen overnight, that’s for sure:
Final takeaways
When you take a look at what this pairing has to offer the Bucks on both ends of the floor, it’s hard not to get excited about it. Rollins and Anthony bring similar yet varied skill sets to the table. Rollins is more of the scorer, while Anthony is the distributor. These abilities complement each other so well that they create challenges for opponents on the defensive side of the ball. Despite the size difference, their ability to switch onto either guard and do it well will make life difficult for even the best ball handlers. While on offense, allowing Anthony to run things most of the time will get opportunities for both of them to score and make plays.
There are a lot of positives to look at when it comes to the T-Shirt Twins, and they will have their moments for sure. But I wouldn’t be doing my job if I weren’t looking at any potential issues it would cause for the Bucks. We saw last Thursday against the Pistons—and Doc acknowledged that these guys lost a bit of their composure—a second-quarter scoring run allowed them to get back into the game. They are still young guards who will be relied upon for big minutes for a team trying its best to keep Giannis in town. They will make mistakes, and neither of them being a true, big-time play finisher could cause some stagnation on the offensive side, especially when Giannis sits with that lineup out there.
There are warts, but this pairing has a chance to be really special, and if something happens to one of those two guys, they have Sears on a two-way deal ready to help fill in as the third point guard. Rollins and Anthony are part of a larger effort to get the Bucks back to their championship identity, where they surrounded Giannis with three-point shooting and defense. It’s a tone-setting duo, and we’ll see how that defensive edge will make its way through the rest of the team. If this works, which I think it does, the Bucks could be a pretty dangerous team once the season turns to April and May.
