Jericho Sims’ Offense And More

The Milwaukee Bucks kept their undefeated preseason alive with a 117–111 win over the Detroit Pistons at Fiserv Forum on Thursday night, moving to 2-0.

Giannis Antetokounmpo didn’t suit up for this one, and Kyle Kuzma, who was dealing with a minor hip injury, was also held out. In their absence, Bobby Portis joined the starting lineup alongside Myles Turner, Gary Trent Jr., AJ Green, and Kevin Porter Jr.

It’ll be interesting to see what Milwaukee’s starting five looks like when everyone is healthy. Ideally, Kuzma comes off the bench to play his natural position at power forward, keeping both Green and Trent Jr. in the first five.

After reviewing the film, here are my main takeaways from the Bucks’ win over the Pistons.

Jericho Sims

After focusing on Kuzma in Game 1, I turned my attention to Jericho Sims for this matchup. I was curious whether his roster spot might be in jeopardy. After watching the film twice, I think he’s safe—but his minutes should be reserved for emergencies only.

Defensively, Sims holds his own. He’s always engaged, maintains an athletic defensive stance, and never takes a possession off. His combination of size, strength, and athleticism allows him to guard bigs and switch onto smaller players when needed.

In one possession, he managed a pick-and-roll perfectly—keeping both the ball-handler and his man in check until the on-ball defender recovered. Then he stayed disciplined in one-on-one coverage, forcing Paul Reed into a tough, contested left-handed runner. Here’s a link to the clip.

Sims can defend as advertised. The problem is that his defense isn’t enough to offset his complete lack of offense.

He’s played 34 minutes through two preseason games, attempted one shot, and scored zero points. He simply doesn’t have an offensive game right now.

His hands are also a concern. He struggles to catch passes and rebounds in traffic, which makes it tough for teammates to trust him as a target off pick-and-rolls.

One bright spot is that he shows solid awareness on short rolls. On this play, he set a screen for Cole Anthony, caught the bounce pass near the free throw line, and immediately found AJ Green circling behind him for an open three. That’s good recognition and quick decision-making.

Overall, Sims’ roster spot appears secure, but the Bucks’ big-man rotation should already be set with Myles Turner, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bobby Portis, and Kuzma handling most of the minutes.

Bucks Film Room Notebook

• Cole Anthony had the ball in his hands often. It seems Doc Rivers likes him as the lead guard when paired with Ryan Rollins. If that’s the case, Anthony needs to get the ball moving more and limit his dribbling.
• AJ Green threw several sharp cross-court passes, showing improved vision that complements his shooting gravity.
• Speaking of gravity, Green hit all five of his three-point attempts—most of them heavily contested and released in tight windows.
• Green, Kevin Porter Jr., and Gary Trent Jr. each took turns defending Cade Cunningham. None had much success, as Cunningham erupted for 26 points in just 18 and a half minutes.
• Porter Jr. committed two costly live-ball turnovers that led directly to Detroit fast-breaks. He’ll need to clean that up if the Bucks are going to rely on him for playmaking this season.
• Milwaukee’s off-ball rotations were slow and sloppy at times. Their defense is clearly still adapting to the new help principles.
• The Bucks ran another Spain pick-and-roll set. This time, Green kicked it to Trent Jr. as the safety valve coming off the wing, and Trent was fouled on a three-point attempt.
• Taurean Prince dribbling = bad news for Milwaukee.

What’s Next

The Bucks travel to Chicago to face the Bulls on Sunday. With only two preseason games left before hosting the Washington Wizards on October 22, Milwaukee is running out of time to tighten its rotations and clean up the small details before the real games begin.