Modern defenses are built around containing dribble penetration. The best defenses utilize specific schemes combined with elite ball defenders to block off ball handlers from reaching the paint.
The Bucks ran a lineup with Dame, Cam Payne, and Malik Beasley. They had Beasley guarding Trae. Brook and Giannis will not be enough to cover so many defensive liabilities.
Bucks walk away from this game with a lot to figure out regarding their rosters defensive limitations. They didn’t just lose two great ball defenders in Jrue and Carter, they also added two real liabilities in Dame and Payne. Middleton and Beauchamp give them size on the wing but I don’t see a single guy on this roster that’s frustrating opposing ball handlers.
I think this sorts itself out somewhat but I don’t think long term they can entirely just say “fuck it we’ll just out score them”. Dame won’t eat shit every game and as long as they have him and Giannis on the court the offense will be dangerous. As a result I think they need to go a little more in on defense and undercut their strength, which maybe seems counterproductive, but I think they’ll need to relieve the pressure on their offense to score 130 a night. Just don’t be playing 3 guard lineups where the guards aren’t even good defenders. I’d still hope for their sake they look for perimeter defense at the deadline. They don’t have really have many options to go for defense anyway, and perhaps that’s why they’re just going for shooting/offense.
That said I also do think all of this is way too early to say, even worrying about it could end up pointless, and Lopez/Giannis could very well still cover for this enough, at least in the regular seasons