Milwaukee Bucks Player of the Week Rankings
1. ???
2. ???
3. Michael Carter-Williams
MCW played in both games this week and averaged 33.9 minutes, 15.5 points (57.1 percent shooting), 7.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.0 steal, and 2.5 blocks per game. He led the team in blocks, was tied for third in steals, and tied for fourth in points and rebounds. Additionally, he had the second highest field goal percentage on the team this week.
Michael Carter-Williams makes the Milwaukee Bucks player of the week rankings this week even though he was not even close to being his team’s lead facilitator. Four Bucks averaged more assists per game over the last two than Carter-Williams did.
Even though he did not play like a pure point guard this week he did some really good things that allowed him to have a positive impact while he was on the court. Most importantly, he rarely turned the ball over. MCW averaged 1.5 turnovers per game in the last two. Couple that with his relatively midsized usage rate of 17.2 and his high field goal percentage of 57.1 and you have the formula for an efficient week.
The low turnover rate allowed MCW to have the second highest assist turnover ratio on the team, at 1.67. When Carter-Williams is not turning the ball over and is shooting a high field goal percentage he is doing a good job. The only thing that would make it better is if he picked up his assist numbers.
He is averaging the highest number of assists over the course of the season for Milwaukee, 5.4 per game, but his numbers are anything but consistent. One week he will average eight assists per game and the next he will average less than three.
In the Bucks only win of the week MCW made some clutch shots to help pull his team ahead in the second overtime period. Without these shots the Bucks might not have left Atlanta with a victory. Being clutch in crunch time of close games is always a good way to get yourself into the rankings.
One other thing to mention was Michael’s defensive impact. When a guard coming off the bench leads the team in blocks per game that says something about the effort and energy he is playing with. Add to that him getting a few steals and you have a great defensive week.
There were 13 NBA players who averaged at least one steal and at least two blocks in their last two games. Only two of those 13 were guards: Michael-Carter Williams and Nicolas Batum. Batum is considered a shooting guard right now yet he is 6’8″ and I always think of him as a small forward. So if you think of him as a SF too then that leaves MCW as the only guard to accomplish the above statistical feat.
Carter-Williams did everything the Bucks needed him to do this week but pass the ball effectively. That is a major issue since he is the team’s point guard but it did not hurt him enough to keep him from being the third best player of the week.
Oh…he did this too which was nice.
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