Milwaukee Bucks Summer League Grades: 81-75 Win Over Cleveland Cavaliers
By Adam McGee
Player of the Game – Thon Maker
Summer League is never the time to get carried away or jump to conclusions. Still, it can be used to gauge a number of facets that can be universal to a player’s performance across all levels of competition.
In Maker’s case, he’s fast. In spite of being 7’1″, Thon can hurtle up and down the floor as quickly if not faster than many NBA caliber wings. Whether spotting an opportunity in transition or getting back to thwart an opposition attack, Maker was prepared and able to put his head down, sprint at full pace and make up an incredible amount of ground in a very short space of time.
His length is no illusion either, and it’s going to cause problems on defense from day one. There may be problems with Maker getting caught out of position from gambling to make big defensive plays, but the fact is that he was constantly looking to position himself to help his team to make a stop. If he can get a handle on defensive positioning, his long arms and timing will take care of the rest. A lot of defensive potential here.
Perhaps most importantly of all, and definitely what earns him the player of the game, is the native of South Sudan’s ability to seize control when the game was on the line. His blocks came when his team desperately needed stops and his effort to deny the inbounds pass with 14 seconds remaining spoke volumes.
It’s one game and it’s not something to get carried away about, but in analyzing his physical and mental attributes there were only positive signs from game one.
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