Milwaukee Bucks: Key Issues Facing The Bucks’ Core Pieces
By Adam Coffman
Jabari Parker
Can he avoid becoming one-dimensional?
The latter half of last season was very encouraging for Bucks fans, as Jabari Parker showed signs coming back from ACL surgery of becoming the generational prospect he was touted as coming out of high school.
Post All-Star Break, Jabari put up 18.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, and is projected to expand on these numbers this season. However, it is important to note how these points came about.
Over 60 percent of Parker’s shots came from within 10 feet last year, mostly due to attacks off the catch and dribble drives. Over the course of the year he began shooting more from longer-range, but shooting 25 percent on .4 attempts per game does not inspire defensive respect that far from the basket.
In the preseason, Jabari has seemingly been reluctant to shoot even when open, which may stem more from an attacking instinct than an inability to knock down the open jumper. Parker has also received many comparisons to New York Knicks’ star Carmelo Anthony, and if Jabari wants to take a page from the veteran’s book, he could focus on developing a post-up game.
With a greater offensive repertoire will come a greater likelihood for assist chances or open space for teammates, so, like Giannis, the Bucks as a unit will benefit from an improved version of Parker.
A large reason the Bucks struggled on defense last year was the atrocious defensive combination of Jabari and Greg Monroe at the four and five. Both players were unable to defend in the pick and roll or protect the rim, which often led to chaos for the Bucks in that respect.
Being paired with Miles Plumlee should help clamp down on opponents, but Jabari himself needs to improve substantially before he can no longer be considered a liability.
Fortunately, most of the observed shortcomings impacting his failure last season appeared to be simple mental mistakes that should smooth out with time and experience in the league.
The bottom line for Parker is this: if he can avoid becoming one-dimensional, that is, an effective scorer with no recognizable strengths in other areas, the Bucks will be well on track for success.