Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways From Win Over Detroit Pistons
By Adam McGee
Major Cat landing on his feet
In comfortably the most complete performance of Jabari Parker’s NBA career to date, we got a glimpse of a tantalizing and once unthinkable prospect. Not only is Parker coming into his own as a scorer, but he could give the Bucks a second do-it-all forward in forming a tandem that is becoming the envy of the rest of the NBA.
Having had a rare recent struggle with only 14 points against the Wizards on Monday, Parker bounced back with an impressive 31 points in this outing. These points continued a couple of emerging trends for the Chicago native, as he continued to look exceedingly comfortable in overpowering even the biggest opponents to get to the rim and also knocked down triples with ease.
Parker is in the best shape he has been for his career up until this point, and there seems to be very few players of his size able to match his strength. A 4-7 three-point shooting night only added to Parker’s 38.4 percent success rate from deep on the season, and acts as a further testament alongside his physical conditioning of just how hard he must have worked in the summer.
The highlights for Parker on this occasion unusually reside outside of his 31 points too. Jabari notched a career-high seven assists, looking remarkably comfortable in a playmaking capacity on the night.
The assists came in a varied fashion too. He played cornerback to intercept an errant pass, before striding down the floor to team up with his buddy Giannis Antetokounmpo in transition.
He was also unafraid of making the simple pass to the open man, on this occasion setting Antetokounmpo up for an easy three.
With nine rebounds to add to his overall tally too, it’s fair to say that Parker was just locked in across the floor on Wednesday night. Almost as further proof of that, it seems fitting to finish off with the lesser spotted great defensive play from Jabari Parker.
Of course, the effort needs to become more consistent, but here is an example of Parker hedging so he can offer help or play for a steal as the action dictates. He does this while remaining aware of his man and closing out with high energy when needed. This forced Tobias Harris to kick it back out to his point guard to reset, and with only 10 seconds left on the shot clock, it led to an empty possession.
More of all of this, please, Jabari.