Milwaukee Bucks: Player of the Week (Jan 15 – 21)
Milwaukee Bucks Player of the Week Rankings
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- Jabari Parker
- John Henson
Major Cat played in all five games and averaged 33.8 minutes, 17.4 points (on 43.4 percent shooting from the field), 7.0 rebounds, and 4.4 assists. He tied for first on the team with assists and was second in both points and rebounds.
This was a pretty poor week for the things Jabari Parker does well, yet a pretty good week for the things he has yet to master. He also played below average defense, which is about what we’ve come to expect from him so far over his young career.
Parker scored at subpar rate this week. He scored over 17 per game but he did it while shooting 43 percent from the field and just 26 percent from three, on 16 attempts and four attempts respectively. This poor shooting efficiency was a big reason why the Bucks were not successful when Parker was on the court.
On the other hand, Jabari was a solid rebounder and excellent passer this week. He averaged 1.8 offensive rebounds and 5.2 defensive rebounds per game. His effort on the glass reduced the number of second chance opportunities for the opposition while increasing the number of second chance opportunities for the Bucks. It was one of the better rebounding weeks of the season for Jabari.
The best contribution from Parker this week came in the form of facilitation. This is the second week in a row where Parker has found a way to average a notable assist total for a player at the forward position. Last week he did it almost entirely without Giannis so for him to continue doing it in multiple games where Giannis was playing shows it is something he really is improving at.
Parker’s improvement in assists is a testament to his unselfishness and basketball IQ, specifically on the offensive end. He understands the Bucks’ offense and knows what to do to get his teammates easy buckets. As we noted last week, if Parker can keep this up it will add another layer to his polished offensive game and take him that much closer to being an elite offensive weapon.
If Jabari can get it all going at the same time, passing and scoring, then the Bucks will have very few weeks like this for the remainder of this season and in the seasons to come. Jabari is still growing into his game and there is no rush for him to find out exactly what kind of player he can be. That seems like a good thing and something that helps the Bucks as an organization to ensure their young stars tap into their full potential.