Best: Brogdon Pours It On
Over his first few months in the NBA, Malcolm Brogdon‘s successes were a pleasant surprise. He wasn’t a prolific scorer, but the maturity and level-headedness he brought to the table every night steadied the team through a tumultuous first half of the year.
Since then, the President hasn’t succumbed to the “rookie wall” or fallen off in his production at all. In fact, he’s increased his role, going from reliable bench piece to starter to now, crunch-time scorer.
Over his last 10 games, Brogdon is averaging 14 points per tilt, up from his season-long average of 10.3 points. He’s also maintained elite-level three-point shooting and assist-to-turnover ratio, at 40 percent and 2.83 respectively.
Instead of Giannis Antetokounmpo or Khris Middleton, it was Brogdon who put the team on his back down the wire in the Bucks’ victory over the Celtics, scoring or assisting on each of the team’s final 10 points including a ridiculous jumper that more or less sealed the game.
25 rookies have played at least 275 minutes in the 4th Q this season. Brogdon is #1 in +/- with a +28, while Saric is last with a -102.
— Danny Neckel (@DNeckel19) March 31, 2017
This type of play is how he makes his case for the Rookie of the Year award. Dario Saric, his competitor, is the main scorer on a listless 28-48 Philadelphia 76ers team, but Brogdon’s play objectively means more in a broader context.
Related Story: Malcom Brogdon Making Late Push For Rookie of the Year
Due to a back injury, he missed the Bucks’ last game against the Pistons, one in which Milwaukee barely squeaked by with a win in overtime.
It certainly seems as if the Bucks dearly missed Brogdon’s defense at the lead guard spot, as the Pistons’ Ish Smith dropped 16 points on the athletically-overmatched Matthew Dellavedova.