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Milwaukee Bucks: How can Jabari Parker adapt his game in light of injury?

By Ti Windisch

ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 15: Kent Bazemore #24 of the Atlanta Hawks draws a charge from Jabari Parker #12 of the Milwaukee Bucks at Philips Arena on January 15, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 15: Kent Bazemore #24 of the Atlanta Hawks draws a charge from Jabari Parker #12 of the Milwaukee Bucks at Philips Arena on January 15, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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If Jabari Parker loses a little bounce after his second ACL tear, how could he adjust his game to continue his Milwaukee Bucks career as an effective scorer?

One of the bright spots for the Milwaukee Bucks last season, for a while at least, was just how well Jabari Parker was playing. Fans were crushed when Jabari tore his ACL in his rookie season, and having him light up opponents was great for Bucks fans.

Then, in a twist straight from a Shakespearian tragedy, the very game Khris Middleton returned, Jabari ended up sidelined with another ACL tear. He’s not slated to play for the Bucks again until 2018.

Last time, Jabari came back a little rusty, but eventually looked pretty much as athletic as ever. He was dunking as explosively as ever, and defenses had a really hard time stopping him from getting to the rim at will, especially when he was on the baseline.

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Everybody in Milwaukee, and honestly every basketball fan in general, hopes that’s the case again and Jabari comes back and regains his prior form. There’s a chance it doesn’t work that way right from the gate, though, and Bucks fans see a different player next year.

Notice my use of the word different there, not worse. That’s because although Jabari will look drastically different if he’s not slicing to the rim and trying to dunk on everybody, there are still plenty of ways he can make an impact on offense.

Shooting more can help pretty much any player, and last season Jabari was already shooting more threes than he ever had before. Delightfully, he was also making more of his triples than ever. Parker hit 36.5 percent of his threes last season after averaging around 25 percent in each of his first two seasons.

The silver lining of that first rehab process might’ve been Jabari being forced to work on things besides athletic finishes. His shooting greatly improved, partly at least because there was so much more time to work on it in the long months where dunking wasn’t an option.

As long as that shooting touch remains, and especially if it improves, Jabari Parker will be an effective offensive player. There are other things he can add, too, while his athleticism is built back up to ‘Baseline Bari’ levels.

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Many players develop an old man game as they age. Kobe Bryant became a maestro of post moves when he couldn’t dunk like ‘Frobe’ during his later years in Los Angeles. Carmelo Anthony loves operating from the post and backing opponents down. Dwyane Wade has done more of that lately as well.

Jabari could skip the wait and work on some of those moves now, giving him a game he can use both now and later. It seems like he knows how to persevere through long rehab processes and get his bounce back, but even if it doesn’t return all the way all at once — or at all — Jabari Parker is too skilled to not find ways to make a big impact on the floor.

The real positive sign is Jabari being a good shooter, or a good post player, are not merely hypothetical concepts. He shot above league average from deep last year, and was better than 87 percent of the NBA in post up scenarios, scoring 1.04 points per possession.

There’s a very good chance that Jabari is back to yamming on defenders by the 2017-18 postseason, but if he picks up some effective old man moves in the meantime then all the better. Thanks to his basketball IQ, raw strength, and that fast-twitch speed, Jabari has lots of options at his disposal to get buckets.

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