Milwaukee Bucks: Will Khris Middleton put together a more consistent shooting year?

After experiencing a down shooting year from three-point range last season, Milwaukee Bucks swingman Khris Middleton will surely look to regain his shooting consistency from that level of the floor next year.

Throughout his five seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks, there have been many duties that Khris Middleton has been regularly tasked with performing for the benefit of the team.

Near the top of that list has been knocking down shots from beyond the arc, to which he has done at an exceptional rate, considering he stands as a 39.1 percent career three-point shooter.

Of course, Middleton has elevated his scoring prowess beyond long distance to the point where he minted himself as a 20 point per game scorer last season. But obviously the combination of Middleton’s perimeter shooting and his strong defensive qualities will always stand as the hallmarks of his game, despite the improvements he has made across all areas of the floor.

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All of this is precisely why it came as such a shock to see the former Aggie struggle with his touch from downtown for large stretches of last season. On the whole, Middleton finished with his worst shooting mark from three-point range as he converted 35.9 percent of his career-high 407 three-point attempts.

It hasn’t been strange to see Middleton stumble out of the gate to find his bearings as it relates to his effectiveness shooting the ball, but to the extent with which the 27-year-old’s inconsistencies stretched beyond the first few weeks of last year were puzzling to experience.

Middleton detailed his struggles and the modifications he made after watching film on his release when he appeared on Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck’s podcast, The Full 48, midway through the year:

"“It’s the same shots. It’s been frustrating for me all season long. I started the season off slow, then picked it up a little bit in December. Then I had a cold patch again in January, so it’s frustrating, but I just gotta keep shooting. I mean, all the shots I’ve taken have been great shots, they’ve been great looks. Nothing has changed, it’s just not going in for me right now. But, you know, my team, my coaches keep telling me to keep shooting it. I mean, I have to be out there shooting the ball to space the guys for everybody else, so just keep shooting.…In January, I did go back and look at film between my last couple of years and this year, how I was shooting the ball. I couldn’t tell that much of a difference, except for I was grabbing the ball and releasing the ball with a weird spin on it. I’ve tried to change that but for some reason, it’s still not dropping. So, I feel like at some point it will start going down for me again.”"

The positive to glean from that particular area of Middleton’s campaign last year was how unheralded his bounce-back or three-point stabilization was during the second half of last season, at least before his sterling performance in the Bucks’ playoff series against the Boston Celtics.

Case in point, Middleton drained 39.3 percent of his 112 treys after the All-Star break last season and buried 25 of his 41 three-point attempts (61 percent) during the Bucks’ first round series versus the Celtics.

Along with that, Middleton’s three-point efficiency off of catch-and-shoot looks stood strong as he put home 39.6 percent of his 292 three-pointers taken that way throughout the year, per NBA.com/stats.

So while Middleton’s uncharacteristic range shooting struggles were rightly magnified and dissected in the moment throughout last season, his eventual regression to the mean flew under the radar until he exploded under the playoff spotlight in mid-to-late April.

As all of this relates to what he’ll look to accomplish in what stands as a pivotal year, both personally (contract year) and with the arrival of new head coach Mike Budenholzer, there is little cause for concern about Middleton’s three-point potency heading into his seventh season in the league.

Cold spells affect shooters such as Middleton all the time throughout the league, likewise with scorching stretches. If the standard he has set for himself throughout his career in this area is any indication, Middleton may be on course to resume his reliable three-point shooting skills during the entire regular season and beyond next year.