Milwaukee Bucks: Can Brook Lopez shake off playoff shooting slump?
Veteran big man Brook Lopez and his reinvention into a seven-foot sharpshooter has been critical to the Milwaukee Bucks’ transformation this year, but his three-point stroke has yet to consistently translate into the team’s playoff run so far.
Throughout their dominant run in the postseason so far, the Milwaukee Bucks have been defined by their chameleon-like ability to adjust and the rise of unlikely playoff heroes.
That certainly stood out in their five-game demolition of the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. But while the Bucks’ turnaround in that series was defined by those traits, there was a distinct desire to continue adhering to the key elements that were instrumental to their 60-win season this year, one of those being not shying away from three-point range.
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Of course, letting it fly has been to crucial to the Bucks’ success this season, something head coach Mike Budenholzer and his staff have preached from day one of training camp in the form of their patented four quadrants behind the three-point line.
And save for their porous 8-of-37 showing from three in their Game 4 victory over the Celtics last round, the Bucks’ most willing marksmen have all seen their shooting hold up in the playoffs, even more so for the likes of George Hill and Khris Middleton.
The one prominent exception to that has arguably been the most cited example to the three-point revolution going on in Milwaukee under Budenholzer and Co., that being veteran center Brook Lopez.
It would be safe to say that the seven-foot sharpshooter nicknamed “Splash Mountain” is in need of maintenance to regain his shooting touch from long range after having shot 27.9 percent on his 43 three-point tries this postseason. That’s certainly quite the dip in efficiency for Lopez, who connected on 36.5 percent of his 512 three-point attempts during the regular season.
Lopez’s shooting struggles were certainly illuminated in the Bucks’ closeout victory over the Celtics earlier in the week where he went 0-of-7 from beyond the arc and he finished the series shooting just 22.2 percent in the 27 tries he had from that level of the floor in the second round.
As a result, Lopez’s influence within the Bucks’ offense in the series resulted in him having a 97.9 offensive rating, per NBA.com/stats. Compare that to the 114 minutes Lopez was off the floor last round and the Bucks logged a 111.6 offensive rating, the highest off court mark for any player that saw action.
Needless to say, that vastly differs with the impact that we saw Lopez have on the Bucks throughout the regular season and it obviously can be traced to the 31-year-old’s effectiveness shooting the ball, the difference in sample size notwithstanding.
Dig deeper into Lopez’ shot selection and there may be reason for optimism for why Lopez may be able to rebound around his regular shooting percentages in the Conference Finals and potentially beyond. Twenty-nine of Lopez’s 53 three-point attempts throughout the playoffs have been classified as wide open (six-plus feet from the closest defender) and the Stanford alum has hit on 34.5 percent of those looks.
On three-point looks categorized as open (4-6 feet from the closest defender), Lopez is 2-of 11 from three throughout the playoffs, a mark of 18.2 percent. That’s a severe dip from the 36.4 percent Lopez shot on the 151 looks under that distinction throughout the regular season.
Considering the quality of his three-point looks have translated into the postseason, it’s obviously as simple as Lopez finding his shooting touch on the catch-and-shoot opportunities that come his way from his favored above the break spots on the court.
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Whether he’ll do just that remains to be seen, but there’s no use in Lopez now abandoning the let it fly mantra that has helped spur his career reinvention.