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Milwaukee Bucks: Donte DiVincenzo’s warming up at the right time

By Jordan Treske

SACRAMENTO, CA - JANUARY 10: Donte DiVincenzo #0 of the Milwaukee Bucks speaks with media after defeating the Sacramento Kings on January 10, 2020 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. 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 Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2020 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO, CA - JANUARY 10: Donte DiVincenzo #0 of the Milwaukee Bucks speaks with media after defeating the Sacramento Kings on January 10, 2020 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. 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 Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2020 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Donte DiVincenzo has risen as a critical contributor for the Milwaukee Bucks as the year has moved along and his offense has started to kick back on, especially after a shooting slump in December.

Winter may have made it’s ugly return over the last week, but the Milwaukee Bucks continue to stay hot, despite the cold temperatures.

Now winners of their last six games following their 20-point victory over the Brooklyn Nets Saturday night, the Bucks continue to stand well above the pack that is the rest of the Eastern Conference, and the entire NBA.

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The Bucks’ remarkable consistency and cohesion continues to stand out three months into their 2019-20 run and the contributions they’ve gotten beyond their star core shows how deep they can go on a given night.

And it’s Donte DiVincenzo who continues rising up as a key depth contributor as the year moves along.

Whether it’s been the tireless and tenacious way he defends on the defensive side of the ball or how he’s been the next man up when the Bucks have dealt with injury to a significant piece, the second-year guard has been excellent in his all-purpose role under head coach Mike Budenholzer. Now the full impact of DiVincenzo’s performance has increasingly come together, especially since the turn of the year.

DiVincenzo endured a tough December shooting the ball from long range as he went 12-of-44 from that area of the floor, good for 27.3 percent. As a result of his struggles, given that he averaged 7.7 points per game over his 12 appearances during December, DiVincenzo’s aggression in looking for his own shot, especially from that range, waned by a considerable degree.

To say that has picked back up is an understatement as DiVincenzo has returned with a vengeance ever since he was given a night off during the Bucks’ victory over the San Antonio Spurs earlier in the month. Over his eight appearances this month, DiVincenzo is averaging 12.1 points on 50 percent shooting from the field and 14-for-37 shooting from three (37.8 percent), along with 4.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.8 steals across 24.2 minutes per game.

Obviously, the Villanova product’s shooting surge from long distance has helped him improve his scoring consistency, and he continues setting new career highs in that department, the latest of which came in the Bucks’ 128-123 win over the Boston Celtics earlier in the week.

DiVincenzo’s 19 points that night was fueled by his strong outing from 3-point range (4-for-6) and played an integral part in the Bucks coming away with their most efficient outing from that level of the floor over a single game this season.

That clearly has been key in DiVincenzo increasingly putting together his most consistent offensive performances on the season and the dual threat that DiVincenzo has offered as a marksman this month has been key in raising his 3-point percentage to 33.8 percent through his 40 games on the season. With that said, one shouldn’t overlook the improvements that DiVincenzo has had when finishing at the cup as well.

Whether it’s been a result of his strong finishing off fast breaks or cutting off the ball to give a moving target for the Bucks’ primary creators, DiVincenzo has raised his finishing percentage within the restricted area to 61.2 percent on 116 attempts on the season, per NBA.com/stats.

And DiVincenzo has relished extra responsibilities initiating the team’s offense over the last couple of weeks and he’s tallying a 18 usage percentage for January. The Big Ragu has created the fourth-most drives of any Bucks player this season and has converted 24 of his 50 field goal attempts on such possessions, good for 48 percent.

DiVincenzo’s development has obviously overtaken the previous progress we’ve seen from the likes of Sterling Brown and D.J. Wilson during Budenholzer’s reign in Milwaukee and it’s been DiVincenzo who has benefited the most with consistent playing time in the team’s rotation more than any other Bucks youngster.

The 22-year-old has rewarded Budenholzer’s trust with how impactful he’s been to the Bucks defensively and he still has the best defensive rating of any NBA player seeing consistent and regular action this season.

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But these strides he’s shown offensively only raise the bar to how DiVincenzo can further impact this Bucks team on both ends of the floor. Should he be able to sustain this level of effectiveness over the course of the year, it only shows that the belief the Bucks’ front office and Budenholzer have long held in DiVincenzo was quite a prescient forecast.

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