Milwaukee Bucks: George Hill sustaining outstanding 3-point shooting
By Adam McGee
Coming up on 50 games into the season, George Hill’s incredible three-point shooting is still going strong for the Milwaukee Bucks.
With the way the Milwaukee Bucks’ offense is designed, the ability for shooters to knock down open shots is completely essential.
It’s a given that Giannis Antetokounmpo is going to get his share of points from night to night, but the full extent of the damage the Bucks can do as a whole is undoubtedly tied to the ability of the team’s supporting cast to open the floor right up for him, and then punish opponents with their shooting when the ball is kicked out in their direction.
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The signing of Kyle Korver last summer has certainly aided Milwaukee in that regard, but no Buck has offered the Bucks a deadlier three-point threat than George Hill has to this point in the season.
After his midseason trade to Milwaukee last season, Hill struggled mightily with his shot in the regular season. Eventually he found a groove from distance during the playoffs, though, shooting 41.7 percent from deep, and has essentially never looked back from there.
Hill set the table by starting out the current season at a blistering pace from beyond the arc, but given his track record from distance over the course of his career, it seemed that sooner or later he was due to fall off by the best part of 10 percentage points.
Having played in 44 of the Bucks’ 47 games to this point in the year, Hill has remained imperious from three-point range, though. Averaging 51.1 percent from beyond the arc, Hill is the league’s current leader in three-point percentage.
Not only is Hill pacing the NBA in that category, but he’s doing so by an absurd margin. J.J. Redick sits in second place behind Hill but his impressive 46.5 percent mark still leaves him in an entirely different league to Hill.
Hill’s shooting isn’t just an outlier in the context of the current campaign, though, as he’s tracking for one of the truly elite shooting seasons of all-time for a role player.
If he was to remain healthy and play in every game through to the end of the season, Hill would be on pace to take 235 three-pointers for the campaign. Since the introduction of the three-point line, there have only previously been three instances of players shooting over 50 percent on over 200 long-range attempts.
If Hill can continue on his current pace in both volume and efficiency, he’ll join Tim Legler (1995-96), Steve Kerr (1995-96), and Jason Kapono (2006-07) in that particularly elite shooting club.
Next. Khris Middleton’s season is bigger than being an All-Star. dark
Shooting is just a part of the package that Hill provides for the Bucks, adding to his outstanding defense and playmaking, along with his steadying presence as a veteran. Soon to be 34, Hill has proved he was absolutely deserving of the healthy pay day the Bucks gave him last summer.