Milwaukee Bucks: Donte DiVincenzo’s shooting could be an X-factor
By Adam McGee
Donte DiVincenzo has enjoyed an impressive sophomore season, but his still inconsistent shooting will remain key for the Milwaukee Bucks down the stretch.
After a rookie season that was significantly disrupted and limited by injury, it was very difficult to know what the Milwaukee Bucks would get from Donte DiVincenzo this year.
Any kind of realistic appraisal of DiVincenzo’s prospects of being a meaningful contributor at that point would have included what should almost have been a prerequisite heavy dose of skepticism.
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With 49 games and over 1,100 minutes played to this point in the season, DiVincenzo has certainly exceeded all expectations in terms of just how much he could contribute to a contending Bucks team, and his readiness to, in fact, add to that success.
DiVincenzo has been one of the Bucks’ most tenacious and relentless defenders throughout the season, and has been immensely impressive in terms of the variety of ways he’s been able to channel his enthusiasm and high basketball IQ into making positive contributions all across the floor.
Equally worth noting is DiVincenzo’s ability to simply fit in with what the Bucks do, regardless of who’s on the floor with him, or even what position he’s tasked with playing.
Still, the one wildcard element of DiVincenzo’s game remains his shooting, particularly from three-point range.
Thankfully, and crucial to his emergence this season, DiVincenzo has picked up his shooting significantly from the abysmal 26.5 percent from deep that he registered across the 27 games of his rookie season.
Making 34.4 percent from beyond the arc this year, DiVincenzo has achieved respectability, but could still stand to improve his percentages slightly.
On a month to month basis, DiVincenzo has still dealt with inconsistencies with his long ball, with percentages varying from lows of 27.3 percent in December to highs of 39.1 percent in January.
With his positive play overall essentially guaranteeing that DiVincenzo will see significant minutes in crunch games and high pressure Bucks’ playoff series, just what version of his shooting presents itself in those crucial moments could prove to be a major swing factor for Milwaukee’s play overall.
That means there’ll be reason to pay close to attention to DiVincenzo’s shooting over the remainder of the season, but also how he responds to the break.
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Having missed out on his rookie season, it’s not implausible that DiVincenzo may have been starting to feel some of the effects of the famed “rookie wall”. The Bucks will hope that their most recent draft pick will be back sharper and more energetic than ever once they get back to action on Thursday, and hopefully that will also fuel a strong few months of shooting for DiVincenzo too.