With strong returns following the All-Star break, Robin Lopez‘s competent three-point shooting continues to offer a welcome boost for the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Milwaukee Bucks picked up a season-best 47-point victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night, and their opponents should probably be relieved that Robin Lopez landed in foul trouble or it could have been even worse.
Friday’s Bucks win was the latest example of Robin’s increased comfort from behind the arc, and his sky-high confidence in letting fly when the opportunities present themselves.
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Prior to signing with the Bucks in the offseason, Lopez was 11-of-51 from three-point range through the first 11 years of his career. In 55 games this year, Robin has made 29-of-88 three-point attempts (33 percent).
It was no secret that having tentatively attempted to start expanding his range with the Bulls last year, Robin was going to be pressed into taking even greater strides this year under Mike Budenholzer in Milwaukee.
Still, there was no real reason to believe that Robin could look as competent from distance as he increasingly does. Certainly, nobody would have predicted Robin to be more efficient from deep than his twin brother Brook Lopez, who’s currently making just 29 percent of his three-point tries.
We’re currently dealing with a small sample size, but a notable one nonetheless as Robin has been strikingly red-hot from behind the arc since Milwaukee has returned to action following the All-Star break.
In five games in that span, Robin is making 52.9 percent of his long-range shots, and interestingly is doing so on a higher volume of 3.4 attempts per game too.
Zooming out to take a wider view of Robin’s shooting overall for the season highlights that he lacks the taste for longer range shots above the break that his brother so readily leans into. But the counter to that is that Robin is notably shooting 36.3 percent from the corners this season.
That isn’t the kind of deadeye marksmanship that will earn RoLo an invite to the NBA’s 3-Point Contest any time soon, but it is more than adequate for a player who has largely been pigeon-holed as a more traditional, low-post center.
At his essence, that is what Robin still is, of course. But the value he adds to the Bucks by diversifying his game just as brother did before him, and by clearing out the paint for Milwaukee’s drivers can’t be understated.
Robin’s defense has been outstanding this season, and that was only further highlighted this week by his crucial clutch time block at the end of regulation in the Bucks’ overtime win against the Wizards.
Still, crucial to maximizing the minutes that the Bucks can offer Robin is his ability to make some kind of impact on the offensive end too, and with his steady three-point shooting at present, that’s exactly what he’s delivering too.