Milwaukee Bucks: Khris Middleton reflects on hiatus, gearing up for restart

Speaking to the media Friday, Milwaukee Bucks All-Star swingman Khris Middleton discussed his hiatus and returning back into his routine.

Last we saw Khris Middleton, he was on some kind of roll as he was busy writing his career year.

In his second straight All-Star campaign for the Milwaukee Bucks, Middleton was inching closer to entering the 50-40-90 club while averaging 21.1 points per game and asserting himself as one of the most well-rounded players standing in the NBA today.

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Of course, that was nearly four months ago as the coronavirus pandemic has put a pause on Middleton and the Bucks’ dream season since March 11.

After speaking to local media and reporters for the first time since getting back into the gym, Middleton gave an extensive update on how he’s been doing since the hiatus and being away from the court for such an extensive period of time.

Starting it off, Middleton laid out why this break doesn’t compare to what would normally be his routine and life during the offseason:

"“It definitely does not feel like an offseason. It feels like we’re definitely in the middle of a pandemic. Usually during the offseason, you’re traveling, taking vacations, doing whatever. But this time, we’ve been pretty much told to stay at home and don’t go anywhere unless it’s need-be situations. So this is way different than anything we’ve ever experienced.”"

Middleton then segued into how he’s been able to stay creative with trying to stay in shape without touching a basketball for what he estimated was over two months:

"“Luckily, I’ve got a little exercise room in my house that I put in that I was able to get some decent lifts in. Treadmill, bike ride, stuff like that, just to try to stay fit. But there’s nothing you can do to replicate being in basketball shape besides actually playing basketball but being able to do that stuff at home as given me a little bit of – I don’t want to say an advantage – but a head start with just trying to stay in shape, trying to get stronger and those types of things.”"

That creativity has carried over into the practice facility since Middleton returned to Milwaukee. After shedding light on how different individual workouts have been since getting back into the gym, the two-time All-Star discussed having to regain his comfort being around people again and the physical labor that comes with his profession after such a lengthy break:

"“It definitely feels different with no type of contact, but we can still do competition numbers with the amount of shots we hit during a workout and comparing that to somebody else’s. Or just focusing on our own craft and a way to get better just by ourselves, which we’ve been doing since we were kids.One, you have to be comfortable being around people again. For so long, we’ve been told to stay away from pretty much everybody, which can play mental games more than anything. When you add actually playing basketball games against physical contact, it takes a while to get used to that pounding, to get used to that physicality, all that type of stuff, running up and down the court. It’s not something that usually comes back within a week or two. It takes a little bit longer. But the way this whole thing in Orlando is set up, the team that can pull it together the fastest is going to have the best shot.”"

When asked about trying to regain the hot rhythm he and other Bucks players were in, especially shooting the ball, going into the break, Middleton wondered himself how he’ll try to find that through the workouts and practices players are allowed to do as of now:

"“I have no idea. Hopefully, we’re able to keep that same type of rhythm that we were in before this season got postponed. We just gotta find a way, through our workouts, trying to find that game rhythm as best as we can because we’re not going to be able to get it until we play 5-on-5 once we’re down in Orlando. It’s just something we got to deal with and try to figure out on the fly.”"

Before departing for Orlando in a few days and preparing for the season restart, Middleton disclosed that he’s been trying to pack as much as time as he can in with his family and especially his one-year-old daughter:

"“The number one thing for me is spending time with my family, as much as I can. You know, I have a young daughter who’s growing up that I’m going to miss a lot when I’m gone. To try to spend all of those moments with her, feed her breakfast, dinners, bathtime, stuff like that. Those are the things that I look forward to now because I know I won’t get the chance and I will miss it when I’m eventually in Orlando.”"

Lastly, Middleton expressed his satisfaction on playing the seeding games before heading into the playoffs, while also touching on his quest to enter the 50-40-90 club as he’s currently one missed shot off of achieving that illustrious mark:

"“I’m definitely glad that we’re able to play a couple of regular season games before the playoffs. I think that’s important for us and for a lot of other teams. Hopefully, I’ll be able to achieve (reaching the 50-40-90 mark). I’ll have one of the best shooting percentages in league history, with a lot of Hall of Fame guys. So to add my name to a list of Hall of Fame players is incredible.”"

Next. Giannis shoots down talk of asterisk over this year’s NBA title. dark

With so many questions swirling around the season restart and the Bucks’ chase for a championship, Middleton is in the process of trying figure out the answers to many of those questions himself.

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