Milwaukee Bucks: Revisiting Sterling Brown’s 2019-20 season so far

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - NOVEMBER 23: (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - NOVEMBER 23: (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /
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Milwaukee Bucks' Sterling Brown
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – DECEMBER 19: (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

Milwaukee Bucks: Revisiting Sterling Brown’s 2019-20 season so far – Where Sterling left off

As we’ve touched on so far, Brown’s third season with the Bucks has been anything but a smashing success. And in many ways, the 6’5″ wing has significantly regressed in significant departments, especially on the offensive side of the ball.

The most notable slide has been Brown’s 3-point shooting as he’s shot a career-worst 31.6 percent on 114 attempts from long range this season. Even more concerning has been Brown’s downturn when shooting off the catch as he’s knocked in 32.9 percent of his catch-and-shoot threes this year after hitting 38.1 percent of such shots for the 2018-19 season, per NBA.com/stats.

But Brown’s offensive regression has been seen in more subtler ways that go beyond just his requirements of spacing the floor for the team’s cornerstones.

For example, Brown’s efficiency on the rare times he’s driven toward the basket was a ghastly 39 percent on 41 attempts this season. And after converting 59.7 percent of his scoring chances in the restricted area last year, Brown’s finishing percentage fell down to 51.6 percent this season.

While Brown’s offensive slide has thrown quite the damper on his third NBA season, his standing on the defensive end has still been quite effective, thanks to his versatility and ability to guard multiple positions.

Perhaps the biggest stride that Brown has made all year is conveying his toughness and hustle on the defensive glass where he pulled down 19.2 percent of defensive rebounds and averaged 8.9 rebounds per-36 minutes.

Brown’s ability to effectively rebound as something of a forward/someone bigger than his size was crucial in the Bucks’ capabilities to play small ball where the SMU product would largely take on the dirty work responsibilities for those lineups to function as well as they did.