Milwaukee Bucks: The three stars of the week after win streak ends

Mamadi Diakite is the Milwaukee Bucks’ third star of the week

Two-way player Mamadi Diakite has captured the imagination of Bucks fans as this season has gone on.

While Diakite didn’t have as productive of a night as his teammates showed, the flashes he showed on both ends of the floor has been consistent with what we saw in his assignment to the Lakeland Magic earlier this year. This impressive swat on Derrick Rose when getting back in transition certainly got his night started on the right note.

Diakite’s rim protection and ability to alter shots showed throughout Milwaukee’s loss to the Knicks, especially as the Bucks exclusively played a 2-3 zone over the night. On the other side of the ball, Diakite showed off his impressive scoring touch, especially as a straight line driver where regularly took Nerlens Noel off the dribble.

While he has more room to grow in translating his success in the G League to the NBA level, Diakite can carve out the kind of role he showed Saturday night. And hopefully, the Bucks will continue to foster his development, which could lead to them converting his two-way contract in the offseason. It would be best not to let his talent slip away, that’s for sure.

We’ll be back again next week to hand out the three star of the week as the Milwaukee Bucks embark on a tough road trek out west, all of which starts Monday night against the L.A. Clippers.