Milwaukee Bucks: 3 crucial goals for Rodney Hood during 2021-22 season

Goal No. 2 — Rodney Hood can work on his shooting with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021-22

If Hood is healthy and plays the majority of the games, then the next biggest thing for him will be putting last season behind him and look to become the player he’s been throughout his career during his next chapter with the Bucks.

What I said about him being a bridge in the non-Middleton minutes can only happen if we see the Hood that he’s given us the last few seasons prior to last year. Looking back, it really was a nightmarish season in 2020-21 for Hood, as he put up career-lows in effective field goal percentage (42.7 percent) and true shooting percentage (45.2 percent). Both were significantly lower than his previous career-worst marks, with both numbers being around seven percent worse.

The biggest reason for the large drop in those percentages can be attributed to one thing, which is his recovery from a torn Achilles that he suffered in 2019-20. It couldn’t have come at a worse time for Hood, who was having an incredible start to the season, posting career-highs in both effective field goal percentage (60.8 percent) and true shooting percentage (62.5 percent) in 21 games before the devastating injury. The good news is, I don’t think Hood will be nearly as bad as he was last year. The injury had to have been on his mind constantly, then add in being traded at the deadline, and it would completely have thrown off his game.

Prior to 2019-20, Hood shot 36.7 percent from three and 46.5 percent on 2-point attempts in five seasons. For comparison, in Middleton’s first five seasons in Milwaukee (prior to his first All-Star selection), he shot 39.4 percent from deep and 48.3 percent on two-pointers. The percentages aren’t as good, but as I said, no one should expect him to be as good, but instead, a lower-tier bridge in the minutes Middleton isn’t playing. If he can bring some shooting to the floor, he should fit right in with the Bucks.