Milwaukee Bucks: Revisiting Brook Lopez’s ambitious 2020-21 goals

Revisiting Brook Lopez’s 2020-21 goals with the Milwaukee Bucks: No. 3 – Utilizing passing instincts

Even dating back to his days as the go-to guy on the Nets, Lopez has never been known as much of a passer. He was never expected to develop into one once he signed with the Bucks either as he would share the floor with players like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, and eventually Jrue Holiday. Still, throughout his first two seasons with the Bucks, Lopez averaged 1.3 assists, a number that some wanted to see improve.

Well, Lopez did not truly bump that number up during the 2020-21 season. In fact, it went down to just 0.7 assists a night, which tied a career-low for the big man. The regression makes sense considering how much the Bucks emphasized giving the ball to their leading trio this season, with Holiday being the perfect example. With the Bucks finally having a reliable floor general, coach Bud was more willing to try new things offensively, which helped Holiday lead the team in assists with an impressive 6.1 per contest. Tie that in with the touches for Antetokounmpo and Middleton, along with Donte DiVincenzo, and Lopez was never poised for a big year as a facilitator.

Despite his low assist numbers, Lopez still managed to have a reputable year on the offensive end due to his aforementioned scoring numbers. None of this is to say that Lopez is a bad passer or he is not capable of making these plays, just that the tweaking of the offense and his role made it so he would not have to do much facilitating in general. Looking at how things played out, that was the right call in the end.

Hopefully Lopez can piece together another solid season during the upcoming 2021-22 campaign.