Milwaukee Bucks: 3 stats that should provide optimism early in the season

Stat No. 2 – Grayson Allen is shooting 47 percent from three on 8.8 attempts per game over the last nine Milwaukee Bucks games

After starting the year hitting just seven of his first 26 threes (26.9 percent), Allen has caught fire over the past few weeks, draining 47 percent of his threes on very high volume (almost nine attempts per game). Breaking his season into thirds so far, the improvement is clear: Allen made 31.4 percent of his threes in the first four games, 42.4 percent over the next four games, and 51.4 percent in the last four games with the Bucks.

To put his shooting into perspective, there are 16 players in the NBA this season who are attempting eight or more threes per game (high volume shooters). Of those players, Allen is number one in 3-point percentage at 41.9 percent. Looking at these high-volume shooters over the last six games, Allen is number one at 49.1 percent, and the next closest player is at 40.8 percent. Essentially, Allen has been the best high-volume shooter in the NBA this season (percentage-wise), and lately, it hasn’t even been close.

The main reason for Allen’s success as a 3-point shooter this season (besides him simply just being a good shooter) is the quality of looks that he is getting. He is in the 90th percentile in ShotQuality Points Per Possession. As previously mentioned, he also has attempted the most wide-open threes of any player in the NBA this season by a wide margin.

With Middleton out the past six games, Allen has stepped up and averaged 17.8 points per game on 69.2 percent true shooting over that stretch. He is going to continue to get a ton of good looks all season with other players demanding the attention of the defense, and it appears as though he could be the Bucks’ most consistent shooter this year. If that holds true the two-year contract he signed before the season worth $20 million will be viewed as a steal.