Milwaukee Bucks: Jabari Parker Producing Without Giannis Antetokounmpo
With Giannis Antetokounmpo missing time due to illness, Jabari Parker has had his crack as the team’s top option.
Jabari Parker has been having one of the biggest break out seasons in the league. However, due to the excellence of Giannis, he hasn’t been getting all the credit he deserves. In the past two games, he has shown why he was selected as the #2 pick in the 2014 draft.
Many fans had the expectations that the Duke product would come into Milwaukee and lead the team to the playoffs consistently, and quickly. He’s been able to strut his stuff with freedom for the first time in his third season. His ACL injury really slowed his development, as well as roster limitations and the emergence of Giannis.
The past two games against the Washington Wizards and San Antonio Spurs, have shown us exactly what he is capable of. Most of the season, he’s been scoring very efficiently off the coattails of Giannis running the offense. But without his point forward, he has been making plays for others, as well as scoring the ball efficiently.
Asking Malcolm Brogdon and Matthew Dellavedova to completely take over the play-making of the team is asking a lot. Instead, Jason Kidd has unleashed his third year forward. He gets a rebound, and pushes the ball up the floor. This isn’t that different from his usual role. He’s been a key outlet without Giannis.
When a teammate gets the rebound, Jabari gets himself in a good passing lane and calls for the ball. He then pushes the ball up the floor, looking to get his teammates involved, which again isn’t unusual for him. It’s the fact that he controls nearly every offensive possession.
His passing really showed up in the box score vs the Wizards, walking away tying his career high of seven assists. He only managed to get three assists in San Antonio. Yet, he still managed to make a lot of nice passes to set teammates up. The shots just didn’t fall at the right times that night. He turned to ball over twice over two games, another great sign.
He, to his credit, has shown an increase in effort without his co-star. Jabari has been far more aggressive going for rebounds, contesting shots at the rim, and trying to get to the rim on offense. I know a lot of people see this as a negative, asking why Jabari doesn’t always play like that. I’m taking the route of, be appreciative that he brings his best basketball when the Bucks need it most.
I think that’s quite telling of what Jabari can become as a basketball player. He’s still able to produce, with all the defensive schemes directed at him. It’s one thing to produce at a high level when you’re the secondary option on a team.
It’s another to be the go to guy and perform at the highest level of your career thus far. The performances create a lot of optimism. It’s becoming clear that Jabari is not a secondary option on this team, it’s more like the Bucks have two go to stars.
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Behind his lead, the Bucks have stayed competitive in both games. Against playoff quality opponents, I may add. No one would have believed the Bucks would go into San Antonio without Giannis (or Khris Middleton), and win the game. The Bucks got one of Michael Beasley’s best performances of his career. But part of the belief that the team could compete with the 30-8 Spurs, stemmed from the energy Jabari brought to the game.
Another area he excelled against the Spurs was his decision making down the stretch. Jabari sat with five fouls early in the fourth quarter, and managed to efficiently guard Kawhi Leonard without picking up his sixth. Having to guard him was a big challenge in the first place, normally that match up goes to Giannis.
He wasn’t perfect. Kawhi could get his shot up with a smooth pump fake creating enough space for his mid-range jumper. But what Jabari did do was use his athleticism to challenge the Spurs star when he was trying to get to the rim. He’d put Leonard into a tough angle to the rim, then he’d take a step back and let his rim protector slide over and contest the shot.
The Bucks star has shown that he’s a very capable lead man, now it’s time for him to find ways to build on these performances. When his co-star does return, the team will be much better off if Jabari Parker can continue to find ways to help the team in all facets of the game.
