Kyle Korver’s shots falling again for Bucks
Welcome to the 2019-20 edition of the Bucks Weekly Spotlight. Each Thursday we'll track the progress of the players who are trying to help Milwaukee make a championship run, give updates on other players from the previous week and sometimes take a look at who is lighting it up for the Wisconsin Herd.
This is the 6th edition of the 2019-20 Bucks Weekly Spotlight
SPOTLIGHT ON …
Guard Kyle Korver
Approaching 39 years of age (in March) it’d be fair to wonder how much more NBA life Korver has left.
He’s always been a top-notch 3-point shooter and as long as he can still fire consistently from long range (and wants to keep playing), he’ll have a job.
Korver settled into his role with Milwaukee early. In his first eight games he averaged 2.1 3-pointers per game while shooting 48.6% from downtown. But then he hit a rough patch. From Nov. 14-Dec. 11, he made just 26.5% of his 3-point attempts and averaged just one made 3 per game.
Korver was inactive for Milwaukee’s Dec. 13 game in Memphis. The night off did him well.
In the week’s other two games, Korver made 7 of 12 3-point attempts (58.3%). In Wednesday’s loss to Dallas, he sank five 3s and totaled 17 points in just over 24 1/2 minutes – all season highs.
On the season Korver is making 38.5% of his 3-point attempts, which is a good percentage but actually would be his lowest rate since the 2007-08 season.
Korver’s recent exploits show that he could easily be raising that percentage even more. And he’s not going to stop taking 3s, that’s for sure. There’s an old basketball axiom when players are asked about a slump: Shooters shoot.
As we’ve seen, Korver is going to keep shooting. And he’s going to keep making a lot of 3s for the Bucks.
BUCKSHOTS
-- This week in Giannis: Just another week in the life of Antetokounmpo in which he had games of 37 points and 11 rebounds (in just under 27 minutes) and 48 points and 14 rebounds. Giannis is now averaging 31.7 points and 12.6 rebounds but his per-36 numbers are 36.5 points and 14.8 rebounds. The last NBA player to have a per 36 ppg of 36+ or higher was Wilt Chamberlain in 1961-62 (37.4). OK, Chamberlain is the only player to ever do it. (Note: James Harden has a per-36 of 37.0 ppg this season, but his rebounding is half of that of Antetokounmpo’s).
-- Donte DiVincenzo had seven steals in Milwaukee’s three games, including three against both Cleveland and Dallas. The second-year guard is 13th in the NBA in steals per game (1.6) but fourth in steal percentage (3.3%). DiVincenzo had 15 points against the Cavaliers and posted career highs of 10 rebounds and nine assists vs. the Mavericks. He’s also doing it defensively as his 99.7 Defensive Rating (per basketball-reference) ranks fifth in the league (NBA.com lists his defensive rating at 96.1).
-- Despite playing over 18 minutes just once in the past eight games, Ersan Ilyasova has scored in double figures in six straight contests and in seven of those eight.
-- In the G League, guard Rayjon Tucker had quite the week. In three games with the Wisconsin Herd he had 36, 35 and 35 points. Tucker left Little Rock after his junior season but went undrafted in this year’s draft. He played for the Bucks in the Las Vegas Summer League, averaging 10.2 points over 19.8 minutes, and appeared in three preseason games for Milwaukee (totaling 29 minutes).