Maker’s midrange game paying off
The Milwaukee Bucks needed someone to stop the bleeding.
Trailing by four with less than six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter following a 15-4 run by the Phoenix Suns, Thon Maker stepped up to give the Bucks some life. More accurately, he stepped in.
“I thought he did a great job of finding his sweet spot tonight, inside the three-pointer,” head coach Jason Kidd said. “It was just like shooting at shootaround, just catch and shoot. He made a lot of shots tonight inside that three.”
Off to a slow start from beyond the three-point line, Maker has made an effort to move in for his jump shots. In the fourth quarter Wednesday, he hit a pair of 21-foot jumpers in a 90-second stretch to tie the game at 84 then deposited a 16-footer with 1:12 remaining to tie the score again, doing his part to set up an exciting finish as
the Bucks earned a 113-107 victory in overtime.
“I don’t want to say it, but he’s got confidence,” Bucks point guard Eric Bledsoe said. “He’s got some big ones. He’s definitely got some big ones. He came in clutch, knocked down three big shots for us.”
Maker, who went 4 of 6 on shots between 10 and 22 feet on Wednesday night as part of his careerhigh 16-point effort, didn’t come to the decision to move in on his own. It’s something that’s been mentioned to him recently and was hammered home on Tuesday in a meeting with Kidd.
“We had a nice, long talk about it,” Maker said.
That meeting consisted of Kidd showing Maker his stats from around the floor and explaining that his most effective spots are in the midrange areas. Those are the spots he needs to get to
Heading into Wednesday’s game, Maker was shooting just 14 of 34 (41.2%) inside of 14 feet. On three-pointers, Maker was 10 of 32 (31.3%) overall and struggling outside of the corners, going 6 of 26 (23.1%).
On midrange shots, though, Maker was 8 of 15 (53.3%) and shooting with much more confidence. That’s where Kidd wants him to focus.
“I just trust it,” Maker said. “I’m comfortable hitting that shot. In high school, I was in that scenario many times with the midrange jump shot, especially from the elbow.”
Over the course of the season, Maker has often been left wide open, especially along the threepoint line. As a player who has the ability to score from beyond the arc, Maker took those opportunities when they arose, but couldn’t convert consistently.
In the interest of getting more consistent, Maker has accepted the advice that he moves in by a step or two.
“It’s all about me deciding now to take the smarter approach knowing that I’m going to get those shots, so take a step in,” Maker said.
Despite the plan put in place on Tuesday, Maker took some time to extend his game outside the paint. In the first quarter against the Suns, he missed an early layup and was off the mark on a hook before cutting for a layup and depositing a putback with under two minutes remaining in the period.
He then got off to a slow start on his jumpers, missing a 21-footer in the second quarter and another early in the third before connecting from 22 feet to give the Bucks a brief jolt in the midst of what would become a game-tying 19-5 Suns run.
After missing a 9-foot hook with 7 1⁄2 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Maker stuck strictly to midrange jumpers and knocked all three of them down.
“It’s big, he’s listening to us,” Bucks wing Khris Middleton said. “We’ve been talking to him this past week, these past couple days, to stop settling for threes and get to that midrange spot where he’s much better and much more effective.”