Wasn’t that a nice little stretch for Thon Maker? 11 points in around 3 minutes of game time, spanning the second and third quarters, including a Dirk-like move on the master himself. Of course, since the vid title says “11 Points” right there, you know he didn’t do anything else the whole game (except get bamboozled on defense), but still. Not every game can be an insane 23-point outburst that I’m still trying to figure out.
If the Bucks were a tanking team like they were looking as if they could be a couple weeks ago, Maker would be getting tons of minutes right now. He still gets to start, but only because Kidd is committed to the Greg-Monroe-off-the-bench concept. Many games he doesn’t get time except at the beginning of the halves, and for good reason: he just isn’t that good yet. He’s good enough that you can give him minutes and have it not be a total disaster, but for a team trying to win, he has to be limited.
It sounds like I’m being harsh on him, and maybe I am. He’s actually exceeded my initial expectations by far, by being able to contribute sometimes, so those expectations have gone up. I want rebounds!