It was just a matter of time before this happened. Khris “Khobe” Middleton flashed a different part of Kobe’s game tonight, the part of his game where he decides to stop shooting endless midrange iso jumpers and instead tries to find his teammates, and does it so well that he gets a triple-double out of it. Not to say he didn’t still shoot a bunch of midrange iso jumpers. He did. I don’t think a game goes by where he doesn’t.
Middleton’s assist numbers have been pleasantly good this season, a fact that I don’t feel like people recognize. He’s always been a pretty decent passer, but it’s ramped up a bit this year; this is now his fourth game with double-digit dimes. There’s a reason they call him “Diamond Dimes” Middleton. And by “they”, I mean “Marques Johnson one singular time on one broadcast”.
So we knew he could pass. At least, Bucks fans knew he could pass. But it turns out that without Giannis around to inhale all the rebounds, Middleton can work the glass as well! Normally with guards the rebounds are the roadblock to getting a trip-dub, but Middleton grabbed 14 of the things without even a second thought. If the Bucks didn’t lose this game by 22 points, I’d say they were better off without the Greek Freak.