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#Post#: 6--------------------------------------------------
RT4 - Question 1 - Thon Maker
DIR By: Tim Wray
Date: July 16, 2016, 6:56 am
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Coming into Summer League, Thon Maker had very little experience
against players of NBA and D-League calibre, so it was difficult
to gauge any reasonable expectations for him. Just over a week
later, Thon leaves Las Vegas having been selected in the All-NBA
Summer League Second Team with his high energy play generating a
lot of excitement among Bucks fans. Based on what you’ve
seen, which aspects of Thon Maker’s game have impressed
you the most? Where does he need to develop/improve and how do
you think Milwaukee will use him during the regular season?
Thon Maker: 14.2 PPG (.377 FG .316 3PT .792 FT) 9.6RPG 1BPG
#Post#: 15--------------------------------------------------
Re: RT4 - Question 1 - Thon Maker
DIR By: JordanTreske
Date: July 18, 2016, 12:22 am
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By far, what impressed me most about Maker's game is his motor
and energy. Obviously that's been long associated with his game
for awhile now, but it didn't have an effect on me until I saw
him play an actual game (yes, I know I'm counting Summer League
games as actual gameplay) and while it's more of an expectation
than a skill, it's not hard to see Maker making a positive
impact with second effort plays right away next season. Looking
elsewhere, Maker showed some positive signs as a shooter and a
defender, but it'll be interesting to see how those hold up over
the course of an 82-game season. There's no doubt Maker will
play in a limited role next year, but I think that's the best
thing for him at this point as he adjusts to the NBA game and
lifestyle.
#Post#: 17--------------------------------------------------
Re: RT4 - Question 1 - Thon Maker
DIR By: TiWindisch
Date: July 18, 2016, 9:12 am
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Definitely the most impressive thing about Thon thus far has
been his awareness and quickness for me. As much as we make fun
of it for being lesser basketball, Summer League is the highest
level of competition Thon has ever faced. There were quiet
concerns that due to his young age and lack of experience that
Thon wouldn't be able to keep up with the competition.
HTML https://twitter.com/SynergySST/status/754805594108731393
Well, he did more than keep up. Thon finished tied for sixth
among 2016 first round picks in Summer League in points per
possession, ahead of players like Dragan Bender, Ben Simmons and
Brandon Ingram. He's still raw in NBA terms, but Thon Maker will
find minutes next year.
#Post#: 22--------------------------------------------------
Re: RT4 - Question 1 - Thon Maker
DIR By: adammcgee
Date: July 18, 2016, 11:02 am
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Some of his stats were nice but I'm not willing to invest too
much stock in the thankless black hole that is Summer League
numbers. Instead, I'm going to give what's probably a pretty
boring answer to this one.
Since the draft, we've heard the Bucks do so much talking about
Maker's work ethic and we've heard him offer up so many nice
soundbites about effort and desire. That was all great and a
nice way to win many fans over on the pick, but I still really
wanted to see if he could live up to those measures when he got
on a court. The best part of Summer League for the Bucks was the
fact that he proved that talk of his work ethic and commitment
were very real.
He wants to win and he wants to be involved. Really badly.
That's great, and it's the kind of detail which means I can now
start to envision a role towards the back of the rotation for
him. This year won't be about Thon Maker showing everything that
he may one day be able to do, but if he can provide energy,
effort and a reliable contribution, he'll get the minutes needed
to start to feel comfortable and work on his flaws.
#Post#: 27--------------------------------------------------
Re: RT4 - Question 1 - Thon Maker
DIR By: Tim Wray
Date: July 20, 2016, 7:57 pm
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After countless articles speculating the strengths and
weaknesses of Thon's game, it was refreshing to finally see him
on court to give us our first decent measure of where he
currently sits in terms of development.
Now, I don't want to be that guy overreacting to five games of
Summer League, but considering Maker's lack of experience at
this level, it was hard not to be impressed with his performance
in Las Vegas. He gave us flashes of his limitless upside and
ultimately proved that his skills are much further along the
development curve than most Bucks fans (myself included)
anticipated. There's a very long road ahead, but his ability to
freely move up and down the court with such a high-energy work
rate is extremely impressive for a seven-footer. Further, his
length on the defensive end and glimpses of a nice shooting
touch were also positive signs for his future development.
Not to sound like a broken record, but I think we all knew that
his size (weight) and strength were always going to be a huge
issue against the majority of big men he matches up with at this
level. This was particularly evident as his opponent frequently
bullied him in the paint and he lacked the strength to finish
inside against bulkier defenders on offense. John Hammond
mentioned in an interview on the broadcast that the Bucks
strength and conditioning team plan to add around eight pounds
of weight to his frame each year, so hopefully this concern can
be resolved as he fills out his frame over the next two or three
seasons. As for other areas where he needs to improve, I'm not
going to read too much into his foul trouble or situations where
he was caught out of position on defense, because I think these
will sort themselves out as he adjusts, learns and grows as a
player in an NBA system.
Depending on the forward-center rotation and game situation, he
might not always see court time, but I think Thon's shown that
he's ready to play an energy role for the Bucks and give the
team roughly 10-15 minutes a night next season.
I can't wait to see Giannis, Jabari and Thon running and gunning
on the fastbreak.
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