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Milwaukee Bucks Midseason Grades: Guards

By Kenny Jilek

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - NOVEMBER 19: Jrue Holiday #21 of the Milwaukee Bucks dribbles past Kenrich Williams #34 of the Oklahoma City Thunder during the first half of a game at Fiserv Forum on November 19, 2021 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - NOVEMBER 19: Jrue Holiday #21 of the Milwaukee Bucks dribbles past Kenrich Williams #34 of the Oklahoma City Thunder during the first half of a game at Fiserv Forum on November 19, 2021 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images) /
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Milwaukee Bucks
George Hill, Milwaukee Bucks (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images) /

Milwaukee Bucks Point Guards

George Hill

In many ways, as a point guard, George Hill has come pretty much as advertised for the Milwaukee Bucks. He is a solid ball-handler who can initiate the offense and keep things steady while Jrue Holiday rests on the bench. His assist and turnover numbers are pretty similar to his last three seasons as predominantly a bench player, both per game and per possession. He’s currently at 2.4 assists per game and 0.9 turnovers. 

Defensively, he’s pretty much exactly what he’s been the last few years as well. His 0.8 steals per game are right on pace with what he’s been doing, and his defensive rating of 111 and defensive box plus-minus of +0.4 are squarely in the ranges he’s been in lately.

The one area he’s really struggled is shooting the ball. Just two seasons ago, he was the NBA’s leading three-point shooter in terms of percentage at 46 percent, and he has a great career mark of 38.1 percent, but this year that number has dipped to a career-worst 30.1 percent. He still has time to fix this, but so far, he has not been the reliable floor spacer that he’s been at every other stop on his career journey.

Overall Season Grade: C

Jrue Holiday

Jrue isn’t having a great season at the free-throw line, shooting only 70.9 percent, well under his career average. And that will be the only negative thing I will be saying about our star point guard today.

Jrue is playing absolutely fantastic basketball this season, and his presence on the court gives this team a big boost. This year, he’s playing more isolation ball than ever but not giving up any efficiency. He’s not depending on others to create his shot. Just 16.2 percent of his 2-point baskets have been assisted, the second-lowest mark of his career to only the 2014-15 season when it was 16.0 percent and 46.7 percent of his threes are assisted, a career-low.

Even with creating his own shot much more than in years past, this is the second-highest shooting percentage he’s ever had in a season at 49.9 percent, just a few makes short of last season’s mark of 50.3 percent.

He’s also upped his assists from 6.1 per game to 6.7 a night from last year to now. His player efficiency rating of 20.1 is a career-best, narrowly beating out last season. Jrue really has been playing the best basketball of his career these last two years with the Milwaukee Bucks. This year, it should earn him an All-Star spot. This team is nowhere near the same without him, and that showed in the two back-to-back losses to the Charlotte Hornets.

Everything he does on the court is special, from shooting to defending to creating for his teammates. He does it all on both ends of the court, and it’s time he gets rewarded with his first All-Star appearance since 2013.

Overall Season Grade: A+

So, what do you think of these grades for the Milwaukee Bucks’ guards? Do you think anyone should be graded differently? Let me know in the comments below and look for wing players’ grades coming out soon.

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