At 65438+1October 29th, Beijing time, Bucks15 1-kloc-0/31defeated the wizards, and Middleton contributed 51point.

A single game of 5 1 minute also set a new personal career record. The previous record was 43 points, which was set by 20171kloc-0/.2 against the Hornets.

When the Bucks offered Middleton a five-year maximum salary of 654.38+78 million in the summer, many fans responded: Well, Middleton is indeed an excellent player, but the annual salary is 30 million? Is he really worth it?

Ric Bucher, a reporter from Bleacher Report, interviewed several league executives during the offseason and wrote down their views on the deals reached in the free agent market. These league executives question whether Middleton can be a reliable second-in-command of the Bucks. According to sources, Bucks also expressed doubts about this.

"The Lakers can make Middleton the fourth best player on their team and make him money at the same time, but the Bucks can't." A team general manager from the Western Division said anonymously.

In the Eastern Conference finals against the Raptors in six games, Middleton averaged 13.7 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists, and hit 4 1. 1%+37.5%. This is really not the data table that high-paying players should hand over, but in Milwaukee, can the team find a better player and letter brother partner than Middleton?

After Middleton signed this big contract, he wrote a long article about ESPN to express his ambition:

We have unfinished business in Milwaukee.

Last season was a springboard for me personally and the whole team. I did many first-time things on and off the court: I was selected as an All-Star for the first time, I went to the East for the first time, and I became a father for the first time.

But I still have a lot to finish. We still have a lot to finish. Our goal is not to enter the Eastern Conference finals, but to win the championship. I want to be a part of it, which is why I will stay in Milwaukee for the next five years.

Not long ago, we won15 (2013-14). I was 22 years old that year, and everything was difficult. You may think that winning 15 season may be my lowest point, but that's not because we tried our best. We are just young, inexperienced and not good enough. As a member of the Bucks, my lowest point was when I lost to the Celtics in the 20 18 playoffs. The following year, we made a comeback and beat the Celtics in the playoffs, which was the first time that the Bucks returned to the Eastern Conference finals in 200 1 year.

I went back to the gym this summer and decided to make next season special. The mission of this team is to win to the end.

In the new season, Bucks have made great strides under the leadership of Brother Xin, who is undoubtedly the leader of MVP. In just 30.7 minutes, he averaged 30 points 12.9 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, but the bucks were far from the only strong output. Even if he is on the court, the Bucks are a strong team.

When Brother Alphabet was present, Bucks 100 round 14.9 points beat their opponents, but when he was away for 943 minutes, Bucks 100 round could also beat their opponents by 8.4 points, which was higher than the Lakers' 7. 1 point, ranking second in the league.

Brother Alphabet once said after his team defeated the Cavaliers: "We have a team with excellent lineup depth, which is crazy. If bledsoe can't play, or I can't play, we are still a playoff team and still have a 50% chance of winning. "

Middleton, who also fulfilled his promise, did not relax after winning the big contract and played more offensive efficiency than last season.

This season, Middleton averaged 20.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game, hit 50.3%+43.2%+90% in three items, successfully entered the 180 club, and scored a career high with a real hit rate of 62.4%. Even more frightening, he played less than 29 minutes.

On the one hand, Middleton's efficiency improvement is his own efforts, on the other hand, Buden holzer also gave him a higher freedom of attack. At the beginning of his tenure, he wanted to deliberately change Middleton's familiar shooting habits and play more magic balls with the pace of the times. According to the data of cleaning glass, in the season of 17- 18, 52% of Middleton's shots were in the middle distance area, surpassing other teams in the league.

18 12.8, Middleton scored only 10 in the home defeat to the Warriors. After the game, according to the report of reporter Gery Woelfel, there was a fierce quarrel between Middleton and holzer, and Middleton lost his temper and insulted holzer in training.

Middleton and holzer soon reached an agreement. Holzer no longer forced Middleton to play like klay thompson in his mind, but only focused on catching the ball and shooting three-pointers. He finally understands that Middleton needs to find the feeling of attacking with the ball on the offensive end, and likes to use his strong figure and elegant pace to find dislocation in the middle distance, so that he has the right to handle the offensive end independently, which is beneficial to the team. Middleton also learned to play more easily and concisely, adding some routines without the ball. This season, his scoring and assist rate is also 7.5% higher than last season.

In terms of shooting distribution, Middleton's mid-range shooting increased from 39% last season to 48%. What he cut off was mainly his shooting in the basket, giving the space in the penalty area to the defender and the letter brother. He took on the task of middle-distance one-on-one hit and three points with peace of mind, and Middleton became more and more handy, and he became more and more handy under the Bucks system. This season, his mid-range shooting percentage is as high as 52%, and his three-point shooting percentage also exceeds 85% of players in the same position.

In the real positive and negative data of the league small forwards, only James, Leonard and Butler can rank ahead of Middleton. In the absence of Brother Alphabet today, Middleton shot 5 1 minute 10 rebounds and 6 assists in 26 shots, becoming the third player in Bucks' history to score 50 points 10 rebounds in a single game after Jabbar and Brother Alphabet.

Looking back on the signing this summer, Middleton is undoubtedly a real top player. It is because of him that Brother Alphabet can hide his strength in the regular season, and the second All-Star is close at hand.