Nickel: The not-so-secret behind Khris Middleton's elite scoring ability
Khris Middleton can shoot the lights out of an arena.
On a good team, or a bad team; while carrying the team, or complementing the team, it just doesn’t matter. He’s proven it 1,000 times before, and 1,000 times now, in Games 3 and 4 of the first-round NBA playoffs against the Indiana Pacers, that he can shoot the ball.
Middleton is a career 50% two-point shooter from the field, and a career 37.1% shooter from three-point range. And those free throws? He looks like he could hold a baby in one arm and have a conversation with the bench - and still make the shot. He’s an 89.7% career free-throw shooter.
That can not be emphasized enough: For his career. Twelve regular seasons, nine years in the postseason. From a 22-year-old raw kid in Detroit to a 33-year-old champion in Milwaukee. Through injuries. Roster changes and overhauls. Under more than a handful of different head coaches. Against defenses keying on him and defenses obsessed with his teammates, leaving him open. Khris Middleton makes outstanding choices on when to shoot and has incredible accuracy when he does.
There secret is this: a devoted routine of fundamentals.
Whether he’s shooting 2-foot jump shots around the rim just to get loose, or sticking to his routine for his free throw, Middleton does not leave the court until he makes a prescribed amount of buckets. A small example: Forcing himself to make 10 consecutive free throws at the end of the toughest workout or practice, when he’s exhausted,
“It's everyday routines – almost to the point I should be able to shoot it with my eyes closed. And still make it," said Middleton.
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The elbow on his shot
But there’s one thing about Middleton that sets him apart even in the best basketball league in the world. And that’s his elbow.
If he leans in to a shot, or if he fades back on a shot to avoid the defense; if he pops up for a three, or shoots in motion; if he scorches Indiana in Game 3 with a buzzer beater, Middleton's right elbow is practically in the same spot. It’s like the rest of his body moves around that stationary elbow, a solar system of legs, arms, eyes and shoulders around the axis point, his elbow.
Middleton nodded in agreement.
“It is from different techniques that I've learned, through watching different players or working with different coaches,” said Middleton. “Your elbow always needs to be in line with the rim. If you shoot it straight and if your arm is straight to the rim, it's got a better chance of going in and being on target.
“So that's the main thing - no matter which way you're facing, at the end of your follow through the end of your shot, you always want to elbow and in target in line with the rim.”
Usually, young players are taught by good coaches to square their shoulders and their hips to the rim. It's kind of the polar opposite of former Buck, current Philadelphia guard Cam Payne – whose unorthodox shooting form has worked for him, but generally is not the standard.
But as NBA professionals evolve, they can play with that form, and for Middleton, square shoulders are helpful too, but not as necessary as what he looks for, and that's elbow alignment.
"Shoulders are part of it,” said Middleton. “I lead with my elbow. I mean, a lot of guys talk shoulders. A lot of guys talk about the wrist. I'm more of an arm and elbow guy to figure out where my target is going to be so that I know if I have my arm or elbow in line with the rim, it doesn't matter which way I'm going, or which alternative. If I release at that point, it should be straight on."
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It should be noted that I had this conversation with Middleton a few months ago, before that ankle injury robbed him of 27 regular-season games. There has been so much news happening since his return, there wasn’t really a great opportunity to finally do this story.
But after scoring 67 combined points in the last two losses at Indiana, and playing through not one but two freak incidents of rolling his ankle on the foot of other players, this seemed like as good of a time as any to talk about Middleton’s shooting strengths.
He has been shooting 40 of 79 in this series while also marking up defensively and hauling down 10 rebounds in three of the four games.
I wondered if his elbow-arm first shooting style made him vulnerable to fouls, especially those that aren’t being called by officials.
“Shoot through it, play through it,” said Middleton. “My workouts in the weight room - I try to work on being strong and stable through certain positions when I'm in the air, when I'm turning, when I'm fading. So that way I can shoot through the contact and not worry about the foul."
If he gets the whistle, great, he said; but he has to knock down the free-throw shots. But he doesn't count on the referees.
“That way if they don't see it or call it I will still be able to still make it. So I’m not necessarily worried about being fouled; just worrying about shooting, keeping my mind on playing through the contact, finishing through the contact."
Credit for the assistance
To this day, Middleton credits all the coaches he's worked with in the past for helping him develop and expand his offensive strengths that have been consistent this season.
"All my coaching staffs that I've had here have been great," he said. "J-Kidd (Jason Kidd) took us to the next level; he got us prepared for Bud (Mike Budenholzer). His staff was tremendous, getting a structure together, teaching us different parts of the game that we haven't seen before."
To be clear, Middleton was only asked about past coaches for this question - so this should not be read in to for any current Bucks coaches this season - and in the past Middleton also worked with Charles Lee, who's now in Boston; Josh Longstaff, who is in Chicago now; Patrick St. Andrews, who's in Memphis.
And Middleton has never cheated the shooting work.
“I love it, you’ve got to love the process," he said.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: The secret behind Khris Middleton's elite scoring ability
