Jabari Parker has served as a sixth man for the Bucks over the second half of the season since returning from a second ACL tear in February. Defense has always been a question mark for the 22-year-old throughout his career, but his offensive potential has outweighed those concerns throughout the majority of his first four seasons.
However, Parker hasn’t been given much of a chance to make an impact in his first playoff series against the Celtics. His regular season average of 25 minutes per game has been cut in half over the first two games, as he’s been a non-factor on offense and a negative factor on defense. The fourth-year forward vented about the lack of playing time at practice in Milwaukee on Thursday, ahead of Game 3.
"For myself, I just try to be a good teammate," Parker told reporters. "I'm not getting what I want right now, but I think there's a bigger picture. I think I did a better job the second game. Not to harp on the first game, but look, I'm human, right? I deserved to be out there and I earned it. Six games and to see that like, I'm not going to handle it well. I have feelings. I've been waiting two years. I've been waiting. And to see that time get cut short, nobody is going to handle that the right way.”
That type of frustration is understandable for an eager young player, but a closer look at the first couple games indicates that the Celtics have put a target on Parker’s back on the defensive end. The Bucks have been outscored by 29 points in the 25 minutes he’s played in this series, easily the worst plus/minus mark on the Milwaukee roster. Instead of letting him play through those struggles, Bucks head coach Joe Prunty has pulled the plug on the forward quickly in both games in Boston.
"We need him and everybody to be ready to go and step on the floor and play well," Prunty said. "If you look at our offense, you could make an argument, look at the field-goal percentage, we're doing pretty well, scoring some points. But you look at the flip side of that -- our turnovers are way too high. And that's not on Jabari; it's on our entire team. Defensively, there's a lot of things we got to take care of. Our transition defense has to be better. It's on Jabari and everybody that steps on that floor to make sure we take care of all of those things."
What exactly have the Celtics done to cause these breakdowns? A look at the tape indicates how the Celtics have played him off the floor.
Postups
Al Horford has had his way with Giannis Antetokounmpo for much of this series down low and the same has been true against Parker. Watch how he muscles him easily in the first quarter of Game 2 for an easy look at the basket.
Running Parker through screens
The problem with Parker’s defense is he doesn't really do anything well so there is nowhere for the Bucks to hide him against a versatile Celtics frontcourt. He’s not strong enough to handle big men down low and he’s not quick enough to get through screens on the perimeter. Watch how the Celtics cycle him through a couple picks here to get Jaylen Brown an open 3 after Parker is switched onto him.
Whether he’s guarding Marcus Morris, Jayson Tatum, or Brown, all three provide the dribble drive/shooting threat that puts Parker in a bind. Notice how easily Tatum gets past Parker back in April in an isolation sequence.
Jayson Tatum blew right by Jabari Parker for the hammer! ?#Celtics #NBA pic.twitter.com/IgYgbWuOyZ
— Hashtag Basketball (@hashBasketball) April 4, 2018
Oh Jabari Parker is frustrated & thinks he'd only get more minutes with some favoritism? Maybe he'd be more on the coach's good side if he put in a little effort on plays like this. Al Horford isn't THAT much faster. pic.twitter.com/E1j1frJgV7
— John Karalis ?? (@RedsArmy_John) April 19, 2018