The Bratwurst - Milwaukee Bucks Blog

You might think that, given that he has provided the only bright spots for the team in the last few months.

Of course I jest, but I think that even in this brief glimpse of extended minutes for Session, we have all seen enough to be able to say that getting him was a nice going-away present from Larry Harris. A long-term starter … well, let’s hold off on a judgement like that just yet.

Sessions has put up a very solid 0.823 IPM in his first 10 games (just behind Mo’s 0.855), which would rank him about #30 among guards, had he played a whole season. In the four games in which Sessions has played
significant minutes he has played very efficiently, racking up more assists (31) than shots (29). He has also averaged 3 rebounds per game. According to 82games.com, Sessions has consistently outplayed his opponents. While at point guard he has averaged a 21.2 PER while holding his counterpart to a 12.8 (while Mo averages a 19.3 and his counterpart a 19.8). These numbers are very flawed — especially for someone who has played so few minutes and often against backups, but they still give an indication about how efficient Sessions has been.

While Sessions won the Washington game with his last-second jumper, the pessimist must note that Sessions did almost cost the Bucks their two wins this month, with his late foul of Quentin Richardson giving him three free throws to win (he only made two) and his foul of Gilbert Arenas with 15 seconds remaining against the Wizards gave them the lead and set the stage for the game-winner. So it’s not as though the results on the court have been that dramatically better.

One thing that is interesting is that the Bucks’ defense has improved — in a manner of speaking — since Sessions started seeing the court. By IPM Rankings, the Bucks are the 26th best defensive team for the season, but over the last two weeks they are a much more respectable 17th. But a look at the numbers shows that the Bucks haven’t actually improved — they are exactly the same but a bunch of teams around them have packed it in for the season and seen their numbers plummet. But since most teams would tend to fall apart after they are eliminated from the playoffs, I guess that Sessions’ impact cannot be discounted in helping the team keep trying at the same level as before.

I guess the one thing that makes me hold reservations that Sessions can keep playing at this level is that he is playing very differently than he usually does. In college and in the NBDL (where he averaged close to 25/7/7) he has been a scoring point guard who shoots a low percentage but makes up for it by getting to the line. It seems like every single NBDL box score I looked at saw him taking at least 15 free throws.

Sessions is only shooting a pretty typical 36%, but he has been doing a nice job of limiting his shots. This has kept him off of the line, but has also kept his low percentage from hurting the team (better you shoot 2-6 with 8 assists than 6-18 with nine assists). While he is doing a great job so far, I wonder what would happen should he go back to his old ways.

A long-term starter? I don’t really think so.

An excellent backup, strong enough to score and big enough to defend? Definitely.