Mbah a Moute drinks in the work on road to improvement

From the Milwaukee Journal

St. Francis — During a water break at a recent Milwaukee Bucks practice at the team's training center, forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute positioned himself alone at a basket and hoisted a number of jump shots while the other players quenched their thirst.

It's also not uncommon to see the second-year player stay after practice and put up even more jumpers with assistant coaches.
Improving his mid-range jump shot has been high on Mbah a Moute's list since the end of last season and it's something he took seriously over the summer and in training camp.

"He's put in hours and hours on it," said Bucks assistant coach Bill Peterson, who worked regularly with Mbah a Moute over the summer. "And good, quality time. Not just messing around. I think we'll see progress. Will he be where we want him to be? Not quite yet. He's only a second-year player. He's really focused on it. He wants to get better."

Said coach Scott Skiles: "He's worked on his shot tirelessly."

Last season as a rookie, Mbah a Moute averaged 7.2 points on 46.2% shooting and he and departed forward Richard Jefferson were the only two Bucks to play in all 82 games. Mbah a Moute's 491 field goals attempted were the fewest among the players in the regular rotation. Mbah a Moute, though, didn't take long to establish himself as the team's top defender.

In an effort to avoid a drop-off in his second season, Mbah a Moute has worked in the weight room to get his legs and upper body stronger. He wants to improve at taking contact and finishing around the rim and develop his low-post game.

But sharpening his jump shot was as important as anything, and Mbah a Moute thinks he's made progress.

"I got better," he said. "My shot got more consistent. I worked a little bit on my defense. I was also trying to develop a post game a little more and be more aggressive there."

Asked what he's hoping to bring to the table this season, he said, "The same thing I brought last year. Come in and play hard and defend every night. Compete and give my best for the team. Be unselfish on the offensive end and try to make plays for the team. That's all."

For the most part, the Bucks have had Mbah a Moute working on the mechanics of his shot, getting him to follow through more consistently, keep a wider base, as he tends to keep his feet together when he shoots, and use his legs to get into his shot.

"When you get a wide base, you have balance," said Peterson. "When you have a wide base and push you have more force when you shoot the ball. He's pretty good when he steps in to shoot. Where he gets in trouble is when he is just standing. His feet tend to get inside his shoulders and he's got no lift and he ends up hitting the rim. Or he's short, something like that.

"Here's a young man who has put in a lot of time. He's not a natural-born stroke guy like Carlos Delfino or Mike Redd. He's put a lot of time in and he's gotten better and better and will continue to get better. It's a work in progress."

Working with Peterson and assistant coach Adrian Griffin over the summer, Mbah a Moute would shoot until he made 2,000 shots a week, doing so for five or six weeks. Some of those shots were even from the three-point line as the coaches tried to extend his range.

"From where he was last year at this time to now, he's way, way better," said Peterson. "He can do it. He just has to keep doing it; repetition, repetition, repetition."

Mbah a Moute has plan mapped out

This is a crucial offseason for Milwaukee Bucks forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute as he continues to work on his game with the hope of furthering his development as a player in the National Basketball Association.

"It's a very important summer for him," said Bill Peterson, the Bucks' assistant coach of player development. "I think he could take a huge step up. You see a lot of rookies come in and do pretty good for awhile and the next year they nose-dive."

For the time being, though, the Bucks have the 6-foot-8, 230-pound Mbah a Moute on a four-point workout plan in which they would like him to:

• Work in the weight room to get his legs and upper body stronger.

• Improve his mid-range jump shot, catching-and-shooting as well as off-the-dribble. Mbah a Moute is shooting until he makes 400 shots per day. "He's not just shooting that many shots, he's making 400 every day," Peterson said. "So that takes a good amount of time to do that. He's getting his form down."

Said Mbah a Moute, "If I keep working on it, I'm trying to get to (making) 600 or 700 a day . . . mid-range and everywhere. I'm not trying to shoot threes or anything like that . . . just having the proper rotation on the ball and developing the proper technique."

• Work on taking contact on layups and finishing better around the rim. "He's one of those guys that is unique and finds a way to get open around there because he's slippery," Peterson said. "He's not going to explode on anybody so he has to learn to take the contact and finish."

• Develop a jump-hook and a better post game so he can take advantage of his length against smaller players.

Mbah a Moute said he was going through the individual workouts with the team in mind.

"To me, it's all about the team," he said. "The team didn't play well, the way we wanted to. You can make all the excuses you want about injuries and all that stuff. But even with the injuries we still had the eight spot (for the playoffs) for a while. I've always been like that. When the team doesn't play well, it really doesn't matter what you do individually. So I'm trying to come back next year and help the team win. That's my main goal.

"Whatever it takes defensively, I'll try to be a better defender. Now that I have a feel for it and I kind of know the guys in the league, hopefully this time around I'll be a better defender. Also, I need to be a threat on offense. Be able to knock down that 15-foot or 17-foot jumper and make good decisions on offense."

Said Peterson: "He's done a great job since he's been here. He's been really focused every day, getting something accomplished."

Mbah a Moute defends his turf

Defense Wins Championships! Courtesy of the Milwaukee Sentinal

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute is a prince.

Literally.

Back home in Cameroon, his father is an elected village chief, so he's got that going for him.
But this is why he is a prince in a basketball sense:

"The most important thing is defense," he said. "My main thing is to play defense."

A defense-first declaration from a Milwaukee Buck? And a rookie and a second-round pick at that?

Believe this, he plays NBA defense the way it is supposed to be played. He gets it, really gets it, after all of five games in the league.

Think about that for a minute.

Who was the last rookie to actually help a team defensively?

Probably Tim Duncan.

For the Bucks, it was a guy named Sidney Moncrief.

Already, this is the class Mbah a Moute is approaching.

He played 34 minutes Wednesday night. A lot of his court time came in the fourth quarter and in overtime of the 112-104 victory against Washington, which tells everything. It doesn't matter who starts NBA games. It matters who finishes the close ones.

More than that, it matters who finishes for Scott Skiles, a coach who rewards defense. Mbah a Moute finished against the Wizards with Richard Jefferson, Andrew Bogut, Luke Ridnour and Ramon Sessions.

Think about that, too.

Without Michael Redd, the best five players were Jefferson, Bogut, two point guards and a rookie second-round pick.

If you're looking for a reason to get excited again about a team that has given you almost none for the longest time, there it was, right there, that game against the Wizards. For almost all of a fourth quarter and overtime, Skiles stayed with a feverishly energetic quintet that dived on the floor, made stops and steals, finished plays and got the Bradley Center jumping as it hasn't jumped in a while.

And in the middle of it was this 6-foot-8 rookie all over Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler, this second-round prince from UCLA

"It's not a matter of where you're drafted," Jefferson said. "It's a matter of if you can play basketball. And he can play basketball. Already, he's been asked to guard the best players on the other team. When you're asked to do that, there is no higher compliment you can be paid as an individual."

Credit general manager John Hammond and Skiles for drafting Mbah a Moute, because so far no second-rounder has helped his team so much.

"When we picked him we knew he was an NBA-ready defender, but he needed improvement on his offensive game," Skiles said. "Then we saw him work and the energy and the effort he put into it. His offensive game is going to come around. He's making shots and doing a lot of good things."

Against the Wizards, he made eight of 10 for 17 points. The Bucks had the confidence in him to let him try a game-winner in regulation. He took the baseline in overtime. He made the jumper that finished Washington. He had six rebounds. He is becoming a complete player the right way, by leading with defense.

"That's me," he said. "I'm proof that defense wins championships. It's happened everywhere I've been."

In Cameroon. At his Florida high school. And especially at UCLA, where he knew nothing of the Bruins' singular heritage before enrolling. Soon enough, he knew.

Now he needs to know that the Bucks were once a great defensive team with Moncrief at the fore.

Maybe this is what it will take, a prince to uphold Sir Sid's legacy.