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The problem in keeping C.J. McCollum is that there is no middle ground. There is no choice but to watch him closely, as McCollum has long been one of the league's most dangerous leap jumpers. However, any responsible defender must also remain conservative and rooted, to avoid being thrown by a particularly convincing false balloon. Every possession that passes through McCollum is based on this tension, and on Tuesday night she got the better of Bucks rookie Donte DiVincenzo in the most demoralizing way possible.
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All that DiVincenzo has done is defend McCollum with exactly the kind of pressure his scorer's game deserves. In possession of the ball to close the third quarter time, McCollum took his opponent by driving very left before braking suddenly, sending DiVincenzo down the hall as if his shoe had hit a plate of ice:
There is something particularly foolish about how McCollum then hits the wreck that was a promising young basketball player with a relaxed cross-over and the ease with which he floats the ball during the John Henson Scramble contest. It was that kind of party for McCollum – and more specifically, that kind of neighborhood. This one, sensational game put a bow on what was a 19-point frame. McCollum has besieged one of the best defenses in the league at his point of vulnerability. Guards who rely on driving to the edge may see their attempts engulfed by the length of Milwaukee. McCollum's mark of runners and jumpers away from the dribble, however, helped keep the defensive expected of the Bucks at bay. These are the same kinds of shots that Milwaukee decided, by stratagem, to concede. It's also the kind of players that a player like McCollum can hit again and again until the end of a solid win and an evening of 40 points, the best of the season.
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