Doc Rivers Defines Shake Milton's Recent Success With One Word
Shake Milton’s role on the Philadelphia 76ers going into the 2022-2023 NBA season was unclear.
As head coach Doc Rivers evidently shrunk the rotation from previous years, Milton was among a couple of prospects to find themselves from the outside looking in.
In the first three games of the season, Milton rode the bench. His first set of action didn’t come until the fourth outing of the year against the Indiana Pacers in late October when he checked in for six minutes.
The following game, Milton didn’t see the court again. It wasn’t until the October 28 matchup against the Toronto Raptors that Milton consistently started seeing minutes. From then on, as players suffered setbacks, Milton started seeing his playing time gradually increase.
During his first three-game stretch in the rotation, Milton averaged eight minutes on the court. For the next seven games, the young veteran guard averaged 18 minutes of playing time. When Milton finally got the nod to start in the absence of the injured Tyrese Maxey, Milton’s playing time jumped to 39 minutes per game over the last five outings.
Over time, Milton’s minutes will lower and normalize as the Sixers get healthier, but the veteran guard isn’t giving the Sixers a reason to rush anybody back in the lineup.
As Milton has averaged over 20 points and seven assists in Philadelphia’s most recent five-game stretch, the thriving guard looks more different than he has in the past. After Sunday’s win over the Orlando Magic, Doc Rivers had one word to define Milton recently.
“Comfortable,” said Rivers when discussing Milton.
After another highly-efficient shooting night from the field, knocking down 77 percent of his shots for a game-high of 29 points, Rivers admitted he hadn’t seen the same player in Shake Milton lately. And that’s a good sign for the future.
“The difference in Shake now than in the past is, you don’t see him forcing it,” Rivers explained. “It wasn’t like he ran any ISOs. He just got it through when the ball swung, he just kept it simple. That is great to see for him. That’s a whole different version of him.”
Following Friday’s win over the Orlando Magic, Milton mentioned that his mindset has simply been not trying to do too much on the floor. Since he’s been taking what the defense is giving him and playing within the system while trusting those around him, Milton has looked much more improved as of late.
His role will shrink when James Harden and Tyrese Maxey return to the starting five in the future, but the confidence Milton is building right now in Philadelphia’s starting lineup will go a long way for the team’s bench when the Sixers get healthier.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.
