Meet Jevon Carter, the Bucks’ ‘mean dog’ who sets the tone for their league-leading defense

Coming from Jrue Holiday, there are few compliments higher than “he’s a dog”.

“He’ll chase you, whoever he is,” said Holliday. I don’t care who he is and you know someone like me and I respect that.”

That mindset helped Carter become Naismith Defensive Player of the Year at West Virginia after being an unprecedented three-star recruit, and it led him to the league. After being sacked, he bounced back to four teams in his first four seasons. Now in fifth grade, he has started in his 21 games as a title contender. An opportunity arose due to injuries to Chris Middleton and Pat Connaughton, but Carter seized it with his sheer force of will. DEFENSIVE On each of his possessions, he clings to his opponent’s point guard and hunts him down the full court as aggressively as the rules allow.

What Brook Lopez means to the Bucks defense, Carter is at the forefront. “We do the same,” Giannis Antetokounmpo said when his teammates saw him challenging head-on and strutting his body.

“I’m just trying to make people uncomfortable,” Carter said. “The more I feel I’m making them uncomfortable, the more I tend to succeed. I just stick to that recipe.”

Even in the competitive world of athletes, Carter stands out. cleveland cavaliers Head coach JB Bickerstaff coached him during his rookie season. Memphis GrizzliesI still vividly recall my pre-draft training.

“When he stepped onto the floor, you looked at him and you knew he would always overdo it,” Bickerstaff said. He practiced whatever it was, and he figured out how to beat them all. I had the will and determination to try.

“We left that meeting. Whatever standard you set for him, he will find a way to exceed it. I have proven that.”

Carter split his first season between the Grizzlies and their G League affiliates while Memphis traded him to Phoenix and played enough to earn a three-year, $11.5 million deal in the 2020 offseason. did Carter is sands However, he didn’t play a minute in the 2021 Finals before being traded to Brooklyn.

of Net I bet that the long-range shots that Carter flashed on limited attempts at Phoenix (39.7% on 297 totals of 3) were real, but he couldn’t buy a bucket in the Big Apple. They fired him so they could sign Goran Dragic, and the Bucks quickly scooped him up and gave him another chance to contribute to a team with championship ambitions.

Carter has been more consistent as a shot maker and earned it in part because he made 40.0% of his career-high 3.7 3-point attempts this season. Not only his reliable spot-up shots around Antetokounmpo – he made his 45.8% of his open attempts wide – but his secondary playmaking ability is what the Bucks It means you can keep him on the floor and take advantage of his calling card, defense.

There are times when Carter’s influence is evident, such as when swiping a steal or surprising an opponent with a block. He has 1.4 steals per game, which puts him second on the Bucks, and on blocks he has 0.7, which puts him third. But more often than not, he makes small, helpful, error-prone plays that add up over the course of the game. No stat captures the value of Carter’s full-court pressure influencing opposing point guards and allowing another player to launch an attack.

Grayson Allen said, “If you have someone else bring the ball to the court, they’re out of shape.” , if he regains the ball, they start play at 14, 15 seconds on the clock instead of 20 seconds. I have to do Isoball because I have to and I don’t have time.”

Carter said his only goal in defensive possession is to force mistakes. He doesn’t always get the credit when that happens, but his commitment to annoying opponents tends to pay off: “They were exhausted during his four quarters, We have a chance to win by the end of the game,” Holiday said. On November 16, Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell shot 6-10 from the field in the first half and went 1-9 in the second half against the Bucks.

After the Bucks won 113-98, Mitchell said, “I know he’ll always be there. You have to watch out for him.” He chooses his spot well and definitely presents a challenge in the guard spot.”

Atlanta Hawks Star Trae Young went 6-9 on Oct. 29 in Milwaukee in the first quarter and went 9-23 for the rest of the game. It’s the same story when D’Angelo Russell went 3-8 in the first half and 0-7 in the second half against Milwaukee on November 4th.

It was a breakthrough season for Carter, but he averaged just 7.9 shots even in his starting lineup. He knows teams need to take open threes with confidence, study their opponents’ tendencies and, as Budenholzer puts it, “get the upper hand on defense.” If he sounds unimpressed with himself, it’s because he always believed he could do this, going all the way back to his first game in the NBA. guarded and blocked one of Paul’s patented midrange jumpers.

“That’s when I knew I belonged after that game,” Carter said. “Honestly, I just play ball whether they respect me or not.”

Meanwhile, Carter has learned how not to. that too “Aggressive,” yet “still pressuring and causing havoc,” he said, not being called for “a lot of cheap fouls,” the NBA’s on-ball defenders can do it in college. “You can’t touch a man,” she lamented repeatedly. But the biggest difference between Carter then and now is that after two trades and one straight-up release, he found his place. Not just the fearlessness he needed, but the confidence he needed to survive in the league and the support of his organization and most of all his teammates. increase.

“Honestly, it’s like taking a deep breath,” Carter said. “Having them push my back is everything I hoped it would be and it helps me play freely. Basketball is about confidence and rhythm. , it will make your job easier.”