There’s a lot to appreciate about Bobby Portis this year, and 82 things to appreciate about him this week. But there’s one thing that maybe has been overlooked a little bit this whole time he’s been in Milwaukee: his shot.

The 6-foot-10 power forward actually changed it a lot, with the help of someone he affectionally call an “OG.” Marcus McCarroll, who first met Portis almost 20 years ago, has two winter coats. One for his hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas, and another for Milwaukee.

“The Arkansas one doesn’t work well enough in Milwaukee,” McCarroll said with a laugh.

In February during the all-star break, Portis didn’t rest – though he had every reason to. Instead, he met up with McCarroll, his longtime friend, mentor, fitness trainer and former youth coach. McCarroll came to Wisconsin to work with Portis, taking advantage of the down time by putting in the extra work, even if it meant sneaking out to the gym late at night after rest.

Bobby Portis played in every game this season

And that work is partly why, for the first time in his career, Portis played in all 82 regular-season games this season.

“It’s been cool, man, just to be available for my team,” Portis said after practice early this week. “Knowing that I’m going to be out there, ready to go.”

During the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season with the New York Knicks, Portis played all 66 games, but this year really stood out. For a Bucks team riddled with injured players, Portis was reliable, always there, always ready to contribute. 

As the Bucks spent Tuesday and Wednesday preparing for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference first-round playoff series against Indiana on Sunday, they were without injured Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo. So coach Doc Rivers focused on two scorers and playmakers, Khris Middleton and Portis.

More: Game times, schedule set for Bucks vs Pacers in first round of 2024 NBA playoffs

And Portis, who averaged 24.5 minutes per game, embraced the opportunity. He’s ready for the postseason. He credits the Bucks training staff, his work ethic and playing with Team USA in the national basketball program last summer as his reasons for playing in peak form all year.

“I’ve been hoopin’ since July,” Portis said, “you feel me; I’ve been hoopin’ for a minute. Came into training camp already ready to roll. I was in the best shape of my career. And I think it kind of showed throughout the season.

“You know I play hard, so … to play with energy every night. It was great.”

Putting in the work to improve his shot

But McCarroll emphasizes that Portis’ work journey goes way back before then, back to when he started strength training at age 15 seriously.

The best way to tell Portis’ progress, especially offensively, is in his shot. Portis used to sometimes put the ball almost over his head – in his college days, his early days as a pro and even when he got to the Bucks for his first season in 2020.

Now, Portis’ shot is pretty, whether coming from the post or outside. He’s shooting 40.7% on three-pointers and 54.5% on twos. Remember when he said he used to work on that baby sky hook to exhaustion until he hated it? Well it’s part of his shooting arsenal now.

“It was like a reverse process for us,” McCarroll said. “We had a trial and error, we were trying to understand the shot before, instead of studying the shot and trying to tweak it. We did it backwards, but I like it now.”

All that work took years.

“Absolutely had to tweak his shot just a little bit,” McCarroll said this week in a phone call. “He had the on-top-of the head release. And it wasn’t so much about his accuracy, but he would let it go at different points a lot of times, or he wouldn’t have his hips under the ball. So the timing mechanism was off a little bit.”

Portis and McCarroll sought outside help and opinions. They tried a lot of different things.

“We really focused on that that year that we came into Milwaukee to work on our shot,” McCarroll said. “It took years to get to that point where we could go in and change a shot, you know. I tell kids it’s hours and hours you got to put into it to make it feel natural and be able to do it repetitive times over and over and over and over and over again.”

Portis also does a good job of bending his knees with that shot, especially when he’s open.

“It’s more of a balance thing – I try to make sure that I’m on balance best as I can,” Portis said. “Shooting is all about form and balance, not leaning to the left or right.

“Nine years ago when I come into the league, it was kind of funky. I was bringing it over my head to shoot. … My form is way different.”

Nickel: Cool, calm and collected, Bucks coach Doc Rivers adapts to a practice without Giannis and Damian Lillard

Rivers, who has openly coached Portis from Day 1, it seems, on how he wants him to approach his shooting against various defenses –  and not rushing –  also seems impressed by Portis. He said he always thought highly of him, but coaches and players form opinions about others in the league, and those opinions could be misguided at times.

“It’s an example of you don’t know a guy until you play with him or coach him. I knew he could shoot; I didn’t know he could shoot, you know what I mean?” Rivers said.

NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award

As for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award, Portis will probably get a lot of votes again this year. Will it be enough to finally win it? That’s unclear.

“I’m cool with who I am and I impact winning at the highest level,” he said.

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2020 as a franchise, but much of the roster been there before. Multiple players have reached the postseason with other franchises before, and their experience will be valuable for a younger Pacers squad.

Two of those players, Aaron Nesmith and Jalen Smith, have specific prior postseason experiences that could be valuable for Indiana this year. They battled the Milwaukee Bucks in a series recently — for Smith, it was during the NBA Finals in 2021 when he was with the Phoenix Suns. For Nesmith, it was the Eastern Conference Semifinals in 2022 while he was a member of the Boston Celtics.

While a lot has changed for the Bucks, much is the same. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middlteon, Brook Lopez, Pat Connaughton, Thanasis Antetokounmpo, and Bobby Portis remain for the Milwaukee group that won an NBA Championship three years ago, and five of those players still get significant playing time for the team to this day. While other players, including some stars, have come in and changed the roster in a major way — and the Bucks have made two coaching changes, too — they do have a roster filled with continuity. And now, they’ll face the Pacers in the first round.

“Yes and no,” Smith said of what he remembers about the series he played against the Bucks. “I try to say no because I lost, so I try to forget it. But at the end of the day, I understand the game plan that we had.”

Smith didn’t play at all in that series. He was a rookie for the Suns, and Phoenix didn’t want to rely on him in the postseason. But he was still a part of the preparation against Antetokounmpo and company. He has experience with a battle against Milwaukee.

“They’ve got a lot of shooters around Giannis now,” Smith said of what is different about the Bucks in 2024 compared to 2021. They’ve added Malik Beasley and Damian Lillard, among others, who can bury outside shots.

Phoenix was up 2-0 in that series before losing four in a row to drop the best-of-seven. The Bucks got the best of Smith and the Suns. But in the following season, Nesmith and the Celtics got their shot at Milwaukee in the postseason and had different fortunes.

Boston had an intense, seven-game battle with the Bucks the year after Milwaukee’s title run. Nesmith, who was in his second season at the time, was largely out of the rotation, but he did make an appearance in four games during that series.

“It’s a different team, different coaching staff, different play style. It’s a brand new series, brand new team,” Nesmith said of playing the Bucks now compared to a few years ago. “We’re going to look at it with a great opportunity.” He had three points and four rebounds in the 2022 series while shooting 50% from the field.

The Celtics won the best-of-seven before reaching the NBA Finals. Nesmith, like Smith, learned a lot about playoff preparation from that run, and both young players are better now thanks to their past experiences.

Now, they are both in the Pacers playing rotation, so their involvement in the upcoming postseason will be much different. They both acknowledged that it does feel different to get ready for a playoff series in which playing time is clearly coming.

“I’m super excited, super pumped. It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Nesmith said of the upcoming set with the Bucks. He’s preparing differently day-to-day now since he has a bigger role that he did with Boston. But he still learned a lot with the Celtics. “I’m familiar with the prep and how detail-oriented you have to be about everything,” Nesmith said, noting that small things matter.

Smith shared similar sentiments on Wednesday. “I got the mental aspect and how crucial each game is,” he shared of his experience with the Suns. Now, he’s the Pacers backup center and will be a key reserve behind Myles Turner against Miwlaukee.

“Just being ready and being prepared mentally just to go out there and compete,” Smith said.

Both players have similar career arcs in that they were traded to Indiana after being a deep reserve lottery pick in their first NBA stop. With the Pacers, Smith and Nesmith both took advantage of bigger opportunities and are key parts of the team’s rotation. The blue and gold went through some development years that benefitted the pair, but now those two are ready for a postseason series as contributors.

Their prior experiences against the Bucks will be valuable. They’ve seen Milwaukee up close, and on the biggest stage. Their opponent has a different look and feel now, but so do Nesmith and Smith. They’ll be ready for more responsibilities in this series.

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MILWAUKEE (AP) – Blake Perkins hit a single in the eighth inning to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a 1-0 win over the San Diego Padres on Wednesday, spoiling a stellar start by Padres right-hander Michael King, who pitched a no-hitter through 6 2/3 innings.

King (2-1) went a career-high 7 2/3 innings on the day, throwing 109 pitches. He struck out 10 batters and walked two.

“I felt like I had a steady mix and was able to command all my pitches,” he said. “Mechanically, I wasn’t thinking about anything. I was just going out there and executing.”

King didn’t allow a runner past first base until the eighth inning. Brice Turang made his major league-leading ninth stolen base, advancing to second after hitting a single. King was charged with a run when Turang scored on Perkins’ single off Wandy Peralta.

“Wandy hadn’t given up a base hit to a right-handed hitter all year,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said. “It didn’t work out.”

Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy said his second-year center fielder Perkins just “meets it halfway.”

“He doesn’t force anything,” Murphy said. “He’s authentic as hell, he’s respectful, he’s humble.”

The Brewers snapped a three-game losing streak and ended the Padres’ three-game winning streak.

Milwaukee right-hander Bryse Wilson pitched 3 2/3 innings, striking out two and walking one. It was his first start since Sept. 28, 2022, when he was with Pittsburgh.

“I was just extremely motivated,” Wilson said. “The bullpen side, we knew we were very short, we were extended a little bit. I wanted to go out and be the best that I can be.”

Abner Uribe (2-1) helped preserve the shutout in the eighth after giving up a leadoff triple to Matthew Batten. Uribe retired the next three hitters, punctuated by a bare hand grab he made of Fernando Tatis Jr.’s groundball and throwing him out by a step for the third out.

“It was extremely exciting, and it’s something that I was pumped up about and really got to enjoy,” Uribe said through an interpreter.

Joel Payamps earned his second save, pitching a perfect ninth.

Milwaukee has struggled to score lately. In six consecutive games from April 7 through Saturday, Milwaukee averaged nearly 10 runs per game (58 total). Since then, they scored four Sunday, three Monday and three Tuesday.

It was the first time the Padres have been shut out since Aug. 22.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Padres: Put RHP Yu Darvish (0-1, 4.18 ERA) on the 15-day IL (neck tightness). … Recalled RHP Logan Gillaspie from Triple-A El Paso. … Traded RHP Pedro Avila to the Guardians for cash considerations. … Recalled Batten from El Paso and optioned C Brett Sullivan to El Paso.

Brewers: Selected RHP Tobias Myers from Triple-A Nashville and optioned LHP Jared Koenig to Nashville. … Designated RHP Vladimir Gutierrez for assignment.

UP NEXT

Padres: Host Toronto on Friday. RHP Matt Waldron (0-1, 3.14 ERA) faces Toronto’s RHP Yariel Rodriguez (0-0, 2.45 ERA).

Brewers: RHP Freddy Peralta (2-0, 2.55 ERA) faces Cardinals RHP Kyle Gibson (1-2, 6.16 ERA) at St. Louis on Friday.

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