BUCKS Upgrade plan mapped out Mbah a Moute working hard News Milwaukee Bucks

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.

Mbah a Moute was a pleasant surprise this season for the Bucks , who plucked him out of the second round of the 2008 draft. He made contributions as a starter and a reserve. He was an aggressive rebounder, especially on the offensive end, and emerged as the team's best defender. Mbah a Moute and veteran forward Richard Jefferson were the only two Bucks to appear in all 82 games.

But now the focus is on getting better and the feeling among the Bucks is that Mbah a Moute could upgrade his game considerably by putting in a productive summer.

"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."

Asked about his rookie season, Mbah a Moute said, "It was productive. Coming where I came from, being drafted in the second round and pretty much not being expected to play, I came in there and worked hard and got some minutes and did some productive things. It's just something that I have to build on."

Mbah a Moute has been back in town for a couple of weeks and has been working out daily on the court at the team's St. Francis practice facility with Peterson and assistant coach Adrian Griffin, and in the weight room with Jeff Macy, the team's strength and conditioning coach. Mbah a Moute, who averaged 7.2 points and 5.9 rebounds in 25.8 minutes per game as a rookie, will play for the Bucks in the Las Vegas summer league in July.

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."

JSOnline.com

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