Bucks To Start Giannis Antetokounmpo At Point Guard

[RealGM Wiretap]

The Milwaukee Bucks continue to experiment with Giannis Antetokounmpo at point guard and will start him in Tuesday's preseason game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Antetokounmpo will start with Khris Middleton and Jabari Parker on the wings, Ersan Ilyasova at power forward and Zaza Pachulia at center.

Antetokounmpo has grown to nearly seven feet with a 7'3 wingspan, but has flashed the playmaking skills of much smaller players in his brief NBA career.

"We've seen it in practice, and so when you see a player's comfort level with the ball no matter what size, we want to see it in game action," Jason Kidd said back in July. "We slowly have started letting him have the ball and running the offense."

Via Mike Prada/SB Nation

[CoreyGallagher]

Well, I'm glad so that we can finally put this to rest, by that I mean the prospect that he's a PG in any semblance. Although, it is a nice gimmick to advertise once in a while I suppose.

[CHAMPi0N]

This will be very interesting, but I also suspect it will be short-lived. Giannis has shown a lot more versatility defensively than he has offensively, plus he turned the ball over quite a bit last year without running the offense. But I hope to see him thrive, I am a fan of his game and would love to see a 7-foot perimeter play maker in the NBA.

[Imon]

Kidd has been drinkin' again...

[GaaBaaBoo]

Nice name

[TheBallDoLie]

I was watching their last preseason game against the Bulls. He ran the offense a few sets during that game and it wasn't that bad. Mainly cause he was able to drive and cause the defense to collapse. I don't know if it's a long term fit there but it wasn't exactly ineffective in the short time I saw it.

Kendall Marshall looked like the best point guard out there that particular game I was watching. He had like 5 assist in the matter of 4-5 minutes. He always was a good passer.

[MiltownHawkeye]

Well, I'm glad so that we can finally put this to rest, by that I mean the prospect that he's a PG in any semblance. Although, it is a nice gimmick to advertise once in a while I suppose.

Unless you're being sarcastic I'm confused, how is announcing that he's going to play PG in the game tomorrow putting anything to rest?

[Mik317]

If this works...holy **** hax

[Darren_Errman]

Jason Kidd

[CoreyGallagher]

Well, I'm glad so that we can finally put this to rest, by that I mean the prospect that he's a PG in any semblance. Although, it is a nice gimmick to advertise once in a while I suppose.

Unless you're being sarcastic I'm confused, how is announcing that he's going to play PG in the game tomorrow putting anything to rest?

Not this particular game specifically, that they're going to legitimately allow him to play PG which I don't believe he's capable of playing. He may be a fine facilitator, ball handler, w/e, he's still not a PG.

[tmac101]

Well, I'm glad so that we can finally put this to rest, by that I mean the prospect that he's a PG in any semblance. Although, it is a nice gimmick to advertise once in a while I suppose.

Unless you're being sarcastic I'm confused, how is announcing that he's going to play PG in the game tomorrow putting anything to rest?

Not this particular game specifically, that they're going to legitimately allow him to play PG which I don't believe he's capable of playing. He may be a fine facilitator, ball handler, w/e, he's still not a PG.

As a prospect coming out of Greece he was initially labeled as PG

[Dcebucks11]

this is gonna be a fun year for the bucks

[Dcebucks11]

This will be very interesting, but I also suspect it will be short-lived. Giannis has shown a lot more versatility defensively than he has offensively, plus he turned the ball over quite a bit last year without running the offense. But I hope to see him thrive, I am a fan of his game and would love to see a 7-foot perimeter play maker in the NBA.

he was very raw last year. hes shown so much more so far this year and the season hasnt begun yet.

[The_Hater]

As a prospect coming out of Greece he was initially labeled as PG

No he wasn't, he was projected as a SF with his 2nd most likely position being PF. Just because he had decent perimeter skills for his height doesn't mean that anyone projected him as a PG. Nobody did.

[Matches Malone]

He may be a fine facilitator, ball handler, w/e, he's still not a PG.

Just curious, but what do you consider a point guard? You named some very important traits of a point guard so I'm just wondering what else one would need skill wise to be considered a point guard in your eyes.

[Matches Malone]

As a prospect coming out of Greece he was initially labeled as PG

No he wasn't, he was projected as a SF with his 2nd most likely position being PF. Just because he had decent perimeter skills for his height doesn't mean that anyone projected him as a PG. Nobody did.

I think he meant to say he played point guard in greece but was projected as a small forward coming into the NBA. Giannis is the definition of a Point Forward much like Paul Pressey was for Milwaukee back in the 80's.

[TrueStoryGSW]

Most overhyped greek player ever.

[CoreyGallagher]

He may be a fine facilitator, ball handler, w/e, he's still not a PG.

Just curious, but what do you consider a point guard? You named some very important traits of a point guard so I'm just wondering what else one would need skill wise to be considered a point guard in your eyes.

I was being hypothetical, my point was just because a player possesses certain traits of another position doesn't mean they're capable of playing that position full time (referring to the 7 foot PG threads and the what have you). There have been plenty of wings and big men in this league that can dribble and pass, many more refined than Giannis, that you could not simply slot into PG. As I mentioned, a worthwhile gimmick, but it's just perpetuating this belief that he could be a PG and I'm hoping that now that he's supposedly going to be playing point that this is put to rest, suffice it to say I don't expect it to be a successful experiment.

[GeoBar]

As a prospect coming out of Greece he was initially labeled as PG

No he wasn't, he was projected as a SF with his 2nd most likely position being PF. Just because he had decent perimeter skills for his height doesn't mean that anyone projected him as a PG. Nobody did.

I am following this kid's career from the very beginning. Giannis was the main ball handler in every single moment of his career in Greece. From the beginning when he was at Egaleo High School(15-16y.o.) as a pure pg and also when he was playing with the team of Filathlitikos(17-18y.o) as a point forward. I don't know if he can do the same on the NBA level. We will found out that soon i guess. He never played as a PF here in Greece

[theFireBlanket]

He may be a fine facilitator, ball handler, w/e, he's still not a PG.

Just curious, but what do you consider a point guard? You named some very important traits of a point guard so I'm just wondering what else one would need skill wise to be considered a point guard in your eyes.

I was being hypothetical, my point was just because a player possesses certain traits of another position doesn't mean they're capable of playing that position full time (referring to the 7 foot PG threads and the what have you). There have been plenty of wings and big men in this league that can dribble and pass, many more refined than Giannis, that you could not simply slot into PG. As I mentioned, a worthwhile gimmick, but it's just perpetuating this belief that he could be a PG and I'm hoping that now that he's supposedly going to be playing point that this is put to rest, suffice it to say I don't expect it to be a successful experiment.

He played the point for the full 4th quarter against Chicago on Saturday. Albeit that came against Brooks & Hinrich,... he still came out on top of each matchup. Not coincidentally the Bucks played their best quarter of basketball and cut close to the Bull's lead.