The Giannis Antetokounmpo Thread

[ronnymac2]

This is turning scary quickly. Giannis is a point guard. He's not just playing point guard. He is a point guard. He's so comfortable with the ball, and these passes and so natural. And with his unique physical dimensions, he's got a ton of potential as an interior scorer, offensive rebounder, and defensive player.

All I can say is wow. We're seeing a burgeoning star.

[H2tObes]

He makes this look way too easy.

[JLei]

It's like watching a taller Grant Hill. And I mean that as a very high complement.

[Wonderllama]

He's not Magic Johnson just yet... but man, it feels like he could be one day

[SunKing]

Giannis have it all. Count me in the bandwagon.

Greeks fans are probably still wondering 6 months later why Spanoulis didn't let Magic Giansson killing Spain in the Eurobasket and kept ballhogging.

[AussieBuck]

Shocking how small the hype is in the general NBA sphere for what he's doing.

[GYK]

I don't see a point guard. It was a GREAT game. But he's more full court LeBron in Durant's body(those are amazing gifts. Thinking he'll be a superstar is absolutely a good idea). The difference between him and every wing with point guard duties is the pick and roll. He doesn't run the pick and roll at all. It is all full court playmaking. His offense is also a lot of putbacks. Catch and drives to an astronomical amount of space taking spin move(his other types of playmaking).
I still think he can score around 20 this way. Between he and willing to run but half court triple threat Parker, they have a complementary wing tandem that will work this greyhound league.

[DutchManDanFan]

I don't see a point guard.

Jason Kidd thinks otherwise. Look for his recent interviews (I'll add a link later).

Last 11 = Point Giannis

Code: Select all

DATE    W/L MIN PTS   REB  AST BLK STL TO  A/TO
First 54 - 34,8 16    7,3  2,8 1,2 1   2,5  1,1
Last  11 - 38,5 20,4  9,3  8,6 1,9 2,2 2,9  3

What honors will he get? MIP, defensive team, all nba (3rd team)?

[Joyride15]

I don't see a point guard. It was a GREAT game. But he's more full court LeBron in Durant's body(those are amazing gifts. Thinking he'll be a superstar is absolutely a good idea). The difference between him and every wing with point guard duties is the pick and roll. He doesn't run the pick and roll at all. It is all full court playmaking. His offense is also a lot of putbacks. Catch and drives to an astronomical amount of space taking spin move(his other types of playmaking).
I still think he can score around 20 this way. Between he and willing to run but half court triple threat Parker, they have a complementary wing tandem that will work this greyhound league.

There were PNRs in the video just posted... As with every game Giannis has been pg lol. Kidd wanted him to push the pace, that's why you see every rebound become a fast break for Giannis.

Side note, 3:20 of that video is hilarious, defender goes to double Giannis before realizing he left Middleton open for 3 hahaha

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

I don't see a point guard. It was a GREAT game. But he's more full court LeBron in Durant's body(those are amazing gifts. Thinking he'll be a superstar is absolutely a good idea). The difference between him and every wing with point guard duties is the pick and roll. He doesn't run the pick and roll at all. It is all full court playmaking. His offense is also a lot of putbacks. Catch and drives to an astronomical amount of space taking spin move(his other types of playmaking).
I still think he can score around 20 this way. Between he and willing to run but half court triple threat Parker, they have a complementary wing tandem that will work this greyhound league.

He's bringing the ball up the court, calls and sets up the play and is the primary ball handler 70%+. Even when not pushing the ball up, he is the main guy who starts the offense. He is a ton better than MCQW/Bayless/Knight (not saying much) as a true PG. I guess what else does he need to do to be a PG?

[tsherkin]

I don't see a point guard. It was a GREAT game. But he's more full court LeBron in Durant's body(those are amazing gifts. Thinking he'll be a superstar is absolutely a good idea). The difference between him and every wing with point guard duties is the pick and roll. He doesn't run the pick and roll at all.

Eh? This isn't true. Through the season to date, he hasn't run it MUCH because he's not been installed directly at the point, but he's got something like 93 possessions (or a shade over 8% of his touches) as PnR sets, and that's been accelerating over the past dozen games or so.

[tsherkin]

Kidd wanted him to push the pace, that's why you see every rebound become a fast break for Giannis.

In the fine tradition of Oscar, Kidd and Magic, a big PG hitting the defensive boards to key the action, yeah. Only yeah, Giannis has some kind of fierce potential in that respect as a result of his size. His broader potential is quite interesting.

The past 11 games for him have been nuts. Just to review:

20.4 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 8.6 apg, 2.2 spg, 1.9 bpg

50.9% FG on 15 FGA/g, 65.1% FT on 7/8 FTA/g (gotta work on that), 55.2% TS, 4.3% ORB, 34.9% AST, 13.6% TOV, 113 ORTG

Four triple-doubles and one he missed by a single rebound.


Not a bad run, yeah?

[Clyde Frazier]

Kidd wanted him to push the pace, that's why you see every rebound become a fast break for Giannis.

In the fine tradition of Oscar, Kidd and Magic, a big PG hitting the defensive boards to key the action, yeah. Only yeah, Giannis has some kind of fierce potential in that respect as a result of his size. His broader potential is quite interesting.

The past 11 games for him have been nuts. Just to review:

20.4 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 8.6 apg, 2.2 spg, 1.9 bpg

50.9% FG on 15 FGA/g, 65.1% FT on 7/8 FTA/g (gotta work on that), 55.2% TS, 4.3% ORB, 34.9% AST, 13.6% TOV, 113 ORTG

Four triple-doubles and one he missed by a single rebound.


Not a bad run, yeah?

Yeah, I happened to just look up those same 11 games, and it's kinda mind boggling. "The Greek Freak" is such a fitting nickname with him basically being a walking vine reel, but that kind of AST output from someone his size is crazy. Raw volume obviously isn't everything, but I'll have to get around to watching some of these recent games to get a better look at what he's doing. Really impressive.

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

Kidd wanted him to push the pace, that's why you see every rebound become a fast break for Giannis.

In the fine tradition of Oscar, Kidd and Magic, a big PG hitting the defensive boards to key the action, yeah. Only yeah, Giannis has some kind of fierce potential in that respect as a result of his size. His broader potential is quite interesting.

The past 11 games for him have been nuts. Just to review:

20.4 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 8.6 apg, 2.2 spg, 1.9 bpg

50.9% FG on 15 FGA/g, 65.1% FT on 7/8 FTA/g (gotta work on that), 55.2% TS, 4.3% ORB, 34.9% AST, 13.6% TOV, 113 ORTG

Four triple-doubles and one he missed by a single rebound.


Not a bad run, yeah?

Yeah, I happened to just look up those same 11 games, and it's kinda mind boggling. "The Greek Freak" is such a fitting nickname with him basically being a walking vine reel, but that kind of AST output from someone his size is crazy. Raw volume obviously isn't everything, but I'll have to get around to watching some of these recent games to get a better look at what he's doing. Really impressive.

Giannis is definitely a stat chaser at times in the most adorable way but most of his assists come in the flow of the game and require skill. I recommend watching the game last night. He had one pass on off a steal where he had the ball around the opponents 3 point line and had a streaking Middleton (?) past a defender. He not only saw the play but was able to do a side arm shuffle pass that was just on a rope. His vision and natural passing ability is pretty amazing for a guy his size.

[Alphabet]

I think he will be the first player to truly be able to play the positions 1-5. If he continues to improve all facets of his game, particularly his defensive awareness, outside shot, and post up, he would be a nightmare for opponents on both ends of the floor. With all of the small ball and spacing being played out in the modern era, Antetokounmpo's size and length would cause serious problems to these teams on both offense and defense.

[HurricaneKid]

I think in general people tend to overreact to triple doubles. The players all know where they are at in regard to stats and the team always seems to tip a rebound to them, make sure they get an assist, etc. In Giannis' case I think people are completely underreacting. Its not the Pts/Rebs/Assts that are making the triple doubles special. Its that he is getting 4 stl, 2 bl, shooting insane %s, etc, IN ADDITION to his core statlines. His triple doubles are all historic.

For example,

Lets look at how many 25/10/10/3/2 on .700fg% triple doubles there have been in the history of the game.

The answer is 2. Giannis on 2/22 and Giannis on 3/13. And ALL his triple doubles have been like that:

18/16/11/4/2 - Has happened 2 times (including Giannis' - Barkley the other)
27/12/10/3/4 .706 - Once (Giannis)
28/11/14/4/2 .750 - Once (Giannis)
26/12/10/3/4 - Twice (BOTH GIANNIS in the last 3 weeks)

They gave the kid the keys to the family jalopy and he is winning the Indy 500. He has been playing basketball for 7 years. There is no limit to the upside. Would it be nice to add a shot? Of course, he would be completely unguardable. But he is almost that already with a ton of growth coming over the next 5-7 years.

[JLei]

Bucks fans must be just giddy about their future right now.

Giannis looking like a rare talent multiple time all-star. On a rookie contract.
Jabari averaging 21ppg post all-star break, looks all the way back from the ACL and was the number 2 pick in the most hyped draft in 7 years. On a rookie contract
Middleton who is fantastic perfect 3-D wing on a below market declining contract.
11th pick in 2016 draft
30 Mil in cap room
Monroe (he's an asset though not a big one).
MCW (meh, has talent but clearly no fit next to the core pieces)
Vaughn (hasn't seemed like he's shown much)

If Sanders didn't go crazy he would have fit in perfectly too. Hopefully management doesn't F this up. This is actually one of the Dwight Howard locations that makes sense assuming you can get something for Monroe (which is why it makes sense that there were heavy rumors that they were after him at the deadline). Or Whiteside since he's younger and can grow with this group. Or maybe throw that max offer at Conley.

Howard/ Whiteside
Giannis
Parker
Middleton
Lin/ Jennings/ (something you got for 11th pick and Monroe)

Looks pretty good.

[Magic Giannison]

18/12/9 with 3 blocks if im not mistaken. Giannis keeping up his performance consistently for 16 games. not bad

[Doctor MJ]

Shocking how small the hype is in the general NBA sphere for what he's doing.

So, jumping into the thread as the latest member of the bandwagon:

The hype will come.

The issue I would say is that that the collective focus of the basketball world shifts over the course of the season. Post-all-star break it's not on young players breaking through, it's on playoff races, big awards, and who is going to get the ring. Since Giannis basically isn't going to be involved in any of that (thought he should win the minor award of MIP I think), there's a limit to how much attention he's getting.

Additionally with Giannis there's the matter that he's been getting the same type of hype since he joined the league and his development until recently wasn't actually that salient. I know he was raw at the start and so the improvement actually was sizable, but in terms of grabbing people's attention, they basically have a slot for rookies and a slot for stars. If you get past the rookie season and you're still just a guy with potential, people tend to tune out hype along the lines of "He's like nothing we've seen before!".

So yeah, I expect that in the build up to next season, Giannis is going to get a ton of attention, and if he begins the year playing like this, he's going to be the talk of the entire league.

[Doctor MJ]

He makes this look way too easy.

Yup, and this is where it reminds me of Magic. Or even more, it reminds me of playing against my much older brother when I was a kid.