Post#1507 » by CharityStripe34 » Fri Sep 30, 2022 1:00 pm
old skool wrote:For me, Antetokounmpo is starting to reach the point where it is not necessarily reasonable to expect continual improvement year after year. Arguably, there has never been a NBA player who has improved so much every season in the league for 9 years. That has to slow and eventually stop at some point.
I think his future will be fascinating. Will his game improve or simply evolve? Will athletic physicality continue to be his primary attribute or will he transition to a game featuring more nuance and finesse? Will his body hold up?
It should be quite a ride and we should never fail to appreciate how incredible it is to be able to watch it all. Over time, Giannis will become a historical legend, viewed in a compressed time line similar to how fans today see Mikan, Wilt, Russel and Kareem. Over time, the true wonder of a superstar fades. The highlights are enshrined forever, but the details are lost. The cadence of the dominance is lost. We should never take for granted what we are able to watch up close. Ten years ago, who among us would have believed that the Milwaukee Bucks would one day soon have a player that could legitimately be considered as a top 15 player of all time? Appreciate it. Savor it. Embrace it.
I don't ever expect him to suddenly become a 36% three-point shooter. I think he'll probably settle somewhere in the low 30's at best. But what I do expect to see is a gradual shift in his reliance on physicality to using more of his finesse. Hook shots, floaters, post-ups, fades, etc. I fully expect that 15-20FT mid-range to become one of his main go-to moves after he turns 30. Which is why I don't complain when he sometimes settles for them, because it's his best-looking shot. Basically, the stuff he's been adding the last 2-3 seasons, just more of that type of game and less straight-line drives and insane Euros. This will be his evolution and he'll settle into an old-man KG type of game once he approaches his mid-thirties, as an offensive hub with screens and ball-movement. As well as a defensive rim-protecting hub.
"Wes, Hill, Ibaka, Allen, Nwora, Brook, Pat, Ingles, Khris are all slow-mo, injury prone ... a sandcastle waiting for playoff wave to get wrecked. A castle with no long-range archers... is destined to fall. That is all I have to say."-- FOTIS
