Giannis Antetokounmpo 22-23 Thread - any thoughts on his season/playoffs overall?

[TroubleS0me]

The best all around player in the NBA ?

[CharityStripe34]

I think so if you factor his dominant offense, his improved playmaking and mid-range shooting, as well as his elite defensive play. He's largely recognized as the best player by many. Though, to be fair, there are a few guys who can make that claim which shows how loaded the league is with talent.

For me, it's Gianni first followed closely by Jokic, as I think the two of them will have a "Wilt/Russell" like battle for supremacy as far as being the overall best player for the foreseeable future. And either Steph or Durant or Luka right after them.

[TroubleS0me]

bump
44 pts in less mins

[CharityStripe34]

That second half from Gianni last night was epic. Made the Nets look tiny. Still, 34 points in a half on, like, 90% shooting is quite awesome. And he's been keen on using part of the game to get his teammates involved, which helps pace himself I would think. I think if the Bucks are a Top Three seed at around 55 wins, I could easily see him getting MVP #3.

[The-Power]

That second half from Gianni last night was epic.

It's his evolution. First half I thought ‘oh, he does have some issue with how the Nets cover him’ and in the second half he just comes out with a mindset to dominate and can't be stopped. A combination of some adjustments and just sheer willpower. He's carrying this very mediocre Bucks team (the current version without some rotation players) especially on offense so far. He's my early MVP favorite. This version of Giannis just feels like it's a step above anyone else in the NBA and I hope that he has a dominant playoff run against elite defenses to show that he truly cannot be slowed down anymore – it's the last step in the evolution to become one of the greatest peak players ever.

[CharityStripe34]

That second half from Gianni last night was epic.

It's his evolution. First half I thought ‘oh, he does have some issue with how the Nets cover him’ and in the second half he just comes out with a mindset to dominate and can't be stopped. A combination of some adjustments and just sheer willpower. He's carrying this very mediocre Bucks team (the current version without some rotation players) especially on offense so far. He's my early MVP favorite. This version of Giannis just feels like it's a step above anyone else in the NBA and I hope that he has a dominant playoff run against elite defenses to show that he truly cannot be slowed down anymore – it's the last step in the evolution to become one of the greatest peak players ever.

The only reason the Bucks even made it to Game 7 against Boston was because Gianni went all-time god mode. And, yes, without Middleton, Connaughton and Ingles (who projects as a good shooter for this team) and his cohorts shooting brick-buildings he's been brilliant to start the season.

As with the Philly game and the first half of last night's game, he's trying to do two things. He's trying to get the others involved and keep the offense flowing with a lot of dribble hand-offs and screening. He also is making a concerted effort to work on hid mid-range shot (which he improved greatly on last season).

His activity on defense was incredible, though. He had three blocks and another 2-3 blocks that were taken away by rotating teammates fouling the player.

[parsnips33]

Yeah, he's looking like the best player in the world to me

[MyUniBroDavis]

Yeah, he's looking like the best player in the world to me

He’s been the best player in the world lol

[Colbinii]

Yeah, he's looking like the best player in the world to me

He’s been the best player in the world lol

Yup--essentially was the best or was a 1B or 1C since 2019.

[CharityStripe34]

Freak with a very casual 30-14-9 against a feisty Knicks team. And with the Bucks 3pt shooting probably below 30% on the year thus far. He could've (and should've) had 12-13 assists but dudes were clanging the rim left and right.

[TroubleS0me]

4-15 FT bump & loss vs 6ers

[CharityStripe34]

4-15 FT bump & loss vs 6ers

A really weird game for him. Was great in the first half, but really was pressing in the second and lost himself at the stripe.

His game last night against Portland was quite an excellent bounce-back. 37-7-6 with 2 steals and only one turnover. The FT slump continued but the encouraging thing I liked to see was that he cut out his dumb "phantom" FT practice shot. He's gone through slumps before; I think he'll snap out of it. His passing and patience last night were excellent.

[CharityStripe34]

38-9-6 on 65-66-71 percentages in 30 minutes against Cleveland tonight. Was incredible in the second half. His knee and ankle are bothering him still as he doesn't have quite the lift/burst that he normally does, and is leaving 10% balls out effort in the tank.

His new FT stroke looks way smoother. Wish he would cut the incessant time-wasting before he actually shoots it. FIBA refs actually told him to speed up his FT attempts and he shot 78.5% from the stripe during the tournament. Kid just overthinks it most of the time (some of the time he's getting an extra breather).

[falcolombardi]

38-9-6 on 65-66-71 percentages in 30 minutes against Cleveland tonight. Was incredible in the second half. His knee and ankle are bothering him still as he doesn't have quite the lift/burst that he normally does, and is leaving 10% balls out effort in the tank.

His new FT stroke looks way smoother. Wish he would cut the incessant time-wasting before he actually shoots it. FIBA refs actually told him to speed up his FT attempts and he shot 78.5% from the stripe during the tournament. Kid just overthinks it most of the time (some of the time he's getting an extra breather).

StIll my mvp pick

[CharityStripe34]

It's between him and Tatum, with Doncic, Curry and Jokic just behind them. Still way too early, in my view.

[TroubleS0me]

Read on Twitter

[TroubleS0me]

Read on Twitter

[CharityStripe34]

Unfortunately, they totally choked the game away with shooting futility (which Gianni played a part in, missing like 6 jumpers late). Bucks shot 9/44 from three in an OT game. Even worse was that nearly all of their looks were either open (3-6ft) or wide open (6+ft). It's been a glaring issue for the team, and we Bucks fans have all aged 15 years so far this season watching the brick-laying futility.

He was the reason the Bucks were controlling the game, but also part of the reason why they fumbled it late with some bone-headed stuff. Missing Jrue and Khris really hurt, 'cause Freak isn't a PG he's a PF who can pass.

[O_6]

He came into this season as most people's #1 player, I know that's where I had him ranked. What does he do to start this year?

31/12/5 on .584 TS% on the 2nd ranked team in the Conference. He's currently 4th in the MVP race in terms of betting odds, in the 3-5 range on most peoples' lists.

Sounds like a guy that's pretty much taking care of business and delivering on the pre-season expectations. Leading his team to a top seed and cruising his way into the MVP discussion once again. And yet, it feels as if he's having a disappointing season.

.541 eFG% (lowest since 2017)
.245 3P% (lowest since 2015)
.653 FT% (lowest since 2020, 2nd lowest of career)
101 TS+ (lowest since 2014 rookie season)
+4.2 On/Off (lowest since 2017)

He did drop his career-high of 55 his first game of 2023, but it's been a struggle since then. Over his last 3 games played, 2 of those were awful single digit performances. And now, he's dealing with knee soreness that has kept him out of the past 4 games.

I know he's still pretty young, but I think he might need to adjust his gameplay in the long haul regular season going forward. He's still playing as aggressive as ever. He's getting to the rim more often than he has the past few years, but a lot of that is because he seems to have lost his outside touch.

The area of the game where Giannis improved the most during his title run were those short little 7ft shots that he'd hit in the post during those playoffs.

In The Paint (Non-Restricted Area):
2021 Finals: 56.0 FG% on 4.2 FGA
2021 Playoffs: 48.2 FG% on 4.0 FGA

He was absolutely feeling it with those Non-Restricted Area shots in that run. It really looked like he had developed a weapon that opened up his offensive game. It was just enough to force defenses off-balance. Didn't need to be a high volume shot, but the threat of it alone helped him.

This is how he's shot in that area over the past 5 seasons...

In The Paint (Non-Restricted Area):
2019 Season: 38.5 FG% on 2.2 FGA
2020 Season: 38.2 FG% on 2.8 FGA
2021 Season: 37.1 FG% on 3.2 FGA
2022 Season: 40.8 FG% on 3.3 FGA
2023 Season: 19.6 FG% on 3.1 FGA (easily league worst FG% among those with some kind of volume)

I was hoping that the epic Finals run would lead to a more diversified offensive game for Giannis. He did seem to show some slight improvement in that area last year after that playoff run, but it has completely fallen apart this season. He has been abysmal from that range all season long.

I really like Giannis as a player and as a person. But I am worried about how long he can keep going with this blunt force playstyle. He needs to try and regain that short-game touch from the Finals/Playoffs and try to involve that into his game more. I think he's at the stage in his career where he shouldn't exert 100% energy in the regular season all the time, take is easy with the constant rim attacking, emphasize that short/mid post game more even if it means lower regular season numbers. The name of the game is to peak as you're entering the playoffs, and I think practicing and utilizing those little shots more in the RS is very important in making sure he's at his best in the playoffs.

[TroubleS0me]

yea shooting took a dip this season
seems like he put it in more effort in too shooting last year