Giannis Thread - 13th Season with the Bucks

higharc · Post #881 » by **higharc** » Mon Sep 1, 2025 5:45 am

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17Bd2JZpoQ/

"Hello everyone, I’m telling you an incredible basketball story, made of randomness, passion and kindness, that happened to my family on August 19th.
We were in Athens on holiday, Carlo (my son) left with a hope: to see Giannis Antetokounmpo play at the Acropolis Tournament (he even brought himself behind the tank top no. 34 on the Bucks).
I had bought tickets for the 20th game Greece-Latvia (only two for me and my son because they were too expensive). The first day, the 19th, I thought I’d pass by the Olympic village, where the Oaka palasport is, to realize the situation and not waste time on the day of the game. Once we got there, we didn't know exactly which direction to take because the village is huge: we go a bit randomly, park the car randomly, go randomly down a slope, we randomly turn right and there... the unexpected wonder: before us we recognize the unmistakable silhouette of a giant: Giannis Antetokounmpo.

We met him, despite the bodyguard saying no. When Giannis saw the children he signaled to come closer. For us he is an absolute legend, we are fascinated by his story, my children and I have watched the film dedicated to him 3 times... I showed him all our admiration, I told him how deep I respect his mother, I told him that Carlo, my son, plays basketball, he listened to me attentively and respectfully, and thanked me, then he chatted with Carlo. He also introduced us his brother Kostas. Then I told him that the next day Carlo and I would go to the match. At that point he told us: "But you are a family, you all have to come, I'm on the tickets."

Imagine our happiness: we had met one of the brightest stars in the NBA, we could express our admiration, took many photos, and we could even be his guests at the game...

The next day we find out where he reserved our seats: next to his family... we saw the mom, the wife with the kids... all "normal" people who know how to preserve their being simple people. This was incredible.

10 days later the emotion is still as much as the desire to share this beautiful basketball story with everyone. It was an educational experience for my kids, they understood how to remain welcoming and kind even if you are a world-class athlete.
Before saying goodbye, he turned to Carlo and said:
"Always listen to your parents, always be busy in school and training, and always take care of your sister."

Obviously I cried like a fountain. In those minutes, besides experiencing an extraordinary emotion, we all had a great lesson in life.
Thank you Giannis! "

(Sasà Chirulli)

Post #882 » by **ReasonablySober** » Mon Sep 1, 2025 5:50 pm

That rules so hard.

Post #883 » by **ReasonablySober** » Tue Sep 2, 2025 4:17 pm

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Post #884 » by **MickeyDavis** » Tue Sep 2, 2025 4:32 pm

Knee soreness already. And camp starts this month. SMH Sure it could be bs to give him a game off but given his history I doubt it.

soxperry · Post #885 » by **soxperry** » Tue Sep 2, 2025 6:02 pm

MickeyDavis wrote:Knee soreness already. And camp starts this month. SMH Sure it could be bs to give him a game off but given his history I doubt it.

Giannis has said that he has and will probably always have soreness in the knee that he hyperextended against Atlanta. So i doubt this is anything beyond that and extra caution.

Ron Swanson · Post #886 » by **Ron Swanson** » Tue Sep 2, 2025 6:13 pm

Precisely why I hate that we can't prevent him from playing in these tournaments and never getting a full, proper offseason of rest. It is what it is though. His intense loyalty that keeps him in Milwaukee is the same thing that keeps him committed to these terrible Greek national teams. Kind of shocked that Greece hasn't been able to produce any kind of NBA talent throughout this whole era. Dirk was the same way though in that the next wave of German basketball talent didn't arrive until he was way too old for it to matter.

yb90 · Post #887 » by **yb90** » Tue Sep 2, 2025 6:30 pm

This seems like a load management issue. Has he played in back to back games? I think he is doing just enough to keep the team afloat.

CharityStripe34 · Post #888 » by **CharityStripe34** » Tue Sep 2, 2025 6:31 pm

Ron Swanson wrote:Precisely why I hate that we can't prevent him from playing in these tournaments and never getting a full, proper offseason of rest. It is what it is though. His intense loyalty that keeps him in Milwaukee is the same thing that keeps him committed to these terrible Greek national teams. Kind of shocked that Greece hasn't been able to produce any kind of NBA talent throughout this whole era. Dirk was the same way though in that the next wave of German basketball talent didn't arrive until he was way too old for it to matter.

It's maddening because if Giannis was born 10 years earlier or if players like Spanoulis, Papaloukas, Diamantidis, etc. of the prior generation were all in their prime now Greece would be a powerhouse internationally probably on the level of Serbia, Germany and France. The good players we still have are aging vets (Papanikolaou [Rockets], and Sloukas) interspersed with some solid talents like Mitoglou and Samodurov. The rest are Euroleague journeymen and NBA bench warmer types. The saving grace this year as opposed to last year's Olympics and 2022's Euroleague is that the spacing for Giannis is considerably better since they generally have a collection of good shooters around him.

My gut feeling is that he was perfectly fine to play against Bosnia, but Spanoulis (NT coach) gambled that they could win without him which then would've cemented their 1st seed out of the group stage, and he probably wouldn't even have to play against Spain on Thursday. Now they have to win on Thursday to get first and win the group. I don't doubt that he has some general soreness but I'm sure he's fine.

CharityStripe34 · Post #889 » by **CharityStripe34** » Tue Sep 2, 2025 6:32 pm

yb90 wrote:This seems like a load management issue. Has he played in back to back games? I think he is doing just enough to keep the team afloat.

He has played, so far, only against Italy and Georgia in the group stage and has sat against Cyprus and now Bosnia, so no he hasn't played any B2B's. During the warm-up tournament in Greece he didn't play in two of the friendlies either.

Dick Tate · Post #890 » by **Dick Tate** » Tue Sep 2, 2025 6:44 pm

Greece already advanced. :roll:

emunney · Post #891 » by **emunney** » Tue Sep 2, 2025 6:54 pm

Maybe the Bucks signed off on the condition that Giannis would deliver the minimum viable product. They're already through to the round of 16 and probably felt they could beat Bosnia without him (their folly: forgetting Herzegovina).

It's funny that the whole roster is Antetokounmpos, Olympiacos, and Pana, and the one guy who doesn't fit that description really looks like he doesn't belong on the team. Rarely a good sign when a guard seems to prefer playing with his back to the basket.

Sigra · Post #892 » by **Sigra** » Wed Sep 3, 2025 12:22 pm

emunney wrote:They're already through to the round of 16 and probably felt they could beat Bosnia without him (their folly: forgetting Herzegovina).

Actually, we have 0 players from Herzegovina in this roster. All of our current players are from Bosnia so its not that

higharc · Post #893 » by **higharc** » Wed Sep 3, 2025 1:53 pm

Ron Swanson wrote: Kind of shocked that Greece hasn't been able to produce any kind of NBA talent throughout this whole era. Dirk was the same way though in that the next wave of German basketball talent didn't arrive until he was way too old for it to matter.

Neoklis Avdalas is at Virginia Tech now and should be NBA material: https://youtu.be/0UONiKlCPAY?si=DxfK-RK88NnKD5wE

BUCKnation · Post #894 » by **BUCKnation** » Wed Sep 3, 2025 2:50 pm

It's definitely just rest. They just need to beat a terrible spain team to win the group.

emunney · Post #895 » by **emunney** » Wed Sep 3, 2025 3:30 pm

Sigra wrote:
emunney wrote:They're already through to the round of 16 and probably felt they could beat Bosnia without him (their folly: forgetting Herzegovina).

Actually, we have 0 players from Herzegovina in this roster. All of our current players are from Bosnia so its not that

Herzegovina was with you in spirit.

Sigra · Post #896 » by **Sigra** » Wed Sep 3, 2025 6:58 pm

emunney wrote:
Sigra wrote:
emunney wrote:They're already through to the round of 16 and probably felt they could beat Bosnia without him (their folly: forgetting Herzegovina).

Actually, we have 0 players from Herzegovina in this roster. All of our current players are from Bosnia so its not that

Herzegovina was with you in spirit.

Basketball players from Hercegovina mostly play for Croatia nowadays (Bojan Bogdanovic, Ivica Zubac). Unfortunatly.

But 1 part of Herzegovina do support our national team. Approximatly 25% of population. 20% support Serbia and 55% support Croatia. Most famous Serbian player from Harzegovina was Drazen Dalipagic offcourse.

Matches Malone · Post #897 » by **Matches Malone** » Thu Sep 4, 2025 6:50 pm

Love it when they dunk on Shams.

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TonySnellJr · Post #898 » by **TonySnellJr** » Sun Sep 7, 2025 10:19 pm

Giannis with another dominant performance [37/10] as Greece move past Israel 84-79. He is now averaging 30/10/4 in 29 MPG on 72.5/33.3/61% splits (72.6% TS) for the tournament. Greece look posed to make a deep run. This is the best team they've had around Giannis and they've gotten a favorable draw. Next up is Lithuania on the 9th. A solid opponent but Greece should be favored and I expect Giannis to have another big game (you never know in single elimination though).

Have to figure he'll be in contention for the MVP award along with Doncic and Sengun depending on the results of the upcoming games.

You have to like how Greece have used Giannis too. In a FIBA setting, Point Giannis in a halfcourt setting is not necessarily ideal. For a few reasons, Greece lacks players with gravity aside from Giannis, this combined with the fact that FIBA has no defensive 3 seconds means teams can form a wall and draw charges to deter his drives. Charges are also even scarier in a FIBA setting as you only get 5 fouls which does make a difference. Spanoulis has done a great job of running sets and using him as a play finisher, on postups, cuts, and lobs. Greece doesn't have a true lead guard but does have multiple veterans who can shoot and make plays.

He's also been solid from the midrange and as always absolutely dominant in transition. Lets pray this team and the young guys prove people wrong and the Bucks can make a deep run this year. Giannis has leveled up again and it will really show in a playoff setting.

Post #899 » by **ReasonablySober** » Sun Sep 7, 2025 10:49 pm

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jschligs · Post #900 » by **jschligs** » Mon Sep 8, 2025 3:48 am

If you watch the highlights they posted there was one drive that stood out to me. Giannis faked the gyro step. It was a thing of beauty. He raised the ball after his first step fainting to the gyro, but didn't do it, stepped back outside and rolled it in. That is honestly an insane addition to his game.