Giannis Antetokounmpo's FIBA Stats vs. NBA Stats

[draftnightsuit]

Giannis isn’t the 1st option for Greece. He only took 7 shots. That’s why he overall stats won’t be as good as usual.

Strange..........how the NBA's MVP wouldn't be good enough on offense to be the first option of a European national team. Seems especially strange, since I am sure 90% of this forum would claim the Bucks would sweep Greece national team in a 7 game series, even with FIBA rules.

Seems the goal posts are constantly moving.

Giannis should be the first option but somehow Ioannis Papapetrou is taking more shots than Giannis. How does that happen? I guess you just have to blame the crappy Greek coaches.

That stuff gets a coach fired in the NBA.

[Mirotic12]

Giannis should be the first option but somehow Ioannis Papapetrou is taking more shots than Giannis. How does that happen? I guess you just have to blame the crappy Greek coaches.

That stuff gets a coach fired in the NBA.

The excuses for Giannis' years of poor FIBA play never end.

Four different Greek coaches blamed so far. Numerous other Greek players blamed so far, one of them (Spanoulis), was blamed in tournaments he didn't even play in.

The excuses for Giannis are getting really ridiculous at this point.

The 24 year old 6'11" MVP of the NBA can't let 39 year old 6'4" Brazilian League player Alex Garcia outplay him straight up, which is what happened.

[Edrees]

I mean, you could take a look at Carmelo Anthony and draw the exact opposite conclusion, that any all star level player in the NBA could look like the GOAT in FIBA. The point? Don't just look at one player to draw overwhelming conclusions.

[Pharmcat]

He's been exposed as a paper tiger mvp. He got shut down by a old guy. Bad look for his career. Not sure if bucks can rely on him as the true #1 guy

[jason bourne]

2018-19 NBA MVP Giannis Antetkounmpo's averages in the 2018-19 NBA regular season:

27.7 points per game
12.5 rebounds per game

and his stats in the 2019 NBA playoffs (where NBA teams supposedly play "real defense"):

25.5 points per game
12.3 rebounds per game


Giannis Antetokounmpo's stats so far in Greece's 2019 FIBA World Cup preparation (7 games so far):

Game 1: 19 points and 11 rebounds against Hungary (very weak opponent)

Game 2: 19 points and 8 rebounds against Iran (very weak opponent)

Game 3: 18 points and 8 rebounds against Turkey

Game 4: 16 points and 10 rebounds against Italy (minus its NBA players)

Game 5: 20 points and 1 rebound against Serbia (minus Nikola Jokic)

Game 6: 13 points and 4 rebounds against Jordan (very weak opponent)

Game 7: 26 points and 4 rebounds against Dominican Republic (minus their NBA players - very weak opponent)

averages so far (7 games):

18.7 points per game
6.6 rebounds per game


What is interesting about this to me is, that a very large majority of this forum will claim things like this any time a discussion comes up about the EuroLeague, or any player in the EuroLeague:

"Giannis averaged 28 and 13 in the NBA, so he would obviously average like 50 and 30 in the EuroLeague".

Note that the above opposition (other than Serbia) is much worse than your average EuroLeague team........


So the serious question here is very obvious - just how inflated are the NBA's stats?

Some other players that come to mind off the top of my head, that have had much worse stats in FIBA national team competitions than in the NBA:

Ricky Rubio
Steph Curry
Derrick Rose

etc.

"so he would obviously average like 50 and 30 in the EuroLeague."

Maybe Giannis belongs in the Euro league <sniff>.

Actually, FIBA isn't Euroleague exactly and is tournament format. Giannis hasn't been playing with his team for long. From the little that I've seen, Giannis could get 50 and 30 if they iso him, but if one game can get your team knocked out, they may not do that. It's still team basketball that will help your team advance. Giannis could dominate if the coach decides to just give him the ball, but they're trying to win every game. One loss and you could be out.

[prime1time]

He's been exposed as a paper tiger mvp. He got shut down by a old guy. Bad look for his career. Not sure if bucks can rely on him as the true #1 guy

He’s similar to LBJ to be honest. These guys put up
Big numbers due to teams inability to help. That’s why these guys need 3-point shooters. As soon as the driving lanes clog up, their limited offensive skill shines through. Giannis is still
A great player, but he needs to work on actual offensive skills if he wants to reach his true potential.

[yannisk]

If it was so easy scoring in the nba and the Greek NT players were good, you would have some of them making money and scoring 5ppg in the nba. From this NT whoever tried in the NBA (Calathes, Papanikolaou, Papagiannis) were failures, and the rest were not even good to get a chance. The same is true for older players, Spanoulis for example managed to score 2ppg on 17% 3p 32% fg overall, seems that the nba defense was too difficult for him.

[XxIronChainzxX]

It's more complicated than you make it. NBA stats are inflated. But some players games are more conducive to the NBA style of play. More spacing, no hand checking, no defensive 3 seconds etc. As a Wiz fan, I'd point out that Rui Hachimura is putting up big time stats, but that's because his game is built for the international game. At the same time, these are only friendlies. Have to wait until the actual tourney starts imo.

Here is my problem with this "inflated" talk - it's normative. Why don't we say that the Euroleague is "deflating" stats because of their smaller court, and their dedication to allowing guys to get mugged on defence? It's all about what you want basketball to look like.

Because the Euroleague always had their main game changing rules for the most part and the NBA changed their rules relatively recently with the explicit goal of making it easier to score. Most people here can remember the pre 05 NBA and it looks more like Euroleague, NCAA (until recently), highschool, and casual basketball with friends than current NBA basketball does. The current NBA looks more like 2k than any other form of basketball.

I remember basketball in 05. And 01 for that matter. The early 2000s were horrific. They changed the rules so that none of us would be subjected to that horroshow. And the officiating was better either - we had plenty of scandals with foulbaiting in the regular season and playoffs.

[CptCrunch]

I don't care how misused you are by your coaches.

A 24 year old 'MVP' cannot get shut down and outplayed by a 39 year old whose name I have not heard of.

[bargnanimvp]

The NBA rule set is built for athletic star players to tally big scores. This is nothing new.

[ForeverTFC]

"It's easier in NBA" - Doncic

One of the reasons for the above is it's star player driven league, FIBA is about team play - no new rules to magnify individual skills and win money from selling jerseys. I guess one of the reasons for US stars skipping the chance to represent their country is that they don't like playing under FIBA rules.

It's "easier in the NBA" because the average player is head and shoulders above the average Euroleague player, opening the floor up for the stars of the league.

There is no comparison between the NBA and the Euroleague. The NBA is simply better, by a pretty noticeable margin.

[ForeverTFC]

Giannis should be the first option but somehow Ioannis Papapetrou is taking more shots than Giannis. How does that happen? I guess you just have to blame the crappy Greek coaches.

That stuff gets a coach fired in the NBA.

The excuses for Giannis' years of poor FIBA play never end.

Four different Greek coaches blamed so far. Numerous other Greek players blamed so far, one of them (Spanoulis), was blamed in tournaments he didn't even play in.

The excuses for Giannis are getting really ridiculous at this point.

The 24 year old 6'11" MVP of the NBA can't let 39 year old 6'4" Brazilian League player Alex Garcia outplay him straight up, which is what happened.

He plays with trash teammates who can't cover up his glaring weakness. And it's a weakness that is easy to defend when you don't have to worry about anyone else.

I like to clown on Giannis like the next REALGMer(mainly to get an immediate reply from Magic Giannis), but this is reaching. He is clearly an MVP caliber player who's one glaring weakness is magnified on a team of scrubs.

[GreatWhiteStiff]

Giannis should be the first option but somehow Ioannis Papapetrou is taking more shots than Giannis. How does that happen? I guess you just have to blame the crappy Greek coaches.

That stuff gets a coach fired in the NBA.

The excuses for Giannis' years of poor FIBA play never end.

Four different Greek coaches blamed so far. Numerous other Greek players blamed so far, one of them (Spanoulis), was blamed in tournaments he didn't even play in.

The excuses for Giannis are getting really ridiculous at this point.

The 24 year old 6'11" MVP of the NBA can't let 39 year old 6'4" Brazilian League player Alex Garcia outplay him straight up, which is what happened.

Speaking of getting exposed, I didn't expect you to post again in this thread. Giannis must've been quite bad.

[Shock Defeat]

Giannis is tall and athletic, but lacks skill.

[KqWIN]

International basketball fans have always been very vocal and passionate. I wonder what it is about Giannis that gives them an incredible hate boner. How do these people feel about how Euroleague MVP's tend to fair in the NBA?

[Bob8]

International basketball fans have always been very vocal and passionate. I wonder what it is about Giannis that gives them an incredible hate boner. How do these people feel about how Euroleague MVP's tend to fair in the NBA?

Winning ROY?

[Tomazan]

To be GOAT in FIBA you must be a super skilled player like Dirk, Pau, Sabonis, Jokic.

As there is no 3 second violation on defense rule, players like Giannis get simply exposed since they can't rely only on their lenght and athleticism.

[Gooner]

Also, if people actually watched the games, the offense doesn't revolve around him in FIBA like it does in Milwaukee. He's not even the primary ball handler on his team. He comes down the court and has to play within the flow of the offense. Its much more of a team game and the rules are different. He can't just spot up at the top of the key and back down, eurostep his way to the rim without much help. Pretty sure FIBA doesn't have the defensive 3 seconds rule like the NBA does so centers can just camp in the lane.

He is a turnover waiting to happen under FIBA dribbling rules. That's why. He can travel and palm the ball multiple times every single time he touches it in the NBA and the refs allow it. Under FIBA rules, he has a very weak handle, and is far from being even adequate as a lead ball handler.

The fact this is different specifically due to the NBA's extremely lax dribbling rules, shows that the NBA is indeed trying to inflate stats for certain players - for instance, big freak athletes with little basketball skill, like Giannis. And yes, the same with the defensive 3 seconds rule, as you mentioned.

Which again, is how the NBA is purposely inflating the stats and effectiveness of these types of players, and is trying to make them seem better than they really are.

This is the problem with the NBA, they are bending the rules and it becomes hard to watch. No one should be surprised that Giannis struggles in FIBA competition, and the fact that he is becoming the new face of the NBA is problematic.

[Vol]

What a silly conversation. Every person trying to discredit Giannis would take him on their team in a heart beat.

[Nuntius]

International basketball fans have always been very vocal and passionate. I wonder what it is about Giannis that gives them an incredible hate boner. How do these people feel about how Euroleague MVP's tend to fair in the NBA?

We shouldn't generalize here. International basketball fans do not have a hate boner for Giannis. Only Mirotic12 has a hate boner for Giannis and his reasons are well... different.