Giannis Antetokounmpo's FIBA Stats vs. NBA Stats

[Nuntius]

So calling out the NBA's Most Valuable Player for getting outplayed by Alex Garcia is now being a hater? Seriously?

I guess Brazil's head coach is also a hater then?

https://www.eurohoops.net/en/fibawc/928466/aleksandar-petrovic-ive-know-for-six-months-how-to-stop-giannis-garcia-kicked-his-a/

You have been calling out both Giannis and his brother, Thanasis, for a long, long time now. Please, don't pretend that you're only calling him out now as a result of yesterday's game. Be sincere.

Only when Giannis constantly plays so bad with Greece. This has been going on for years now. In 2016, he was horrible against the same coach, when he was coaching Croatia, and his horrid play cost Greece an Olympics birth. Giannis swore he would beat the same coach and/or team the next time he faced them. Maybe he forgot who the coach was...

We have 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and so far in this tournament as examples of Giannis not being able to do much of anything at all for Greece's national team. He's the NBA's MVP for crying out loud, and he can't even perform adequately against the old washed up has beens of Brazil's team? You want to be honest - let's be honest then. A bunch of old washed up has beens, that are several years past their primes is what Brazil's team is. They made Giannis look rather poor.

If discussing how a South American team of old washed up has beens can cause so many problems for the NBA's current MVP is being a hater, then it is impossible for anyone to ever discuss any player ever with even an ounce of objectivity here.


As for Thanasis.........he's a joke of a professional basketball player. No one who understands the game and is objective that has seen him play thinks he would ever have made the NBA or EuroLeague if he wasn't Giannis' brother. No one that has even basic basketball knowledge and is being honest and objective would deny how terrible Thanasis is. The game announcers joke about how he can average more fouls committed than points per game......it's honestly quite embarrassing that the Bucks signed him.

Some more honesty - Greek media is on Giannis big time right now. They never once criticized him for poor performances at 2014 FIBA World Cup, 2015 EuroBasket, or 2016 Olympics Qualification Tournament (despite numerous times he deserved it) - Greek media always said that he was too young and not ready. Well, he's definitely getting criticized big time right now. So is the media also just being haters? Even ESPN (which is about the single biggest Giannis fan club in the world), has been mildly criticizing him over it.

On Giannis: It is definitely true that Giannis hasn't led Greece to a title yet. But does that mean that he's playing "so bad" for us as you put it? Not quite. People need to realize something. Giannis has a purely NBA game and the NBA game is vastly different with the FIBA game. The spacing is different, the rules are different, everything is different. Giannis didn't play for any big Greek club or for any youth NT. Most people didn't know about him until he was discovered by scouts playing for Filathlitikos. 6 months after that he was playing in the NBA. A large part of his basketball education and development took place in Milwaukee, not Greece. So, it really shouldn't shock us that he is much better in the NBA than he is at FIBA competitions. His playstyle doesn't suit FIBA at all and he lacks the experience playing under this ruleset.

On our loss against Brazil: Yes, Giannis was severely limited against Brazil. Aco Petrović's plan beat him and Alex Garcia deserves major props for his performance. But Giannis wasn't the only one who lost. Greece lost as a whole. Basketball is a team game. The whole team lost and the only ones who don't deserve any blame for the loss were Sloukas (despite the last missed FT) and Printezis. Everyone else deserves some blame, especially Calathes, Bourousis and the coach. Calathes had an amazing first half but he was catastrophic in the second half. Bourousis was invisible throughout the game. Finally, Skourtopoulos, the coach, failed to adjust to Aco's gameplan. He failed to utilize our depth. Heck, he didn't even call a timeout when they were making a run. He was asleep at the wheel. The loss, just like most other losses, was a team loss.

On Thanasis: Your bias is showing big time once again. There's a reason why I called you a Tsoukalas wannabe the other day. Thanasis isn't the most skillfull basketball player, obviously, but he is a great athlete. Athleticism is a skill that is prized a lot in basketball, especially in the NBA. He is a role player, yes, but an athletic role player is quite good for your 15th man. If it wasn't Thanasis, they'd probably fill that slot with a two-way or an Exhibit 10 deal.

On the Greek media: The Greek media have always been ****. Vaggelis Ioannou is probably the worst sportscaster that I have heard. I think that only Ant1 had a sportscaster that was as bad as Ioannou. This is nothing new.

[Buzzard]

People who think the EL is garbage are obviously wrong, but it is inferior in the way the MLS is inferior to their EL. But it's been clear he's been slowly trying to work up stats to say the EL is equal to or better than the NBA and that just isn't true.

He also celebrates every US loss. It feels almost like jealousy or anger towards the US for some reason. I don't know where he's from, but he should just enjoy the wonders of his country. I'm sure it's great where he lives. Doesn't have to be cheering the downfall of others to raise his agenda. Whether that's the US team, Giannis, Jokic, whatever.

I'll admit I want USA team to lose after reading comments like 'they don't care'. Let someone that cares win then.

The players playing the games absolutely will care when things start to matter. Unfortunately though, the best players don't care about FIBA for some reason. I've heard some are just preparing for the season, some are resting/nursing injuries, and some just prefer the Olympics. But I wish they would care more so we don't send in the B or C teams though. Show FIBA, your country, and all the other countries some respect. It's an honor to play for your country. Too bad they only feel that way during the Olympics.

It has to do with the money. Getting hurt could cost a NBA Super Star over a 100 million dollars. All you have to do is look at DeMarcus Cousins to understand that point. Pre Injury two short seasons ago he was headed for a supermax. Now he is getting signed to vet minimums two years in a row; and possibly looking at the end of his career.

Paul George's injury was a wake up call to what can happen any time you set foot on the court. Even when scrimmaging. I really do not expect the type of participation the U.S Team use to get. Not anymore.

[Nuntius]

Fair. The forums do not represent the whole. I guess I should say I don't know what sparks the over reaching hate for Giannis online from Euro fans. Generally, I see a lot of die hard fans for the international players from international fans. I may not agree, but I get it. That's their guy and they're going to support him. Giannis doesn't seem to get the same love. Instead of reaching for ways to pick him up, people are nitpicking things to bring him down.

It's just really odd coming from a fan of a team who's had someone as beloved and supported as Rubio on roster for two seasons.

I think that an important reason is that Giannis never played EuroLeague basketball. He never played for a European club of note. He went from Filathlitikos (a division 2 club that no one cares about) straight to the NBA. He never played for youth national teams (since our state failed to give him citizenship early in his life). He never played for the academy of a big club. He was basically an unknown to the vast majority of Euro fans until he went to the NBA. That's also the reason why Giannis has a purely NBA game and why he struggles (relatively to his NBA production) with FIBA rules. He isn't as experienced at the FIBA game as your average Euro player.

I mostly agree with you except about experience. He just doesn’t possess the right skills to play under Fiba rules and be a superstar like in Nba. No experience will change that.

Experience does matter. If he spent some time in a Euroleague club early on in his career, he'd be a lot more in tune with the way the game is played under FIBA rules. I do agree that his skillset won't allow him to be an MVP caliber player in FIBA like he is in the NBA but experience will definitely allow him to perform better than he has so far.

[Bob8]

I think that an important reason is that Giannis never played EuroLeague basketball. He never played for a European club of note. He went from Filathlitikos (a division 2 club that no one cares about) straight to the NBA. He never played for youth national teams (since our state failed to give him citizenship early in his life). He never played for the academy of a big club. He was basically an unknown to the vast majority of Euro fans until he went to the NBA. That's also the reason why Giannis has a purely NBA game and why he struggles (relatively to his NBA production) with FIBA rules. He isn't as experienced at the FIBA game as your average Euro player.

I mostly agree with you except about experience. He just doesn’t possess the right skills to play under Fiba rules and be a superstar like in Nba. No experience will change that.

Experience does matter. If he spent some time in a Euroleague club early on in his career, he'd be a lot more in tune with the way the game is played under FIBA rules. I do agree that his skillset won't allow him to be an MVP caliber player in FIBA like he is in the NBA but experience will definitely allow him to perform better than he has so far.

You’re talking like Giannis is random USA player, who has seen Fiba competition for the first time. He grew up under this rules. In lesser competition but still. He understands basics very well. The biggest difference is that you can be a superstar in Nba without shooting skills, but that’s impossible in Fiba. Look at Calathes for example, he looks great in Pao in regular season, but he and Pao are 1/13 in last 4 playoffs. Calathes with a shot would have been multiple MVP, without a shot is just a loser. Giannis will because of his body always be very useful player, but that will never be enough, because of enormous expectations. Giannis to dominate in Fiba competitions needs to become better shooter not more experienced player. I don’t even believe that he will attend next competitions, if he will be just good team player. Maybe it’s unfair, but you’re judged totally different, if you’re NBA’s MVP or a role player.

[TheNG]

I mostly agree with you except about experience. He just doesn’t possess the right skills to play under Fiba rules and be a superstar like in Nba. No experience will change that.

Experience does matter. If he spent some time in a Euroleague club early on in his career, he'd be a lot more in tune with the way the game is played under FIBA rules. I do agree that his skillset won't allow him to be an MVP caliber player in FIBA like he is in the NBA but experience will definitely allow him to perform better than he has so far.

You’re talking like Giannis is random USA player, who has seen Fiba competition for the first time. He grew up under this rules. In lesser competition but still. He understands basics very well. The biggest difference is that you can be a superstar in Nba without shooting skills, but that’s impossible in Fiba. Look at Calathes for example, he looks great in Pao in regular season, but he and Pao are 1/13 in last 4 playoffs. Calathes with a shot would have been multiple MVP, without a shot is just a loser. Giannis will because of his body always be very useful player, but that will never be enough, because of enormous expectations. Giannis to dominate in Fiba competitions needs to become better shooter not more experienced player. I don’t even believe that he will attend next competitions, if he will be just good team player. Maybe it’s unfair, but you’re judged totally different, if you’re NBA’s MVP or a role player.

I wouldn't say Calathes is a loser Was Papaloukas a loser? Put Calathes in Fenerbahce, Madrid or CSKA and he has a chance as good as many to be MVP. Money talks in the EuroLeague...

[Nuntius]

I mostly agree with you except about experience. He just doesn’t possess the right skills to play under Fiba rules and be a superstar like in Nba. No experience will change that.

Experience does matter. If he spent some time in a Euroleague club early on in his career, he'd be a lot more in tune with the way the game is played under FIBA rules. I do agree that his skillset won't allow him to be an MVP caliber player in FIBA like he is in the NBA but experience will definitely allow him to perform better than he has so far.

You’re talking like Giannis is random USA player, who has seen Fiba competition for the first time. He grew up under this rules. In lesser competition but still. He understands basics very well.

Giannis only played 4 years of organized basketball in Greece. He never played in the youth national teams or in the academies of a major EuroLeague club. Yes, he does know the rules. But he had absolutely zero experience with high-level FIBA play until he started playing with the Greek NT.

The biggest difference is that you can be a superstar in Nba without shooting skills, but that’s impossible in Fiba.

Fully agreed with this.

Look at Calathes for example, he looks great in Pao in regular season, but he and Pao are 1/13 in last 4 playoffs. Calathes with a shot would have been multiple MVP, without a shot is just a loser. Giannis will because of his body always be very useful player, but that will never be enough, because of enormous expectations. Giannis to dominate in Fiba competitions needs to become better shooter not more experienced player. I don’t even believe that he will attend next competitions, if he will be just good team player. Maybe it’s unfair, but you’re judged totally different, if you’re NBA’s MVP or a role player.

Which is exactly why having enormous expectations for Giannis in FIBA tournaments do not make sense. I don't care that he's the NBA's MVP. NBA and FIBA are nothing alike.

Does he help the Greek NT? Yes, he does. That's what I care about and that's the criteria I'll use when judging him.

[Bob8]

Experience does matter. If he spent some time in a Euroleague club early on in his career, he'd be a lot more in tune with the way the game is played under FIBA rules. I do agree that his skillset won't allow him to be an MVP caliber player in FIBA like he is in the NBA but experience will definitely allow him to perform better than he has so far.

You’re talking like Giannis is random USA player, who has seen Fiba competition for the first time. He grew up under this rules. In lesser competition but still. He understands basics very well. The biggest difference is that you can be a superstar in Nba without shooting skills, but that’s impossible in Fiba. Look at Calathes for example, he looks great in Pao in regular season, but he and Pao are 1/13 in last 4 playoffs. Calathes with a shot would have been multiple MVP, without a shot is just a loser. Giannis will because of his body always be very useful player, but that will never be enough, because of enormous expectations. Giannis to dominate in Fiba competitions needs to become better shooter not more experienced player. I don’t even believe that he will attend next competitions, if he will be just good team player. Maybe it’s unfair, but you’re judged totally different, if you’re NBA’s MVP or a role player.

I wouldn't say Calathes is a loser Was Papaloukas a loser? Put Calathes in Fenerbahce, Madrid or CSKA and he has a chance as good as many to be MVP. Money talks in the EuroLeague...

He’s unplayable in playoffs. They’re just leaving him totally open and leave him shooting 25% for 3. Being incredibly bad FT shooter (50%) and shooting under 50% for 2 doesn’t help it either. His last years TS% was 38. Pao going 1/13 in playoffs shouldn’t be big surprise, knowing your main player stats. 1 win in 4 years? And that’s really atrocious, knowing how important is home court in playoffs. Nobody wants Calathes in Fener, Madrid or Cska.

[Oscar9992]

Bogdanovic is way better FIBA player than Giannis. He plays amazing in almost every FIBA tournament.

[Nuntius]

Bogdanovic is way better FIBA player than Giannis. He plays amazing in almost every FIBA tournament.

That is indeed true. Bogdan Bogdanović was an established star in the EuroLeague before he made the transition to the NBA. He led Fenerbahçe to a EuroLeague title in 2017 and he was the top scorer of the Finals. He has a ton of experience playing in this kind of high-pressure FIBA settings and he has proven time and time again that he thrives in them. He has also been a consistent contributor to the Serbian NTs ever since his u19 tournament back in 2011.

So, yeah, Bogdan Bogdanović is an absolute star in FIBA competitions and that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

[Mirotic12]

On Giannis: It is definitely true that Giannis hasn't led Greece to a title yet. But does that mean that he's playing "so bad" for us as you put it? Not quite. People need to realize something. Giannis has a purely NBA game and the NBA game is vastly different with the FIBA game. The spacing is different, the rules are different, everything is different. Giannis didn't play for any big Greek club or for any youth NT. Most people didn't know about him until he was discovered by scouts playing for Filathlitikos. 6 months after that he was playing in the NBA. A large part of his basketball education and development took place in Milwaukee, not Greece. So, it really shouldn't shock us that he is much better in the NBA than he is at FIBA competitions. His playstyle doesn't suit FIBA at all and he lacks the experience playing under this ruleset.

On our loss against Brazil: Yes, Giannis was severely limited against Brazil. Aco Petrović's plan beat him and Alex Garcia deserves major props for his performance. But Giannis wasn't the only one who lost. Greece lost as a whole. Basketball is a team game. The whole team lost and the only ones who don't deserve any blame for the loss were Sloukas (despite the last missed FT) and Printezis. Everyone else deserves some blame, especially Calathes, Bourousis and the coach. Calathes had an amazing first half but he was catastrophic in the second half. Bourousis was invisible throughout the game. Finally, Skourtopoulos, the coach, failed to adjust to Aco's gameplan. He failed to utilize our depth. Heck, he didn't even call a timeout when they were making a run. He was asleep at the wheel. The loss, just like most other losses, was a team loss.

On Thanasis: Your bias is showing big time once again. There's a reason why I called you a Tsoukalas wannabe the other day. Thanasis isn't the most skillfull basketball player, obviously, but he is a great athlete. Athleticism is a skill that is prized a lot in basketball, especially in the NBA. He is a role player, yes, but an athletic role player is quite good for your 15th man. If it wasn't Thanasis, they'd probably fill that slot with a two-way or an Exhibit 10 deal.

On the Greek media: The Greek media have always been ****. Vaggelis Ioannou is probably the worst sportscaster that I have heard. I think that only Ant1 had a sportscaster that was as bad as Ioannou. This is nothing new.

Just so everyone here knows, he's accusing me of being a racist, just for saying Thanasis isn't a good player. Tsoukalas was a guy in Greece that used hateful racial slurs against Giannis........this is the second time that Nuntius has accused me of this in this forum.

Think about this, he is saying that rating Thanasis to not be a good basketball payer (objectively speaking, he's awful), = racism.

Also, Nuntius is wrong about Giannis never playing for Greece's youth national team. He most definitely did play for Greece youth national team. He played for Greece's Under-20 national team at the 2013 FIBA Under-20 Championship. He was in Greece's junior national team before he played in the NBA - so that claim just isn't true.

And again, for everyone who thinks Thanasis isn't a good basketball player - Nuntius thinks that's racist....

The first time he accused me of this here, for saying Thanasis is not a good player, nothing happened, not even one response to such accusations. Evidently, no one here knows this Greek reference he is using, calling someone a "Tsoukalas" - a reference to Greek sports commentator Takis Tsoukalas (Google him).

This is so everyone understands the accusation he is making here, for saying a bad player, is in fact, a bad player.

https://www.apnews.com/709116fbbccf430398f37bcb878aa06e

Greek prosecutor investigates TV slur against basketballer

A Greek prosecutor is investigating televised remarks made by a sport commentator who allegedly called black basketball player Thanasis Antetokounmpo an “ape.”

Takis Tsoukalas made the comments on Nov. 9 after Antetokounmpo’s Panathinaikos beat Olympiakos 93-80 in the Euroleague.

“They have an ape. That Antetokounmpo guy is an ape — that’s what I’m telling you,” he said. “What is that clown doing? Isn’t he ashamed of himself? He’s making his brother look bad.”

[Nuntius]

Allow me to isolate a claim first and then respond to everything else:

Also, Nuntius is wrong about Giannis never playing for Greece's youth national team. He most definitely did play for Greece youth national team. He played for Greece's Under-20 national team at the 2013 FIBA Under-20 Championship. He was in Greece's junior national team before he played in the NBA - so that claim just isn't true.

Giannis was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in June 27th, 2013. The 2013 FIBA Under-20 Championship that Giannis participated in took place from July 9th to July 21st, 2013. The NBA season, obviously, didn't start until October.

So, yes, I will give you that one. Giannis did play in our junior national team before he played in the NBA. However, he was drafted to the NBA before that tournament. If we're going to be really technical about it we need to mention both sides.

Just so everyone here knows, he's accusing me of being a racist, just for saying Thanasis isn't a good player. Tsoukalas was a guy in Greece that used hateful racial slurs against Giannis........this is the second time that Nuntius has accused me of this in this forum.

Think about this, he is saying that rating Thanasis to not be a good basketball payer (objectively speaking, he's awful), = racism.

And again, for everyone who thinks Thanasis isn't a good basketball player - Nuntius thinks that's racist....

The first time he accused me of this here, for saying Thanasis is not a good player, nothing happened, not even one response to such accusations. Evidently, no one here knows this Greek reference he is using, calling someone a "Tsoukalas" a - a reference to Greek sports commentator Takis Tsoukalas (Google him).

This is so everyone understands the accusation he is making here, for saying a bad player, is in fact, a bad player.

https://www.apnews.com/709116fbbccf430398f37bcb878aa06e

Greek prosecutor investigates TV slur against basketballer

A Greek prosecutor is investigating televised remarks made by a sport commentator who allegedly called black basketball player Thanasis Antetokounmpo an “ape.”

Takis Tsoukalas made the comments on Nov. 9 after Antetokounmpo’s Panathinaikos beat Olympiakos 93-80 in the Euroleague.

“They have an ape. That Antetokounmpo guy is an ape — that’s what I’m telling you,” he said. “What is that clown doing? Isn’t he ashamed of himself? He’s making his brother look bad.”

Allow me to clarify something. I'm not saying that everyone who believes that Thanasis isn't a good basketball player is a racist. In both cases, I was only implying that you are a racist, not everyone else who happened to be agree with this position. See, you have a history in the Bucks forum. Ever since they drafted Giannis you have spammed their forum with posts that have a very specific agenda against Giannis. The exact same kind of agenda that you exhibited when you started this very thread.

So, the question becomes this. Why do you have such an agenda against Giannis (and also his brother, Thanasis)? What's the reason behind it? You are clearly biased against them but where does this bias stem from? Is it based on your fandom or is it based somewhere else? That's the reason why some people (myself included) have started thinking that there is a racial motivation behind your bias.

[Mirotic12]

Allow me to clarify something. I'm not saying that everyone who believes that Thanasis isn't a good basketball player is a racist. In both cases, I was only implying that you are a racist, not everyone else who happened to be agree with this position. See, you have a history in the Bucks forum. Ever since they drafted Giannis you have spammed their forum with posts that have a very specific agenda against Giannis. The exact same kind of agenda that you exhibited when you started this very thread.

So, the question becomes this. Why do you have such an agenda against Giannis (and also his brother, Thanasis)? What's the reason behind it? You are clearly biased against them but where does this bias stem from? Is it based on your fandom or is it based somewhere else? That's the reason why some people (myself included) have started thinking that there is a racial motivation behind your bias.

Is this sort of thing and behavior actually allowed here? I'm asking honestly, because I don't know.

[Inspektor1312]

I can't see how Djordjevic is in any way at all impressive as a coach. Frankly, he's nowhere near good enough of a coach for a team like Serbia. I am pretty sure he isn't considered good enough of a coach in Europe for EuroLeague clubs. I'm not sure if he's even at the level of average for top European standards.

One thing I know for sure is, he's miles below the level of the best European coaches.

What? I'm not sure if you're trolling right now.
Serbia under Djordjevic has won silver medals at 3 of the last 4 tournaments they participated in, with 2 of those final losses coming against the USA. In the 12 years before Djordjevic came, Serbia won only one medal.

And he's literally a coach of a Euroleague team, Virtus Bologna, since they reportedly purchased a wild card.

[Mirotic12]

What? I'm not sure if you're trolling right now.
Serbia under Djordjevic has won silver medals at 3 of the last 4 tournaments they participated in, with 2 of those final losses coming against the USA. In the 12 years before Djordjevic came, Serbia won only one medal.

And he's literally a coach of a Euroleague team, Virtus Bologna, since they reportedly purchased a wild card.

They constantly choked at finals, no gold medals, despite having teams that could have done it. Losing to USA as an excuse isn't a good argument either. They didn't just lose, they were annihilated and totally embarrassed, twice. Had upset losses also...

Virtus Bologna is in the EuroCup, not the EuroLeague. Djordjevic did a terrible job at Panathinaikos. His EuroLeague record is:

17-13 - with big name clubs. Hardly setting the world on fire. He didn't even succeed in EuroCup (level below EuroLeague), with a team like Bayern Munich. That should have been a team winning championships at EuroCup, and they failed.

https://www.euroleague.net/competition/coaches/showcoach?pcode=AIP

Many coaches in Europe could have done better with these Serbian teams than he has.

[Mirotic12]

Giannis actually just had a really good FIBA game. By far and away the best game he ever played with Greece in all these years. With that being said, it was against quite weak competition (New Zealand), and the refs looked like they wanted the NBA MVP in the next round, as they called every touch foul on him against New Zealand, which isn't normal at all for FIBA.

Anyway, he has to keep playing like that in FIBA basketball, and not playing like he is scared, like he did against Brazil.

[CoachD]

The issue with Giannis in this tourney isn't how many points he's scoring... it's how few shot attempts he's getting.

Someone mentioned already, no defensive 3 second violation is basically a Giannis killer. He has to hope for the refs to fuel his scoring totals with FTA because they are collapsing on him in the paint every single time.

[SlowPaced]

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?

It's not about international fans, it's about Euroleague fans. There's a sizable number of delusional Euroleague fans who think Euroleague is on par with, or even better than, the NBA. Mirotic12 is their resident representative on RealGM.

The "hate boner" for Giannis stems from the fact that he's a player whose fit for the FIBA game is not ideal but dominates in the NBA, and that is somehow supposed to be an indictment of the NBA. The likes of Vassilis Spanoulis, Anthony Parker, Nando De Colo, Juan Carlos Navarro et al. being absolute garbage to mediocre in the NBA and people like Kyle Hines, Scottie Wilbekin, Ekpe Udoh and Jan Vesely being good Euroleague players or Team USA taking a dump over a Serbia team loaded with elite Euroleague talent at the previous World Cup notwithstanding, of course.

[yannisk]

The issue with Giannis in this tourney isn't how many points he's scoring... it's how few shot attempts he's getting.

Someone mentioned already, no defensive 3 second violation is basically a Giannis killer. He has to hope for the refs to fuel his scoring totals with FTA because they are collapsing on him in the paint every single time.

If the rest of the team was not consisting of mediocre shooters it would be a smaller issue. He would have had less points but more assists

[yannisk]

Allow me to isolate a claim first and then respond to everything else:

Also, Nuntius is wrong about Giannis never playing for Greece's youth national team. He most definitely did play for Greece youth national team. He played for Greece's Under-20 national team at the 2013 FIBA Under-20 Championship. He was in Greece's junior national team before he played in the NBA - so that claim just isn't true.

Giannis was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in June 27th, 2013. The 2013 FIBA Under-20 Championship that Giannis participated in took place from July 9th to July 21st, 2013. The NBA season, obviously, didn't start until October.

So, yes, I will give you that one. Giannis did play in our junior national team before he played in the NBA. However, he was drafted to the NBA before that tournament. If we're going to be really technical about it we need to mention both sides.

Just so everyone here knows, he's accusing me of being a racist, just for saying Thanasis isn't a good player. Tsoukalas was a guy in Greece that used hateful racial slurs against Giannis........this is the second time that Nuntius has accused me of this in this forum.

Think about this, he is saying that rating Thanasis to not be a good basketball payer (objectively speaking, he's awful), = racism.

And again, for everyone who thinks Thanasis isn't a good basketball player - Nuntius thinks that's racist....

The first time he accused me of this here, for saying Thanasis is not a good player, nothing happened, not even one response to such accusations. Evidently, no one here knows this Greek reference he is using, calling someone a "Tsoukalas" a - a reference to Greek sports commentator Takis Tsoukalas (Google him).

This is so everyone understands the accusation he is making here, for saying a bad player, is in fact, a bad player.

https://www.apnews.com/709116fbbccf430398f37bcb878aa06e

Greek prosecutor investigates TV slur against basketballer

A Greek prosecutor is investigating televised remarks made by a sport commentator who allegedly called black basketball player Thanasis Antetokounmpo an “ape.”

Takis Tsoukalas made the comments on Nov. 9 after Antetokounmpo’s Panathinaikos beat Olympiakos 93-80 in the Euroleague.

“They have an ape. That Antetokounmpo guy is an ape — that’s what I’m telling you,” he said. “What is that clown doing? Isn’t he ashamed of himself? He’s making his brother look bad.”

Allow me to clarify something. I'm not saying that everyone who believes that Thanasis isn't a good basketball player is a racist. In both cases, I was only implying that you are a racist, not everyone else who happened to be agree with this position. See, you have a history in the Bucks forum. Ever since they drafted Giannis you have spammed their forum with posts that have a very specific agenda against Giannis. The exact same kind of agenda that you exhibited when you started this very thread.

So, the question becomes this. Why do you have such an agenda against Giannis (and also his brother, Thanasis)? What's the reason behind it? You are clearly biased against them but where does this bias stem from? Is it based on your fandom or is it based somewhere else? That's the reason why some people (myself included) have started thinking that there is a racial motivation behind your bias.

Allow be to explain why Mirotic12 does not like Giannis. Mirotic12 is a superfan of Spanoulis he considers him to be the best Greek player and one of the best European ones. Spanoulis had a successful euroleague career but failed in his nba stint. Giannis has been great in the nba and gets all the praise, everybody outside of Greece considers him the best Greek player of all time. This gets into Mirotic12's nerves since he is obsessed with Spanoulis and waits every opportunity available to attack Giannis. It is not restricted to Giannis, ask him about Gallis who used to be the consensus best Greek player of all time (and probably still is between Greek fans). This could be the reason he hates nba as well, since Spanoulis flopped there it is not a real league.

[Showdown]

International fans that hate Giannis also hate Radoncic and Sehovic brothers on Montenegro team and hated Randolph on Slovenia team..