Behind the Buck Daily Dimes: Giannis Antetokounmpo the Point Guard

Every morning, Behind the Buck Pass brings you the reading material you need before you start your day at the office. We bring you the morning’s Daily Dimes — Milwaukee Bucks Links from across the web to get you ready for the day.

What is up Bucks Nation? Are you pumped to see the Greek Freak at point guard tonight? Or is Jason Kidd plain crazy to try this experiment? My guess is that 90% of you are leaning towards pumped.

I’m pumped up like a Goodyear Blimp on Super Bowl Sunday.

That’s probably a bit too much information, but it’s the truth. We get to see Giannis Antetokounmpo at point guard and more than likely he will be guarded by LeBron James if he plays.

We shared our thoughts on the move yesterday, but I can’t help but bring the topic up again.

Let’s take a look around the interwebs to see what people are saying about the great Giannis Antetokounmpo.

— Andrew Gruman at Fox Sports Wisconsin says that putting the Greek Freak at point guard is a big gamble for Jason Kidd and the coaching staff.

"Surrounding Antetokounmpo for most of the fourth quarter were Jared Dudley, Jabari Parker, John Henson and either Larry Sanders or Zaza Pachulia.“Giannis ran the show just like Kendall or Brandon would have,” Henson said. “He looked good out there. I was impressed. That is always good to have if a point guard goes down.”Like many things with the young Bucks, the Antetokounmpo experiment at point guard is a work in progress. But watching him run the offense in the fourth quarter created a little bit of excitement in an otherwise uneventful preseason game."

— Charles F. Gardner at the Journal Sentinel says that the GA point guard bonanza is giving the youngster confidence.

"“I think his first gift is he likes to make plays for his teammates,” Kidd said of the Greek athlete. “That’s one of his strengths and we’ve got to find a way to put him in that position.“In the open court, he’s special. In the half court, we need to find ways to make sure that he can help his teammates and also help himself.”The bonus for Kidd and the Bucks is the increased confidence the second-year player is getting from being put in such a primary role. Wherever he plays during the season, the experience should be a huge benefit."

— Phil Watson at Dairyland Express says GA at PG is bad news for Cleveland’s point guards that will play tonight.

"The good news for Cleveland All-Star Kyrie Irving—he’s still out with an ankle injury and won’t have to contend with the prospect of guarding a point guard who is eight inches taller than he is.The bad news for the Cavaliers—someone will have to cover the guy. The other point guards on the roster are Chris Crawford (6-foot-4), Stephen Holt (6-foot-4), A.J. Price(6-foot-2) and Matthew Dellavedova (6-foot-4).The NBA has been evolving in recent years to a more positionless approach, so why not put a 6-foot-11 athlete who can handle and pass in charge of the offense?After all, Magic Johnson was once revolutionary at the point at 6-foot-9. So let the evolution continue with the Greek Freak."

— Our friends at Hoops Habit have released their post Kevin Durant injury power rankings. Rolling in at 28th is the Milwaukee Bucks.

— So, the new NBA TV deal will have some interesting twists to it. Sporting News is reporting that the deal means ads on jerseys is inevitable.

"We’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop on ads on NBA jerseys for some time and with the league’s new TV deal, it appears corporate logos on uniforms are closer than ever.According to the Sports Business Journal, the new deal includes stipulations for advertising rights to NBA jerseys. The NBA moved their own logo from the shoulder to the back of the neck in 2012, clearing space for a rumored 2.5″ x 2.5″ patch for a sponsor’s ad."

— Zach Lowe at Grantland.com has 33 crazy predictions for the upcoming season. There are some doozies in Lowe’s article. His prediction for the Bucks though is pretty predictable.

"32. Milwaukee and Minnesota will each trade a wing player.This is another numbers game. There are just too many bodies and too many young guys who need minutes. Corey Brewer and Chase Budinger are on trade-friendly contracts, and the Cavaliers will likely consider both with the Keith Bogans Memorial Trade Exception.Milwaukee did well to steal a first-rounder from the Clippers in the Jared Dudley deal, but the wing rotation is crowded — especially if Brandon Knight gets time at shooting guard. Dudley is easier to move than O.J. Mayo and rangier than Jerryd Bayless."

— Hal Brown at Hardwood Paroxysm breaks down the art of shooting mechanics. Whoa.

"Meaning, despite the calculable nature of shooting a basketball, humans can approximate a “perfect” shot well more than half of the time, even though the brain can’t come vaguely close to thinking about the relevant math involved, let alone replicate it. As people who live with our brains in our day to day lives, it’s easy to take our remarkable capacity for pattern recognition and anticipation for granted, but without these psychological mechanisms we wouldn’t be able to shoot a basket at a better than 2% clip."

— Mitch Vomhof at Bucksketball is waiting for the comeback of O.J. Mayo.

"With the current youth movement in full swing on this Bucks team, it’s tempting to discount Mayo as one of the “old vets” that doesn’t fit into the team’s future plans even though he’s still only 26 years old. That said, he can still fill the role that was surely envisioned for him from the moment he signed his free agent contract: a wing scorer and veteran presence on a young team. While some may roll their eyes at the idea of “fatty Mayo” mentoring the young Bucks, it’s still worthwhile to have a guy who knows both sides of the NBA coin–both success and difficulties–to be around to help young players (maybe even other very high draft picks?) work through the tough times and focus on working toward success."