Giannis Antetokounmpo: NBA Africa Game Leading Scorer

The first ever NBA exhibition game in Africa was held August 1st as part of the Basketball Without Boarders initiative that was jointly established by the NBA and FIBA. The NBA Africa Game was a fun game that at times was competitive and drew a large (sold out) crowd at Ellis Park Arena in Johannesburg, South Africa. It should be the first of many exhibition and soon pre-season games to be played on the continent.

The game pitted Team Africa vs. Team World in an All-Star style competition that turned much more competitive in the second half. Team Africa was comprised of NBA players who had either been born or one generation removed (parents were born) from Africa. Team World was comprised of mostly NBA players from the US but also included the Gasol brothers and some other international players. Click here to see both the rosters and box score for the NBA Africa Game.

Jan 24, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) and Cleveland Cavaliers forward Luol Deng (9). Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

In a game where Chris Paul, Marc Gasol, Pau Gasol, Bradley Beal, and Luol Deng, played not one of them was the leading scorer. The player who led the way in points was 20-year-old Giannis Antetokounmpo with 22 points for Team Africa (Giannis’ parents were both born and raised in Nigeria). Let’s analyze Giannis’ performance in the game for any of you Bucks’ fans who may have missed the action.

Offense

The Greek Freak was really good at what he has already shown he could do well at, and okay at everything else. Since the Team Africa roster was absent of a single guard Antetokounmpo got to try his hand at point for most of the time he was in. On a team that also lacked spacing he handled his duties well. Giannis had two assists in the game on some really good passes in both the half court and transition (I also personally thought he had another assist in the game but it wasn’t counted in the box score).

His first assist came in the midst of an excellent third quarter. Giannis collected the defensive rebound and then started transition instantly, taking the ball up the court. Then he found a streaking Al-Farouq Aminu for an easy layup.

His second assist came near the end of the game when Team Africa was fighting hard for the comeback victory. Giannis was at the top of the key running the half court offense when he dumped a perfect bullet bounce pass down to Bismack Biyombo in the post. Bismack was not ready for the pass and fumbled it, but after he recovered he went up for the easy score.

I was most encouraged by this second assist by Giannis, the one to Biyombo. On a Team Africa offense that was deficient with shooters, a great pass from Antetokounmpo to the posting big resulted in an easy bucket. I can just image the solid passes Giannis will be making to Greg Monroe in the Bucks’ half court offense this year. With little spacing on the floor Giannis found a way to create a shot for his big teammate. That is encouraging for Bucks fans.

Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Greek Freak was an absolute terror on the fast break. He scored easily and made the right plays for his teammates when there was traffic in his way. He seemed to have command over the court and everyone on Team World was in some fear of what he may do to them. As Bucks fans we have seen Giannis do this before but I thought during this game he did it more consistently, another positive sign.

Giannis initiated fast breaks off of the steal and off of the rebound in this game. He also slammed home a nice alley-oop and created an “And-One” with a smooth gliding move to the basket, past Marc Gasol, that he finished with the dunk. Giannis easily sliced through the D and had at least four or five nice highlights.

Antetokounmpo shot more liberally from three-point land in this game than he did last season for the Bucks too. This was obviously a function of Team Africa having zero spacing besides Deng. Giannis went 1/3 from the three-point line and shot without hesitation when he was open. If he can shoot like that or better during the regular season that will be a huge boon for the Bucks in their search for better spacing.

The three he hit was of the catch and shoot variety, which is a testament to the fact that Giannis has been working on his shot this offseason. A little more work and he can be a competent NBA shooter.

Giannis’ half court game seemed more refined. With a larger ball-handling responsibility, Antetokounmpo responded with great drives to the hoop, smart passing, and the knowledge of where to be on the court. Bucks fans are no stranger to his ability to drive to the hoop and make plays but I was most impressed by Giannis’ passing in the half court and setting up the offense.

Defense

The defense for the first half was mostly All-Star game caliber. There were many examples of Giannis not trying his hardest in this game so it is hard to say anything about his defensive effort in the first half.

The intensity of the game picked up greatly after halftime, however. Giannis got shook badly by a crafty move by Chris Paul but besides that when Giannis was on Paul he guarded him well and I didn’t notice him give up any points to CP3.

Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

Giannis stripped his opponents for three steals in the game. Those steals led to fast break points for the Greek Freak. Right before the third quarter ended he stole the ball and took it down the floor for the slam while leaving less than a second on the clock.

That play gave him 10 points for the quarter and a high five from Coach Popovich. He had another timely steal with less than 1 minute left in the game and his team down 5. Giannis stole the ball and took it down the court for a cool dunk which got Team Africa within striking distance for the win.

Antetokounmpo had a tough time handling Kenneth Farried down low when shots went up and routinely got pushed around. He still needs to get stronger to handle the bigger players in the NBA. Regardless, Giannis still collected 8 rebounds because of his Mr. Fantastic wingspan.

Overall Game Grade: B

Giannis did what he always does. He scored all but four of his points from near the basket and got most of those scores on the fast break. He missed some free throws and did not shoot encouragingly well from the outside. He can score when he gets going (i.e., 10 points in the five minutes he played in the third quarter) but he hasn’t yet added new ways of scoring to his game.

He looked unstoppable going to the hoop and getting buckets even though his opponents had to know what he was going to do though. I thought overall his passing looked as good as it has in the past or better, which is cool to see after getting almost no practice time with his teammates. He rebounded the ball well, even though he got pushed around by stronger players at times.

Giannis is getting better and giving him a B when he dominates a game where he plays against Paul, the Gasol Brothers, and Beal is just evidence of how him doing cool things on the court is kind of commonplace for us Bucks fans now. Since he doesn’t turn 21 until December I think we can all be pretty certain that there is a lot of room for skill development in our young Greek Freak.

Next: Eastern Conference Playoffs: Where Do The Bucks Fit In?

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