The Meek Freak: Giannis’ Post All-Star Struggles

Feb 28, 2015; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) dribbles the ball during the second quarter against the Utah Jazz at EnergySolutions Arena. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports

Giannis Antetokounmpo was having an excellent start to his sophomore season in the NBA.

In 53 games (Giannis played every single game for Milwaukee) and 43 starts before the All-Star break the Greek Freak was shooting 50.7 percent, had an offensive rating of 106, and averaged 12/6.6/2.5 (points/rebounds/assists) in 29.6 minutes per game.

Giannis had a huge role in Milwaukee winning 30 out of those 53 games. He went full Greek Freak for the first portion of the season.

Unfortunately, he’s also had a fairly large role in the Bucks losing six out of the nine games they’ve played since the All-Star break. Since the break Giannis has shot 39.4 percent, had an awful offensive rating of 86, and averaged 11.8/7.2/2.1 in 34.7 minutes. Those aren’t Greek Freak numbers, those are Meek Freak numbers (gotta give credit where it’s due, my dad came up with that one).

Giannis has improved in one area though; defense. His rebounding went up (although not really because he’s been playing more minutes), but his defensive rating is down to 96 in the last nine games, from 101 in the first 53 (defensive rating is a golf-like stat, the lower the better. It represents the number of points a player would allow over 100 possessions to the player they’re defending).

So it’s not as simple as just saying Giannis has regressed entirely, because he hasn’t. His offense has gotten worse but his defense has been better than ever. In fact, it has been phenomenal.

Antetokounmpo is tenth in the NBA in defensive win shares, twelfth in defensive rating and sixteenth in defensive box plus/minus. That makes Giannis one of the twelve or so best defenders in the association right now.

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So why has Giannis transitioned from Greek Freak to Meek Freak, mostly on offense? His jumper has continued to be suspect at best and maybe even got a little shakier, but Giannis has been missing inside shots too, and those have made up most of his scoring throughout his career (this season slightly over 70 percent of Antetokounmpo’s shots have come from within ten feet).

Players don’t just get worse in the middle of a season in one aspect of their game and get better in another, not over the course of a single week without any injuries factoring in. So that means there’s probably something else messing with Giannis’ offensive game. But what?

I’m pretty sure Bucks fans (both longtime fans and those jumping on the bandwagon) are tired of hearing about this (and trust me, I’m really tired of writing about it, but it remains omnipresent right now), but it all comes back to trading away Brandon Knight.

I mentioned this in my last BTBP Weekly Roundup, but the Bucks lost their leader and their go-to guy when Knight was traded. I suggested the three most likely candidates: Giannis, Michael Carter-Williams and Khris Money Middleton.

I think Giannis had the same idea I did (or maybe he reads my articles!) and felt like he was the new leader now that the Bucks are without Knight, and I think it’s been killing his game.

He’s taking more shots per game, and he seems to be forcing a lot of his shots as well, as though he feels that it’s up to him and only him to score for Milwaukee now. It’s almost as though there’s two different Giannis’.

The Greek Freak takes quality, open jump shots and drives to the rim when he sees an opportunity. He’s a fairly good distributor in addition to his penchant for inside scoring, and occasionally makes everybody happy and drops in a basket or two from 14 or more feet away.

The Meek Freak pulls up for contested jumpers like he’s Kobe and repeatedly picks up charging fouls and gets his shots blocked by driving into set interior defenders over the course of each game. He fouls more because he’s frustrated that his badly selected shots aren’t falling, and has less assists per game even though he’s playing five more minutes each contest.

So clearly we need to get more Greek Freak and less Meek Freak out of Giannis. I think (and hope) that his last game (against Washington) will cause Giannis to realize that he does not need to force shots that aren’t there and that he should return to his role of attacking inside for the majority of his scoring.

In the aforementioned game Giannis scored five points on ten shots, shooting just 20 percent. Yeesh. Despite playing 37 minutes, the most of any Buck (tied with Money), Giannis managed just four rebounds, two steals, one block and no assists.

In addition to poor shooting and virtually disappearing on the stat sheet, the Meek Freak version of Giannis also had two turnovers and five personal fouls, including one very late in the game on Paul Pierce that almost kept the Wizards in the game.

What makes that performance even worse (and hopefully more eye-opening for Antetokounmpo) is that most if not all of Giannis’ poor shots came after it was clear Money Middleton was on absolute fire. Money had a career night, scoring 30 points (his career high), in addition to nine rebounds (which led the Bucks), two steals and an assist.

The most impressive part of that performance? Middleton shot 55 percent from the field and a blistering 67 percent from behind the arc, making six of his nine threes.

Mar 7, 2015; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Khris Middleton (22) takes a shot against Washington Wizards forward Rasual Butler (8) in the fourth quarter at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Middleton scored 30 points to help the Bucks beat the Wizards 91-85. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

I think this game was bigger than it appears, even though Milwaukee legend Bob Dandridge had his number 10 jersey retired at halftime. I think it showed everyone who was watching that Khris Middleton is the new go-to guy for Milwaukee, not Giannis Antetokounmpo.

In addition to a monster first quarter, Money made three game-saving three-pointers in the final few minutes of the game against Washington, effectively sealing the win for the Bucks. He took over and dominated the Wizards in his new role as the primary scorer.

Hopefully that can continue in the future. Giannis needs to see that at this point in his career, that he’s not quite good enough to take over a game like Middleton did on a consistent basis. Right now, this is Money’s team.

That’s not to say Antetokounmpo isn’t a good player, or that he won’t get there. I think he’s a very good player (and already an excellent defender) who could one day be a great player in this league, but you’ve got to keep in mind Giannis is still just 20 years old. It’s normal for him to not be ready to lead a team yet.

If he can accept his old role with Milwaukee where he plays to his strengths and doesn’t take bad shots, Giannis can definitely return to Greek Freak form for the Bucks’ last twenty games. Let’s all hope he does just that, because Milwaukee needs that Giannis if they want to make any noise in the playoffs at the end of this season.

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