Milwaukee Bucks Player of the Week Rankings
1. ???
2. Giannis Antetokounmpo
3. Jerryd Bayless
Giannis Antetokounmpo played in all three games this week and averaged 35.7 minutes, 16.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game. He was second on the Bucks in rebounds and steals, tied for second in blocks, third in points, and tied for fourth in assists.
Only four players in the NBA earned more free throw opportunities than Giannis did over their past three games: Danilo Galinari with 12.3, LeBron James with 10.7, DeMar DeRozan with 9.7, and Kevin Durant with 8.7. That is some good company for the Greek Freak to be in. Giannis averaged eight free throw attempts per game over his last three.
Unfortunately for Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, Giannis only connected on 58.3 percent of all those free throws. That is a really poor stretch from a career 73 percent free throw shooter.
Giannis shot 40 percent from three-point territory this week. He only shot a modest 1.7 threes per game but that percentage looks really nice. If he could add this to his regular output he would help the Bucks out tremendously. If opponents ever need to start respecting the Greek Freak from downtown it will completely change how Giannis can play on offense.
Giannis did not lead the Bucks in any statistical category this week but he was second in three of them: rebounds, steals, and blocks. Being the second best in all the major defensive stats indicates Giannis’ importance to the Bucks. He is their jack of all trades defender. He does a little bit of everything and some games he can take over on defense.
He did not exactly take over any games defensively this week but he played steady in all three. He stole the ball a lot and got a few blocks. He cleaned up the glass at a slightly higher rate than he usually does too.
Being his team’s best all around defender, a decent shooter, and great free throw creator is just a typical week for Giannis. He did not really have an exceptional week by his own standards. Yet even in a down week for Antetokounmpo it was more than enough to earn him second in the Milwaukee Bucks player of the week rankings.
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