Giannis Antetokounmpo Will Improve Following International Experience

By Adam Coffman | Jul 11, 2016

Feb 11, 2016; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) during the game against the Washington Wizards at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Milwaukee won 99-92. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports /

Following Greece’s elimination in the Olympic qualifiers, Giannis Antetokounmpo will head home and look to build off some impressive play displayed overseas.

After falling short in his effort to lead his country to Rio, the Milwaukee Bucks young star Giannis Antetokounmpo will now come back Stateside with a new focus and bigger role laid out in front of him.

Although Giannis ended his personal Olympic bid with a rather disappointing performance against Croatia, the tournament as a whole saw many positive moments from the Greek Freak that should give any Bucks fan hope.

For the first time, Antetokounmpo was visibly a large part of the Greek national team’s offense, a welcome change from previous years. However, he did not play the role of primary ballhandler that he will likely occupy with the Bucks, as Greek point guard duties fell mostly on the shoulders of former Memphis Grizzlies guard Nick Calathes.

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In this off-ball slot, Giannis was able to showcase a new and certainly coveted addition to his game — the three-point shot. Having made only 28 threes last season, a general consensus regarding Antetokounmpo’s game has been that he is simply a “jumper away” from being something truly special as a player.

During his short time overseas, Antetokounmpo unleashed a new willingness to take and make these shots, making five three-pointers over his first two games. When an 0-7 stinker from behind the arc against Croatia is removed from consideration, Giannis made five of eight attempted threes, phenomenal numbers by any stretch of the imagination.

Forcing defenses to check him further away from the basket will be a great asset to an arsenal that is still built almost exclusively around getting to the rim and finishing around, through, or over help defense, and considering Giannis is still just 21 years old, the perimeter shooting consistency that evaded him against Croatia will likely cultivate in due time.

Aside from just showcasing an improved shooting stroke, Giannis genuinely played very well for most of his court time, filling up the box score and at times simply taking over the game. In Greece’s two wins, Giannis was incredibly efficient, shooting a combined 13-18, as well as averaging two blocks and four rebounds.

Watching Greece’s games, even the casual observer could recognize that Antetokounpo was simply operating on another level of speed and physicality from the others on the court dominating in transition and producing highlight plays.

Coming into last season, it was clear Giannis had worked on his body, adding pounds of muscle to his frame and displaying a new threshold of athleticism. If this year’s Olympic qualifying is to be taken as any indication, Antetokounmpo has worked on some more advanced facets of his game this year, namely shooting from deep and his ability to lead a team and take over games.

However, while it may be disappointing to see their young star knocked off the international stage, Bucks fans will have to console themselves with the fact that Giannis will now be back home and locked in on absorbing new responsibilities for the Bucks.

John Hammond and the rest of the Bucks front office have seemingly committed to continue playing the Greek at point guard, bringing in off-ball “three-and-D” specialist Matthew Dellavedova to play in the backcourt and talking up plans for Antetokounmpo to continue running the offense as he did late last season.

Even considering Giannis’ increased duties with the national squad, the best place for Antetokounmpo to be in order to develop his game has to be in Milwaukee, where he can build off his strong international play, develop relationships with new teammates, and work on fulfilling the staff’s vision for himself and the franchise.

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Giannis will now have until October to embrace and fill this role to the best of his ever-growing ability, as fans and ownership alike have to be expecting an improved team that will run through the Greek Freak.

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