Milwaukee Bucks: Player of the Week (Jan 15 – 21)
Milwaukee Bucks Player of the Week Rankings
- Giannis Antetokounmpo
- Jabari Parker
- John Henson
The Alphabet played in all five games this week and averaged 35.9 minutes, 25.8 points (on 51.5 percent shooting from the field), 9.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.8 blocks per game. He led the team in points, rebounds, steals, and blocks and was tied for the lead in assists.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was the only Buck who actually performed well overall this week. He seemed to have totally recovered from the illness that impacted his availability in games in the previous week.
As always, let’s start with comparing Giannis to his NBA peers over their past five games:
- 13 players averaged at least 8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks.
- 10 players averaged at least 20 points and eight rebounds.
- 10 players averaged at least 50 percent shooting from the field on a minimum of 10 field goal attempts per game and at least 80 percent from the free throw line on a minimum of two free throw attempts per game.
- Four players averaged at least 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists.
- Two players averaged at least 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks.
- Two players averaged at least 20 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block.
Giannis is the only player who appears on all of the above bullets. Kevin Durant is the non-Giannis player in bullet five and DeMarcus Cousins is the non-Giannis player in bullet six. Other notable NBA players who pop up in some of these brackets include Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, and Jimmy Butler.
The Greek Freak is freaky. In the worst week of the Bucks season he stood out. He was in a class of his own and unfortunately his teammates and coaches couldn’t help him out. It was really hard watching the Bucks as a team this week, yet it was really enjoyable to watch Giannis.
He impacts every aspect of the game while providing relentless energy, selflessness, intelligence, and a positive attitude to boot. I mean he morphed the word freak into a incredible compliment.
The basketball world notices when Antetokounmpo plays like this. His recognition is so big and his play is so outstanding that he was one of the highest vote getters in the recent All-Star fan vote. He is the fifth Buck in history to be voted in as a starter for the All Star team. That is almost as cool as being recognized as the Bucks player of the week. Almost.
Whoever developed the phrase “Jack of all trades, master of none,” never saw Giannis play basketball. There is nothing this kid cannot do. And right now he might only be scratching the surface of what he can become.
Milwaukee Bucks fans have to realize that regardless of the outcome of this season the future is fantastically bright. Antetokounmpo has convinced many that he is worthy of being an All-Star starter as a 22 year old. Imagine what he’ll make us think when he hits his athletic prime…
It’s going to be a beautiful dream for the Bucks and dreadful nightmare for the rest of the NBA.