5 Notes On Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Playoff Performance So Far

Being Aggressive

It’s not easy for a kid from Greece to come over to America, get drafted at 15th overall by some team from Milwaukee, and become a superstar. It takes time. In his rookie season, Giannis took just over five shots per game on a terrible Bucks team.

The next season Giannis became a full-time starter, but he still took less than 10 shots per game. That was the last season in which Milwaukee qualified for postseason play, and although his usage upticked without Brandon Knight around Giannis still took less than 12 shots a game in the postseason.

That number is actually boosted from one game the Bucks played in that series that went to overtime, in which Giannis made 10 of his 22 shots for 25 points. For the rest of that series, Giannis never took more than 13 shots or scored more than 12 points.

Couldn’t be this year’s Giannis. In the 2017 NBA Playoffs, Antetokounmpo is taking over 17 shots per game and scoring 23.7 points per game. Maybe the best sign that Giannis feels the game differently now was actually Game 2.

Giannis struggled with his shot in that game, especially early on, but he didn’t let that get him down. Antetokounmpo just kept on pushing, taking shots and attacking the rim, and ended the game with 24 points.

It took Giannis 24 shots to get there, but playoff basketball is just like that sometimes. The Bucks need Giannis to score, even if he’s not making every single shot. There’s a Russell Westbrook line that shouldn’t be crossed as far as being too aggressive, but so far Giannis has found a nice happy medium of getting a healthy amount of touches without monopolizing Milwaukee’s offense.