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Milwaukee Bucks: Giannis Antetokounmpo racking up offensive fouls at historic rate

By Jordan Treske

BOSTON - OCTOBER 30: Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) reacts on the floor after he was called for an offensive foul on a drive against the Celtics' Marcus Smart (36), who high-fives with teammate Daniel Theis at far right. The Boston Celtics host the Milwaukee Bucks in a regular season NBA basketball game at TD Garden in Boston on Oct. 30, 2019. (Photo by Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
BOSTON - OCTOBER 30: Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) reacts on the floor after he was called for an offensive foul on a drive against the Celtics' Marcus Smart (36), who high-fives with teammate Daniel Theis at far right. The Boston Celtics host the Milwaukee Bucks in a regular season NBA basketball game at TD Garden in Boston on Oct. 30, 2019. (Photo by Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) /
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Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo has fully kicked on to defend his MVP title this season, but his nagging habit of picking up offensive fouls at a staggering rate has stood as a sore spot in his 2019-20 campaign.

After some early concerns, it’s safe to say Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo has found his groove over the last week-plus.

Antetokounmpo has found his elite form over the last several games to steer the Bucks out of what had been an inconsistent start initially and is fully prepared to defend his MVP honor after putting up a complete career year throughout the Bucks’ magical run last season.

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In second halves alone this year, Antetokounmpo has simply been transcendent, as my co-site expert Adam McGee detailed earlier this week, and it’s certainly changed the complexion of Bucks games over their recent road trip and beyond.

It’s certainly too early to draw any conclusions about what this means for the Bucks’ ceiling this season, but Antetokounmpo has shown us all why he believes there’s more room for him to grow beyond the extraordinary rise that has been his NBA career to this point.

Yet one fatal flaw, in particular, stands out in the reigning MVP’s early season performance and that’s the amount of offensive fouls and subsequent turnovers he’s picking up at an astonishing rate. Through the Bucks’ first 10 games this 2019-20 season, 17 of Antetokounmpo’s 42 total fouls have come on the offensive end, per Basketball-Reference.com.

Antetokounmpo’s number of total fouls stands third in the NBA behind Memphis Grizzlies wing Dillon Brooks and Detroit Pistons All-Star big man Andre Drummond. Along with that, Antetokounmpo has racked up 44 total turnovers to this point in the season, which also places him third in the league behind Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic and one-time MVP, James Harden.

Picking up fouls and amassing numerous turnovers has obviously been nothing new for Antetokounmpo throughout his career and it’s only grown as the 24-year-old has taken on a more pronounced role within the Bucks’ foundation. This season, Antetokounmpo is tallying a career-high 33.4 usage percentage, per NBA.com/stats.

But with just over 40 percent of Antetokounmpo’s total fouls so far this season coming on the offensive end, there’s been plenty of consternation among Bucks fan circles over the way with which Antetokounmpo has been officiated to start the year, considering he’s already fouled out in three of the Bucks’ 10 games this year.

Of course, that’s a double-edged sword as opposing teams and irritant defenders have only gotten better about being in position to take on the collision of when Antetokounmpo is attempting to barrel through the lane on his way to the cup. And the points of emphasis that officials around the league have taken into this season have only magnified Antetokounmpo’s fouling rate.

All of this comes a year after Antetokounmpo co-led the league in accumulating 68 offensive fouls with Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns, per NBA Miner.

We’ve reached one-eighth of the Bucks season and Antetokounmpo is not only on pace to shatter the mark he set last year, but potentially the highest mark that’s been set since it’s been charted dating back to the 1996-97 season. That distinction currently belongs to the fourth overall pick from the 2001 NBA Draft, Eddy Curry, who registered 92 offensive fouls as a member of the New York Knicks during the 2006-07 season.

Antetokounmpo’s current rate would see him comfortably smash that number, even with the assumption that his rate of offensive fouls trail off as the season wears on.

As superhuman as Antetokounmpo can be with his play, the combination of his shooting limitations and the divisive nature with which he’s officiated makes for easy ways for opposing teams to defend him and that only grows as he tops every and all scouting reports elsewhere around the league.

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Antetokounmpo looks ready to shatter all of the previous marks he set for himself last season and the NBA as a whole, just as he has done after each of his six seasons in the NBA. But not all records are worthy of celebration and we’ll just have to see if this alters the way Antetokounmpo goes about attacking the opposition over time.

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