Milwaukee Bucks: Creating threes nothing new for Giannis Antetokounmpo
As the Milwaukee Bucks have embraced the 3-point shot under head coach Mike Budenholzer, Giannis Antetokounmpo has been at the center of creating such opportunities for teammates.
Over the last few seasons, Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo has gotten used to having the ball in his hands.
That very fact has unlocked Antetokounmpo into becoming one of the most dominant players in the NBA and, obviously, the reigning Most Valuable Player with a second such honor potentially on the way for this 2019-20 season.
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With his usage percentage this season topping out as one of the highest marks for an individual player in NBA history, Antetokounmpo has gotten used to processing numerous decisions and plays just over the course of a single game, not to mention an 82-game regular season and playoff runs.
Most of those decisions lead to the Greek superstar driving all the way to the basket more often than not, but Antetokounmpo’s playmaking skills and distribution have equally grown over the years.
By per-36 minute standards, Antetokounmpo is averaging a career-high 6.7 assists this season, all of which has been paired with a 1.57 assist-to turnover ratio. And given that Antetokounmpo averages the 13th-highest amount of touches per game, per NBA.com/stats, the ability to create plays for others, when the opportunity presents itself, is literally at his finger tips.
Where Antetokounmpo’s playmaking shines is in the way in which his assists are created. That’s specifically been helped by the arrival of head coach Mike Budenholzer, along with the rest of his coaching staff, and how they’ve been able to successfully map out the court and their offensive system overall.
That’s obviously assisted (pun intended) the 25-year-old in becoming one of the most prolific scorers and dominant paint forces in the league, but it’s also obviously helped Antetokounmpo being able to kick it out to open Bucks shooters, especially as they have embraced the 3-pointer.
Per pbpstats.com, only Russell Westbrook (484), Ben Simmons (481) and Trae Young (435) have generated more 3-pointers than Antetokounmpo’s 423 3-point assists over the last two seasons.
This season, that number stands at 178 3-point assists, good for sixth in the NBA. The Bucks, as a whole, rank fourth in the NBA in creating 721 3-point assists, which equates to Antetokounmpo being responsible for nearly 25 percent of the Bucks’ assisted triples this year.
In Budenholzer’s second year in charge, the Bucks have looked to add a little more variety to their read-and-react system, whether it’s adding more post ups, pick-and-rolls and asking more of Khris Middleton to handle possessions more than he did during the Bucks’ 60-win season last year.
That certainly has added to the unpredictability that the Bucks need to throw opponents off-guard and remain resolute, especially in light of how their offense became stymied deep into their playoff run last year.
It’s through Antetokounmpo and those trusty five blue squares, though, that provides the necessary spacing in the Bucks’ five-out offense and the institutional knowledge that lets the seven-year forward know where Bucks shooters are stationed on the floor.
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Clearly, Antetokounmpo has elevated his game even further in what’s yet another career year for him and as he continues to find his peak production within Bud’s system, it’s the Bucks who reap the rewards and make the successes they have and aspire to achieve possible.