Although he set a season-high of 47 points Wednesday night, Giannis Antetokounmpo likely won’t be celebrating such a scoring feat.
After all, the Milwaukee Bucks superstar was in prime position to put a potential capper on the Bucks’ clash with the Phoenix Suns. Only Antetokounmpo’s long attempt at the top of the key inside the arc hit the side iron and left the Bucks with a 125-124 defeat and saw their five-game win streak come to an end.
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Alas, that’s the way the ball bounces sometimes and the same logic could apply to how Antetokounmpo started the 2020-21 campaign shooting from the free throw line.
The two-time MVP had gotten off to a ghastly start when making his way to the free throw line early on in the year, despite having remarked on changing up his ever-evolving routine on such shots.
It was on January 15 in the Bucks’ 112-109 win over the Dallas Mavericks where Antetokounmpo’s free throw shooting struggles reached its nadir as he went 1-for-10 from the line that night. That horrendous night sent off a flurry of concern over what seemed to be Antetokounmpo’s broken free throw shot.
Nevertheless, Antetokounmpo spoke on just putting in more reps to regain his confidence and effectiveness when heading to the free throw line to ESPN’s Eric Woodyard:
"“It’s simple,” the reigning two-time MVP said Friday night after making just one of his 10 free throws in a 112-109 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. “Just go back. Shoot more. Focus on your technique. Take it step by step. Just shoot more. That’s it. The more you shoot, the more you work on it, the better you get. There’s no secret in that.”"
It’s safe to say Giannis Antetokounmpo has stayed the course on his free throw shooting.
Nearly one month since Antetokounmpo put in his worst free throw shooting night of his prestigious career, he’s progressively turned the corner for the better. Of course, that thought immediately conveys after Antetokounmpo went a season-high 17-for-21 from the foul line in his 47-point performance last night.
With such a strong shooting night from the line, Antetokounmpo is now 86-for-125 (68.8 percent) on his free throw attempts since that win against Dallas. This shooting surge has raised Antetokounmpo’s free throw efficiency to 63.3 percent on the year, which matches what he shot from the line last season.
At this point, it’s clear that Antetokounmpo is more comfortable when going to the limit on how long his routine can go before committing a 10-second violation, which he became prone to violating a couple of seasons ago. In order not to commit that kind of violation, Antetokounmpo has been adamant about going through his routine before receiving the ball from an official that starts up the clock on free throws.
Whatever methods Antetokounmpo wants to use, it’s clearly working and has unlocked his slump and the mental hurdles that have been following him ever since the Bucks’ appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals two seasons ago.
All that’s left for Antetokounmpo is maintaining this shooting improvement in order to help minimize what arguably stands as his biggest area of weakness in his game. For the strides he’s made, we’ll stay tuned to how continues to fare from the free throw line.