Standing at 22-14 at the All-Star break, it’s been far from a picture perfect season for the Milwaukee Bucks thus far.
Like all 30 NBA teams, the Bucks have had to adjust with the challenges that come with playing an NBA season as the coronavirus pandemic rages on all throughout the world. Save for a rare few teams, the Bucks underwent a massive amount of roster changes and the process of incorporating new players and systemic changes has been a little tougher to stomach than some Bucks fans may have anticipated.
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With all of that said, the Bucks have won six of their last seven games. They currently stand two games back of the East-leading Philadelphia 76ers, are trending towards the right direction and have showed new ways of working than we’ve been used to seeing from over the last couple of years especially.
So without further ado, let’s key in on some of the biggest developments that emerged over the first half of the Milwaukee Bucks’ 2020-21 season.
Is this Giannis Antetokounmpo’s best season with the Milwaukee Bucks?
After a whirlwind offseason that was capped off by signing his five-year supermax extension to keep him put in Milwaukee, Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo got off to an uncharacteristic start to the 2020-21 season.
Whether that was due to the weight of making such a massive decision or the Bucks reshaping their roster and their system, Antetokounmpo needed the time and reps to find his footing, especially after a more condensed offseason unfolded.
However, we’re far removed from having to worry about Antetokounmpo’s performance and comfort level. Very far from it. Antetokounmpo is up to 29 points on .557/.285/.661 shooting, 11.7 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.4 blocks, 1.3 steals across his 35 appearances on the season.
The reigning MVP has shown considerable strides in key areas, whether it’s scoring in more diverse ways, improving his free throw shooting or steadily cutting down on committing offensive fouls. Defensively, Antetokounmpo is getting more used to and comfortable switching on to opposing players in one-on-one situations, which the Bucks had been loathe to do previously.
All of it has given a different twist to the same dominance we’ve seen from the 26-year-old over the last couple of regular seasons. Antetokounmpo’s MVP-winning seasons are certainly tough acts to follow and given his and the Bucks’ disappointing playoff run last season, voter fatigue has circled around Antetokounmpo and the Bucks as a whole.
At this point, the Bucks’ focus is lasered in overcoming their playoff disappointments from the last two seasons. And the most exciting part of Antetokounmpo’s brilliant regular season is that much of it is built to be sustainable when the Bucks’ campaign will matter most. Fingers crossed that remains moving forward.