Milwaukee Bucks: 3 biggest surprises at halfway point in season

Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo’s sharp improvement at the free throw line

As Giannis Antetokounmpo got off to a slow start by his extraordinary standards this season, his free throw shooting proved to be the most glaring concern early on.

The reigning MVP’s inconsistent free throw shooting never looked worse through his first handful of appearances this year, all of which was capped off by a truly disastrous 1-for-10 from the free throw line in a January 15 win over the Dallas Mavericks. Along with that, Antetokounmpo shot 82-for-141 from the foul line, good for 58.2 percent.

Ever since then, though, Antetokounmpo has drastically improved his free throw efficiency. Again, by his standards at the free throw line. Since that porous night against the Mavericks, Antetokounmpo has shot 171-for-243 from the free throw line (70.3 percent) and is up to 66.1 percent on this season so far.

So much has been said about how critical Antetokounmpo’s efficiency is at the free throw line and rightly so. Now averaging a career-high 10.4 free throw attempts this season, the 26-year-old is getting to the line more than ever and as we’ve seen at times this season, opposing teams will be more than happy for Antetokounmpo to beat them at the free throw line than get to the rim for an automatic bucket.

Nevertheless, Antetokounmpo’s free throw shooting uptick will be put to the test as the Bucks’ run progresses into the postseason. Considering that was ground zero of Antetokounmpo’s extended shooting downturn a couple of years ago, that will be the ultimate judge over whether how real his improvements are at the free throw line.