Can Giannis Antetokounmpo regain his MVP rhythm for the Milwaukee Bucks?
Before the Bucks squared off against the Boston Celtics last Wednesday, Antetokounmpo had been rapidly ascending in every MVP ladder.
Antetokounmpo had been playing his best basketball of the season to that point but seemingly found himself without a groove in back-to-back games against Boston. In that doubleheader, the two-time MVP averaged just 14.5 points on .435/.333/.538 shooting splits, eight rebounds, and six assists per game.
Averaging nearly half of his typical scoring quota in this brief stint, he has simply not been able to generate much offense for himself. When Antetokounmpo got asked about his aggressiveness and whether that potentially hindered his play, his answer was simple, which came via Bucks.com:
"“You’ve got to be aggressive against this team. Be able to go downhill, find my teammates, create for myself, that’s pretty much what I see… The message has got to be create. Create for the team, create for a teammate, create for myself. You know, make the right decision at the right time. That’s my mindset.”"
While he stepped up as a facilitator to get his teammates more involved with his shots struggling to fall, the Bucks will need Antetokounmpo to be more aggressive in scoring the basketball if this will be a successful road trip. Hopefully, taking Saturday’s game off will have the Greek Freak rejuvenated as the Bucks hit the road.
It should be a thrilling stretch for Milwaukee over the next six games, and time will tell if they can piece together a successful run. They will kick things off tonight against the LA Clippers at 9:00 p.m. CST, and you can catch the action on Fox Sports Wisconsin or NBA TV.