Milwaukee Bucks: Do the Nets have an answer for Giannis Antetokounmpo?
That sound you hear is the anticipation building for the Milwaukee Bucks‘ Eastern Conference Semifinals series against the Brooklyn Nets.
After a thrilling regular season series between the two contenders, we’re getting a full playoff series between the most loaded team of stars standing in the NBA today and a Bucks team that may be writing their playoff redemption story.
More from Bucks News
- Bucks 2023-24 player profile: Can MarJon Beauchamp take a leap?
- Piecing together the Milwaukee Bucks’ dream starting 5 in 5 years
- Predicting Thanasis Antetokounmpo’s 2023-24 stats for the Bucks
- Grade the trade: Bucks land reputable backup guard in swap with Pacers
- New workout video should have Milwaukee Bucks fans excited
In a series that isn’t short on weighty questions and key matchups that will ultimately decide the outcome of this series for either side, the biggest question facing both the Bucks and the Nets is attention that Giannis Antetokounmpo will receive from Brooklyn.
It’s certainly a very relevant question as we’ve seen the teams that have gotten the best of the Bucks in each of the last two playoffs wall up Antetokounmpo and put the onus on the Bucks’ supporting cast.
In the season series between the Bucks and the Nets, Brooklyn wasn’t interested in deploying such a strategy.
To that point, Antetokounmpo averaged 39.7 points on .489/.385/.731 shooting, 10.7 rebounds and 5 assists in the three games against the Nets this year, including setting a season-high 49-point performance against the Nets last month. If that wasn’t enough, NBA.com’s John Schuhmann recently dropped a bunch of statistical outliers in regards to Antetokounmpo’s performances against the Nets this season:
"“In 636 career games (regular season and playoffs), Giannis Antetokounmpo has attempted more than 25 shots from the field 23 times. Three of those 23 occasions were the Bucks’ three games against the Nets this season (none of which went to overtime), with his 92 total field goal attempts over the three games being 38 more than he attempted against any other team.”"
Giannis Antetokounmpo could be set for scoring surges for the Milwaukee Bucks
This tactic was certainly made be design as the Nets exclusively played dropped coverage against Antetokounmpo and the Bucks and rarely sent help towards the reigning MVP’s way. No one primarily defended Antetokounmpo more than the Nets’ big man platoon of DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin this season, per NBA.com/stats.
Not only did we see Antetokounmpo get downhill regularly to the basket whenever he pleased, but he looked comfortable knocking down in-between shots like the following possession over Jordan, along with going 10-for-26 from long distance.
Of course, the Nets aren’t replete with a cadre of defenders that can be utilized in a way to build a wall to bottle up Antetokounmpo. And their defensive issues are well-documented, even as they have some of the best players and scorers in the league today.
When it comes to their defending of Antetokounmpo, the Nets are still forcing the onus on the Bucks’ supporting cast and stars like Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton to supplement these scoring outbursts from Antetokounmpo. It may not be a wall, but being comfortable with Antetokounmpo beating you through his scoring is certainly one way to turn that ploy in on itself.
With all of that in mind, the attention turns to the Nets’ frontcourt and how they can slow down Antetokounmpo. After all, Jordan’s role with Brooklyn has severely downsized since those meetings against the Bucks last month. Jordan didn’t even play a single second in Brooklyn’s first round series against the Boston Celtics.
Griffin, meanwhile, has asserted himself as the Nets’ starting big man and that is certainly notable, given the brewing animosity that both Griffin and Antetokounmpo have shown towards one another in heated battles. And the Nets can’t dare go smaller against Antetokounmpo, given their size and strength deficiencies against the Bucks already.
Perhaps we see different tactics from the Nets as they fine-tune the extreme and radical coverage they regularly showed towards Antetokounmpo during the regular season. It is the playoffs after all and this series, much like for Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer, will be a big litmus test on first-year Nets head coach Steve Nash.
dark. Next. 4 takeaways from season series with Brooklyn Nets
For all of the intrigue that comes with such a monumental matchup on deck, the tone will be set by how Brooklyn looks to slow down the back-to-back MVP. That is, if they can at all.