In their past five games, the Milwaukee Bucks have been unstoppable on offense. They’ve averaged a combined 119.4 points per game, which has led them to some impressive victories.
The magic number for the Bucks seems to be 120 points. When they score that much, they are nearly impossible to beat. They are currently 22-1 when scoring over 120 points.
What’s interesting about this five-game stretch is how Giannis Antetokounmpo has been utilized on offense. There seems to be a slight but yet important change that could push the Milwaukee Bucks in the right position to start the NBA Playoffs.
The old way hasn’t been working for the Bucks
Traditionally, Milwaukee's main facilitator has been Damian Lillard.
He leads the team with a 7.2 assists per game average. This is a role that he’s played his entire career. For the most part, he averages anywhere between 24-28 points and six to eight assists per game for the past 10 years. Initially, it makes sense to allow him to continue playing that role. It worked wonders for the Portland Trail Blazers. Imagine what he could accomplish while sharing the court with Giannis.
That’s what we all thought. However, the offense under this current system has worked OK. The Bucks currently rank 13th in both points per game and offensive rating. The expectation was not that this team would be somewhere in the middle of the pack with two of the best scorers in the league. Something needed to change.
The discourse has been to shake up the lineup. To add another star to contend with the top teams of the league. But maybe, all that needed to change was a role reversal. To convert Giannis as the main facilitator of the team, while Lillard focuses primarily on scoring. Here are their averages for the past five games:
Giannis Antetokounmpo: 26.6 points (54 percent shooting), 7.8 assists, 13.2 rebounds
Damian Lillard: 24 points (46 percent), five assists, 3.8 rebounds
The effects of Giannis Antetokounmpo's new role
Giannis is scoring much less, but he is creating offense at a high level. By alleviating Damian Lillard's role as the primary ball-handler/facilitator, he has become a much more efficient scorer. Keep in mind that his career-high in field goal percentage is 46.3.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is not only helping his star teammate to become a better player, but he’s also uplifting everyone else on the roster. For the past four victories, the Milwaukee Bucks have had six players score in double-figures.
This is the effect when Giannis decides to focus on getting his teammates involved. And there is nobody in today’s league that does a better job of drawing attention from opposing defenses. He is impossible to stop when he’s anywhere near 10 feet from the basket. When they are in the half-court setting and he’s positioned in the low block, that is where he is creating easy looks for his teammates.
He consistently draws two to three defenders when he’s that close to the basket. He is now making the proper reads and dumping the ball to the players that were abandoned by their defender. This allows the other players to gain a rhythm and confidence when it’s time for the starters to get rest. They have done exactly that in the beginning of the second and fourth quarters. The change in Giannis’ approach has contributed to their improvement.
The similarities between all-time greats
He is taking a page from another all-time great that made a similar adjustment. Just like Giannis is in today’s league, Wilt Chamberlain was the most unstoppable force during the 60s. When he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1964-65 season, he had enough talent around him to contend. However, they didn’t start hitting their stride until he made the decision to score less and pass more. This occurred in the historic 1966-67 season.
What’s interesting is the numbers he averaged. The numbers he posted were 24.1 points per game along with 7.8 assists per game. Notice that he averaged the exact number of assists that Giannis is averaging during this five-game stretch. This slight change is what pushed the 1967 Sixers to such a dominant season. Something similar is happening to the Milwaukee Bucks right before our eyes.
Could Giannis and Damian Lillard be the modern version of Wilt Chamberlain and Hal Greer? The numbers say the team is much better off when the offense runs completely around Giannis. The good news is that he doesn’t need to score 30 points every night in order for this team to win.
He just needs to focus on getting his teammates involved. Once Bobby Portis comes back, they would become an even deeper team, and they could hit 120 points every night. Who knows? Maybe their season will end just like the 1967 Philadelphia 76ers did. With a title.