Milwaukee Bucks: Giannis Antetokounmpo Further Along Than Expected

There were a lot of questions raised when the Milwaukee Bucks used the 15th overall pick in June’s draft to take a 6’9” shooting guard from Greece. But through four preseason games, Giannis Antetokounmpo has proved to be much further along than any of the critics anticipated.

That’s not to say the player who is known as the “Greek Freak” because of his athleticism and as “The Alphabet” because his name is a little on the difficult side to pronounce (it’s actually simpler than it looks: YAHN-is anh-teh-toe-KOON-po) is a finished product.

Far from it.

Assistant coach Nick Van Exel has been working with Antetokounmpo on his shooting. But the coach told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that it’s more about body work and the mental part of the game for the rookie.

"“Basketball-wise, he needs to improve his strength. Being stronger with the ball.“With him right now, it’s 20 percent athleticism and 80 percent mental. The mental is not there yet. He’s still a high school kid, so it’s going to take time for him to develop. But he learns very quickly. His potential is unbelievable. I think he wants to be a good player because he works at it.”"

Indeed, the rookie made a splash in his first NBA preseason game, scoring 14 points in 29 minutes in a 99-87 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Oct. 8. Here’s what he did:

Seeing some of the plays he made in that game can make it difficult that we’re talking about an 18-year-old kid who is in a new country for the first time.

"“It’s hard to adjust because I have to get used to the city and American life and not just basketball, but the NBA. To tell the truth it’s boring. I’m alone over here and I don’t have a lot of things to do. The times when I have fun is when I come [to practice].”"

He’s also having to learn a different style of play, not just NBA play in general, but playing without the basketball in his hands. In Greece, Antetokounmpo had the rock almost all the time.

That can be the most difficult transition of all for many players, but it’s not been so for Antetokounmpo—he came to Milwaukee ready to learn.

"“He is capable of grabbing the rebound and taking it the length of the court,” Van Exel said. “He has to get to the point where he is comfortable doing that here. I tell him all the time, ‘Look, sometimes when you get that ball off the rebound, don’t be afraid to make a play.’“What he’s doing now is dribbling it across half-court and just passing it to the guards. We want to see him make plays because he has that capability. If he’s able to do that, it strengthens our ballclub.”"

Antetokounmpo has leveled off after that debut in Cleveland. In three preseason games since, the rookie has shot 4-for-11, 0-for-1 from 3-point range, and 6-for-6 from the line, with 15 rebounds, two assists, two steals, five blocks and seven turnovers in 61 minutes.

Overall in the preseason, Antetokounmpo is playing 22.5 minutes a game and averaging seven points, 4.8 rebounds, an assist, a steal, two blocks and three turnovers and he’s a minus-11 in plus/minus (for whatever that stat happens to be worth—there is a dearth of advanced statistics for preseason action).

However, using just linear weights to calculate a player efficiency rating (PER), Antetokounmpo’s preseason PER is 10.35, well below average. It’s worth pointing out, however, that (a) this is just preseason, sample sizes are small and quality of play is ragged, at best, and (b) a linear-weighted PER does not take into account team pace factors, which have a lot to do with the actual formula that is used for the regular season.

This preseason, however, is important for Antetokounmpo and the Bucks because a decision has to be made regarding how fast to bring the kid along.

Conventional wisdom was that it would be awhile before the Greek Freak would be a regular contributor. But it’s possible that Larry Drew might not be able to keep him out of the rotation, simply because of his sheer athleticism.

It’s a fine line, after all, between overwhelming a kid and stunting his development altogether.

[slider_pro id=”17″]