Milwaukee Bucks: Season Grades – Giannis Antetokounmpo

Now that the Milwaukee Bucks‘ season is officially done with, my next series of articles will reflect on each player’s individual performance. First up is every announcer’s nightmare, Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Year Two Giannis was a very different animal than the wide-eyed teenager that came over from Greece last season.

Like a lot of young players that come into the league, every “ceiling” described for Antetokounmpo started with “when he puts on weight.” The process of bulking up began his rookie year when he finally had professional trainers at his disposal, but the noticeable difference occurred during the offseason after his rookie year. He entered this season noticeably larger and he continued to get stronger throughout the year. He is now listed at 216 pounds, which is 20 pounds heavier than he was on draft night.

This weight gain helped his game grow, especially his ability to drive into the paint. Perhaps the greatest factor that influenced his game though was the subtraction of coach Larry Drew and the addition of Jason Kidd.

The Greek Freak was greatly restricted under the leadership of Drew. I get that he was an 18-year-old rookie who picked up the game of basketball later in life, but Drew must have thought that meant he didn’t have a feel for the game yet. When Drew put him into the game, it was essentially to waste away his NBA career by standing in the corner. It was when Giannis would step out of this mandate that the exciting stuff happened.

Like this:

Or this:

Giannis’ responsibility within the offense immediately grew when Kidd became head coach of the team. It was still Summer League when Kidd made the bold statement of calling Antetokounmpo a point guard.

Giannis never became a full-time point guard, but he definitely began to handle the ball a lot more. His usage percentage went up to 19.6 percent and he got to handle the ball from the top of the key a lot.

Offensive Grade: B-

This grade might seem a little low to people, but it’s much higher than it would’ve been last year. He showed a lot of offensive versatility during the season, but he never seemed to really package all the elements together.

At the beginning of the season, he was excellent at taking his man off the dribble and either finishing or drawing a foul in the paint. During the middle of the season, he looked proficient in the post with spin moves and hook shots. Then towards the end of the season, he discovered his midrange jumper and became a threat outside of the paint.

The problem is that teams learned how to play defense against him. They began sagging off of him and clogging the lane with help defenders. He did his best to counter this by developing a midrange jumpshot, but that alone did not draw defenders far enough out. Even on his best shooting nights, teams would let Giannis have that shot. He didn’t take enough of them to really hurt teams and it’s the area of the floor that you want players shooting from anyway.

Antetokounmpo’s best hope at reopening the lane for his drives is the three-point shot, which coincidentally was the only part of his offensive game that regressed.

Under Larry Drew, Giannis averaged 1.5 three point attempts per game. This season, he only put up a three-pointer every other game. The concerning part though is obviously the clip that he shot them at. His three-point percentage dipped all the way to 15.9 percent after it was a respectable 34.7 percent his rookie year.

A three-point shot isn’t necessary for Giannis to be a net positive, but it’s very necessary if he wants to be a 20+ points per game type of player. Knowing Giannis though, he wants to be the latter and he will make it his main focus in the offseason.

Here’s a look at Giannis’ offensive stats this year (bottom) compared to last year (top).

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Generated 5/7/2015.

The most impressive thing is Giannis increased his number of field goal attempts while also raising his field goal percentage drastically. If there’s one thing that shows growth, it’s that. Anyone can see a bigger role in the offense and take more shots, but typically this means a dip in their field goal percentage. Giannis took 4.2 more shots per game and raised his field goal percentage by eight points to a solid 49.1 percent.

His field goal percentage probably won’t get too much higher than that the rest of his career, but if he can add a three-point shot and keep it above 45 percent, he’ll be an even more effective player.

Antetokounmpo’s rebounding also made a nice jump from 4.4 per game to 6.7  even though he only played seven more minutes per contest. This should only continue to go up as he continues to transition into a power forward.

Defensive Grade: A-

The Greek Freak’s defense last season was hard to really analyze. A lot of a player’s defensive stats are a product of their teammates’ performances and the Bucks’ team defense was terrible last year. The 2013-14 Bucks’ defense was dead last, allowing 111.8 points per 100 possessions. This year’s Bucks only allowed 102.2 points per 100 possessions. In other words, it was really hard for a Bucks’ defender to look good last season.

Because of that, it’s important to take Giannis’ defensive improvement with a grain of salt. That being said, he has definitely improved.

His defensive rating improved from 110 last year to 101 this season. He made this improvement without his fouls per game increasing substantially (4.8 to 5.1 per 100 possessions).

He averaged one block a game and when he did get that block, a spectacular play often followed.

His ability to turn good defense into good offense is something that will keep the Bucks exciting for years to come.

Giannis is at his best defensively when he’s defending the paint. Opponents shoot 1.5 percent better than league average against Antetokounmpo on shots 15 feet out and further, per NBA.com. Opponents are below league average, though, on shots closer than that. They shoot 3.6 percent below league average on shots that are within 10 feet of the rim. It’s just another reason that Giannis’ future will be at power forward.

The Greek Freak is also probably the Bucks’ best rebounder on the defensive end. Antetokounmpo rebounds 27.3 percent of all Bucks’ defensive rebounds when he’s on the court. To compare, John Henson with his massive wingspan rebounds 23.6 percent of all Bucks’ defensive rebounds. Giannis grabbing those defensive rebounds really helps the Bucks’ offense too as he is then able to take the rebound and initiate the Bucks offense.

Overall Grade: B+

It’s safe to say the 2014-15 campaign was a success for Giannis Antetokounmpo. He developed his offensive game without decreasing his efficiency and he contributed to an impressive Bucks team defensively.

If his development stopped here, he’d still play out his career as a solid contributor capable of starting for a good team. It’s highly unlikely that this is his ceiling though considering he’s only 20 and his work ethic is inspiring.

Because of this, it’s a strong possibility that he will reach his ceiling whatever it may be. Whether it’s a versatile Al-Farouq Aminu type of player or a Hall of Fame caliber player like Scottie Pippen, Bucks fans got themselves a gem with the 15th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft.

Next: Stephen Curry: Top 10 Moments From His MVP Season

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