Giannis Antetokounmpo turns defense into offense better than anyone
By Max Carlin
Giannis Antetokounmpo is an unstoppable force, because he’s a premier defensive playmaker for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Milwauke Bucks unicorn Giannis Antetokounmpo is affectionately known as the Greek Freak, and that’s not just because people are too timid to attempt pronouncing his name.
Just look at him. He’s pushing 7 feet and has inspector gadget arms. He was rail thin when he entered the league, but he’s added a ton of bulk; the physical transformation Giannis has undergone doesn’t get enough attention.
Giannis most certainly is a freak—his nickname is no misnomer.
Then again, reluctance to pronounce his consonant-ridden last name surely plays a part:
So glad the NBA is back. Here's Stacy King's best attempt at Giannis Antetokounmpo's name https://t.co/O8OA4vgsRr
— Dan Clyne (@danCLYNE) October 4, 2016
Giannis isn’t just a freak from a physical perspective. His game is absolutely freakish too.
In 2016-17, Giannis scored an outrageous 1.28 points per possession in transition situations. Among players with at least 250 transition possessions, that was good for third.
Transition buckets are easy pickings for NBA athletes. The defense (if there is any at all) is scrambling. Even the least offensively apt of NBA players is efficient in transition.
But Giannis is exceptionally productive in transition. Because he does this:
The Greek Freak. I told you: it’s no misnomer.
Giannis picks up his dribble at the top of the arc, euro steps, simultaneously fakes a pass, and throws it down. He employs his athleticism, length, and skill to perfection.
Nets’ announcer Sarah Kustok flawlessly captures the essence of Giannis: “How do you stop that? Can you?”
Simply put: no, you can’t.
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In the half court, Giannis is a terror to stop. He’s too long, strong, and skilled to be contained. However, defenses can impede his progress. His inability to shoot is central to that (he shot a putrid 32.4 percent on jumpers last year).
Giannis is a playmaker and a superstar. The Bucks want and need to put the ball in his hands, but he does have limitations. As a pick and roll ball handler, he struggled, scoring just 0.81 points per possession, which was likely a product of his status as a non-shooter.
In transition, though, his limitations vanish. Because of his athleticism, length, and skill, Giannis can get to the rim at will, and the Bucks like when Giannis gets to the rim. Last season, he shot an absurd 70.2 percent at the rim.
What’s truly special about Giannis’ transition ability is the way in which he creates those opportunities.
Giannis is what I like to call a defensive playmaker. Defensive playmakers do not necessarily have to be fundamentally sound defenders, but they make incredible, game-changing defensive plays. Think late-career LeBron James. LeBron rarely gives maximum effort and is prone to lapses, but when the team really needs him, he does this:
Giannis is not necessarily the most fundamentally sound defender, but he is one heck of a defensive playmaker:
https://twitter.com/World_Wide_Wob/status/919020769568546817
Regrettably, there is not a single (publicly available) viable metric to quantify individual defense. Defensive playmaking, however, can be captured (to an extent) using the stock.
The stock is the ingenious squashing together of the words “steal” and “block.” Clever, huh?
In 2016-17, Giannis tied (Anthony Davis) for the league lead in stocks per game with 3.5. Giannis ends opponent possessions better than anyone else on the planet.
His ability to end opponent possessions through defensive playmaking is relevant, because these live ball changes of possession lead directly to transition opportunities:
https://twitter.com/brewhoop/status/845434102056730624
Giannis is arguably the NBA’s best transition player. He’s also arguably the class of the NBA when it comes to creating transition opportunities for himself.
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This all comes back to one thing: the Greek Freak. Giannis has learned to maximize his special length and athleticism, to exploit them in a way that allows him to create defensively, which in turn, creates unbelievably efficient offense. He’s a two-way wrecking ball, and he can’t be stopped.