Milwaukee Bucks: 5 takeaways from the first 5 games
2. Donte DiVincenzo’s imminent rise
As predicted, Donte DiVincenzo is off to a breakout season here early on. After all the trade speculation and lingering doubts hovering over his name, it was clear that this was going to be the time for DiVincenzo to shine in the spotlight.
He’s taken over the starting shooting guard position on a regular basis and has thrived so far alongside the rest of the starters. Through the first five games, the athletic 23-year-old guard out of Villanova has averaged 14.0 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game on 54.2 percent field goals and an incredible 61.5 percent from beyond the arc.
Donte has been shooting lights out for the Bucks while forming an intimidating backcourt defensive duo with Jrue Holiday. Milwaukee should be extremely satisfied with what they’ve seen from DiVincenzo so far this season, and maybe the botched Bogdan Bogdanovic trade was no big deal after all.
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3. Improving weaknesses still a work in progress for Giannis Antetokounmpo
The two-time consecutive MVP of the league, Giannis Antetokounmpo, hasn’t had the start to the season that everyone was expecting. In fact, he’s been worse in almost every key statistical category compared to last season. It’s obviously only been five games, but his performances haven’t been quite convincing to say the least.
Last year, Giannis struggled with free throws, 3-point shooting, a high turnover rate, offensive fouls, and decision-making with shot selection for the most part. It doesn’t appear that any of that has changed heading into 2021. We’ve already seen him miss a game-tying free throw that led to a loss, commit five offensive fouls in a single game, and most recently getting an earful from Khris Middleton after seemingly miscommunicating on a defensive assignment.
There’s just little tweaks that Antetokounmpo needs to clean up, and I’m sure every one of his teammates and coaching staff in the locker room believe in him and his desire to continue improving. Although it’s been a rough start to the campaign, it would be an overreaction to already begin to worry about Giannis.
Fresh off a five-year, $228.2 million supermax contract extension with the Milwaukee Bucks during a shortened offseason, give The Greek Freak some time before he tracks back to the dominant presence he’s become known as. It’s likely that Giannis Antetokounmpo won’t win a third consecutive MVP award, but all that should matter for him right now is steadily getting back to superstar form while continuously working to improve upon his weaknesses as the Bucks prepare to chase the ultimate goal.