With NBA news hard to come by, EuroBasket has given fans a taste of basketball. Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo is representing his home country of Greece and has flaunted a tantalizing skill that should make him all the more difficult to stop.
In Greece’s recent game against Latvia in EuroBasket, Giannis unleashed a smoother-looking jump shot. He hit four shots outside of the paint, keeping defenses honest by pulling up for jumpers rather than bullying his way to the rim.
That should quiet concerns about his game and specifically how it will age with him now in his 30s. To his credit, Giannis was already much improved as a shooter last season. 21% of his shots came from mid-range last season, and he shot a strong 44.2% on those attempts, according to NBA Stats.
That is perfectly good for a player whose biggest weakness was that he wasn’t a threat scoring outside of the paint.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is still more than capable of carrying the Bucks
The Bucks may not have the same level of talent as last season, but they still have a top 3 player in the NBA, and that matters. Put Giannis with several shooters and watch him smoke teams trying to stop him while not giving up open shots.
Bringing back Gary Trent Jr. and adding Myles Turner and Cole Anthony out of nowhere should help. However, putting the ball more in Giannis’ hands could solve a lot of the Bucks’ problems and be enough to propel them back into title contention.
The Bucks’ reliance on Giannis Antetokounmpo is a double-edged sword
The Bucks will have to walk a thin line next season. They will have to rely on Giannis to carry them, but not over-rely on him and cause him to realize that he doesn’t have enough help. That is partly true; the Bucks have less talent than last season, minus Damian Lillard and Brook Lopez, though they have gotten much younger.
In theory, if their younger supporting cast pans out, the Bucks could be better than they were last season. In that case, combined with a much weaker Eastern Conference and Giannis with an improved jumper, the Bucks could make noise in the playoffs.
That would be Milwaukee’s best hope of keeping him happy, with them having a path back to the Eastern Conference Finals, with them projected to be the third-best team in their conference on paper.
Ultimately, Giannis adding to his game should make him even tougher to stop in the NBA. If he can continue to play at the same peak level that he has over the last five seasons, then the Bucks could return to contention.
