Something very special is brewing in the Cream City. Giannis Antetokounmpo, selected 15th overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the 2013 NBA Draft, is turning into something that the game of basketball has never seen, a 6-foot-11 point guard phenom. He weighs in at 222 pounds and has a 7-foot-3-inch wingspan. Yes, you read that right. His position is small forward, by definition, but he has proven he can be much more than that. He is one of few players in the NBA that can truly play all five positions. He is a very smart basketball player and he possesses great court vision. Giannis from Sepolia, Athens in Greece, has come to the NBA and has truly turned into the “Greek Freak” that basketball fans know him as. The best part about this basketball phenom, he is just 21 years old.
This season, Giannis has become more confident and begun running the Milwaukee Bucks offense. In an underachieving season that has been up-and-down for the Milwaukee Bucks, Giannis has been a bright spot in their lineup, continually working hard everyday to perfect his craft and get better as a player. The thing that has fans excited is Giannis’ ability to run the offense. Due to season ending injuries to Bucks’ guards Michael Carter-Williams, OJ Mayo, and Greivis Vasquez, the guard position is certainly lacking, allowing for Milwaukee’s head coach Jason Kidd to experiment with Giannis and give him more freedom within the offense. The results have been very exciting for Bucks fans and scary for the rest of the NBA. Over the last 16 games, Giannis’ numbers have improved in every statistical category. Earlier in the season playing at small forward, Giannis was averaging 15.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game. Since transitioning to point guard, at the time of this writing, he has averaged 19.3 points, 9.8 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 1.7 steals, and 1.9 blocks which speaks volumes as far as the on-court facilitator he can be.
In conclusion, Giannis can switch between many positions including alternating from point guard to power forward. He can bring up the ball, pass it to someone on the wing, and slide down to the post where he can wait for a pass-back to score a lay-up or fight for a rebound. The Bucks are using him in so many different ways and he has thrived in every situation. Giannis has great floor vision at the point guard position and seems to always make the right decisions. Also, he never falls short in making highlight-reel plays where we see him grab a rebound on the defensive end and take it the length of the court to score on the other end. His 7-foot-3 wingspan allows for him to grab many rebounds and block shots with ease against much smaller defenders. Giannis is truly something the NBA hasn’t seen since somebody like Magic Johnson. The most exciting part about him is that he is only 21 years old and still has many things to learn and improve upon. If he stays on the path he is on, he will be a top ten player in the NBA within the next couple of years and hopefully he can ultimately lead the Bucks to something great.
- Editor’s note: This article was written by the staff over at Cream City Sidelines. Cream City Sidelines is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and covers many of Wisconsin’s sports teams including the Milwaukee Bucks, Milwaukee Brewers, Green Bay Packers, Marquette Golden Eagles, Wisconsin Badgers, Milwaukee Panthers, Milwaukee Admirals, and Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. You can find more of their work at creamcitysidelines.com and follow them on twitter at @CCSidelines.
