What a time to be a Bucksfan. It’s not often the Milwaukee Bucks or their players are in the nationalspotlight, but it’s impossible to ignore GiannisAntetokounmpo’s recent rise to stardom. Not only did he turn a stillscarily young 22 years old on Tuesday, but the Greek Freak has been filling upthe stat sheet night in and night out while being a human highlight reel.
To put Giannis turning 22into perspective, he is already in his fourth NBA season and is still youngerthan a lot of guys in the league including rookie teammate Malcolm Brogdon, who is already 23-years-old. Antetokounmpo isaveraging 22 points, 8.9 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 2.3 blocks and 2.2 steals witha player efficiency rating of 27.07. Those are all team highs by the way. If hekeeps these stats up, he will be the first player in NBA history to end theseason with averages like that in each of those five categories.
When you compare the GreekFreak to other super star players such as LeBron James and Kevin Durant whenthey were 22 years old, the numbers are pretty mind-boggling. Check these out,which don’t even include his triple-double in last night’s win over theTrailblazers (which I’ll get into later).
Giannis Antetokounmpo's 4th season (2016-17) compared to Kevin Durant's (2010-11) and LeBron James' (2006-07)... pic.twitter.com/mt9NaFex4e
— Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey) December 7, 2016
Want even more validationthat he’s for real? The only other player in NBA history to have as manyassists, steals, and blocks by their 22nd birthday is Tracy McGrady.
Giannis Antetokounmpo turns 22 today 🎂
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) December 6, 2016
T-Mac is the only player ever with as many assists, steals, and blocks by 22 pic.twitter.com/FIeYzCwsc9
Eastern Conference Player of the Week
During the Bucks’ four-gamewin streak last week, Giannis averaged 22.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists,three steals and three blocks per game while earning the Eastern ConferencePlayer of the Week award for the second time in his career. That included theirbig win over the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers where he tied hiscareer-high in points with 34 to go along with 12 rebounds, five assists, fivesteals and two blocks in 35 minutes. It was a well-deserved honor for the GreekFreak and should help increase his All-Star chances if he can keep this playup. Judging by the way this season has gone with the Bucks record at 11-9,there seems to be nothing slowing him down at this point.
Monday Heartbreak
The Bucks validated their winover the Cavs with back-to-back victories over the Brooklyn Nets and had a lotof confidence heading into Monday night’s game against the San Antonio Spurs,who came in undefeated on the road at 11-0. It was a fun game to watch, to saythe least, but Giannis getting into foul trouble, a late Spurs surge and amissed wide-open three by MirzaTeletovic in the closing seconds allowed San Antonio to escape with the 97-96victory. Despite the loss, Giannis made his imprint on the game once again with22 points, 11 rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block.
One problem is that Antetokounmpowas on the bench for all of the fourth quarter except the last two minutes. Itwas evident that his presence was missed on the floor, but his teammate Jabari Parker picked up the slack inhis absence. Parker, who scored 23 points with eight rebounds and threeassists, was instrumental in keeping Milwaukee in the game. He showed much-needed aggression and simply put the team on his back. Unfortunately it wasn’tenough. I hate to say it was a moral victory since there is no such thing, butthe Bucks can hold their heads up high as they made San Antonio earn that gameall the way to the final buzzer.
Getting back to Giannis, hecontinued to wow with what have become quarterly highlights. Even with Kahwi Leonard, one of the premierdefenders in the league, gaurding him, Giannis showed he belonged in a majorway. During the second quarter, Leonard was driving hard to the basket and ashe gathered to go up for a layup attempt, Giannis swatted it into the standsand pursued to flex and stare him down in the process.
Leonard may have finishedwith a team-high 21 points and nine rebounds, but he was just 9-22 from the fieldincluding 1-5 from three. It’s a good sign that the Greek Freak can hang withthe league’s superstars as his game grows.
Visit from KG
It was rumored late in theoffseason that future Hall of Famer KevinGarnett, who retired before the start of the season, would be a specialconsultant for the Bucks at some point this season. Well, those rumors cametrue as he made his first visit to the Bucks practice facility on Tuesday to serveas a mentor especially to guys like Giannis, Jabari, and 19-year-old rookie Thon Maker. With KG being one ofGiannis’ idols growing up, it was quite the birthday present for the now 22-year-old.
Having the presence and voiceof a former MVP and NBA champion like KG is huge for the young team’sdevelopment. He may have been known as one of the leagues most notorious trashtalkers, but he played the game with a lot of passion and was one of the besttwo-way players of his generation. With Antetokounmpo drawing comparisons to Gernett,it’s only fitting that he imparts his 21 years of NBA knowledge onto the up-and-comingstar.
Triple-Double Alert
Not only did the Bucks avengetheir one-point loss to the Spurs on Monday night with a 115-107 win over thePortland Trailblazers last night, but Giannis recorded his second triple-doubleof the season, finishing with 15 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists to goalong with four blocks and two steals. It was the seventh triple-double of hisyoung career, which puts him in second place in franchise history behind thegreat Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
It seemed like a quiet nightfor Giannis as he only took 11 shots while playing a team-high 40 minutes. Sure,it would be nice to see your star take 15-plus shots a game, but it takespressure off him when his teammates are able to make shots especially JabariParker, who finished with a team-high 27 points on 11-of-23 shooting in lastnight’s win. In fact, the Bucks had six guys finish in double figures includingMatthew Dellavedova (17 points), Greg Monroe (15), Michael Beasley (12), and MalcolmBrogdon (13). When the Bucks have that kind of balance on any given night,it’s no surprise that Giannis gets a triple-double.
When you look up “freak” inthe dictionary, it might as well just say Giannis Antetokounmpo at this point.There’s so much this guy can do and it’s become a nightmare for team’s night inand night out. The only blemish in his game to this point is that his outsideshot still needs to be polished and he tends to be over aggressive on thedefensive end. As frustratingas his foul trouble may be, I can live with it because it shows that he cares alot about defense while trying to be the most complete player he can be onboth ends of the floor.
Team Outlook
Milwaukee is now 11-9 andcurrently holds the No. 5 spot in the Eastern Conference with three quarters ofthe season to go. After an abysmal 33-49 record just last year, the Deer seemto be hungry to get back to the playoffs this season. I know it’s still early,but the attitude of this team seems to be much different this season and theyhave started to realize what they are capable of. It’s evident the Bucks canhang with anyone on any given night as we’ve seen them do with the Warriors,Cavaliers, Spurs, Raptors and now the Trailblazers.
They have a tough schedulecoming up this December and the early part of January. They have already had aback-to-back setting after sweeping the Brooklyn Nets last week, and will havefour more similar sequences with the Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers,Washington Wizards and New York Knicks over the next month. This brutal partof the schedule will be important and give indication whether this team is acontender or pretender as we head into 2017.
Up Next
Milwaukee’s short three-gamehomestand ends on Friday night as they welcome the 11-12 Atlanta Hawks to theBMO Harris Bradley Center before they head to Washington on Saturday. The Hawksdropped the Bucks 107-100 back on November 16 in Atlanta behind 21 points fromPaul Millsap. Giannis had 26 points, 15 rebounds, and seven assists whileJabari had 23 points, respectively, but the Bucks only got 25 points from theirbench in the losing effort. Tip for tomorrow night will be at 7:00 p.m. and canbe found on Fox Sports Wisconsin.
