After losing to the Miami Heat in the first round, Giannis Antetokounmpo has a massive opportunity to get the Bucks back to the NBA Finals. Giannis is a talented and tenacious player, but he has deficiencies in his game that must improve. The Bucks have a roster that generates regular-season wins. However, they have not made it past the second round in the last two seasons. What must the 2-time MVP do to get the Bucks back to glory?
How Giannis Antetokounmpo Reclaims His Title?
His Struggles in the Postseason
While Giannis did have a major knee injury in the playoffs, he did not perform as well as expected. More specifically, the Bucks blew two big fourth-quarter leads, allowing the Heat to win the series in five games. Giannis may have produced good stats in the last two games, but he struggled in key areas. For one, he shot 45.2 percent from the free-throw line. The Bucks win these games if Giannis makes his free throws. He still struggles to make free throws. However, in this playoff series, he had the worst free throw success of his career.
Additionally, turnovers were a big problem for Antetokounmpo. Averaging 4.7 turnovers a game against Miami, Giannis had key turnovers in big moments against the Heat. He struggles to read and react to the “wall” being built and picks up a lot of offensive fouls. High turnovers make a player unreliable. Giannis’ struggles with free throws and turnovers are keys to his improvement.
After going just 13 for 37 on hook shots during the regular season, Giannis went just 2 for 7 on hooks in the Miami series.
I think far more than the jumper, this shot is the one Giannis needs to master if he's going to become a more dependable halfcourt scorer in the playoffs. pic.twitter.com/GdVZnZiiUG
— Jason Timpf (@_JasonLT) August 15, 2023
How Does Giannis Improve?
Developing a Hook Shot
Giannis cannot depend on his entire game around lay-ups and dunks; he needs to develop a reliable post-game. He was 13/37 on hook shots and only made two on seven attempts against the Heat. Furthermore, a lot of his possessions are him driving to the basket against a set defense. It makes help on defense easy when everyone knows what is coming. Giannis must develop a hook because it allows him to shoot when he gets cut off from the rim. This type of shot gets him the ball on the block, closer to the rim. As a result, he scores easily and has less risk for turnovers.
Foul Shots
This goes without being said, Giannis is not a reliable foul shooter. He changes his routine, and his shot flow is very stiff. Giannis needs to stop overthinking at the line and find something that works. He must devote his entire time to making this weakness into a reliable part of his game. Antetokounmpo is a great player and a hard worker but has to focus on his free throws if he ever wants to win a championship.
Patience
In big moments, teams build a wall against Giannis. He is so dominant in attacking the paint that a “wall” of defenders is the only way to slow him down. Unfortunately, Antetokounmpo goes headfirst into that type of defense. He needs to find more patience in his offensive game. When a defense sets up like that, he should swing the ball and run pick-and-roll. Giannis generated 1.09 points per possession on 54 percent of pick-and-roll buckets. While he wasn’t the top producer in the league, swinging the ball into a different action gets the defense to move. Rolling to the basket gets Antetokounmpo the ball on the move, so he scores when the defense isn’t set.
Patience also comes with him moving to other spots on the floor. Diving to the rim for post-ups or cutting behind the defense all require patience. If Giannis Antetokounmpo develops this into his offensive game, improvement is imminent.
