Milwaukee Bucks: Giannis Antetokounmpo Hasn’t Missed a Beat

We shouldn’t be surprised that Giannis Antetokounmpo hasn’t missed a beat, but his performances against Boston and Houston have been outstanding.

After a roughly four and a half month layoff due to the coronavirus, the Milwaukee Bucks and the rest of the NBA are now back in action. But after such a long layoff taking place and under such unusual circumstances, it was difficult to know what exactly to expect from the Bucks in these first few games.

Would Milwaukee’s chemistry look off? When would Eric Bledsoe and Pat Connaughton return? Can Brook Lopez regain his 2018-19 form from 3? How will coach Mike Budenholzer handle these eight games with the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed essentially locked up?

There, of course, were other questions that we didn’t have the answers to; however, there were two things that we did know. The first is that Giannis Antetokounmpo is going to give 100 percent any time that he is on the court. The second is that he wasn’t going to miss a beat even with the time off.

And oh boy, he sure hasn’t missed a beat. In fact, his performances against Boston and Houston have been historic.

Giannis is on his way to a second-straight MVP Award after averaging 29.6 points, 13.7 rebounds, and 5.8 assists per game while shooting 54.7 percent from the field and 30.6 percent from deep through the Milwaukee Bucks’ first 57 games before play was called off.

Defensively he is first in the NBA in win shares, rating, and plus/minus. On top of that, the Bucks hold the best record in basketball.

While, admittedly, it’s not fair to compare two games to a 57 game sample size, Giannis has been lights out since play resumed. Against Boston and Houston, he is averaging 36 points, 16.5 rebounds, and 7.5 assists on 62.2 percent shooting from the field, including 37.5 percent from 3.

According to Justin Kubatko, the creator of Basketball-Reference, Giannis is the first player since the ABA-NBA merger to post at least 35 points, 15 rebounds, and five assists in back-to-back games. Not too shabby for someone who in a recent Zoom call with reporters, said that he was at 70-75 percent of his usual strength entering play.

And despite the Milwaukee Bucks having a firm grasp on the Eastern Conference’s top seed, Giannis is actually averaging more minutes in these two games than he did during the first 57. But as long as coach Bud gives the green light, are we really that surprised?

So far, Giannis has looked rust proof, and although back in April he was persistent in saying that he didn’t have a hoop at his house and was unable to work on his game, he recently divulged that that just wasn’t the case (via Milwaukee Journal Sentinel):

"“Anybody out there that thought I didn’t have access to a gym, they don’t really know me, Gainnis said. I just said that trying to get a little ahead of the competition”"

While practicing or even playing pick up games isn’t the same as live NBA action, Giannis hasn’t missed a beat as he continues to ramp up for the playoffs, which is his ultimate goal during this eight-game stretch:

"“What I want to do is basically just try to get in shape and get in basketball shape,” Antetokounmpo said. “It doesn’t matter how long I play. I play 10 minutes, 15 minutes, the whole game. I’m just gonna go as hard as I can because eventually when the season starts again and the playoffs start, that’s what I got to do. So you know, as long as I’m on the court, I’m just going to go as hard as I can.”"

Whether it’s the FIBA Basketball World Cup, a scrimmage against the San Antonio Spurs, or a regular-season game with the one-seed all but locked up, Giannis is going to go as hard as he can. As a matter of fact, in a recent article by Lori Nickel of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, she’s counted 12 times that Giannis has hit the floor over these two games.

Regardless of the circumstances, Giannis isn’t going to shy away from contact or crowded lanes. It’s this mentality that has transformed him into an eventual two-time MVP and what leads to performances as spectacular as the previous two have been.

We all know that Giannis’ ultimate goal is to win championships rather than pad his stats – that’s just another reason to love him – but with him playing at this level and this efficiently, it certainly makes the former easier for the Milwaukee Bucks to achieve.