Giannis Antetokounmpo starts his 2018 MVP bid in emphatic fashion
How do you stop a seven footer with handles, vision, scoring instincts, elite athleticism and shooting? You don’t.
Upon being drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the 2013 draft, Giannis Antetokounmpo was seen as a major risk and a total project. He measured in at six feet nine inches and weighed a measly 196 pounds soaking wet. Even more concerning was the average numbers he posted in an unheralded Greek league with meager competition.
The Bucks bet big at 15th overall with the foreign small forward and dear lord how they’ve hit the jackpot. Since his rookie season, Antetokounmpo’s sprout up like a Sweet William, added muscle like a mule and improved his game each year like an iOS update.
Giannis Antetokounmpo now stands over seven feet tall and weighs in a around a little over 220 pounds. What’s more impressive is how he’s found a way to add a new tool to his bag of tricks on his way to establishing himself as a legitimate star in the NBA.
As a rookie, the Greek Freak could hardly shoot from the perimeter, struggled finishing around the basket against rim protectors and lacked the vision necessary to distribute the ball to his teammates efficiently. Today, those issue don’t exist. He’s now an elite ball handler, a serviceable shooter and an operational point guard.
While it’s hard to imagine a player the size of your average center taking the ball down court and functioning as the floor general, that’s exactly what the young Buck has become. Each and every season he’s immensely improved his scoring, rebounding, assist, blocks, steals and field goal numbers and after his 2017-2018 season debut, it looks as if the trend will continue.
Behind an MVP-like showing from Antetokounmpo, the Bucks overcame a fourth quarter deficit to secure victory number one of the regular season past the Boston Celtics 108-100. Giannis led the charge for his team pacing all scorers and rebounders with 37 points and 13 rebounds.
While his game totals are stunning on their own, it’d be a crime not to mention his fourth quarter heroics. With his team down marching towards the second half of the final quarter, the man went full Greek Freak mode and dropped 16 points on the Celtics defense to close the game out.
With his team healthy with the exception of sidekick Jabari Parker, Giannis and the Bucks looked poised to make their long anticipated breakthrough in the Eastern Conference. He has the weapons, the coaching and the IQ to make an MVP case this season, now all he has to do is perform the script according to plan.
