” George is a plague! Doc Rivers does not go overboard to describe Georges Niang. For the trip to Milwaukee, the Sixers coach had entrusted him with a mission that was complex to say the least: to try as best as possible to slow down Giannis Antetokounmpo.
If we rely on the latter’s stats alone (32 points at 13/23, 11 rebounds and 9 assists in 39 minutes), we could say that the former Jazz player missed out. of the objective. But to look more closely at the sequences where he found himself facing the double MVP, the job was done.
” Georges is a plague for me, for his teammates, for everyone., lists his coach picked up by Sixers Wire. So we use guys like him on guys like Giannis. He held on. Giannis is strong, he will score points and create play, but it hasn’t been easy. Everything was complicated.“
Despite ten centimeters less, and three classes of difference in terms of athletic qualities, the winger has the distinction of being quite “heavy”. Ideal therefore to put his body and opposition and to respond physically to the Greek on slow phases of play. Which he did on several occasions.
Break his rhythm
” The most important thing was to break his rhythm”remarks the former teammate of Rudy Gobert. “A lot of players let him ramp up, go on his right hand, penetrate and let him pick up his pace. You obviously can’t completely stop a guy like him. The idea is to make him take as many difficult shots as possible.“
Georges Niang was not the only one in his defensive enterprise. When Giannis Antetokounmpo managed to push him into the post, the Sixer were able to rely on the help of Joel Embiid.
” Joel has been excellent behind me trusting our defence, opposing behind and giving me the opportunity to be the anchor “, Thanks the strong winger, who had already defended on the double MVP during a first confrontation in November. The Sixers were then very limited effective level.
” The whole team did a great job so congratulations to everyone. It was a group effort to stop him “, greets Georges Niang, who behaved like an X factor in this match. In addition to his defensive efforts, he contributed 18 points (6/12) and 6 rebounds. Recruited at a low price by Philadelphia in the off-season, he is having his best career season and is proving to be a valuable support for the Cameroonian.
| George Niang | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2016-17 | IND | 23 | 4 | 25.0 | 8.3 | 100.0 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.9 |
| 2017-18 | UTH | 9 | 4 | 36.4 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| 2018-19 | UTH | 59 | 9 | 47.5 | 41.0 | 83.3 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 4.0 |
| 2019-20 | UTH | 66 | 14 | 43.8 | 40.0 | 83.3 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 5.9 |
| 2020-21 | UTH | 72 | 16 | 43.7 | 42.5 | 95.7 | 0.4 | 2.1 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 6.9 |
| 2021-22 | PHL | 53 | 23 | 43.1 | 39.3 | 87.8 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 1.5 | 2.6 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 9.3 |
| Total | 282 | 14 | 43.5 | 40.1 | 87.1 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 5.9 | |
