Khris Middleton passed him the ball on the roll so that he slipped the ball into the circle and gave the Bucks a two-point lead (125-123). A few possessions later, the Greek countered Cam Thomas under the circle to prevent the Nets from coming back to a small point (126-123) in the final seconds of the game.
Two “pure pivot” sequences for Giannis Antetokounmpo, while Brook Lopez was on the bench in this “money time” of the meeting in Brooklyn.
“I didn’t think I was the center, I was just trying to play basketball” replies the “Greek Freak”. “I was lucky to be in the right place at the end of the match and make those counterattacks. Offensively, we slowed things down, giving the ball to our two best players, Dame (Lillard) and Khris (Middleton) to let them do their thing, create a shot or create something for us. That was huge from Coach Griff. »
Adrian Griffin, the new coach of the Bucks, thus adapted to the Nets’ “small ball” by taking out Brook Lopez against the Nets, still deprived of Nic Claxton, who played wide with Cam Thomas, Mikal Bridges, Dorian Finney- Smith, Ben Simmons and Royce O’Neale. A group without any real interior, therefore.
Players demand a return to the old defense
“They did a good job mixing up the combinations” admitted Jae Crowder. “They often played small, they tried to counter what we were doing with Brook (Lopez) but I think we did a good job with Giannis to protect the rim at the end, but also to take the defensive rebounds and go to the circle on offense. »
With this success (129-125), the Bucks return to 4 wins for 2 losses, to place themselves in 3rd place in the East.
The team’s defensive concerns are not yet completely resolved, while Milwaukee has the 24th defense at the start of the season (116.7 points conceded over 100 possessions) but Adrian Griffin has still put water in his wine by simplifying his defensive systems, Brook Lopez finding his “drop coverage” against traditional pivots or when there are non-shooters in front, while Giannis Antetokounmpo is used as a pivot when opponents use groups looking for 3-way shots -points.
“Sometimes as coaches we are too smart to be happy” he explained recently. “A few players came to me – I won’t say who – they wanted Brook to move back more on the drop. I was smart enough to listen to them and it paid off. »
| Giannis Antetokounmpo | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2013-14 | MIL | 77 | 25 | 41.4 | 34.7 | 68.3 | 1.0 | 3.4 | 4.4 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 6.8 |
| 2014-15 | MIL | 81 | 31 | 49.1 | 15.9 | 74.1 | 1.2 | 5.5 | 6.7 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 0.9 | 2.1 | 1.1 | 12.7 |
| 2015-16 | MIL | 80 | 35 | 50.6 | 25.7 | 72.4 | 1.4 | 6.2 | 7.7 | 4.3 | 3.2 | 1.2 | 2.6 | 1.4 | 16.9 |
| 2016-17 | MIL | 80 | 36 | 52.1 | 27.2 | 77.0 | 1.8 | 7.0 | 8.8 | 5.4 | 3.1 | 1.6 | 2.9 | 1.9 | 22.9 |
| 2017-18 | MIL | 75 | 37 | 52.9 | 30.7 | 76.0 | 2.1 | 8.0 | 10.0 | 4.8 | 3.1 | 1.5 | 3.0 | 1.4 | 26.9 |
| 2018-19 ★ | MIL | 72 | 33 | 57.8 | 25.6 | 72.9 | 2.2 | 10.3 | 12.5 | 5.9 | 3.2 | 1.3 | 3.7 | 1.5 | 27.7 |
| 2019-20 ★ | MIL | 63 | 30 | 55.3 | 30.4 | 63.3 | 2.2 | 11.4 | 13.6 | 5.6 | 3.1 | 1.0 | 3.7 | 1.1 | 29.5 |
| 2020-21 | MIL | 61 | 33 | 56.9 | 30.3 | 68.5 | 1.6 | 9.4 | 11.0 | 5.9 | 2.8 | 1.2 | 3.4 | 1.2 | 28.2 |
| 2021-22 | MIL | 67 | 33 | 55.3 | 29.3 | 72.2 | 2.0 | 9.6 | 11.6 | 5.8 | 3.2 | 1.1 | 3.3 | 1.4 | 29.9 |
| 2022-23 | MIL | 63 | 32 | 55.3 | 27.5 | 64.5 | 2.2 | 9.6 | 11.8 | 5.7 | 3.1 | 0.8 | 3.9 | 0.8 | 31.1 |
| 2023-24 | MIL | 5 | 32 | 54.5 | 40.0 | 61.5 | 2.8 | 5.6 | 8.4 | 3.2 | 3.0 | 0.8 | 4.4 | 1.2 | 24.0 |
| Total | 724 | 33 | 53.7 | 28.8 | 70.7 | 1.8 | 7.8 | 9.6 | 4.7 | 3.0 | 1.1 | 3.0 | 1.3 | 22.7 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
