Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports

Giannis Antetokounmpo Is Being Punished Outside The Paint

Originally posted on The Cold Wire | By Brandon Marcus | Last updated 1/9/23

The Milwaukee Bucks, led by two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, are currently 25-14 and clearly in the running to make the NBA Finals again.

They are the third-best team in the East right now, behind just the Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics, but they could easily surge past both teams, especially if Antetokounmpo remains driven and powerful.

As great as the Greek Freak is, he isn’t perfect and when you look at the in-depth analytics of his game, you see the flaws in it.

Giannis is just 84 for 313 outside of the restricted area this season. That's 26.8%

— Jason Timpf (@_JasonLT) January 9, 2023

NBA analyst Jason Timpf has discovered that Antetokounmpo is just 84-of-313 outside the restricted area in the paint.

That’s a weak percentage of 26.8%.

In other words, if Antetokounmpo isn’t scoring close to the bucket this season, he likely isn’t scoring at all.

This goes to show that Antetkounmpo still needs to work on his shot from other parts of the court but it also shows that most teams in the league understand just how big a threat he is.

They are not allowing him to set up a clear shot when he’s in the restricted area, which is practically right below the basket.

You can see this again and again when he’s playing: opponents will swarm all over him.

There are times when he has multiple players on top of him, making any attempt at a bucket hard-fought and challenging.

It’s clear that the rest of the league knows just how impressive and special Antetokounmpo is and everyone is trying their best to stunt his abilities.

It looks like it’s working.

Will we see Antetokounmpo work on his shot more so that he doesn’t have to rely on points in the paint so much?

This article first appeared on The Cold Wire and was syndicated with permission.

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