Tuck's triple: Giannis takes another step; DiVincenzo steps up; Bucks learn from playoff heartbreak
Watch Portland Trail Blazers @ Milwaukee Bucks live on Sky Sports Arena in the early hours of Friday morning (1am)
Thursday 21 November 2019 23:51, UK
Sky Sports NBA analyst Mike Tuck offers three takes on the surging Milwaukee Bucks as they prepare to host the Portland Trail Blazers at Fiserv Forum.
Live NBA: Portland @ Milwaukee
'Giannis is even better this year'
Right now Giannis Antetokounmpo is playing even better than last season when he won the regular-season MVP award. His numbers are up in almost every category - he is averaging 30.5 points and almost 14 rebounds per game!
Earlier this month, he became the first player in NBA history to record 200 points, 100 rebounds and 50 assists in their first eight games of the season. He is putting up monster numbers.
His weaknesses are his three-point and free-throw shooting, but he is making progress from beyond the arc. He is shooting 30.6 per cent on threes for the season and has made a respectable 35.6 per cent of his threes in November so far.
He isn't forcing these shots - preferring to fire them up when he feels confident and ready. He loves stepping into that three-point shot from the top of the key. Against the Chicago Bulls on Monday night, he started to make them early in the game.
This is one part of how invested he is in his own development. Year-on-year, his numbers grow. Look at how he has developed his body - he has become bigger and stronger with each season that goes by. Can he keep getting better? It's promising.
The one area of concern is his free throw shooting. He is down to 61 per cent (from 72.9 last year) and has even 'air-balled' a couple from the line. I always find free throwing shooting is about mentality more than anything else. He most likely has some sort of mental block in his head when he steps to the free-throw line.
But it's a small sample size this early in the season and I think those numbers will eventually improve and level out. When they do, that will take his overall offense even higher because of the volume of free throws he shoots per game.
Against the Bulls, Giannis was called for five fouls, all of them were offensive, which I found really interesting. I think it shows Giannis is going more aggressively to the basket but also that teams having started scouting him up on that and thinking about how to combat it,
Opposing teams are trying to match his physicality on and off-ball pressure but also recognising when he puts his head down in the lane there are opportunities to take a charge.
Stepping up in Middleton's absence
The Bucks rely heavily on Giannis and that is something that could potentially come back to bite them again, as it did against the Toronto Raptors in last season's Eastern Conference Finals. It's more magnified at the moment because Khris Middleton is out with an injury.
They miss Malcolm Brogdon, who was traded to the Indiana Pacers last summer. He brought so much more to the team than just putting the ball in the basket. He is a great two-way player, really smart, consistent, efficient and very mature for his age. A leader the Bucks needed.
Now Milwaukee's talent level drops off pretty quickly after Giannis and Middleton. Eric Bledsoe is giving them 16 points a game but he isn't consistent. I like George Hill but he is not going to give you major points. Brook Lopez can go 5-for-5 or 1-for-5 on three-pointers and I think he can get a bit trigger-happy at times. He is 7ft tall and should be down on the block more.
One Bucks role player who is really standing out for me at the moment is Donte DiVincenzo. I like his energy. He worked his way into the starting line-up and got 15 points against the Bulls. With Middleton out, he can help. He has a quick trigger, he can shoot from outside and he looks to find Giannis. It is his second year so he is young, hungry and trying to prove himself.
Execution under pressure
I think the Bucks still need more shooting. Wes Matthews has been a great player but since he recovered after tearing his achilles tendon he hasn't looked like the same guy to me. Sterling Brown has had some flashes. Kyle Korver, at 38, can only give them 15 minutes a game.
Right now, it's not a problem. They have 11 wins, they are tied for first in the East and they are still winning games. The issue comes later in 'Grind Time' three-quarters of the way through the season when Giannis is worn down. Can they sustain this level of play then?
One big thing for Milwaukee is that they are winning close games down the stretch. Against the Bulls, they ended the game on a 15-2 run to seal the win. I think that speaks to what they learned in the playoffs last year, particularly against the Raptors.
It's part of their process. It's another part of Giannis' own development too, taking on the responsibility of putting the team on his shoulders and closing out games in the final minutes.
I'm certain, because of the expectations around the team last year, the Bucks took their exit from the playoffs to heart. They will have learned a lot from losing that Conference Finals series. Toronto showed them the importance of being effective on both ends of the floor for the full 48 minutes.
When you lose to the team that eventually wins the championship, your immediate reaction is, 'that could have been me holding trophy'. That's something that will have festered over the summer.
Consistently executing under pressure will be a big thing for Giannis and the Bucks this season.
