Giannis Antetokounmpo, also known as the Greek Freak because of his extreme athleticism despite being 6-11, is not a great jump shooter. He likes to put the ball on the floor and drive by people defending him to make layups, and when he drives, he is good at it. He is shooting 51.4% when he drives, and his team is scoring 72% of the time when he drives to the hoop (either by his shot, an assist, or free throws).
Giannis’s stats on his jumper? Not so good. He has taken 170 jump shots this season, but he has only made 28% of those. For an NBA wing player, that is not good at all.
Recently, Giannis admitted to Ian Thomsen of NBA.com that he is not completely comfortable with his jump shot yet, and he misses a lot of them because he thinks he will miss them as he shoots them.
“I don’t think I can say it is my safer option,” Antetokounmpo said of his driving. “I think it is my strength. Coach wants us to play to our strength, so that’s what I try to do. I know sometimes I might be open but I don’t feel it — I don’t feel like I’m going to make this jump shot, so I don’t take it. Because if I don’t feel like I’m going to make it, (that’s when) I don’t make it. So I just try to play through my strengths.”
Yes, he is clearly better at driving to the hoop than he is at shooting jumpers. He knows it, his teammates know it, and the fans know it, but Giannis needs to develop his jump shot because right now, it is not helping the team. The Bucks are full of players that can make shots in the paint, which is nice, but defenses can just camp in the paint to defend them.
Michael Carter-Williams, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jabari Parker, and most notably Greg Monroe all want to make the majority of their shots around the basket. They have no one to spread the floor and make room for Greg Monroe to do his work in the paint. Whenever he gets the ball, the defense can collapse on him knowing that the team doesn’t have many strong jump shooters on the floor for Monroe to kick out too. If the Bucks are going to win, they need to first upgrade at the point guard position, but also guys need to hit their jumpers. Antetokounmpo is a phenomenal player, but he needs to develop his jump shot so he can be more of a weapon that his team can utilize when a defense does crash on Monroe or Jabari.
Giannis can score points. He is averaging a career high 15.4 PPG, but his jump shot needs to improve more for this team to be more successful. The good news is that he is improving, and his 3PT% this year is 25%, up from 16% last year. If he keeps developing his shot, he will be just that much better for the Bucks.
Milwaukee is a young team, so Giannis has time to work on his jumper. With a bit of work over the off-season, Antetokounmpo will definitely improve on his jumper so that he can help his teammates like Monroe and Parker score in the paint a little bit easier. All it will take is a little bit of practice and a lot more confidence in himself. Confidence can go a very long way, and for him, I think it will. In a few years, he will have his jumper worked out, and he will be an even bigger weapon than he already is.
