Giannis Antetokounmpo is averaging a double double this season – points and rebounds – but people should not forget that the Milwaukee Bucks star has a top notch passing game, too.
That showed in the team’s latest win against the Dallas Mavericks when the team had to come back from a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter.
Antetokounmpo recorded nine assists in the game, four of them in the fourth quarter in successive possessions.
Doc Rivers had the front row seat to witness this facet of the Greek Freak’s game. He even thought that the two-time MVP loved being in a situation where he had to pick defenses apart.
Antetokounmpo himself is aware that he needs that ability in his game given the fact that he is being double-teamed a lot.
“You have to (enjoy it). Either you’re going to get frustrated and fight the double team or you’re just going to try to just bait them as much as you can,” Antetokounmpo said after the game in an interview with Eric Nehm.
“We have great players. If you put everybody in the right position and when the double comes, you can pick them apart.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo practices and preaches patience of set plays
Antetokounmpo’s passing is both coming from his high basketball I.Q. and the necessity to have that game.
He suggested that his teammates need to be able to find the spots they were assigned to be at according to game plan to have more people he can pass to.
“And you could see that they didn’t want Dame to get the open shot that he got, and they were pre-rotating, not only the small guy and the big guy, so we had wide-open Brook in the front of the rim,” he explained.
“Or we had two guys on the weak side, two versus one. So you just had to make the right play and pick them apart, which we did. And we’ve said when a play works, just keep on milking it, keep on running it again until they stop it.”
That definitely worked in the fourth quarter. At one point, he found Gary Grent Jr. for a three.
He also made an easy pass to a cutting Brook Lopez while multiple defenders were busy look at what he’s going to do next.
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