The Milwaukee Bucks may have suffered an unexpected 124-101 blowout loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night, but for the most part, it was a good opportunity for head coach Adrian Griffin to test out some of his schemes ahead of the new season.
One of them was playing Giannis Antetokounmpo at center.
Giannis Vocal on Playing Five Role for Milwaukee Bucks

The Bucks opted to rest Brook Lopez, Bobby Portis, and even Jae Crowder on Tuesday, which gave the opportunity for Robin Lopez to get the starting nod at the center spot. This also meant that Giannis needed to step up to play the five whenever Robin Lopez was taken out of the game.
This obviously isn’t the first time Antetokounmpo has played center, but it still remains to be a relatively unfamiliar role for him. After the game, the former back-to-back MVP spoke out about this development:
“It’s the preseason. You want to get as many reps as you can,” Antetokounmpo said, via Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “Play at the four, play at the five, play at the three, bringing the ball up … any way you can get it, get it. It’s the preseason; it’s the time for you to make mistakes, the time for you to figure things out, the time for you to try new things, the time for you to figure out the offense and the defense, figure out how you’re going to play with your teammates and what works and what doesn’t work.
“Obviously, I believe I can play at the five, but it’s not my natural position. It’s sometimes hard for me to bang, bang, bang, bang and then also be able to facilitate and get to my spots offensively, but at the end of the day, man, sometimes you gotta figure out ways to do things that can help the team down the road. I’ve played in big games at the five. I’ve played in preseason games at the five. I expect playing more games in the future at the five.”

Giannis was still able to finish with 18 points in 25 minutes of action while going a very efficient 8-of-12 from the floor. He also added 10 rebounds, two assists, and four steals in his limited run as he marked another impressive performance.
Brook Lopez is still going to be the starting center for Milwaukee this coming season, and he will have a very competent backup in Portis. Brook’s twin brother, Robin Lopez, is going to be the third-string center, so it’s not as if Giannis will be asked to play a ton of minutes at the five this coming season.
Nevertheless, there’s no denying that he’s more than capable of taking that role if need be.

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