of milwaukee bucks I just entered clutch time with an enthusiastic opponent. houston rockets They held a double-digit lead for much of the game, but Fred VanVleet’s 3-pointer cut the lead to four points with just under four minutes left. Giannis Antetokounmpo will take center stage.
He locked defenders in the post, but gave up position to catch the ball near the 3-point line. Then he turned away and forced his way towards the mid-post. He saw help coming from Nail and moved toward it, engaging two defenders, then three. He lost the ball for a moment, then gathered it and finished his move, spinning toward the baseline and away from help, finishing the contact and giving Milwaukee a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
That moment perfectly summed up everything Antetokounmpo said after the game. He made mistakes and was even sloppy at the point, but in the end he was so dominant that he engaged almost the entire Houston defense. And it worked.
Despite being perhaps the most dominant big man in the game since Shaquille O’Neal, Antetokounmpo has never been the best post-up player. Sure, the game moves away from the post — At least when no discrepancies are involved. However, Antetokounmpo has long had one of the lowest post usage rates among star players. His highest post-up frequency was in 2019-20, when he ranked 15th in the entire league. And this year, he has posted less frequently than he did in 2016 and 2017.
So what’s changed this season? And could his post-up game be the weapon that changes Milwaukee’s playoff prospects this year?
Perhaps most importantly, Antetokounmpo remains one of the league’s best post scorers. His highest efficiency to date, including possessions that not only ended in the post but featured a post-up at any point, came in the 2019-20 season, when he was the most efficient player with 50 or more posts. They were ranked 10th in the league. UPS. He ranks 10th again, albeit with a slight drop in points per chance. Still, statistically, possessions where he throws into the post result in more points than possessions where De’Aaron Fox drives or Tyrese Maxey runs a pick-and-roll. This is signature play level stuff.
The situation surrounding Antetokounmpo has changed. Other than Antetokounmpo himself, there’s no player he plays with who doesn’t shoot a triple. And he also plays more than half of his possessions alongside Malik Beasley. Most accurate shooter in the league this year, and Damian Lillard’s filming needs no introduction. Antetokounmpo has never played with such a talented shooter. Additionally, over three-quarters of his post-ups are done with his two guys on the floor next to him. Milwaukee has largely limited its plays to such beneficial situations. When Lillard gets the ball from the strong side to Antetokounmpo in the post, it doesn’t take long for him to create an open shot.
However, improvements are not limited to the situation surrounding Antetokounmpo. He also improved his own ability with his back to the basket.
Although he is challenging for the second-highest percentage of shots per post-up of his career. Also This is the highest average pass rate per post-up since the 2018-19 season. how? That’s because his post-ups are more threatening and end up ending more possessions rather than leading to resets. (Some of them are: do As a result, it resets immediately. ) His turnovers are down. Previously, he would give up the ball too early and ask his teammates to create the remaining possession themselves, without extracting a sufficient advantage. This season, he’s posting up more, going deeper and drawing more help in the paint. He rarely flips it on a single coverage, but never before.
He has an incredibly flexible core and utilizes space with his legs rather than length. His lower body is so strong that he can’t be hit off the line and is able to get contact and push in the exact same direction he was previously moving. As long as NBA players are long and strong, legs are really the only way. actually Antetokounmpo’s footwork improved as he moved around the court. He can take a huge step forward and cover more ground in the post than virtually anyone. His drop step is becoming a signature move, but his spin moves away from help are also paying off. He can easily score on those spins, or he can suck up help under the rim and go through tight windows for easy layups for his teammates.
It’s a different kind of gravity, expanding the coat inward instead of outward. And when surrounded by shooters at every position, especially Beasley and Lillard, the interior gravity can be just as valuable as the exterior gravity those shooters provide. Post-ups are a complement to Milwaukee’s shooting, a way to both encourage and be encouraged to shoot.
As a result of that ability, Antetokounmpo has been getting a high percentage of double teams in the post, especially in recent weeks. He converts doubles on nearly a quarter of his post-ups, the seventh-highest rate in the league among players with 100 or more post touches. That’s a situation he needs to improve on. He has recorded few assists after drawing double teams in the post, and those possessions haven’t produced many points. His teammates have missed some open triples, but Antetokounpumou’s technique in those situations could still require some effort. Being aggressive requires balance, and he either passes out before fully engaging both defenders, gives the defense a chance to reset, or brute force solves the problem and turns it around. It is often one or the other.
These doubles negatively impacted Antetokounmpo’s post-up numbers. He hovered around the top of the league in post efficiency for most of the season, but his post-up numbers have decreased recently as opposing doubles have emerged. Still, he’s been posting more and more of his stuff as the season progresses. There are fault lines here that need to be resolved beneath the seasonal surface.
The double-team attack is an area that Milwaukee should focus on for the rest of the season. Attacking doubles in the post is difficult, but there are options. Pascal Siakam often dribbles away from the double, then looks up and attacks the outside corner, then spins back into the lane. Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets used 45 cuts to collapse defenses and allow Jokic to force shooters to fill in on top of the cuts over the top.of philadelphia 76ers This season, he moved Joel Embiid’s post-up position to make it easier to see doubles coming and use passing lanes. Milwaukee needs to be clear about what they want to accomplish when Antetokounmpo doubles up. Success requires intentional goals.
For a team with one of the league’s most high-profile additions this year, it wouldn’t be surprising if this was put on the back burner. Even the most dedicated post-up players only execute plays a few times during a game. Antetokounmpo’s post-ups only occur a few times a game. That also contributes to further success this year. Selection bias is at work. Lower frequencies often result in higher efficiency.
So, with all this in mind, what does Antetokounmpo’s post-up mean going forward? Will they make the playoffs?
It’s clear that post-ups will never be Antetokounmpo’s primary method of attack, even under coach Doc Rivers. Coach Adrian Griffin’s team prioritized dynamism and movement on offense, and post-ups were anathema to that. However, towards the end of Griffin’s reign and Joe Planty’s reign, Antetokounmpo’s post usage increased. Under Rivers, who prefers a simpler offense, he may be able to make even more strides. Still, he’ll probably only touch the post five or six times a game. That split second can change the defensive choice.
If opposing defenses switch picks with Antetokounmpo as a screener, he will bury the guard under the rim. If a defender releases a top-lock cutter and optionally grinds down while Antetokounmpo holds the ball with his elbow, he can force his way to the rim while keeping his back to the basket. Moments like this occur once or twice a game, so they may only be worth a few points, but they can completely change the opponent’s defensive scheme. Planned victories are worth more than points.At the Milwaukee Beatdown boston celtics On Jan. 11, with Jrue Holiday guarding Antetokounmpo, the Bucks big finally won the game with an uncontested fadeaway jumper over the top and put Boston out of the game.
The Bucks need to compile as many of these rough answers as possible. In his past postseason losses, he was stuck in a quagmire, taking open 3-point shots but not hitting them. Expected efficiency is not always the answer. Sometimes versatility means more than that. That’s why it’s so important for the Bucks to solve double teams against Antetokounmpo’s post-ups. If his post-up is a counter, it’s important that the team doesn’t have a built-in counter to that counter. The dance is always on, with both teams trying to plan ahead of everything the other might do in the future.
Offensively, that’s all the Bucks need right now. For the Bucks Lillard and Antetokounmpo, Fundamentals of Attack Domination. That’s probably 80% of the half-court possessions in the game. The Bucks don’t need Antetokounmpo in the post when the team is in its base package. But it helps that once or twice a game he’s about the best player in the league in the post. Antetokounmpo’s success in the post will be key when it comes to beating the Rockets in mid-December or, if all goes to plan, the Boston Celtics in mid-May.
