The Milwaukee Bucks eliminated the Chicago Bulls from the playoffs Wednesday night, soundly defeating them 116-100 at home. After the game, Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo addressed the media. He revealed the big change that he needed to make to his game following the injury to Khris Middleton.
He began by talking how he affects the game, and that it is not scoring. “I don't affect the game by scoring… I affect the game by playing hard, trying to block a shot, playing defense, creating for my teammates… lead them you know, be vocal,” Antetokounmpo said.
“In my head, I don't think about I gotta score the ball, Khris is down. It's kind of the opposite. I'm like, damn Khris is down, we gotta get 30, 40 points from somebody else. You got to move the ball, you gotta trust Grayson, trust Pat… Brook, Bobby, Jrue's gotta be Jrue, anybody that checks in you gotta trust them… that comes with maturity. If you asked me five years ago, maybe I'm like I gonna try and score 50, but it's not five years ago.”
In typical charismatic fashion, he ended the topic jokingly saying “I'm getting old.”
The maturity of the Bucks' Antetokounmpo is astounding. He appears to recognize on the fly what his teams needs and then provides just that. If he needs to take over scoring the ball, he does. If he needs to integrate his teammates and get them shots, he does.
In the second round, the Bucks will face a much stiffer test though. They will face the Boston Celtics and the best defense in basketball.