Barely two weeks into the new season and Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo is already out proving the pundits absolutely right in terms of his defense of his Most Valuable Player title. The 24-year-old has picked up right where he left off last season, as he continues to dominate the entire league with his impressive play.
In seven games played thus far, Giannis is currently averaging 27.7 points (on 61.2 percent shooting), 14.0 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.6 blocks. There's no denying that the sample size is extremely small at this point, but with the three-time All-Star shattering his rebounding and assists numbers from last year — he averaged 12.5 and 5.9 last season, respectively — he is currently on track to have an even better 2019-20 campaign.
The Bucks were in action Monday, blowing out a Karl-Anthony Towns-less Minnesota Timberwolves side, 134-106. Antetokounmpo was his usual dominant self, putting up 34 points (on a very efficient 14-of-19 from the floor), 15 rebounds, and six assists, as he led his team to an easy victory against the Wolves. This performance has been typical of Giannis thus far, and at this point, we have no reason to believe that he won't be able to sustain this type of dizzying output the rest of the way.
If we were to nitpick, though, one aspect of his game that The Greek Freak still needs a lot work on would be his acumen from the 3-point line, which is nothing new. Right now, Antetokounmpo is averaging just 0.6 3-pointers per game on 3.3 attempts. That's good for a a miserable 17.4 percent shooting from rainbow territory, and this is something he could certainly improve on.
The good news here is that Giannis has increased his attempts from deep, which goes to show that this is likely something he worked on during the summer. Last season, he attempted 2.8 shots per game from distance and hit at a 25.6 percent clip, so it does appear that he has nowhere to go but up at this point. If Antetokounmpo is able to start knocking down treys on a regular basis, then he will truly be unstoppable.
As for the rest of the team, the Bucks are currently off to a stellar start to the new season, notching five wins out of their seven games thus far. The team has secured notable victories against the Houston Rockets and defending champion Toronto Raptors. Milwaukee is viewed by many as the best team in the Eastern Conference, even after losing Malcolm Brogdon off last season's 60-win club.
One man will be at the center of it all, and there is very little doubt that Antetokounmpo will once again be able to lead his team to a lot of success this season and potentially even back-to-back MVPs. Hopefully for the Bucks, they are able to take it one step further and finally make their long-awaited appearance in the NBA Finals.
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