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Giannis Antetokounmpo has been an avid learner since coming into the league, being the sponge that soaked up all the knowledge from a Hall of Fame player in Jason Kidd, eventually evolving into The Greek Freak, an unstoppable monster in the open floor, much like Kidd was in his heyday. Two coaches later, Antetokounmpo remains the consummate student, this time learning from his own failures — most recently the four straight losses against Kawhi Leonard in the Eastern Conference Finals.
“I learned a lot of things watching Kawhi while the game was going on,” Antetokounmpo told Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “Like his patience. From the way he operates. He operates in the mid-range area. You saw that? He took the ball a step inside the three and faced up. And now he’s got everybody. He sees everybody coming, right? So, why was he doing that? You know why? Because he felt really comfortable in his mid-range game.”
“He got a lot of threes out of the pick-and-roll when Brook was back, a lot of catch-and-shoot, a lot of transition threes, but when it was a set game, ain’t nobody shooting threes. It’s the toughest shot in the game. He was going to the easiest shot in the game, that people think is tough, the mid-range, like the 15 foot, contested two – something that all the greats do: Kawhi, Kobe, Jordan, KD, LeBron. When (LeBron) won the series against Toronto, he was shooting mid-range shots.”
Antetokounmpo didn't have many answers to stop the Raptors from taking the series after going up 2-0, but he has clearly observed and dissected every bit of information that he's picked up from playing in this level of competition.
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Not many players are bred like Leonard, a level-headed, always in control individual that thrives by causing a controlled chaos by picking apart his opponents' mistakes with surgical precision.
Antetokounmpo isn't nearly as refined or well-rounded in his game to be able to do what Leonard does, but he's rapidly learning a lesson with every loss and every disappointment — most importantly, never making the same mistakes again.
“I feel like last year I was so comfortable shooting my mid-range shot, my fadeaway in the right post, doing all that, one-leg, two-legs, getting into the paint, shooting over guys, winning games,” Antetokounmpo said.
“I won games coming down the stretch like that. For you to score and be a closer, you gotta be able to add mid-range shots, a lot of easy shots.”
It's only a matter of time before Antetokounmpo refines his game and sharpens the tools in his arsenal, and once he does, watch out, because it won't be pretty for the rest of the league.
