On December 14, 2023, the first single-game 60+ points of the season were produced. In the game against the Pacers, he hit 20 of his 28 shots and scored 24 free throws from 32 free throws under the basket, scoring 64 points to lead the team to victory. Not only did this set a new personal record for points scored in a single game, but it also broke Mike Reed's record of 57 points set in 2006. What's more worth mentioning is that Brother Alphabet gave up the outside style of play in this game, and all 20 goals came from the basket in the penalty area without exception. After making 32 serves, he also became the first player since Drummond in '16 to make 30+ free throws in a single game.
Interestingly, Antetokounmpo was substituted after scoring 58 points, but the Pacers bench then played a wave of offensive surges to narrow the gap to 10 points. After Antetokounmpo came on, the Bucks extended their lead again. But when there were 30 seconds left in the game, Brother Alphabet received a steal from his teammates and passed the ball, at this time he could choose not to attack and run out of time, but Brother Alphabet chose to complete the first-level dunk quickly. After the game, the Pacers, who had a dispute over the final score of Brother Alphabet, actually took the game ball away directly, and explained that it was to give the rookie Shibwe the first time in his career. He didn't get the ball back until he rushed to the locker room, but he said in an interview that he wasn't sure if the ball he got was a match ball.
So after Lillard's arrival, what changes have been made to Brother Alphabet's current offensive style?Will his style of play be up to the playoffs?
Judging from the data, Brother Alphabet's outside production this season is very small, averaging only 1Seven three-pointers, the last time they missed that number was back in the distant 15-16 season. So far this season, except for the hot hand against the Nets in early November, where he tried seven three-pointers, he has not made more than three three-point shots in a game this season. It can be seen that he has basically given up on the outside attack, focusing on the inside and creating space for his teammates. Even if some offensive rounds are on the outside, once Brother Alphabet gets the ball, the most frequent option is to attack the inside.
For example, when Lillard dribbles on the right side, Brother Alphabet stands at the top of the arc, and because the Pacers give him a narrow space to break through, Lillard gives it to Brother Alphabet at the top of the arc. After the latter took the ball, he used the cover to directly hit the basket, and used the European step to avoid the block on the opposite side and successfully finished the rebound. At the same time, when Brother Alphabet chooses to kill the inside line, the opponent is bound to take a pinch attack. This creates more handroom for teammates.
For example, in the next round of the previous ball, Brother Alphabet copied this style of play. After attracting the attention of 3-4 people, he passed to Portis at the top of the arc, and the opposing air defender scored a three-point shot. This style of play has not been used before, and the key difference is the degree of dependence on the outside line. If in the past, Brother Alphabet's position on the outside was indeed to shoot three points, and then open up space to force the opponent to shrink on the inside line is no longer resolute. Now he is more of a tactical decoy on the perimeter, as well as providing pick-and-roll functionality for his teammates.
It's like another ball, Brother Alphabet and Lillard pushed back, and the two slowed down near the three-point line, but Brother Alphabet's position was more to confuse the opponent. Lillard gave the ball directly to Beasley on the left, who was unguarded in front of him and hit the ball safely. Brother Alphabet dared to give up the outside line and focus on the inside line this season, mainly for two reasons:
The first is the improvement of its own internal line technology. Even before the start of the season, he had Xi learned from the historical superstar Olajuwon, and combined these skills with his own counter-attacking and fast-break footsteps, resulting in the league's most inexplicable offensive skills under the basket. Especially in the process of advancing, Brother Alphabet will not only use the European step to shake off the opponent, but also use the extremely fast turn to change the direction of the shot, recreate the hand space and complete the attack.
There was such a ball, Brother Alphabet made a feint to break to the right before using the block, deceived the opponent and immediately attacked along the left side, facing the slow-paced No. 33 Turner Brother did not slow down at all, and completed the turn in the process. Due to the exaggerated pace of his turn, Turner was completely shaken off the defensive and his attempt to cut the ball was also a failure. After adjusting the rhythm under the basket, he finally scored a one-arm dunk.
In an interview with Brother Alphabet last month, he mentioned that some people in the outside world think that he has no technology, but he thinks it is wrong. He has his own skills, he just wants to keep a low profile and crush his opponents in the game. At the same time, we can't ignore the physical talent of Brother Alphabet. For example, some time ago, there were many discussions about a certain counterattack round, in which Brother Alphabet could discuss whether he had a step, but it was an exaggeration that he started near the midline and actually completed a three-step dunk. With the blessing of this talent, it seems that it is difficult to play dominance on the inside.
This season, he is shooting 62 from the field3%, an increase of seven percentage points from last season. Prior to this, he had not shot more than 60% from the field in a season, and his highest season was only 57 in 18-198 percent, largely due to his abandonment of three-point points to focus on the basket. He's currently shooting an exaggerated 73 percent from the field1%, the only one that came close to that statistic was in the 20-21 season. He shot 72 from the field that season4%, and it was also this season that Brother Alphabet won the championship. In other words, Antetokounmpo is now playing the box dominance of a championship season.
And the second reason why Antetokounmpo changed his style of play was the arrival of Lillard. Let's be honest, Lillard hasn't found the best way to play with the Bucks at the moment, and his shooting efficiency is arguably the worst in recent years. The score has also dropped a lot because of the decrease in shooting power, but as a historical shooter, Lillard has reached the fifth all-time three-point shooting after defeating the Pacers. His arrival will boost the Bucks' firepower on the perimeter no matter what. And Lillard has a fairly strong offensive ability on the perimeter, and the Bucks don't need to open up space for the guard like he did in the past.
In this situation, the most important thing the Bucks need to do is to increase the threat under the basket and create space for their teammates. Why is that?Let's look at the Bucks' starters to see why. They are Lillard, Middleton, Beasley and Lopez. All of them can shoot three-pointers and are a threat enough. Beasley even threw 458% career-high three-point shooting percentage. So what Brother Alphabet needs to do is very clear. Frequent kills under the basket to make kills, once the space is torn out on the inside, the opponent will definitely attack. At this time, teammates on the outside can get more comfortable space to shoot.
We can analyze the Bucks' game against the Eastern Conference rivals Celtics. In the first round of the second half, the Green Army's defense of Brother Alphabet was relatively loose at the beginning. As long as you don't enter the paint area, the dessert position is generally one-sided, and the outside line lets his former teammate Holiday take charge of defense, and the center stands under the basket to resist the impact of Brother Alphabet. It's just that this kind of misalignment and the defense without a pinch attack make Brother Alphabet play handy. He grabbed a rebound after missing his first layup and then ended the round with a dunk.
Therefore, the defense of the Green Army in the back was slowly forced to change. For example, there is an attack left in the end of this game for about a minute and a half. It stands to reason that the Green Army holds a nine-point lead, and what they need to do more should be to lock the outside of the Bucks and ensure that the advantage continues to the end. But at the moment when Brother Alphabet accelerated to break through to the inside line, Middleton, who gave up the outside line by the two defenders of the Green Army, actually chose to pinch Brother Alphabet, which shows that they feel that Brother Alphabet's inside offense is more graspable. And the goal of the mother brother was achieved, and the ball was accurately delivered to Middleton, who had been waiting for a long time, and successfully won the three points.
So is this kind of play of Brother Alphabet omnipotent?In the playoffs, where the defense is more targeted, will he still be limited as frequently as he has been?
One reality we need to recognize against the Pacers is that the Pacers are the third-lowest in the league in defensive efficiency this season. The only man who can be relied on on on the interior is Turner, who has never been named to the All-Defensive Team once in his career. This season, he ranks third in the league in offensive efficiency and 255th in defensive efficiency, and he really doesn't have much of an obstacle to him. Another statistic proves this, with the Pacers averaging 51 per game in three games this season7 points and 12 rebounds, shooting a whopping 727%, but that doesn't mean that Brother Alphabet is now dominating the inside line. At least until three issues are solved, we can't be completely sure that the Bucks are the favorites to win the championship.
Clause. 1. Brother Alphabet's free throws are not as good as they imagined. In the last three games, he has made a total of 63 free throws, 49 of which he has made. The hit rate is as high as 778%, which is also higher than his career 707% free throw percentage. But in fact, Brother Alphabet's free throws this season are not good, only 677%。Especially in the key games, whether Brother Alphabet can not be disturbed by fans in the stadium and the influence of his own mentality is also a crucial issue. If he can maintain his current level of free throwing, the free throw tactics of other teams will be much less powerful. This could go a long way in improving the Bucks' competitiveness in the playoffs.
Clause. Second, Brother Alphabet's mistakes in passing the ball inside and outside need to be paid attention to. With Lillard coming this season, Antetokounmpo needs to pass more to the perimeter to get the most out of the inside and outside combination. It's just that Brother Alphabet is not doing well in this regard, in addition to Lillard has not yet found his form, Brother Alphabet's assist-to-turnover ratio is also getting worse. In both seasons, he averaged 3 turnovers per game9, but he is averaging only 5 assists per game this season, 07 times. Due to the increase in interior offense, the desire to pass has decreased this season, but sometimes it is easy to make mistakes due to untimely distribution.
For example, in an offensive round, Brother Alphabet rushed directly to the basket in the face of misalignment, trying to roll over and create hand space. However, the Trailblazers decisively chose to pinch and force Brother Alphabet to play the ball, and used his body to cover the opponent to limit his vision, which eventually led to Brother Alphabet's difficult pass to complete the steal quickly. In addition, how to increase the cooperation with Lillard instead of fighting separately also needs to be solved by Brother Alphabet. For example, the addition of hand-to-hand coordination between the two, the blocking and dismantling of the outside line, and the wide range of cross-movements.
Clause. Third, the projection problem of Brother Alphabet Fans cannot turn a blind eye. When Brother Alphabet encounters a team with more defensive resources under the basket, there is a high probability that he will be squeezed out of the three-second zone many times. This is a test of his finishing ability, especially since Lillard is shooting only 41 percent from the field this season9% of cases. Sadly, compared to his insane shooting percentage from the basket, Antetokounmpo's finishing efficiency in the near-frame area is a disaster. He hit just 12 of his 36 shots this season, a 33-goal percentage3%。This shows that his basket touch is not delicate, especially the rollover throw after encountering a confrontation, which may be a lesson for another Bucks celebrity, Abdul-Jabbar.
Because of this, although he scored a record-breaking 64 points against the Pacers. But if the fans' expectations for him this season are to win the title, it may take some more time to see. There is one thing to note here, when the Bucks played against the Celtics, Magic and 76ers, who are also in the top four in the Eastern Conference, they won one of them tightly, and the two games of the alphabet brother shot less than 50%, and the only win against the 76ers was because of Lillard's last-minute play. The Bucks still have a long way to go to win the championship.