In the regular season, Giannis Antetokounmpo is the player who averaged 29.9 points, 11.6 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game, and he can even enter the top 3 positions of the regular season MVP while leading the Bucks to a 51-31 record.
The bucks have now finished the first two games of the Eastern Conference semifinals series against the Celtics, and after the Celtics won the series G2, the Bucks have been chased back to a 1-1 draw after winning the first game of the series.
As the defending champion team, the Bucks have not been particularly favored so far this season, but after eliminating the Bulls in the first round and beating the Celtics in the first game of the second round, the Bucks have once again become the focus of attention, but after the equalizer in the second game, the Bucks will continue to compete with the Celtics in the next 5 games.
Judging by the on-field performance, the Celtics do a good job of limiting Giannis Antetokounmpo's interior scoring, and the Celtics' defenders have done a great job in these areas. Especially in Game 2 of the series, the Celtics' top defensive prowess allowed them to take control of the entire game and ultimately win.
So after the big score was chased back to 1-1, the Bucks undoubtedly needed the team's superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo to adjust his mentality on the offensive end as much as possible in the next game, because only If Antetokounmpo can play a stable enough performance on the offensive end, the Bucks have the opportunity to win this series and continue to storm the championship trophy.
The organizational ability of the alphabet brother should be the key to breaking the dilemma
In the second game of the Celtics Eastern Conference Semifinals Series, Antetokounmpo still scored 28 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, one steal and one block after playing 38 minutes. That's still a pretty good statistic, but the problem is that Antetokounmpo has a hard time scoring consecutively under a Celtic all-around system where multiple players have tough defensive prowess.
In the whole game, Antetokounmpo only shot 40.7% of the 27-shot 11 shooting rate, which is indeed a significant improvement compared to 36% of the 25 shots in the first game of the series, but the Celtics can indeed limit Antetokounmpo's play very well, which also makes Antetokounmpo, who holds the ball, unable to find a really comfortable offensive rhythm, and what is more uncomfortable is that the Celtics also have enough defensive tough players in the Celtics to keep the defensive stability of the limited alphabet brother for a long time.
Not only was it unable to play efficient scoring, Antetokounmpo's performance in possession was also not ideal, with Antetokounmpo making as many as 11 turnovers in the past two games against the Celtics. Although Alphabet Brother still averaged 3.14 turnovers per game during the regular season, it is rare for Alphabet Brother to have 11 turnovers in only two games.
The only good news is that Antetokounmpo has grown over the years into a player with excellent passing skills, and he has been able to show this well so far in the playoffs. In the first game of the Celtics Series, Antetokounmpo contributed as many as 12 assists, plus 24 points and 13 rebounds, which also allowed Antetokounmpo to play his second triple-double in a career playoff game.
Even in the second game, which could not lead the team to victory, Antetokounmpo was able to contribute seven assists. That said, after attracting all the defensive attention of the Celtics, Antetokounmpo's role as the core of the team's organization is also an important reason for the Bucks' success in recent seasons.
So how much of an offensive threat does Antetokounmpo pose when it comes to being the core of the team's organization?
For example, in the second game of the Celtics series, Antetokounmpo's seven assists are good proof of his role as the team's offensive core.
For example, in the offensive round of the first quarter of the game, when Antetokounmpo hit the basket with the ball, it easily attracted the Celtics' two players to defend the bag, and Connaughton, who cut into the basket, could easily come up and get the opportunity to score:
There was also an offensive round in the second quarter, when Antetokounmpo was still holding the ball, Connaughton who got Antetokounmpo's pass through the no-ball run and scored easily:
Because when Antetokounmpo broke through with the ball, Both Al Horford and Jaylen Brown had to keep an eye on the superstar, and that gave Connaughton the opportunity to cut inside and score easily:
Not only is the second game of the two-team series, the Celtics also used the same defensive strategy against Antetokounmpo in the first game of the series, and Antetokounmpo's better performance in passing is obviously an important reason why the Bucks can win the game. After all, Antetokounmpo was able to deliver as many as 12 assists in his first game against the Celtics, especially from beyond the three-point line.
For example, in the first quarter, Antetokounmpo gave Connaughton a three-point assist, and the latter hit a three-pointer:
Even when advancing to the front with the ball, because Antetokounmpo does have the league's top fast-attack scoring ability, this has forced the Celtics to keep a number of players eyeing Antetokounmpo, and the latter's passing ability can also give teammates the opportunity to easily score outside:
In the first game of the Celtics series alone, Antetokounmpo delivered six assists from outside the three-point line for his teammates. By contrast, Antetokounmpo failed to deliver any assists from outside the three-point line for his teammates in game two. Because of this, Antetokounmpo will not only play a central role in the organization in the next game, but also find more scoring opportunities for his teammates outside the three-point line.
In the series against the Celtics, Antetokounmpo did have to play the role of the center of the organization on the Offensive end of the Bucks, after all, the Celtics have regarded Antetokounmpo as the absolute core of the Bucks' interior scoring, of course, the entire league will be Antetokounmpo put on this role. But in contrast, the Celtics have a number of all-around, tough and excellent defensive players who can fully compete against Antetokounmpo in half-court positional battles, which is also an area where the Celtics are very different from other strong teams and can even be said to have a clear advantage.
For example, Al Horford can do very well as a main defender against Antetokounmpo, and in the second game of the Celtic Series, Al Horford was able to limit the Bucks players to 12 of 24 shots. As a veteran who has spent most of his time defending Antetokounmpo and the Bucks in the interior, Al Horford has indeed been able to perform very well on the defensive end.
Not only is Al Horford, but people like Grant Williams continue to show good prospects in this series so far, and even Marcus Smart (absent from G2) can interfere with Antetokounmpo's performance on the offensive end. Coupled with a brilliant interior defensive player like Robert Williams III, Jason Tatum's underrated defensive ability and Jaylen Brown's solid defensive ability on the flanks, these are the defensive advantages that the Celtics can better limit Antetokounmpo's play on the inside.
Even if the Celtics do have limitations to Antetokounmpo's ability to impact the basket, because of the defensive attention Antetokounmpo can attract on the offensive end, his ability and mentality to find empty teammates and pass the ball instead of barely impacting the basket may be a key factor for the Bucks to win this series in the next game.
When Antetokounmpo hit the basket with the ball, the Celtics' determination on the defensive end was to give Antetokounmpo as much a tough physical confrontation as possible and even force Antetokounmpo to make mistakes. Even if the Celtics can't perfectly limit Antetokounmpo's scoring performance, at least judging by the Celtics' defensive performance in the past two games, their success in limiting Antetokounmpo's scoring performance within the three-point line is indeed commendable.
Because of this, if Antetokounmpo can see the pass as the first option in the event that he can't easily score, that is, to become the organizational core of the Bucks' lineup, while avoiding as many mistakes as possible in the process, the Bucks can easily break the Celtics' defensive system on the offensive end.
Write at the end
In the last two games, we've seen the impact of Antetokounmpo's excellent organizational skills on the Celtics defensive end, so if Antetokounmpo can interpret the Celtics' defensive system more correctly in the next game, and have more patience to find empty teammates and pass decisively, this will definitely be a more efficient way for the Bucks to perform on the offensive end than barely pounding the basket and being good.
Then with the series back at home for the Bucks and a crucial third game to play, Antetokounmpo must constantly use his undervalued organizational skills to crush the Celtics' defensive system.
Not to mention the news that the Bucks' second-in-command Chris Middleton will continue to miss the Bucks for the rest of the series against the Celtics, then it also means that the Bucks need Antetokounmpo to be more of a player who creates scoring opportunities for teammates, not just a scorer who punishes opponents on the offensive end.
At least if Antetokounmpo can do that, the Bucks still have a good chance of winning this series against the Celtics.