So Gilbert Arenas, on his podcast, had some things to say about Giannis Antetokounmpo. He mentioned how Giannis doesn’t know how to train his body and that he doesn’t understand basketball nor how to get better at the game. These are some very big words against a player who has won MVPs, a ring, a Finals MVP, and Defensive Player of the Year.
Are all of Arenas’ thoughts incorrect though?
If one would go through and dissect each one of Arenas’ statements, some actually turn up quite true. One of the easiest truths to point out is that Giannis has not improved his three-point shooting.
Time and time again, every media outlet, podcast, and fan alike has said something along the lines of “If Giannis could shoot threes, he’d be unstoppable.” Now, heading into his tenth season, we’re all saying the same exact thing!
I know what a lot of you are going to say, “He’s still won multiple MVPs and a championship without having to add a three!” That’s great, honestly, that’s a feat in and of itself to be this good without having much of a shot at all from outside of three feet. My question to everyone saying that is, wouldn’t you still want him to improve and be even better?!
Giannis only has two seasons in his career where he shot over 40% from between three and ten feet from the hoop. While it hasn’t exactly slowed him down from tons of accolades, his weaknesses are starting to get exploited more and more come playoff time. Over his career, he’s shooting 36.1%, 36.9%, 36.2%, and 28.8% from three to ten feet, ten to sixteen feet, sixteen feet to the arc, and behind the arc respectively. Imagine if those percentages were above 40% from midrange and then 35% or better from three! A lot more space on the floor would be unlocked for him and his teammates.
Now, Arenas also talked about having to train your body just to play 37 to 40 minutes per game. This is quite irrelevant. We’ve seen Giannis play games in the playoffs where he was on the court for over 40 minutes and he held up just fine. Averaging a specific amount of minutes per game doesn’t make anyone great.
What do you think about Giannis’ game, does he have room to improve?
The Atlantic Files 