Giannis Has a Bag and he's Showing it off too

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

“I wish I could be 7-feet, run and just dunk. Like that takes no skill at all”, said James Harden in regards to, at the time, a question about an unnamed Giannis in 2020.

This led into a conversation in which Harden noted he had to work on his skill set more than others based on the idea that he does not have the same athleticism and size advantage. Fast forward to 2022, and Giannis Antetokounmpo is a former MVP, DPOY, reigning Finals champion and Finals MVP. Meanwhile, James Harden is on his third team after forcing out of his last two squads in ugly fashion, to put it gently. This is not a James Harden versus Giannis comparison, however it is more of a point to show that the old narrative is dead and that statement may have been made out of spite rather than fact. Giannis is notoriously one of the hardest working players in the league and his improvement is showing in the numbers and eye test. We take a look at the improvement of Giannis over the years as his confidence grows.

One of the biggest knocks on Giannis previously is the lack of “bag” or skill. The thing about Harden’s quote above is, it wasn’t a single take. This was felt among many in the league given his ability to get to his spot on the floor was largely due to his physical strength and length. Over the years he has even taken flak for his poor free throw shooting. After shooting sub 60% in the regular season and being mocked throughout the playoffs by fans, he capped off his 50 point performance to secure the 2021 NBA Finals by shooting 17-19 from the free throw line in Game 6. That was likely a big mental block that he had pushed through in the biggest moment of his career to date. Skip back to 2022 and Giannis is going to the line a career high 11.5+ times a game and shooting an improved 72% from the line. The improvement isn’t simply from the charity stripe either. He is also shooting a career high 41.8% from mid-range this season. This puts him right near the likes of Lebron James, Klay Thompson, and Tyler Herro. When you look at the overall picture Giannis scores over half of his points in the restricted area. However, when you break down his FGA by specific shot attempts the highest percentage of shot attempts are pull up jumpers. This accounts for 17% of all his shot attempts on the season. As you can see below, the scoring chart by shot attempts are much more spread out for Giannis than James Harden.

Giannis Antetokounmpo	James Harden
198 Pull up Jump-shot (17%)	279 Step-backs (30%)
128 Jump-shot (11%)	172 Driving Layup (18%)
118 Driving layup (10%)	113 Floating Jump-shot (12%)
71 Driving finger roll (6%)	99 Jump Shot (11%)
63 turnaround fadeaway (5%)	73 Pull up Jump-shot (8%)

While it should be noted that Giannis has missed less time and has more overall FGA, the distribution is clear from top to bottom. Not only is the top shot type for Harden in its own tier at a whopping 30% of all field goal attempts, 4 of the top 5 shot types are some form of jump shot. The assist numbers are nothing to ignore for Harden but the eye test will also confirm this type of ball dominant, P&R and dribble heavy approach for Harden whereas Giannis has shown improvements in just a few years in his jump shot and free throw percentage. Beginning in the 2019-2020 season, Giannis started taking nearly 2 more 3 pointers/game (2.8 to 4.7) and has managed to shoot above 30% from 3 since then after shooting sub 30% 3 of 4 years before that. As we can see below, Giannis continues to get more confidence in his jumper, making him a real threat from outside the paint area.

The days of simply "forming a wall" to stop Giannis are far over. The defense is forced to respect him, which is a far cry from 2018 playoffs when it seemed Brad Stevens schemed Giannis out of the series. Not only is the jump shot ever improving, we are seeing more of a willingness to work in the post with finesse. We have seen him bully smaller defenders in the post for years, but we now are seeing more "skill"

.

Its the footwork, the rhythm of the shot and form to make this shot nearly un-blockable. Guarding Giannis from the paint is always first priority and at this point forcing him to take a shot outside the paint is still considered a defensive win. However, you can no longer give Giannis shooting "freebies" similar to the ones Draymond and Westbrook get because he has proven to be consistent all year in making them.

One of the most important factors for Giannis this postseason will see his confidence when there is inevitably an off shooting night and his willingness to be " the man" down the stretch. The Bucks are a good enough overall squad where Giannis will not need to take the final shot every available opportunity but we have seen him step up in this role more lately. As mentioned above with the NBA Finals close out performance, as well as below with a late jump shot to change the tide of an important road matchup.

This is not a one to one comparison, however this reminds me a lot of the San Antonio Spurs daring Lebron James to shoot the ball in the 2013 NBA Finals. While it nearly worked, that Heat team was just good enough to win and the effects in relation to Lebron James game are still being felt today. As Lebron continued to age and realizing his jump shot was a liability, he made it a strength. Even with an inflated ego that athletes MUST have, its hard to ignore that game plan on the biggest stage.

I am not coming here with a hot take, we are all aware that Giannis is arguably(not to me) a top 3 player in the league right now and is certified top 5. As fans and analysts, we often don't understand the greatness around us as its happening and I feel that is what we should do here. Giannis is in the midst of an incredible run for legacy and he is only 27 years old. The narrative that Giannis is simply a run and gun dunker is absolutely dead. He continues to work on his craft and prove offensively there is more than meets the eye. Anecdotally, I believe taking down Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets in last years playoffs was just the beginning of this meteoric rise of Antetokounmpo. The semantics of who *shouldv'e* won don't matter because the Bucks did win and Giannis has reached a new level because of it. Giannis has proven he has a bag. Don't believe me? Check the tape.

*All stats via NBA.com