Giannis Antetokounmpo has zigged while the league has zagged.
While the league as a whole is shooting more 3-pointers than ever before, Antetokounmpo has moved away from taking shots beyond the arc and focused on his strengths of getting to the rim and taking the midrange shots that present themselves when those driving lanes are cut off. Antetokounmpo opened up to Jamal Collier of ESPN about the change and how he hopes it will lengthen his career.
“I’ve worked on [mindrangers],” Antetokounmpo told ESPN. “Guys are giving it to me. I got to shoot it because it’s less toll on my body. I got to shoot it, man…
“It’s part of my game; I’ve worked on it all summer long. They are playoff shots in my opinion. And it is a shot that I believe I can make…
“I’m in my thirties, obviously, [and] I believe that I have four [to] six years, still, of good basketball to give, but I got to be smarter,” Antetokounmpo said. “I got to be smarter in the way I play.”
What does this change in shot diet look like? Let’s break it down:
3-Point attempts: This season, 4% of Antetokounmpo’s shot attempts come from beyond the arc, which averages out to less than one per game. Last season, 3-pointers accounted for 9% of his shots; in his last MVP season (2019-20), 23.7% of his attempts were from 3 (he shot 30.4% on those).
Shots in the restricted area: Getting downhill and to the rim has always been at the heart of Antetokounmpo’s game, and this season 59.1% of his shot attempts have come in the restricted area. Last season, that was 62.3% as he focused on getting there more, while in his last MVP season, 52.6% of his attempts were in the restricted area (still more than half his shot attempts but considerably fewer than now).
Shots in the paint outside the restricted area: These are largely floaters, and the percentage of attempts has remained relatively steady with 15.6% of his shot attempts this season, 15.9% last season, and 14.4% in his last MVP season.
Midrange jumpers: This season, Antetokounmpo is taking 21.2% of his shots from the midrange (outside the paint, inside the arc) and he’s knocking down a good 41.7% of those. Last season 15.6% of his shots came from that zone, and back in 2020 it was just 9.4%
Antetokounmpo has to be a mid-range threat to draw out defenders and open up his real goal, getting to the rim. Most teams will look at that equation and tell their defenders that Antetokounmpo pulling up from 15 feet is a much better option than letting him get to the rim — the wall in front of Antetokounmpo will still be there. But he’s hitting enough of them this year to be in the top four of the MVP conversation again.
And with those midrangers, he can be in that conversation a few more years.
