Giannis Antetokounmpo is arguably the best player in the NBA on both sides of the ball. While he may lose out on the MVP award to Nikola Jokic, there is nobody that can outperform Giannis on both sides of the ball. He is a consistent Defensive Player of the Year candidate and this year is also in the race to lead the league in scoring.
One of the reasons for Giannis increasing his scoring average this season is his developing jump shot. People have criticized Antetokounmpo for years for being a ‘run-and-dunk’ player with poor shooting touch. While that criticism was valid in 2019, Giannis is a very different player now.
After progress on making his three-pointer more consistent seemed to be slow, Giannis has sneakily developed a killer mid-range arsenal that he has put on display this year. He is already competing with some of the best mid-range scorers in the NBA, with a 42.1% FG percentage from the region.
Giannis Antetokounmpo (42.1%) has a higher % than Kyrie Irving (42.0%) from the mid range area
One is supposed to be a brick and the other a pure hooper 🧐 pic.twitter.com/MscMpaXyT4
— HaterMuse (@HaterMuse) March 30, 2022
The stat is a little misleading due to the volume of shots attempted, but there is no disputing Giannis has established himself as a proper mid-range scorer. He showed off his skill set against the Philadelphia 76ers by hitting a clutch 15-footer over Joel Embiid towards the end of the game.
If Giannis can drive into the key, stop and be able to pull up for a mid-range, he will genuinely be unstoppable. Teams need to load up on his drives to have some chance of stopping him. The space for an open mid-range will open up if Giannis can better work around his movement.
He is still just 27-years-old, so there is a lot of time for him to still develop his shot. LeBron James is finally a respected shooter after years of working on it. At this pace, Giannis is still improving year in and year out, which is terrifying for the league.
