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Orlando Magic Playoff Preview: Meet the Milwaukee Bucks with Behind the Buck Pass

By Philip Rossman-Reich

All eyes are on Giannis Antetokounmpo with the Milwaukee Bucks. It can be easy to forget Khris Middleton. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images)
All eyes are on Giannis Antetokounmpo with the Milwaukee Bucks. It can be easy to forget Khris Middleton. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images) /
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Orlando Magic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
Giannis Antetokounmpo found a way through some difficult Orlando Magic defense in the Milwaukee Bucks’ win. (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images). /

After Giannis Antetokounmpo’s MVP season last year, how did he get better to become another seeming runaway choice for the award? Is there any way to stop him at this point?

Adam McGee: At this point, there is an element of shrugging your shoulders and accepting this is what Giannis Antetokounmpo does.

He has improved year-to-year throughout his NBA career, which is something that likely does not get the attention it deserves in terms of just his pure gains in production. It is no secret that Antetokounmpo’s jump shot remains a work in progress. But there has been some improvement on that front this year, in terms of work he has put in on different looks from the mid-range and beyond the arc.

I think most Bucks fans would also say Antetokounmpo has improved as a passer this year, which is one of a number of things that he has worked on since the Toronto Raptors managed to wall him off in the Eastern Conference Finals. Antetokounmpo is as competitive as any player in the league, and when he takes a loss as he did a year ago, his natural response just seems to be to work even harder to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

Jordan Treske: Adam absolutely nailed it when it comes to describing the state of Antetokounmpo’s maturation and overall development. Given just how much he continues to improve season after season, he has set such an incredibly high bar for himself to clear and still continues doing so, all of which is a testament to that insatiable work ethic Adam was talking about.

As far as how to slow down or limit Antetokounmpo from wreaking havoc on a nightly basis, it seems the only way to do that is to use his aggression and physicality against him to get him into foul trouble and off the floor completely. We have certainly seen that put to good use in the bubble and I think that will only increase the further the Bucks go into the playoffs.

But given the lengths it takes to get that done only goes to show just how dominant Antetokounmpo is to the Bucks’ system and ability to contend for an NBA title.