Renowned NBA champion Chuck with an interesting take on the Bill Simmons pod:
Giannis [Antetokounmpo] has to get better as a basketball player. Just going downhill 1-on-5 isn't going to work. It doesn't work and he's a terrific player and a terrific kid, but he has to get better as a basketball player. I'm not a Milwaukee guy.
Any thoughts on when Giannis and the bucks are going to make it work with their aging roster?
by PatrickCoughATon
48 Comments
He just averaged 31/12/7 on 65% TS and 62% FG
I’d say it’s working out just fine
Idk why people pretend he isn’t trying to work on mid ranges, 3s, FTs etc.. I just don’t think it’s possible for him to ever be great at those due to his build.
A Giannis with a jump shot would likely be the most impossible player to defend in history of the nba. Criticizing him for not being a perfect player is stupid.
It’s honestly hard to improve shooting 3s. Barkley never improved his 3 for his entire career but kept on taking 3s at a way higher volume than what he should have been taking them at.
Young Barkley was honestly a lot like Giannis. He led the NBA in 2 point FG percentage for like 5 years in a row while going downhill in transition and finishing at the rim a lot. Old Barkley was more of a pure post player but young Barkley was a guy who could grab a rebound, dribble it the length of the court, and dunk it on you, kinda like a shorter Giannis.
Giannis might be the most disrespected superstar ever. He’s literally a mini-Shaq with more skills and longer arms
Idk I mean it’s worked out pretty great for him so far
gotta see him healthy in the playoffs again
because his playoffs are interesting, he had the great 2021 run, but his last two playoffs, and his career overall scoring efficiency in the playoffs hasn’t been that great
Is this clip 5 years old? I’m genuinely asking
Sir Charles looks like he’s intimately familiar with the Dewey Decimal System
also Milwaukee has to have the big ol’ women. Wisconsin drinks more than like, Andre the Giant
As entertaining as Chuck and Shaq are as personalities, I would 100% ignore any of their analysis.
If Giannis starts taking jumpers and become more perimeter focused they’re going to complain he’s not using his size to dominate like how they want their big men to dominate, how they hate the jumpshooting era, and how soft players are nowadays.
I saw them do it with Dwight, Blake and now Giannis I guess. No winning with these oldheads.
Wow Giannis put 31pts 12 rebs 7 ast on 60 percent shooting from field all while playing defense at a high level and having to make up for dame horrible defense
They pick and choose
Giannis is about to be 30. He is who he is by now.
*2x MVP, Dpoy, Fmvp, perennial all nba/all star*
Wonder what it’ll look like when it works out for him.
He’s better than you ever were Chuck
Nuance clearly is not this subs strong point 😂
Random side note. Bill Simmons looks like a retired white walker.
I mean dude is a champion, MVP and a guaranteed lock for HOF. I kind of get it but also feel like this is disrespectful to what Giannis has achieved in the NBA
Man Giannis is a former MVP, Champion, and DPOY, if he came into the league now he’d be an excellent three point shooter because he would just will his way to it.
When i heard that in the pod i was like chuck, thats a dumbass comment even coming from you.
I tried to tell yall Chuck is a casual
Giannis is a very good player and complete player, since he is an insane scorer, a very good defender and a good playmaker/passer. With that being said, I think the one skill that Giannis should work on is post moves/footwork. He is a very good scorer but at the same time he is not a versatile scorer. We know he will never be a good shooter, but I think he can improve his post game
Old heads can’t have it both ways. They get on people like Embiid and Ant for taking too many jump shots, then get on people like Giannis for driving into the paint too much.
Giannis is at his best when driving to the rim. Would he be a better player if he shot the ball better? Absolutely. But he averaged over 30/12 last year while also averaging more assists than guards like Shai, Maxey, and Murray. And that’s not even including his elite defensive ability. But somehow he needs to “get better as a basketball player”?
Imo podcasts have shown how bad older players are at watching basketball and understanding the game from the sidelines. They’re obviously great at playing, but there’s a reason a lot of the elite players don’t get into coaching post retirement.
Oh the irony of this coming from Charles “Never evolved his game” Barkley.
It’s gonna be years before fans get that Chuck is a big bag of useless wind.
i mean, it has worked. give him and dame another year, put more shooting around and see what happens. not much you can do to change giannis as a player at this point….
I totally get this take but honestly it’s a little outdated and is only accurate in a vacuum when you’re not taking anything else into consideration.
Giannis in 2019 and 2020 had to do this bc they didn’t have enough creators. They had Eric Bledsoe at pg who couldn’t shoot either, and only had Middleton to generate additional offense. Giannis also didn’t trust his teammates and imo learned his “1-5 isn’t going to work” lesson during this time
2021 they had Jrue which helped reduce the amount of 1v5 on offense. Played a ton of pnr with Khris Middleton which they hadn’t done much prior to that.
2022, he shot like 40 percent from midrange that year. Middleton got hurt and it was just him and Jrue v the Celtics in terms of offensive creation (7 games)
2023 avgd 31.8 PPG but in the playoffs he fell on Kevin Love and the heat were on stupid fire from 3 that series
2024, got Dame, giannis averaged over 30 PPG on 60 TS, but was hurt and didn’t play in the playoffs.
That all being said, his passing has also been improved over the years and doesn’t get enough appreciation in my opinion.
He’s averaged about 5.8 assists a game for the past 5-6 years and last year he averaged 6.5!
Besides Jokic, Sabonis, and LeBron, idk how many other bigs pass like that. And that’s carrying a heavier load on defense too.
Long story short I think at this point moving forward, Giannis getting better isn’t necessarily doing more, it’s doing less but better.
It’ll work if he had Fisher, Fox, Rush, Goerge, Rice, Horry and Kobe.
Bucks just need spacing.
my favorite nba clips are 1, draymond falling, and then sprinting back on defense just to tackle another player and 2. giannis going for a drive, stopping, backing up, just to do it again but with more momentum
Feel like I often disagree with Charles. Giannis has made a clear effort to improve his shooting and playmaking the last few years
Barkley also advocated all the players taking days off or using load management need to take pain killers and horse tranquillizers like he did so they play every night. There’s a reason he’s not a coach or a GM.
Can Giannis improve as a player? Sure. Does he NEED to get better? No. Giannis has proven he can win MVPs as well as a ring. He scored 50 in a finals game. The Bucks didn’t perform up to expectations but that’s for a myriad of reasons many of which are more detrimental to team success than Giannis’ limited playstyle. At the end of the day the freak is a top 3 player in the league and a proven winner.
I legit think Charles doesn’t watch a single game
honestly, somewhat agree with Chuck here. Giannis is going to be 30 this year and there’s only a few years left of elite athleticism for him. But i don’t think he necessarily needs to add a 3 to his game if it never improves…all he really needs to add is a reliable post fadeaway shot and he’s going to be so much better. He’s already shown that he can knock it down here and there, he’s got insane length and will become unguardable if he gets elite with it
i think barkley sees himself like giannis and wants him to not make the same mistakes as him
i guess if you want to hard carry a franchise sure, but giannis can be the way he is as long as there is good enough support around him.
Besides putting up 50 in Finals games, just what more is he supposed to do? Then in the same pod, Chuck goes on to talk about how much easier it is to play basketball when you have better teammates.
Shaq and Chuck really starting to sound like old men yelling at clouds over the past week.
Well it did work, so…
I honestly think they should of kept with kidds plan to have him play point.
Mr 25 percent three pointer says what?
Giannis is a full grown man not a kid.
I think when you factor in Giannis age and playstyle, all the guys that would have a similar resume had to grow and change as a player. Add a post up, add a jumper, something
Usually I agree with Mr Barks.
Giannis has been proven to work. Yes, there are injuries and yes, there are other teams that are unfairly stacked, but Giannis works. He is one of the few individuals that can do the damn deed with a soft core.
He just needs better free throws imo
Whatever Giannis is now is probably what he’s gonna be the rest of his career.
True True
i dont know he is in his 11th season going on 12. anyone think he will change his game drastically?
I doubt that Giannis is going to develop into a good outside shooter. He hasn’t shown a glimpse of it.
That said, saying “just going downhill 1-on-5 isn’t going to work” seems pretty silly when applied to an 8 time All-NBA two-time MVP who led his team to a championship while winning Finals MVP and remains at the very worst a top 5 player in the league. It seems to be working okay.
I got to say Barkley is usually talking crazy, but his takes lately have been very sound and positive the man just wants the game to get better and I’m gonna miss him being on tv and YouTube all the time
I’ve seen Giannis in the finals. I’ve seen Chuck in the finals. I’d take Giannis
People getting mad in here. He’s basically just saying Giannis needs to get better as a playmaker or more versatile scorer if he wants to remain at the top of the food chain into his later years. Skills that make his team better.
Giannis can’t carry a team on just his freakish athleticism forever.