Take a good look at these highlights. Watch them with care and precision. Notice anything? That’s right: Giannis Antetokounmpo didn’t hit a single shot that wasn’t a layup or a dunk.
There’s something to be said for playing to your strengths, obviously. Giannis absolutely abused the Bulls in transition tonight, in the same way that he has abused teams in that way for the entire duration of his career. Why shoot a jumper when a dunk is available? No reason.
It’s just that, if he wants to be a consistent scorer, he really has to start getting his jumper going. Earlier in the year, it was working a bit. He was hitting a few threes, and his midrange game looked almost average. Now, he has regressed. You can tell he’s getting frustrated with it, which is understandable, since he obviously put in a lot of work in the offseason.
The long grind of an NBA season does this to a lot of reformed jumpshooters. It’s hard not to slip into old habits when in a game. I mean, I slip into my old habit of shooting set-shots from my sternum as soon as I work up a sweat. It’s what happens.
Who cares, though? If he can score 29 just by being a lightning-fast high-flying dunk machine, why not take advantage?