# Antetokounmpo green, but growing



## Bubbles

> MILWAUKEE — In what has been a dreary, overcast season so far for the Milwaukee Bucks, a ray of sunshine finally broke through Saturday night.
> 
> That was the eyebrow-raising performance of Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks’ intriguing rookie forward. Antetokounmpo made several exceptional plays throughout the course of the Bucks’ game against the Boston Celtics in the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
> 
> However, there was one sequence of plays that was simply jaw-dropping, one that was LeBronesque. That occurred in the second quarter when Celtics guard Jordan Crawford appeared on his way to a routine layup. But as Crawford was about to lay the ball off the backboard, Antetokounmpo soared from behind and, with his 7-foot-4 wingspan, swatted the ball away. That brought the partisan crowd and Bucks’ bench to their feet.
> 
> But Antetokounmpo wasn’t done. After teammate Zaza Pachulia grabbed the loose ball and outletted it to Luke Ridnour racing up the left side, Antetokounmpo sprinted down the court and, after taking a lob feed from Ridnour near the free-throw line, delivered a ferocious one-hand flush.
> 
> The crowd erupted again.
> 
> “Not many players in our league have those type of attributes as far as length, speed and the skills to handle the basketball like him,” Bucks point guard Brandon Knight said. “It’s very rare that you come across a basketball player his size who can do all those things.
> 
> “He can block a shot and then get out and get a dunk on the other end, all on one play, because of his God-given abilities and physical stature. Not a lot of us have been blessed like that. There are few players in the NBA who can do that.”
> 
> The scintillating plays Antetokounmpo delivered are what the Bucks envisioned when they made him the 15th pick in the 2013 draft. They were convinced then, as they are now, that Antetokounmpo is a special athlete and that the sky is the limit for the soft-spoken 18-year-old whose parents — Veronica and Charles — immigrated from Nigeria to Greece.
> 
> Yet, while the Bucks’ brass is enamored with Antetokounmpo, they have taken a cautious approach to his development. They are intentionally bringing him along slowly and carefully — he has appeared in 11 games and is averaging 5.3 points and 3 rebounds — and want to make sure the transition from playing in Greece for Filathlitikos, which one NBA scout insisted was the equivalent of an NCAA Division III alumni team, to the NBA as seamless as possible.
> 
> But the people who have regularly seen Antetokounmpo behind closed doors in practices fully realize his skill-set is off the charts.
> 
> As Bucks forward John Henson said, “He’s a dynamic young player. It’s going to be fun to watch him grow up in front of our eyes.”
> 
> Bucks coach Larry Drew has tried his best to downplay his excitement for Antetokounmpo, but it hasn’t been easy.
> 
> “He’s 6-9 and 18 years old and, where his skill level is right now, you just don’t see that much,” Drew said. “He does some intriguing things when he’s out on the floor. We just have to continue to develop him. We have to continue to allow him to grow.”
> 
> *Not only is Antetokounmpo’s game growing, so is his body. When the Bucks drafted him in June, he was 6-9. Now, just more than five months later, he has added more than an inch to his lanky frame.
> 
> “I am now 6-10 and one quarter,” Antetokounmpo said smiling.
> 
> He then paused before adding, “I still have 3½ years to grow.”*
> 
> Indeed, doctors have informed Antetokounmpo and Bucks officials that the former’s growth plate is still open. In all likelihood, he’ll become a 7-footer.
> 
> For now, Antetokounmpo is content with his role with the Bucks. He believes he’s on track to fulfilling the Bucks’ high expectations, saying he’s already become acclimated to the fast and furious lifestyle of the NBA on and off the court.
> 
> Asked if he was intimidated playing in the NBA against more mature and more established players, Antetokounmpo said, “Intimidated? No. I was at the beginning (of the season) scared but not anymore. I am more comfortable and more aggressive.”


http://journaltimes.com/sports/basketball/bucks-beat-antekokounmpo-green-but-growing/article_c3048dda-5bd5-11e3-ad1c-001a4bcf887a.html

He's still growing? mg:


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## Bubbles

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*

Here's the video of the chasedown block and dunk sequence he had against the Celtics:


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## Kreutz35

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*

I read somewhere yesterday (can't remember where the article was at), that some of the Bucks doctors were saying that, based on his growth plates, Giannis should end up over 7' tall. He really could be something special.


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## Bubbles

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*

With his skill set and how he runs the floor, him being 7' or taller is just insane to think about. He's still super raw, but the I'm drooling over his potential.


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## roux

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*

As exciting as it is to think about him growing more it seems to me that its going to slow down his development a bit.. guys that are growing still always seem to be a bit awkward trying to fit their game into their changing bodies


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## Kreutz35

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*



roux said:


> As exciting as it is to think about him growing more it seems to me that its going to slow down his development a bit.. guys that are growing still always seem to be a bit awkward trying to fit their game into their changing bodies


SHHHHH Quit ruining my happiness with reality!


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## Bubbles

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*



roux said:


> As exciting as it is to think about him growing more it seems to me that its going to slow down his development a bit.. guys that are growing still always seem to be a bit awkward trying to fit their game into their changing bodies


I can't imagine it slowing down his development too much (if at all). Nothing will stop the Greek Freak. NOTHING!


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## ATLien

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*

So he's a 2013 Jonathan Bender? @R-Star


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## BlakeJesus

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*

Definitely an exciting player, can't believe he's a full inch taller than he was just a few months ago. The Greek Freak has a high ceiling due to his unique and impressive physical features, hopefully he continues to progress as a basketball player. Bucks have a potential stud on their hands though, and I think he's in a situation that can afford to be patient with expectations yet still give him solid minutes.


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## R-Star

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*



ATLien said:


> So he's a 2013 Jonathan Bender? @R-Star


The only difference is that Bender had a really sweet stroke, but I think that is the best comparison for him.

Bender was supposed to be Paul George, but he had bad knees and lacked confidence. I'm really excited for this Antekokunmpo kid. I think he will take longer than usual to develop because of his age and freakish size, but he could be a hell of a unique player.


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## Bubbles

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*

Crazy to think that he's only 18 (turning 19 at the end of next week) right now.


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## roux

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*



Bubbles said:


> Crazy to think that he's only 18 (turning 19 at the end of next week) right now.


He is so much fun to watch, best thing the bucks have going right now by a longshot.. Let the kid play an lose while we are at it and give us something to root for this year and the future, i dont ever want to see caron butler again if i had it my way


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## Bubbles

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*

Good night for Giannis.


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## Kreutz35

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*



Bubbles said:


> Good night for Giannis.


A couple beautiful passes while pushing the break. I love this guy!


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## Kidd

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*

"I make the mistake," he said in a high-pitched Greek accent. "The only thing that I can do to help my teammates is take the ball back. So I try: I run towards my friend, and I try to block the shot, and I get the ball back."

His "friend" was Boston guard Jordan Crawford, who assumed he had broken away for a layup when Antetokounmpo ran him down like a stretched-out Usain Bolt. "Some guys will give up on a play like that - they'll turn the ball over and then it's a woe-is-me type of body language," said Bucks coach Larry Drew. "I didn't think he had a chance, to be honest with you."

:laugh: his friend. I like this guy.


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## Bubbles

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*


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## Bubbles

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*


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## roux

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*

Giannis and Henson are the only reason to like this team


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## Kreutz35

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*



roux said:


> Giannis and Henson are the only reason to like this team


And Wolters. I like Wolters.


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## Bubbles

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*

Honestly, I can't wait until 2K15 comes out next year so I can play with this team in Association Mode. This team is going to be fun.


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## Bubbles

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*

13/9/4/1 last night against the Mavericks. I like his ability to get to the line.


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## Kidd

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*

Another solid line; after watching him tonight it's pretty obvious to me that Antentekounmpo is going to end up being the best player out of this draft.


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## roux

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*

I love this kid, his skill set is so unique and is such a pleasure to watch. Seems like a really good guy too, very humble and easy to root for.


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## Bubbles

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*

Nice to see him get the start last night. Hopefully it stays that way.


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## Bubbles

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*


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## Kreutz35

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*


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## roux

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*

Man Crush


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## Bubbles

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*


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## ChrisWoj

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*

Lakers fans are going to LOVE this guy in X-#-years.


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## Jamel Irief

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*



roux said:


> Giannis and Henson are the only reason to like this team


Already lost your Sanders hard on?


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## roux

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*



Jamel Irief said:


> Already lost your Sanders hard on?


Hard to keep it up when the dumbass is missing months at a time for barfights.. I still think he has a future on this team as a defensive anchor but in terms of overall value I think he has clearly fallen behind giannis and henson in most Bucks fans eyes


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## Kreutz35

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*



roux said:


> Hard to keep it up when the dumbass is missing months at a time for barfights.. I still think he has a future on this team as a defensive anchor but in terms of overall value I think he has clearly fallen behind giannis and henson in most Bucks fans eyes


He'll have to get back into our good graces. I really hope he does.


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## Kreutz35

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*


























I have a man-crush.


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## 29380

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*


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## Marcus13

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*

I hate this guy.


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## 29380

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*


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## Dornado

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*

http://deadspin.com/who-is-the-greek-freak-your-guide-to-the-nbas-coolest-1500248666

figured @roux, @kreutz35 and @Bubbles would appreciate some continued Antetokounmpo love...


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## Kreutz35

*Re: Antekokounmpo green, but growing*



Dornado said:


> http://deadspin.com/who-is-the-greek-freak-your-guide-to-the-nbas-coolest-1500248666
> 
> figured @roux, @kreutz35 and @Bubbles would appreciate some continued Antetokounmpo love...


LOVE IT!


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## roux

That block on Durant would make Bill Russell blush.


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## ponderguy

bucks have a bright future once some of their guys mature a bit (mentally and physically) wouldn't surprise me at all if in 5 years they're the new pacers


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## Kreutz35

http://www.nba.com/bucks/video/2014/02/01/giannishighlights140131mov-3131627

Giannis is a man amongst boys, especially on this Bucks team. That baseline jam was just plain dirty!


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## Kreutz35

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/10406945/giannis-antetokounmpo-brings-joy-basketball

Great article on Giannis from Scoop Jackson


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## Kreutz35

kreutz35 said:


> http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/10406945/giannis-antetokounmpo-brings-joy-basketball
> 
> Great article on Giannis from Scoop Jackson


..


> His potential summarized: Scottie Pippen's game with Magic Johnson's personality.


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## Bubbles

kreutz35 said:


> ..



Yes please.


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## 29380




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## Bogg

Your frontcourt is like the start of a bad joke.

"So a Turk, a Greek, and a Serb walk into a bar.......thankfully, Larry Sanders isn't there"


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## Bubbles




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## Kreutz35

http://deadspin.com/giannis-antetokounmpo-is-great-at-soccer-too-because-1535555070


Because, of course he's good at soccer.


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## roux

Love this kid


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## Bogg

Is it weird that I think that Milwaukee basketball is in _better_ shape than it's been since Bogut broke himself, despite the abysmal season? Watching Giannis develop will be worth tuning in for by itself, but they've also cratered at exactly the right time and are guaranteed to have one of the top picks in the upcoming draft. Way, way better than watching Jennings and Monta take turns launching contested jumpers on the way to 40 wins.

EDIT: Also, you guys better use one of your second-rounders to draft his brother. He seems like he'd be 20% more adorable following around his big brother.


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## roux

Bogg said:


> Is it weird that I think that Milwaukee basketball is in _better_ shape than it's been since Bogut broke himself, despite the abysmal season? Watching Giannis develop will be worth tuning in for by itself, but they've also cratered at exactly the right time and are guaranteed to have one of the top picks in the upcoming draft. Way, way better than watching Jennings and Monta take turns launching contested jumpers on the way to 40 wins.
> 
> EDIT: Also, you guys better use one of your second-rounders to draft his brother. He seems like he'd be 20% more adorable following around his big brother.


We have had meddling ownership that thinks that making theplayoffs regardless of the ability to actually compete in them is the most important thing. It has been their mindset for as long as they have owned the team. Our tank/rebuild this year was done by accident. We went out and signed like 6 veterans (Ridnour,Neal,Mayo,Zaza,Butler and Delfino)to try and fight for the 8th seed this year and it blew up in our face.. unlike philly who is blatantly trying to be as bad as possible we just put together a crappy team thinking it would be better than it was and the tank came naturally. Its about time though whether it was intentional or not cause this franchise has been like a shitty record skipping for 20 years now


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## Kreutz35

roux said:


> We have had meddling ownership that thinks that making theplayoffs regardless of the ability to actually compete in them is the most important thing. It has been their mindset for as long as they have owned the team. Our tank/rebuild this year was done by accident. We went out and signed like 6 veterans (Ridnour,Neal,Mayo,Zaza,Butler and Delfino)to try and fight for the 8th seed this year and it blew up in our face.. unlike philly who is blatantly trying to be as bad as possible we just put together a crappy team thinking it would be better than it was and the tank came naturally. Its about time though whether it was intentional or not cause this franchise has been like a shitty record skipping for 20 years now


The one thing our management has done well is drafting gems in the middle of the first round (Giannis, Henson, Sanders, Harris). That being said, we tend to ruin great guys after a couple years (I fear for Giannis!) or we trade them away for nothing (TOBIAS!!!!).


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## Bogg

roux said:


> We have had meddling ownership that thinks that making theplayoffs regardless of the ability to actually compete in them is the most important thing. It has been their mindset for as long as they have owned the team. Our tank/rebuild this year was done by accident. We went out and signed like 6 veterans (Ridnour,Neal,Mayo,Zaza,Butler and Delfino)to try and fight for the 8th seed this year and it blew up in our face.. unlike philly who is blatantly trying to be as bad as possible we just put together a crappy team thinking it would be better than it was and the tank came naturally. Its about time though whether it was intentional or not cause this franchise has been like a shitty record skipping for 20 years now


All well and good, but still.......they've got some promising young guys and the chance to hit a real home run in June. Even in a worst-case scenario they should be able to take their pick between Marcus Smart (serious rich-man's Jennings potential there, though) and Dante Exum. It'd be nice if their books were cleaner, but things are looking up.

On a semi-related note: How do you guys feel about Jeff Adrien? I have a soft spot for him from his Uconn days and enjoyed him in Charlotte. I hope he finds a rotation spot on a permanent basis somewhere.


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## roux

Bogg said:


> All well and good, but still.......they've got some promising young guys and the chance to hit a real home run in June. Even in a worst-case scenario they should be able to take their pick between Marcus Smart (serious rich-man's Jennings potential there, though) and Dante Exum. It'd be nice if their books were cleaner, but things are looking up.
> 
> *On a semi-related note: How do you guys feel about Jeff Adrien? I have a soft spot for him from his Uconn days and enjoyed him in Charlotte. I hope he finds a rotation spot on a permanent basis somewhere.*


I like him.. and I think Bucks fans like him.. Milwaukee as a sports town loves scrappy over achiever types.. I would love to see us bring him back next year as opposed to bringing in another veteran for sure


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## Bogg

roux said:


> I like him.. and I think Bucks fans like him.. Milwaukee as a sports town loves scrappy over achiever types.. I would love to see us bring him back next year as opposed to bringing in another veteran for sure


I hope he gets a spot. Seeing how the best offer he's likely to see is a minimum deal with a player option for a second year, I don't see why someone wouldn't give him a spot at the end of the bench. Whenever he's gotten court time when I'm watching he seems like a capable backup.


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## Kreutz35

Bogg said:


> All well and good, but still.......they've got some promising young guys and the chance to hit a real home run in June. Even in a worst-case scenario they should be able to take their pick between Marcus Smart (serious rich-man's Jennings potential there, though) and Dante Exum. It'd be nice if their books were cleaner, but things are looking up.
> 
> On a semi-related note: How do you guys feel about Jeff Adrien? I have a soft spot for him from his Uconn days and enjoyed him in Charlotte. I hope he finds a rotation spot on a permanent basis somewhere.


All of the Bucks fans I've talked to (including myself) seem to really like him. Whether that means anything for our management's opinion of him remains to be seen, but I think he could find a useful bench role on this squad.


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## Bogg

I know it's not even the end of the season yet, but where do you guys think you go in the draft? I could see taking Embiid because his ceiling is so high, but you _do_ already have pretty significant investments made in Sanders and Henson and you'd probably have to dump at least one of them. Parker seems like a poor fit with Giannis, as they both project as small forwards who can play some smallball 4 in a pinch. I really, really like the Wiggins fit with Giannis on the wing (good luck scoring on those two if they both pan out). Smart leaves me lukewarm, even though I'd understand the move, and I don't really know enough about Exum.


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## Kreutz35

Bogg said:


> I know it's not even the end of the season yet, but where do you guys think you go in the draft? I could see taking Embiid because his ceiling is so high, but you _do_ already have pretty significant investments made in Sanders and Henson and you'd probably have to dump at least one of them. Parker seems like a poor fit with Giannis, as they both project as small forwards who can play some smallball 4 in a pinch. I really, really like the Wiggins fit with Giannis on the wing (good luck scoring on those two if they both pan out). Smart leaves me lukewarm, even though I'd understand the move, and I don't really know enough about Exum.


Everything I've heard sounds like the Bucks are most interested in Embiid, which would probably mean that we look to ship Sanders out for a good SG.


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## Bogg

kreutz35 said:


> Everything I've heard sounds like the Bucks are most interested in Embiid, which would probably mean that we look to ship Sanders out for a good SG.


I mean....how good is "good"? I don't see anybody giving up any of the top young 2-guards for Sanders after the year he's had. Gerald Henderson-types are available, but I don't know how much good that actually does you. Would you trade him to Boston for Brooklyn's first rounder?


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## Gronehestu

didn't mean to double post, can't delete


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## Gronehestu

I don't see why we have to trade Sanders before the end of his deal

If he can stay on the court, he'd be a very good match with an Embiid. We have other guys who can play the 4, and Sanders can play some 4 next to Embiid. The value is having insurance against Embiid being hurt, and allowing him to recover properly if hurt; letting Embiid develop as a complete offensive player while Sanders focuses on the dirty work; and simply having two guys 6'11" or better who can make an impact on the game.

With a guy like alphabet soup around, and a strong frontcourt, we could start causing people matchup problems. That'd be a good way to then lure in a big-time lead guard.


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## Kreutz35

So do we look to trade Henson then? Or do we use Henson-Embiid-Sanders as a three man post rotation and ship Ilyasova out of town (which, really, needs to happen anyway)?


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## Bubbles

kreutz35 said:


> So do we look to trade Henson then? Or do we use Henson-Embiid-Sanders as a three man post rotation and ship Ilyasova out of town (which, really, needs to happen anyway)?



Option two please.


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## Gronehestu

kreutz35 said:


> Or do we use Henson-Embiid-Sanders as a three man post rotation and ship Ilyasova out of town (which, really, needs to happen anyway)?


If I was running the Bucks that's exactly what I'd do.


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## BlakeJesus

Sanders/Embid with Henson off the bench would be quite formidable, though I think they should take Andrew Wiggins if he's there.


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## Bogg

Henson-Embiid-Sanders seems to be VERY redundant. Wouldn't it make more sense to cash out on one to get a guy who's a better fit?


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## Gronehestu

Bogg said:


> Henson-Embiid-Sanders seems to be VERY redundant. Wouldn't it make more sense to cash out on one to get a guy who's a better fit?


That's a valid point, but if we're going to have a face-up shooter at the 4 or 5 I want it to be someone other than Ilyasova cause's he's just annoying

EDIT: lol I pretty much completely mis-read your post man, shame on me. It would make some sense to bring in a guy with a different kind of game than those 3, and we sorta have that guy in Ersan but I don't like him and would rather go forward without him. If someone wanted to give us a reliable dozen-per-game shooter at the 4 in exchange for Henson, that might be cool. But I doubt we're going to get a ton of meaningful value for Sanders until he proves himself again. 

In a perfect world, Embiid/Henson/Sanders would be a high energy, rim-protecting bunch who kept the paint under control and we could let the other guys on the floor worry about the perimeter game.


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## Kreutz35

Remember 2 season ago when Ersan was the talk of the league? We really should have cashed in on him then...


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## Bogg

Gronehestu said:


> That's a valid point, but if we're going to have a face-up shooter at the 4 or 5 I want it to be someone other than Ilyasova cause's he's just annoying


I mean, a power forward with range, an upgrade at shooting guard, maybe a good young point guard - there are a couple different things you can do there. I think getting a good fit elsewhere in the lineup helps you more than having a really good backup big man. Now, obviously Embiid needs time to develop, so it isn't like you have to clear out 36 minutes a night in the frontcourt for him from day 1, so you can take your time finding a trade you like.


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## Kreutz35




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## Kreutz35




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## Kreutz35

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/441275676381814784


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## Kreutz35

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/441272711827165184


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## Kreutz35

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/441273094724796416

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/441273309926133760

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/441273486560882688


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## roux

The Bucks better not ruin this kid


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## Kreutz35

roux said:


> The Bucks better not ruin this kid


Fingers crossed...


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## Bubbles

*In Giannis We Trust*



> Watch him gallop! Watch him soar! Watch him cradle and rock the baby! Watch him leap and swat! Watch his limbs — impossibly long, but perfectly in sync — as he glides across the court. Nine steps end to end? He grew up destitute on the fringes of Greek society, with a loving family of Nigerian immigrants. This time last year he was playing for a second-division Greek league club in a small neighborhood in Athens. Now he’s a rookie for the Milwaukee Bucks shredding the Internet, one breathtaking weakside block at a time. Now he’s a 19-year-old millionaire, an all-grinning, all-dunking testament to the sheer might of the American Dream. His name is Giannis Antetokounmpo. But you can call him the Greek Freak.
> 
> And just in time for his dramatic Midwestern arrival — the Milwaukee Bucks are cratering. They’ve got the worst record in the league, their stadium is falling apart, and their fans are fleeing. In Seattle, a ravenous ownership group awaits, primed to hijack an NBA franchise. If things don’t turn around, Wisconsin might lose this team forever.
> 
> And so in Brew City — in the midst of the coldest winter in 30 years and the worst season in the history of the once-proud Bucks — the question is already being asked: Is Giannis the man who will save professional basketball in Milwaukee?
> 
> ♦♦♦
> 
> It’s the Saturday before All-Star Weekend, and the A-list Houston Rockets are in town. But outside the Bucks’ famously shabby Bradley Center, there’s none of the usual en masse bonhomie. Clusters of fans speed-walk through the frigid air, and a few brave scalpers call halfheartedly, “Tickets? Tickets?” One enterprising fellow does so from out the window of his warm and idling car.
> 
> Inside the Bucks’ locker room, the vibe is markedly cheerier. Apparently, someone’s wallet has gone missing, and a jokey investigation is under way. Giannis is the prime suspect. A team trainer is trying to coerce a confession with creepy-animal-based threats: “My boy got a pet store in Kenosha. Get a couple of snakes and a couple rats …” Giannis smiles wide, and shouts down the hall: “This guy says he gonna bring roaches and that! I don’t like that!”
> 
> Scenes like this are the norm. In less than half a season, Giannis has become the team’s de facto favorite kid brother. And everyone’s got a story to tell.
> 
> Zaza Pachulia recalls the first time Giannis got his check: “He saw half of the money was going to taxes. He ask me, is there any way he doesn’t pay taxes?” Brandon Knight remembers Giannis carrying free food home from the players’ lounge: “You’d see him with like six or seven boxes, trying to save money — cakes, drinks, all types of stuff.” Caron Butler1 remembers tossing out a pair of sneakers, only to have Giannis intervene: “He pulled the shoes out the garbage like, ‘What are you doing? These good shoes!’”
> 
> Larry Sanders, speaking of footwear, has bought Giannis not one but two pairs of Gucci shoes, although Giannis says he’s saving them for “something good — when I’m gonna go out. I test them, wear them a little bit in the house. They’re very nice. Very nice.” Meanwhile, John Henson mostly can’t believe that Giannis has never sampled Chipotle.2
> 
> Up to the final weeks before last year’s draft, Giannis was an unknown. But then his unbelievable story — sharing one pair of basketball sneakers with his brother, selling trinkets to tourists to get by — trickled out. It didn’t hurt that he was a teenager with mouthwatering athleticism and eye-popping length and all that other stuff that gets Jay Bilas’s heart aflutter. That he would then be plucked out of Europe’s fractious xenophobic battles and plopped down in Milwaukee — with all due respect, perhaps the most comfortingly bland bit of America the NBA has to offer these days — seemed almost too perfect.
> 
> Once Giannis arrived in the States, he drank it up with an epic smile and zestful glee. He tweeted about the wonder of his first smoothie and blogged about guarding his “idol” Kevin Durant for the first time. Then he managed to block the living hell out of said idol. In increasing minutes, Giannis’s highlights were perfect click-bait. One chase-down block or baseline cram at a time, he was becoming an Internet folk hero.
> 
> Just before the All-Star break, and after sorting through months of visa issues, Giannis’s parents and two younger brothers finally arrived in Milwaukee. Lucky enough to catch a rare Bucks buzzer-beating win (over the Knicks, of course) and ecstatic at seeing Giannis play in the NBA for the first time, the family was overcome. For most of the game, their hands were on their heads in Kevin McCallister–esque shock. The result was a blooming GIF sensation.
> 
> Seeing that kind of joy from afar, you might assume Milwaukee had been overcome with Greek Freak fever — that the city had effectively been flattened by sausage-guzzling partisans squawking sonnets in the name of Giannis. But from the looks of the fans around the arena wearing outdated Brandon Jennings jerseys, it appears that being Twitter’s favorite hardscrabble success story doesn’t translate into quite as much on-the-ground fame.
> 
> Before the game, Doug Russell, the sports DJ at Bucks flagship station WTMJ, had cautioned me that Giannis Mania is fighting years of entrenched Bucks apathy.
> 
> “You’ll see it at the [arena],” he said. “There’ll be — charitably — 7,000 people there? But for those that are paying attention, they’re falling in love with this kid.” And when I asked coach Larry Drew if he could remember anything like the Giannis phenomenon, his answer summarily tempered my excitement: “Yeah. I was in L.A. when we traded for Kobe. And the attention was much greater than it is here.”
> 
> If Giannis’s career takes off, as many expect and pine for, then real-life fame will follow. But right now, it appears, the Rise of Giannis exists primarily online and almost independent of the floundering, fumbling, wounded Bucks.
> 
> Taking my seat, I look out for some of the Bradley Center’s famed shortcomings. The 26-year-old building is, by NBA standards, small and barren. It’s also crumbling: It’s got a leaky roof, rusting doors, and a cooling system so ancient that it relies on a refrigerant “that is no longer permitted to be manufactured or sold in the United States.”3 Commissioner Adam Silver has indicated the Bucks will not be able to stay here beyond 2017, when the team’s lease is up.
> 
> But to have a new home ready by then, the Bucks need to get going. Owner Herb Kohl — the 79-year-old former U.S. senator and department-store heir who now slings flavored milk for fun — is pledging to fund a new arena with a chunk of his own money while angling for public funds.4 He’s also looking for investors who will commit to keeping the team in Milwaukee.5 Meanwhile, a flush ownership group in Seattle, led by hedge fund manager Chris Hansen and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, is ready to splurge on a new, toast-of-the-NBA arena, and to redeem the brutal 2008 murder of the SuperSonics.
> 
> Here, as with everything, Giannis comes into play. If the team has a budding international superstar on its roster, then finding arena funding becomes significantly less impossible. But that’s theoretical. Right now, Giannis is averaging seven points a game and looking lost on defensive rotations as often as he looks brilliant on the break. And right now the Bradley Center is marked for death and could just take the Bucks down with it.
> 
> This time last year, the Would-Be Savior and his Would-Be Savees began to get acquainted. That’s when NBA scouts started flying to Athens to find the rickety gyms where Giannis was dominating competition not fit to carry his souvlaki. Milwaukee believed in Giannis enough to draft him with the 15th pick. “The first time that I hear about the Bucks was at the draft,” Antetokounmpo recalls. “I never, like, watch them play.” So when did he hear how cold Milwaukee would be? “The GM told me. At the airport.”
> 
> That’s a neat enough story on its own. But ask Spiros Velliniatis, Giannis’s excitable mentor back in Greece, and you’ll hear a more expansive tale.
> 
> It starts in the early 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when Greece was transformed by a wave of immigrants — including Giannis’s parents, who left their native Nigeria and had four sons in their adopted country. Velliniatis had played pro ball in Germany before he began pinging around Europe as a “have clipboard, will travel” type of coach. He saw Greece’s changing demographics as a way to help others (and perhaps boost his own career). He began scouring Athens’s new immigrant communities, seeking transformative basketball talent. And for a decade, he failed.
> 
> “My personal life was going to nothing, my basketball career was not successful, and I said to myself, ‘I will not have big goals in life anymore,’” he tells me over the phone from Greece. He hadn’t played in the NBA; he hadn’t become a big-time coach. Then, a week after he had decided to give up: “I see Giannis.”
> 
> It wasn’t one of his regular scouting trips; he was just walking through the neighborhood of Sepolia to visit a friend. This is not happening to me! This is not possible!, he said he thought when he spotted the 13-year-old Giannis. “You are chasing for 10 years immigrant kids to play basketball for a mediocre level, and suddenly you have in front of you Julius Erving! Magic Johnson! Michael Jordan!” Never mind that Giannis wasn’t actually playing basketball when Velliniatis first saw him. He was just running around with his brothers. But Velliniatis knew.
> 
> “It was mostly like a blackmail,” Velliniatis says, explaining how he convinced Giannis to hoop. “I told him, if I find work for your parents” — their work papers had long expired — “will you play basketball for me?” Then he took Giannis and his brothers to Filathlitikos, a smaller club where he hoped they would get more personal attention. He talked the club into providing a 500-euro monthly stipend — without Giannis ever touching a ball.
> 
> For the first few years, it was tenuous. “Many times the kid stopped,” Velliniatis says. “He was going and working, selling little things in marketplaces. I had to go back to the family and drag Giannis back to basketball.” The family had no money; at times, Giannis could go two or three days without eating. The fear of hunger was always a concern, Velliniatis says. “You could see it in the hardness of the kid.” Meanwhile, as Antetokounmpo recalls, “I get taller and taller and taller.”
> 
> Eventually, he fell in love with the game. “When we were playing basketball,” says Giannis’s older brother Thanasis, now a swingman for the NBA D-League’s Delaware 87ers, “[we] forget everything else that was happening in our lives.” Giannis would run with every one of Filathlitikos’s units: the senior men’s team, the women’s team, even the 10-year-old juniors. He crafted himself as a point guard, not envisioning he’d one day grow to 6-foot-10.6 Once Giannis understood his potential, Velliniatis says, he “grabbed it from the throat.”
> 
> In 2012, Spanish club Zaragoza signed Giannis for 250,000 euros a year. Then the path accelerated, faster than Velliniatis or the Antetokounmpos imagined. “We’d go and play outside of Athens, in little towns up north,” Thanasis remembers. “And you could see scouts. How come they came here? It was amazing.”
> 
> “At the beginning I feel nervous,” Giannis says. “I go in the morning, practice a little bit, get my mind ready. I walk in, I see them sitting. I start to put some cones, show them my skills, my ballhandling. And then it’s my job. They come, like, every day. I don’t feel nervous. I just do my job.”
> 
> Remembering draft night, Velliniatis gets choked up. He never had a financial arrangement with Giannis; he just wanted to shepherd the kid’s greatness. He takes a minute, lets a couple sobs go, and finally gets the word out: “We fighting the impossible, and we beat the Greek system.”
> 
> ♦♦♦
> 
> Back at the game, it becomes apparent that the Bradley Center’s most pressing issue is not its dinginess. It’s that the place is half-empty.7 And how does the industrious Bucks promo team address the situation? Why, wiiiiith —
> 
> Mustachioed dudes dance-off! Free-pizza-coupon Frisbee toss! Pogo dancers, a T-shirt AK-47, a baby race!!!8 We get Bango, the Bucks’ anthropomorphic deer mascot, in so many forms: Big Head Bango, Mini Bango, Somersaulting From the Ceiling Bango. But nothing tops Inflatable Zeppelin Bango, a mascot float that hovers sloooowly about the arena, leering creepily as if Bango’s cold, dead eyes are scanning the crowd for his next human sacrifice. To witness the full whiz! bang! pow! of NBA promos in a cavernous, largely empty space, it turns out, is a little like having a psycho clown get right up in your face to do his evil cackle.
> 
> To my right, amid the wilderness of empty seats, I notice a small oasis of fans stomping their feet, toting giant cardboard Larry Sanders faces, and tossing confetti with every Bucks basket. Nick, one of these excitable fellows, tells me this is a “fan zone” called Sector 7: Ersan Ilyasova buys everyone tickets, and all you have to do is “make as much noise as possible and cheer for the Bucks.” You also have to stand up the entire game.
> 
> I ask Nick if it’s been tough fulfilling Sector 7 duties for such a bad team. “They tried to build a halfway-decent roster again,” he says. “But honestly, I’m really happy it’s going terrible.”
> 
> While other struggling NBA franchises chart out five-year plans to build championship-level contenders, the Bucks have become notorious for their never-ending pursuit of low playoff seeds. That has often meant trading young talent for midpriced veterans who can help the team notch a few extra wins and snag the 8-seed.9 It has also kept the Bucks locked in a hellish limbo: The best Bucks teams are usually just good enough to get demolished in the first round of the playoffs.
> 
> But when this year’s batch of vets flamed out, the Bucks found themselves in unfamiliar territory: sliding far enough down the standings to get a likely top-three pick in 2014’s loaded draft. “We’re stuck in the middle of it,” explains Bucks GM John Hammond. “We have nowhere to turn … With the weather and the way we’re playing, this has been the winter from H-E-double-L. And so we’ve come to the realization that, for a small-market team like ourselves, if we’re gonna add an impact player, the most logical way to do that is through the draft.”
> 
> This is the part where Bucks fans slam their foreheads with indignation. You’ve come to the realization?! What the H-E-double-L took you so long?
> 
> That Milwaukee resisted this rebuilding strategy for so many years is generally believed to be a mandate from Kohl, and it’s unclear how much Hammond bristles against it. Without addressing any specific move, Hammond says: “In hindsight, we’d do a lot of stuff differently. [But] this isn’t a video game. We can’t do anything over.” And then, once again: There’s Giannis. Not only did Hammond pick right — re-pick the 2013 draft and Giannis probably goes first — but now both the GM and the team have also got a wonderful distraction.
> 
> Back near Sector 7, I solicit the help of an usher to help me spot the Antetokounmpos. With Giannis struggling through a ghastly 0-for-8 shooting night — probably the worst game of his professional career — there aren’t too many ecstatic high fives going around. A few times, Giannis gets the ball on the break, and seeing him start to trot gets the crowd nearly as riled up as the free-pizza Frisbee coupons. But tonight the ball keeps getting away from him. Bundled up for warmth in their awesome new Nike gear, the Antetokounmpos mostly sit quietly.
> 
> At the top of the stairs, the usher grumbles that the Bucks better not do with Giannis what they always do with their good players: Give them away. I was incredulous: You don’t think they’ll manage to hold on to Giannis? And he answers, with the labored sigh of 100,000 Bucks fans, “I have no reason to believe that they will.”
> 
> ♦♦♦
> 
> To understand Bucks fatalism, you have to remember the team’s glories. For the first two decades of its existence, the franchise was the city’s pride: Lew Alcindor, Oscar Robertson, and the championship in 1971; then Don Nelson, Sidney Moncrief, and the endless string of Central Division titles. Sure, they could never get past Philly and Boston in the ’80s, but those were years of spit and pluck and vitriol. Goddamn, those were teams.
> 
> But those days are long gone. The Bucks have sunk so low that some in Milwaukee are ready to write them off. Bucks loyalist Andy Gorzalski — an executive at the kind of hip ad firm where elegant outdoorsmen types with free-flowing beards and fitted oxfords hum along at standing desks — describes the mind-set: “Just wait out the clock. Then they get moved to Seattle and who gives a shit.”
> 
> Gorzalski gives a shit. He is currently working to salvage the iconic hardwood from the team’s old MECCA arena. In a quirk of Bucks history, that floor was designed by pop artist Robert Indiana: It’d be a priceless piece of art if it weren’t a giant basketball court. Gorzalski is developing an “agora,” or community space, built around the floor — anything to preserve the Bucks’ proud history. He calls himself a “civic activist” for the team.
> 
> If Gorzalski and his fellow basketball fans in Milwaukee’s arts community represent the more urbane side of Bucks fandom, then the members of the online community Save Our Bucks are the G8 protesters with the Molotov cocktails in hand. The group grew out of the lively Bucks forum on RealGM.com; now its members publicly hammer the franchise for its sins. Earlier this year, they stirred up quite a hubbub when they crowd-funded a billboard, near the city along Interstate 43, that reads “Winning Takes Balls” — the ones bouncing around inside the NBA’s lottery machine.
> 
> I meet Paul Henning, the 33-year-old public face of Save Our Bucks, at a footbridge near the billboard. Befitting the renegade vibe, the group’s primary benefactor has chosen to remain anonymous and no one — not even Henning — has met him. “He’d rather be the Hannibal Smith,” Henning says. “He just loves it when a plan comes together.”10
> 
> The highway below us, Henning explains, “is how you get to the airport. So when the team’s going on the road, they have to drive right past the billboard.” If we stand outside in the cold any longer, our faces are going to snap off, so instead we head to Major Goolsby’s, a warmly scrappy pub brimming with sports history. (If nothing else: Reggie Jackson choke-slammed a dude here.) Inside, for several hours and over many pitchers, we meditate on failure.
> 
> At the problem’s bewildering core is Herb Kohl. When he bought the franchise in 1985, he saved the Bucks from almost certain relocation. In 2003, he pulled out of a deal to sell the team to a group fronted by Michael Jordan because he wasn’t given enough assurance they’d keep the team in Milwaukee.11 Kohl’s dedication to the city is Milwaukee’s no. 1 bulwark against losing the Bucks. As Bucksketball blogger Jeremy Schmidt says of Kohl: “He doesn’t have a wife and kids. He doesn’t have heirs. That’s his child, essentially. This organization is his family. Like, he’s been wearing the same green Bucks hat for the last 25 years.”
> 
> And, yet, the sad truth: The world’s biggest Bucks fan has overseen the longest reign of incompetence in franchise history.
> 
> Save Our Bucks wants smart new management that’s in tune with current analytics-heavy NBA philosophy. They pine for a crusading member of the local media to call out the team’s years of ineptitude. But they also just want to remind people that they’re here. “It’s a very sick relationship that Bucks fans have with the franchise,” Henning says. “But I love the city of Milwaukee more than anything. And I love the Bucks basketball team. And I’d be crushed if this team leaves.”
> 
> ♦♦♦
> 
> Over the next few days, I hang near Giannis. One evening after shootaround, I see him sign every last autograph requested; one morning after practice, I see him storm past the media in a sour mood. “I’m not doing nothing,” he says. Before long, however, he is coaxed out from the locker room and he lapses back into his smiley self. And then, promptly, I see one reporter ask him, surely for the 10,000th time: “So how the heck do ya pronounce your name?”
> 
> The beat reporters explain that Giannis has started having good days and crabby days. One of his reps tells me Giannis has recently complained of feeling “suffocated,” and that journalists from Greece have even popped up unannounced at his house. “I don’t like to go out and be talking to the media,” Giannis tells me at one point. “But, you know, it’s how it works.” And it’s incredible — with his family trying to get settled, and outlets from here to Thessaloniki wanting his time — how well he handles it all.
> 
> Thinking back to before he got here, about what he knew of the United States, he says: “I didn’t have any idea. Just, I know that there gonna be biiiiig buildings, you know? To the sky. In Greece, we don’t have big buildings. The biggest building like eight floors.”
> 
> While his family was still in Greece, “they was calling me all day,” he says. “They was telling me, ‘Hey, they just showed you on TV! Hey, you was in the newspaper this morning!’” Now, they’re actually here. “In the timeouts, I look at them. They look so happy, and I’m happy, and I just play my game.”
> 
> They like Milwaukee, he promises. “Everybody gonna talk about the cold. My mother and father, they not used to the cold. So, what can you do. We gonna buy some coats and wait till summer.”
> 
> He’s watching his younger brother Kostas — who grew three inches, to 6-foot-7, since Giannis last saw him — settle at local powerhouse Dominican High School, where he’ll represent a local extension of the Antetokounmpo legend.12 “They practice today, and the coach told him he got a better jump shot than me!” Giannis says.
> 
> I’d heard that Giannis was taking driving lessons. And when I ask, he breaks out a huge smile and cuts me off:
> 
> “I got my license already. Yeaaaaah! First try! Come on, man! Talk to me!”
> 
> I can’t help it. I start laughing. So you got a job, a place to live, a license? What’s left?
> 
> “Nothing. Just get a ring now.”


http://grantland.com/features/milwaukee-bucks-giannis-antetokounmpo/?erf


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## Marcus13

^^^ Cool story. Chris Mannix also tweeted -

"Favorite--of many--anecdotes from @G_ante34 reporting. Early in the season, Giannis took a cab to Western Union to send money home..."

"…after sending all the money he could to Greece, he realized he didn't have enough left for cab fare. It was game day, so he started running"

"…he got about a mile before a couple stopped, asked if he was the Bucks rookie. He said yes. They picked him up and dropped him at the arena"

When he got in the car, I said "you need a winter jacket." He said his credit card didn't work & he'd sent all the money to his family in Greece. He thanked us over and over again for the ride. He was running from where he lives ("on Lake Drive," he said). I got an autograph (in Greek!), but didn't think to get a photo (I'm full of regret). Imagine a photo of all 6'10" of him in the backseat of my Honda Fit (incredibly small back seats)!


Id probably like this kid if I didn't hate him so much!


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## Bubbles

Coast to coast in three dribbles.


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## R-Star

You guys know anything on his brother who should get drafted this year? Thanasis?

NBAdraft.net currently has him going in the second round. I wonder if someone might take him early in hopes he can emulate a bit of what Giannis has done so far.


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## 29380

R-Star said:


> You guys know anything on his brother who should get drafted this year? Thanasis?
> 
> NBAdraft.net currently has him going in the second round.* I wonder if someone might take him early in hopes he can emulate a bit of what Giannis has done so far.*


No

He is older and not as talented might not get drafted.


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## R-Star

Ender said:


> No
> 
> He is older and not as talented might not get drafted.


I saw he was born in 92 and originally thought he must be young because, you know 1992 as a birth date seems crazy. Then I did the math and just realized I thought he was young because I myself am becoming old as shit. 

There's another Antetokounmpo on nbadraft.net, but his age is _unknown_. Do they just not know, or are these guys becoming Chuck Norris like legends?


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## 29380

R-Star said:


> I saw he was born in 92 and originally thought he must be young because, you know 1992 as a birth date seems crazy. Then I did the math and just realized I thought he was young because I myself am becoming old as shit.
> 
> There's another Antetokounmpo on nbadraft.net, but his age is _unknown_. Do they just not know, or are these guys becoming Chuck Norris like legends?


I think that is a younger brother that is tall but has not really started playing yet.


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## roux

Ender said:


> I think that is a younger brother that is tall but has not really started playing yet.


He has two younger brothers that are going to start playing high school ball in the Milwaukee area.. I am really interested to see how they develop


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## 29380

*Report: Antetokounmpo will play in summer league, join Greek team
*


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## roux

Ender said:


> *Report: Antetokounmpo will play in summer league, join Greek team
> *


I can't wait to see the progress this kid makes


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## BlakeJesus

Imagine Wiggins at SG and him at SF.


----------

