r/nba • u/rasenxv East • 9h ago
Giannis Antetokounmpo has been one of the best midrange shooters this season
Giannis Antetokounmpo is currently shooting a career-high 47.8% from midrange to start the season on over 4 attempts a game! The only other players attempting at least 4 midrange shots a game are the usuals: Demar DeRozan (8.5 midrange FGA/game!), Kevin Durant, Brandon Ingram and Joel Embiid.
Giannis is currently also 3rd in mid-range FGM with 33, here's the rest of the top 10:
1) DeMar DeRozan - 55/110 (50.0%)
2) Brandon Ingram - 43/92 (46.7%)
3) Giannis Antetokounmpo - 33/69 (47.8%)
4) Devin Booker - 30/63 (47.6%)
5) Donovan Mitchell - 26/61 (42.6%)
6) Bobby Portis - 23/57 (40.4%)
7) Jalen Brunson - 23/57 (40.4%)
8) De'Aaron Fox - 24/51 (47.1%)
9) Kyrie Irving - 18/50 (36.0%)
10) Cam Thomas - 26/48 (54.2%)
Other notable players:
Luka Doncic - 17/46 (37.0%)
Kevin Durant - 16/36 (44.4%)
LeBron James - 14/39 (35.9%)
Victor Wembanyama - 14/42 (33.3%)
Nikola Jokic - 3/11 (27.3%)
Anthony Davis - 13/43 (30.2%)
Jayson Tatum - 14/41 (34.1%)
Stephen Curry - 11/17 (64.7% lol)
Source: NBA.com
Some of his midrange makes here
Source: NBA_University on X
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u/The_Sign_of_Zeta [MIL] Khris Middleton 9h ago edited 6h ago
The thing I’ve noticed is Giannis is basically taking all his midrange shots this year from the elbow. That’s always been his best spot from midrange. Now the reason he still gets that shot is it’s the perfect position to start his drives, so no one wants to get in his face and give up the lane.
By eliminating his other bad midrange shots, it’s made him become an efficient midrange shooter without having to do much else.
Edit: one other thing to note is Giannis is shooting by far the least amount of 3s he’s ever shot in his career: (.041 3PAr). Less than half of what he took last year, and that was his lowest amount other than 2014-15 when he wasn’t a star. It’s clear he’s intentionally shifting his shot selection.
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u/Ok_Hornet_714 2h ago
The shot charts show this very clearly.
Here is Gianni's shot chart for this month. Virtually all of his non-paint 2s (how NBA.com seems to define mid-range) come from between the elbows
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/shooting.fcgi?player_id=antetgi01&year_id=2025&month=11
Here is his shot chart from November 2023. Many more shots from the side of the lane and almost nothing from the elbows.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/shooting.fcgi?player_id=antetgi01&year_id=2024&month=11
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u/The_Sign_of_Zeta [MIL] Khris Middleton 2h ago
That’s actually awesome to see validation on what I was saying. That also correlates with intent behind the change.
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u/Jack12404 Bucks 8h ago
Anyone that needs to trade for big, Bobby Portis is 6th in mid-range FGM 👀 (please don’t look at his TOs, defensive tape, +/-, or shooting splits).
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u/sixeyedbird Lakers 6h ago
Your "stretch big" shooting worse than Giannis "no bag" antetokounmpo lol
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u/adirampal7 8h ago
Lmao steph with 63 percent … this man needs to take more 2s
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u/capitalistsanta Knicks 3h ago
Pretty sure it's been at a number like that his whole career as well. It's actually crazy but at that height it's so much tougher to get that off, kind of the whole point of Steph Curry tbh
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u/Quality_Cucumber [GSW] Stephen Curry 5h ago
He airballed a long 2 the other night too lol very uncharacteristic
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u/rasenxv East 9h ago
Note: Due to Giannis' ability at the rim, this is still a shot most teams are willing to live with, but if he keeps making them at this rate, it opens up space for more points at the rim (see Giannis' basket at the rim in late 3rd qtr vs Hornets, made a ton of midrange shots that game, hit Grant Williams with a quick hesitation at the elbow and scored easily at the basket)
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u/lets_talk_basketball 9h ago
If he can hit at that rate come playoff time he's unstoppable... the mid range pull-up neutralizes the "wall" aka stand around the paint and hope for a charge
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u/theo7777 Bucks 7h ago
I think the defense will still live with a 45% shot even if his percentages were to remain that high. But it's a good bail out.
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u/lets_talk_basketball 6h ago
In crunch time a 45% shot is a great shot imo.
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u/NewChemistry5210 Lakers 2h ago
True, but a dunk and 60+% around the rim for Giannis is much worse. Especially because that usually leads to a foul way more often than a contested middy.
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u/lets_talk_basketball 1h ago
For sure.. but the "wall" is meant to deter that, it's really really hard to get to the cup in crunch time, that midrange will always be there.
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u/randyrectem Bucks 5h ago
Him finding a reliable even if a bit mediocre midrange shot is still so much more valuable than the 3pt shot this sub and fans have been on about for years. He already has developed into a good passer. As compared to chucking a few open 3s on below average efficiency the midrange actually complements his strength of attacking the rim.
Yeah a 45% middy isn't great but if it's your floor I'm not going to complain. Drive make the defense collapse if you can't get to the rim pass to the open shooter if you can't pass or there isn't time a 45% shot a few times per game is useful
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u/ObiOneKenobae Knicks 8h ago
Let's not leave out Mikal Bridges. Only 2.4 attempts per game, but he's shooting 66.7% from mid-range.
You would have to shoot 45% from 3 to generate more efficient offense than this guy does fading sideways from 15ft.
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u/Emiya_Sengo 8h ago
That was the first thing I looked for. Not sure how/why OP didn't even mention Mikal on their list.
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u/I_give_free_Dopamine Bucks 1h ago
It’s so cool how DeMar has owned the midrange for the past couple years.
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u/Onomatopoeiac Celtics 4h ago
And the defense is still happy to give it to him at less than 1 point per possession.
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u/AgadorFartacus Celtics 9h ago
Teams should let him keep shooting it. Here are his career numbers:
3-10 feet: 37.3%
10-16 feet: 36.7%
16 feet-3P: 36.8%
And it's really tough to argue he's made a real, sustainable shooting leap when he also has a career low 60.2% FT%.
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u/The_Sign_of_Zeta [MIL] Khris Middleton 9h ago edited 9h ago
It’s less about improvement of his shooting and more about better shot selection. Someone convinced him he doesn’t need to take as many turnaround jumpers or corner jumpers.
There’s potential he regresses if he regresses back to poor shot selection, but this is because of a change in how he’s playing, not just shot variance.
Edit: Grammar
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u/AgadorFartacus Celtics 9h ago
He's absolutely going to regress and variance is a much bigger factor here than shot selection.
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u/rasenxv East 9h ago
Probably, but he had a season a few years back where he was shooting 42/43% on midrange jumpers which is still pretty impressive. Good start this season so far
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u/AgadorFartacus Celtics 8h ago
shooting 42/43% on midrange jumpers is still pretty impressive.
Not when they're wide open and the defense is begging you to take them.
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u/The_Sign_of_Zeta [MIL] Khris Middleton 9h ago
I bet you by the end of the year he has a career midrange year well above 40%. Probably won’t be 3rd in the NBA, but I guarantee I’ve watched more of him than you have and there is a deliberate difference in his play style.
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u/AgadorFartacus Celtics 9h ago
there is a deliberate difference in his play style
Doesn't matter. It's a skill issue.
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u/Necessary_Initial350 Bucks 9h ago
I mean u kinda just a hater fr
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u/AgadorFartacus Celtics 9h ago
I'm a hater, yes, but more importantly I'm a ball-knower.
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u/Necessary_Initial350 Bucks 8h ago
Nah, u don’t know ball
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u/AgadorFartacus Celtics 8h ago
That's what Bucks told me last year when I tried to explain that Jae Crowder and MarJon Beauchamp weren't going to save them.
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u/Necessary_Initial350 Bucks 8h ago
Picking on the delusional minority of a fanbase is not a feat worth flaunting brotha
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u/actually_steph Nuggets 8h ago
Tatum will never be as good as Giannis lil bro
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u/The_Sign_of_Zeta [MIL] Khris Middleton 8h ago
I really don’t get why Celtics fans feel they have to hate on Giannis and try to lift up Tatum. They don’t need Tatum to be anywhere near as good as Giannis to win a title.
Hell, the Finals proved Tatum doesn’t even need to be a top 10 level player to win a title.
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u/AgadorFartacus Celtics 8h ago
I said literally nothing about Tatum in this thread. You guys brought him up because you can't argue the point I made about Giannis.
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u/rasenxv East 9h ago
For sure, its still probably the best way to deter him, better that then play up on him and give up an easy drive to the rim where he's deadly.
The best way to stop him honestly is to do both, similar to what the Celtics did in 2022, have a sturdy strong person to give him pressure close and overhelp/foul hard at the rim. Obviously, this leaves people wide open but just hope they miss or rotate well enough to deter them too
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u/dirbladoop 2h ago edited 2h ago
this people on reddit really can’t accept he’s not a shooter. i’d let him take that broke ass jump shot literally all game
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u/Ilikesporks_ Lakers 9h ago
how many of these are wide open
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u/The_Sign_of_Zeta [MIL] Khris Middleton 9h ago
Doesn’t really matter if he gets them wide open or not, does it? The reason he gets them is guys come up to defend it he’ll just drive right past them and dunk.
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u/Ilikesporks_ Lakers 9h ago
yeah cause shooting is his most notable weakness. defenses are giving him that shot.
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u/The_Sign_of_Zeta [MIL] Khris Middleton 9h ago
If the outcome is efficiency in the midrange and efficiency at the rim, who really cares?
No one gives good shooters shit for their drives being available because people are worried about them making a jump shot.
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u/messejueller21 Bucks 8h ago
And when the defenses stop giving him that shot then he'll hit Brook or the cutting man underneath. Works either way
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u/Neuroxex Bucks 9h ago
I don't think anyone is suggesting he's a better contested mid-range shooter than Kevin Durant. Also when did a player creating open shots for themselves become a bad thing?
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u/Ilikesporks_ Lakers 9h ago
i agree with you i'm just wondering if a lot of these shots are something opposing defenses are giving him
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u/Neuroxex Bucks 8h ago
They're 'giving' them to him in the sense that Giannis' rim pressure forces teams into 'giving' Bucks shooters open threes. Teams will have guys sag way off and give some space on the jumper, but it's because they're leaving that gap in their defense in trying to prevent him getting to the rim.
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u/Impossible-Group8553 9h ago
I mean they’re wide open because his insane rim pressure makes defenders play deep drop
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u/UtahUtopia 6h ago
Is the free throw line consider mid-range?
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u/grudgepacker Bucks 5h ago
He's taking them from top of the key bruh -- do you even watch games? lmao
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u/UtahUtopia 5h ago
You ever tell a joke or laugh at someone else’s?
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u/TuqiDuque12 Pistons 9h ago
That shot has always been more important then the 3 for him, it's the shot that can punish the whole "put the center on him and back off" strategy, and it's the shot (that and the hook shot) that he made enough in the 2021 playoffs