Giannis: “I don’t have a rhythm yet, I’m chasing the hunger I feel in the big games”

Giannis Antetokounmpo has started the season averaging 34.4 points (career-best if he stays), 14 rebounds (career-best if he stays) and 5.8 assists. However, he has the feeling that he has not yet found a rhythm.

Shortly after the Bucks’ win over the Hawks (123-115) that saw Milwaukee take their record to 5-0 on a night in which Giannis had 34 points and 17 rebounds, the “Greek Freak” spoke to the media and revealed that he feels he still doesn’t have that “hunger” for the big games.

Giannis explained in detail:

About the last phase and how he reads the game: “I gave Holliday the ball and let it be big, gave us the win.”

About how Holliday behaved and how difficult it is to make such a decision in the end: “It’s tough. I think he took a left-hander. It was a tough period. At the end of the day, I knew I was going to give him the ball. I felt good about it. I had a chance earlier, but I knew what Jrue could do. I was focused on giving him the ball because I thought he was doing the right thing, he got a real float and I was free to lob.”

On the fact that he’s been aggressive in the second half in recent games after a mediocre first half and what he’s thinking: “I think I shouldn’t be embarrassed. Not having a bad game. No, okay. I just try to play to my strengths. Obviously, playing back-to-back, I didn’t have a good first half. I can’t remember the last time I had 4 points in the first half. That comes with maturity. Nothing to force, my teammates are looking. But I knew with 4 points at halftime I had to be more aggressive and find a way to play properly without overdoing it because we were winning. I think the team did a good job of finding me, but I did my best to go where I was comfortable and to be aggressive.”

For the fact that Okonu seems to want to tag him and he seems to enjoy it: “I love playing against players who like to tag me. He’s one of them, the other is Capela, but so is Collins. I like to play against players who like to be defensive and enjoy a challenge. I’ve played against players who don’t take it seriously and are afraid, you can see that in them.

The Hawks are not like that. I like that, I understand they are trying to make life difficult for me and I’m fine with that. I enjoy. I don’t want it to be easy, I want the challenge and whenever I play with them it’s a challenge. I respect that. All three are constantly improving and it’s always a battle with them, I like playing with the Hawks.”

Whether he’s more comfortable at the end of games because the Bucks have been through it before: “You feel comfortable because you’ve been through this before and you know who’s going to get the ball and where you’re going to be. It’s difficult without Middleton, we miss him because he usually has the ball, but now it’s mainly me and Holiday playing because of course we’ve built a relationship.

We know where everyone is, what system we’re going to run, and we trust each other. We know you have to be serious against a player like Young and a team like Atlanta because you can miss a shot and they can hit a three and take the lead or kill our momentum. We’re confident, but you have to stay focused against a team like the Hawks.”

For the fact that his total points in his last 4 games is the highest in all four games of his career: “Truth; I think the team just makes it easy for me and I try to be aggressive. I won’t lie to you though, I don’t have that feeling that I used to have in big games. I don’t have it yet, I don’t have a rhythm yet and I’m looking for it, I want to help my team and be as consistent as possible.

I want us to win. The numbers don’t matter. I’m still chasing this hunger. Where things just happen automatically, trusting yourself when shooting. I haven’t got that yet, but we’re 5-0 up. We feel good, we are waiting for the return of three more players who will make the team better. If I never feel like that, that’s okay, we’re still winning and we’re playing great, we’re playing good defence, we’re playing as a team and everything feels good.”

Whether the backboard shot from 45 degrees worked: “Yes, I think I’m better. I think I’ll do it more often. It helps me. If you lose your balance and mark the board, you always break your wrist somehow. In my 4th or 5th season I did it more because Jason Kidd told me you can’t airball if you mark backboard.”