Giannis: “I don’t feel any pain when I get hit, I just get up, the hard game wakes me up”

Giannis Antetokounmpo feels no pain. He loves contact and gets fouled badly. He backed that up after the Bucks’ 119-111 win over the Blazers, where he again had plenty of hard hits in a game in which he scored 37 points – culminating in a Jeremy Grant foul shot that went viral for a different reason became .

Speaking to the media, the ‘Greek Freak’ stressed that these fouls wake him up, while also discussing his performance, Brook Lopez and Grayson Allen.

Giannis explained in detail:

About the hard fouls he gets and how he feels: “I feel no pain, I feel great. I get a lot of hard hits, but I always get up when I fall. It’s basketball. I’ve said many times that I like to play wild and set my body on fire. It ignites me, it wakes me up.

It’s not for everyone and you definitely don’t want to get hit while playing, but when I get hit I enjoy it, I feel part of the game, I’m focused, I get phases, I’m aggressive, I get phases for my teammates. It’s part of my game and part of basketball itself. Sometimes they’ll hit you, but I don’t feel any pain, I just stand up“.

For moving the ball in the game against the Blazers: “she was good The ball spun, the players made moves. We played beautiful basketball today. In the first half we had a lot of free-kicks that didn’t go in. In the second half, however, the shots went in, we went offensively where we wanted. Defensively we had a good view in the 3rd quarter, Brook Lopez was everywhere, we ran into the open field. That combination gave us the energy to play good basketball and win“.

About Brook Lopez and how much the defense listens to him when he talks and gives orders: “I definitely listen to him because he’s involved in most of the pick and rolls and has to warn the guard and what defense we play. If I listen to him I don’t pay too much attention to it, but it does a great job of notifying everyone when it comes for help or when we need to switch screens. But I’m trying to focus on what I’m doing on defense where I have to be active, closing lanes, stealing balls and helping the team.”

On the fact that after a few mediocre performances he has reached his usual standards and how he feels about it: “I feel good. It’s hard work that pays off. Tomorrow I have to see what I can improve, how to improve my fitness, take care of my body, take a few shots and prepare for the next game. Whether something good or bad happened, it’s a thing of the past.

Some days you will be good, some days you will be bad. I played well today, but that’s in the past. I try to set good times throughout my career, that’s what I focus on and not how I feel after each race. Emotions are there for movies, I focus on preparing for what’s to come.”

Does he think this is the best picture of Lopez on defense while he’s with the Bucks?: “Yes. This year is different. He does about 2.8 interceptions per game, but not only that. He forces opponents to take difficult swimmers against them. It helps everyone. He’s always there for us, he makes blocks that are difficult, his moves are incredible. He worked a lot on his body in the offseason because he couldn’t stay healthy last year. He wanted to be healthy and in better shape this year. We played 16-17 games and he did what he had to do. He’s a defensive monster, people are scared of him and I’m glad he’s on our team and I shouldn’t have him as an opponent.”

On Grayson Allen’s performance and how important it is to the Bucks that he plays well: “It’s always good when he’s aggressive and threatening. He gets the attention of opponents from me, Holliday, Lopez and Middleton when he comes back. We need him to be aggressive, to take shots, to lead the pitch, to make the right decision, to be a threat. Today he was incredible, not only offensively but also defensively where he had some periods of jumping high and blocking shots. If he does all that, he’s very good for us and we need that.”