By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Bucks coach Jason Kidd said after Tuesday’s practice that Giannis Antetokounmpo will be the team’s starting point guard at the beginning of next season.
The 6-foot-11 Antetokounmpo has made a successful transition to point guard over the last two months and recorded four triple-doubles since late February.
“We’re going to go forward with him (Antetokounmpo) handling the ball,” Kidd said. “You can call him point guard, point forward, point center, however you want to look at it.
“With him having the ball and the pressure he puts on the defense and his ability to find guys, it has been a plus for us.”
“We’ll finish out these last eight and also look forward to training camp and starting the season with him handling the ball,” Kidd said in an emphatic endorsement of the 21-year-old’s move to the point.
Antetokounmpo is averaging 19.0 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.3 assists in March, and he is hitting 50.5% of his shots. He was averaging just 2.8 assists before the all-star break but has averaged 7.3 since then.
“I think the team is very comfortable with that,” Kidd said of having Antetokounmpo at point guard. “You can see the way he’s been playing and the way the team has been playing.
“With that being said, it gives him some summer school studies and he goes in understanding what he has to do to get better.”
Kidd said Antetokounmpo has made the adjustment well and is learning each game.
“He has a skill set that he can guard smalls and bigs,” Kidd said. “Being able to guard the 4s (power forwards) or the wing players is something he can do.
“For Jabari and him, the more they play together the more we can get answers of what they both can do on the floor, both defensively and offensively. We’ve got a lot of answers to some different questions.
“They’re going to get better over the summer. And it’s putting the pieces around them that can make them better and push them to become better.”