By Giannis Antetokounmpo/ Follow @G_ante34
Eurohoops is proud to announce its collaboration with the “Greek freak” himself, Giannis Antetokounmpo who will be writing his official blog in our site, starting from today! For everyone working for Eurohoops, it’s a great honor and an immense pleasure.
Giannis is an athlete who – we believe – will make every basketball lover proud and will give us unique moments on the court for years to come. He is so dedicated to his craft, so sincere in his approach to the game, that we can’t add anything else.
It’s his blog, so welcome Giannis.
– On his improvement in his second NBA season and on his future potentials
Until now the team is doing pretty well. During the last weeks we had our share of defeats, but it’s a transitional period and we also have many injuries. We play as hard as we can in every game. On a personal level, I have improved my game. To be honest, I am not completely satisfied by myself…
Still I feel proud for what I have achieved so far in the season. All the summer work, all the nights and mornings I spend on the gym, all the videos I watched are starting to pay off on the court. I can play much better. I want to improve myself every day and become tougher. My goal is to present a new dimension of my game in every practice and every game, becoming better and better, ready to react to every situation presented on the court. There will be ups and downs and bad nights.
There will be periods of slumps, but at the end of the road for sure I will become better and better. I just have to continue working the same way I do now and not get relaxed after a good game, or a good personal performance.
I will not allow that to myself. It’s something that has to do not only with the hours spend on the gym, but also with mental maturity. I am glad mainly because the Bucks are doing much better than last year. I believe that when we get a better communication on the court with the new guys, we will play better. I believe very much in Michael Carter Williams and all the other players who recently came to the team. They can really help us.
– Why he establishes his own official blog
I was born in Greece, I started and finished school there, I made friends, I did everything. I feel the need to stay connected with Greece and be in touch with the people. I always try to get some time and get informed for what is going on in my country. Basketball was my outlet and now I do what I love and like to do.
There are many kids around my age and many people older than me with families, who are currently under pressure and they are trying to get things better in their life, find an outlet. Things are not easy. It’s something that I think a lot about, it bothers me and concerns me.
Every time I finish a game, I log on to the social media and I see so many people supporting me, giving me love, being interested on what I am doing and watching me. Some times, when I haven’t performed well, I see their support and that gives me a great moral boost. There are so many messages on my Facebook fan page and on my twitter account and so many comments under every post about the Bucks. For a moment I lose track of where I am and I think that we are on the same timezone!
Then I realize what’s going on and I say to myself: Giannis all those people are not sleeping in order to see you play basketball. They lose their sleep for you, to watch your games. This is something that touches me, it affects me in a positive way and it gives me a great motive.
I am also happy because I see that there are many people in the US and in other places of the world who are following my career and they are interested in my thoughts.
For all those people, it’s worth the try to have an active blog. I am in a site which is based in my country, but it’s active on European basketball in general and recently has expanded into many new local versions. Eurohoops is making an effort which I like.
The messages of the fans and Giannis’ message
I believe that’s good to have a space in the internet, in which I can share my thoughts with the world. Fans are missing their sleep because of me and they support me in great ways. The less I can do for them is to try and get in contact with them as frequent as possible, being as honest and direct as I can. The way to do that is my official blog.
My mind is focused only on basketball. I want every one to know that I see their messages, I read as many as I can. Maybe the fans who are supporting me can’t understand what kind of joy and how much strength they give me. I can’t answer to all of them. I have a very tight schedule. Games, practices, a lot of individual work and many hours of traveling. It’s almost never ending.
Honestly I want every one to continue sending me their messages and I promise that I will do my best to read all of them and every comment under my blog. It will be easier to do it, if the messages are concentrated in the blog, because I will know where to look at, when I have free time. Every comment that gives me good vibes and positive energy, will make me even more determined and hungry to work and succeed.
I feel that when I play good, some people are really enjoying it. When I was getting ready to move permanently in the US and start my journey with the Milwaukee Bucks, I had a vision. I was thinking that some day, I will manage to get a lot of people happy and proud, back in Greece.
It’s been almost two years since then, but I am still in the early stage of my career in the NBA. My dream hasn’t changed. It’s the same. I want to make proud all the Greeks who believe that I am Greek and feel the same with me. It’s a personal bet, not only basketball related, but also emotional.
Even for those who don’t believe in my basketball skills, even for the haters, I will do my best as long as I play basketball in order to make them proud at some point.