Giannis Antetokounmpo is the heart and soul of the Milwaukee Bucks. However, there are moments—whether due to rest, injury, or foul trouble—when Giannis isn’t playing, and while it’s hard to imagine the Bucks being better without their superstar, there are certain aspects of the team’s performance that can shift in intriguing and sometimes positive ways.
1. Ball Movement and Offensive Flow
Giannis is a gravitational force on offense. His ability to attack the rim, draw double-teams, and collapse defenses creates opportunities for his teammates. However, this dominance can sometimes stagnate the Bucks’ offense, as players defer to him or wait for him to initiate action. When Giannis sits, the Bucks often shift to a more egalitarian, motion-based attack.Without Giannis, players like Damian Lillard and Brook Lopez take on larger playmaking roles. The ball zips around the perimeter more, with increased emphasis on off-ball screens, cuts, and three-point shooting. Data from recent seasons shows that the Bucks’ assist numbers tick up slightly in non-Giannis minutes, reflecting a more distributed offensive load. For example, Lillard’s usage rate spikes, and his ability to orchestrate pick-and-rolls becomes the focal point, leading to a smoother rhythm for shooters like Middleton or Bobby Portis.The flow can feel less predictable and more dynamic, forcing defenses to adjust to a different style rather than loading up the paint.
2. Three-Point Volume and Spacing
Giannis’s game is built around his dominance inside the arc. While he’s improved his three-point shooting (career-high 34.4% in 2022-23), he’s not a high-volume outside shooter. Defenses know this and often sag off him, clogging the lane and daring him to shoot. When he’s off the court, the Bucks lean harder into their perimeter game.Players like Lillard, Middleton, and Pat Connaughton see more opportunities to launch from deep, and the team’s spacing improves as a result. Brook Lopez, a stretch-five, becomes a more central figure, pulling opposing bigs away from the basket. In non-Giannis minutes, the Bucks’ three-point attempt rate climbs, and their offense can resemble a modern, spread-out attack. For instance, in the 2023-24 season, Cleaning the Glass data showed that Milwaukee’s three-point attempt rate jumped by about 3-5% in stretches without Giannis, reflecting a shift in philosophy.The trade-off? They lose Giannis’s ability to generate easy buckets in the paint. But in harder games how’s paint efforts often just end up in missed free throws anyway.
3. Defensive Versatility
Giannis is a defensive juggernaut—his length, agility, and instincts make him a one-man wrecking crew. He can guard 1-through-5, protect the rim, and disrupt passing lanes (averaging 1.1 steals and 1.2 blocks per game in recent years). So how could the Bucks’ defense possibly improve without him? Well for starters he is nowhere near his DPOY years and seems more focused on offensive stat padding.
It’s not about overall effectiveness but rather adaptability.When Giannis sits, the Bucks often deploy smaller, quicker lineups. Players like Jrue Holiday (in past seasons) or Gary Trent Jr. (in 2024-25) take on bigger roles, and the team switches more aggressively on the perimeter. Without Giannis anchoring the paint, Milwaukee leans into a scrappier, more switch-heavy scheme that can disrupt teams reliant on guard play or pick-and-roll actions. Opponents sometimes struggle to adjust to this change of pace, especially if they’ve prepared to attack Giannis’s help-defense tendencies.Additionally, Brook Lopez’s rim protection becomes even more critical, and his drop-coverage style can neutralize traditional bigs who might otherwise feast on smaller lineups. The Bucks’ style of defense can better counter certain opponents.–
4. Role Players Step Up
One of the hidden benefits of Giannis’s absence is the spotlight it puts on Milwaukee’s supporting cast. Players like Bobby Portis, Pat Connaughton, and even younger talents like MarJon Beauchamp or Andre Jackson Jr. get more touches and minutes to prove themselves. Portis, in particular, thrives in these situations, often turning into a double-double machine with his hustle and mid-range scoring.This increased responsibility can boost confidence and chemistry among the role players. For example, during Giannis’s brief injury absences in the 2023-24 season, Portis averaged close to 20 points and 10 rebounds in extended minutes, showing he can carry a heavier load. Similarly, Middleton’s playmaking shines brighter, as he transitions from a secondary option to the primary creator.These moments also allow coach Doc Rivers (or whoever’s leading the team in 2025) to experiment with lineups and rotations, uncovering combinations that might not get a chance otherwise. These stretches can reveal depth that pays dividends in the playoffs. Giannis stat padding in the 4th quarter of blow out wins is not helping them.
5. Pace and Transition Opportunities
Giannis is a fast-break terror, often grabbing a rebound and going coast-to-coast for a dunk before the defense can blink. But when he’s off, the Bucks play faster as a team. Without their star dictating the tempo, guards like Lillard or AJ Green push the ball more aggressively, and the team leans into a quicker, more guard-oriented transition game.This shift can catch opponents off guard, especially if they’re used to slowing the pace to contain Giannis. The Bucks’ pace rating (possessions per 48 minutes) nudges up in non-Giannis minutes, per NBA Advanced Stats, as the team relies less on half-court sets and more on early offense. It’s not always sustainable but it adds a different dimension.
When Giannis isn’t on the court, the Bucks become a different beast. The offense flows through more hands, the three-point line gets hotter, the defense adapts with versatility, role players rise to the occasion, and the pace quickens. These shifts highlight the resilience and flexibility of a championship-caliber roster. For Bucks fans, it’s a silver lining: even without the Greek Freak, there’s still plenty of fight—and sometimes a few surprising strengths—in Milwaukee’s game.
So, next time Giannis takes a breather, watch closely. You might just see the Bucks uncover something new—and better—for those fleeting minutes.
