Greek Freak Analyzed

Tag: propaganda

  • Who is spreading fake news about Giannis’ philanthropy?

    Who is spreading fake news about Giannis’ philanthropy?

    Saw it again today:

    “BREAKING NEWS: Milwaukee bucks MVP/ Point Guard Giannis Antetokounmpo Donates Entire $20 Million Bonus and Sponsorship Deal to Charities and Homeless Relief” MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo Stated that” There are millions of people struggling every day — families without homes, kids without food, veterans without support.”

    It is in hundreds of posts in social media from idiots who clearly don’t know how to research a little before posting. But it is not that simple. Because before that a similar rumour was circulating in Greece, to the extent that more serious media sources felt obligated to debunk it. (Link here – just use Google translate – https://mikropragmata.lifo.gr/zoi/ochi-o-giannis-antetokounmpo-de-eipe-oti-tha-dosei-25-ekatommyria-dolaria-se-filanthropies-stin-ellada-kai-sto-eksoteriko/ ) There is a similar “story” about Thanasis donating more than 12 million “bonus” (where the hell from?) Everytime the post has comments saying they are wonderful people etc.

    So is it Giannis starting these rumours? As we documented before the voting for the NBA All Star is clearly problematic with serious indications of been manipulated by bots. While Giannis has not made a single, massive donation of that specific amount, he has a strong history of significant charitable giving. His efforts, often through the Charles Antetokounmpo Family Foundation, focus on causes he and his family care about, including supporting young people and addressing basic needs like housing, food, and education.

    For instance the Milwaukee Homeless Shelter: He invested $7.5 million to open a shelter for homeless youth in Milwaukee. Sure, most of this money will be given in the future but even that amount is nowhere near the one mentioned in the fake news. “Powering Milwaukee Forward”: He and his foundation partnered with GE HealthCare to launch this initiative, which provides $1 million in grants to ten Milwaukee-area nonprofits. These organizations focus on improving access to basic needs like housing, food, and education for underserved communities. Again in the US, obviously as a tax write off. Giannis has also donated to Fiserv Forum staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, provided food boxes to people in his hometown of Sepolia, Greece, and partnered with UNICEF Greece to raise awareness for children’s rights. In general he seems more focused on doing philanthropy that appears in the news. Also he is clearly focused on trying to appear in Greek media for his many promotional efforts and sponsor deals there.

    Giannis resorts to his personal story every time he fails on the court. Makes sense and good for him. But get a grip and maybe Google a bit before spreading misinformation. There are other NBA players with serious philanthropic projects that really make a difference.

  • Let’s talk Giannis mid range again…

    Let’s talk Giannis mid range again…

    During the regular season a myth developed that Giannis had somehow started shooting mid range. It was completely inaccurate and I have debunked it with multiple posts. The summary is that he regressed to his usual terrible form and it was only during a stretch of easy games that he shot well from two very specific spots on the floor. As soon as a team stepped up their defence he lost it. Completely.

    The Bucks lost to every single top ranked team in the East even during the regular season. In those games Giannis had no mid range. He is a two trick pony and that’s what he turns to quite predictably.

    On the left as per the official statistics from nba.com the distances

    considered “mid range” broken down for the playoffs. And remember, Giannis only had one series in the first round so if anything, his statistics should look much better than players that played more games further along as the playoffs got more difficult.

    5-9feet? Nope. Giannis nowhere to be found. 10-14 ft? Of course not. And what about that one distance he had any success in the easier games in the regular season? 15-19ft. Surely, Giannis must have shot at least something from that distance?

    Not even that. When under pressure Giannis can only do one thing. Go to the rim. And it doesn’t really work when he doesn’t get a foul and/or he then missed the free throws.

    And of course the closer we get to the 3point line, the worse Giannis is. So no, Giannis has no mid range. Not when it counts. If anything he is getting worse at 3point percentage (worse ever almost in a single season) and free throws.

  • Giannis vs Melo: great example of propaganda that damages

    Giannis vs Melo: great example of propaganda that damages

    So this clip is doing the rounds with Bucks’ fans:

    Of course they cut out the part where Melo takes the ball straight from this “block” and scores a beautiful clean mid range getting nothing but net:

    For starters, why was Giannis even on the floor? Khris wasn’t in the fourth quarter of a blowout. There was no point but of course Giannis always trying to stat pad, eh? And then you wonder why he is injured again? Here are the Bucks’ points in the fourth quarter of this loss.

    I mention this because he still does it and he is again injured. This is a permanent problem with Giannis in the regular season, no basketball IQ. It is also clear in something else he still does.

    Giannis doesn’t understand angles in defence. At this stage of the game, OKC are clearly not even trying since they are twenty points ahead. They are loading on the right side mainly due to boredom and lack of effort. So Melo goes 1on1 against Giannis who essentially gives him 1/3 of the court! And because he is playing like he is, no other defender is covering (for example against the spin move). Giannis is dangerous for everyone on the court. In the regular season most just try to stay safe and away from him. What you call “an amazing recovery” I call a dangerous explosion for no good reason. It truly is like playing with a ten year old.

    Oh and of course it was goal tending! Here are the stats for last season, Giannis up there at 6th most goal tending whistles. (He gets away with some, like he got away with this one.)

    And of course Giannis was squarely beaten by Melo overall in the game. Not just the Bucks losing but Melo had solidly better contributions.

    Just to explain again, this is 100% goal tending. It doesn’t matter if it was still going up. Which it wasn’t. More like at the apex of the trajectory. But it is clearly over the cylinder of the rim, as per the rules.

    Remember these camera angles are behind the basket so the ball is at least half over the rim cylinder.

    But this isn’t even the worse regarding this clip. Because the Bucks promote it as proof of Giannis “amazing recovery speed”. But to summarise more objectively:

    1. Giannis was on the court for no good reason in a blowout loss.
    2. He fouled Melo multiple times before all this.
    3. He was playing defense all wrong one on one leaving 1/3 of the court free.
    4. Melo did a beautiful move on him that worked.
    5. Giannis clearly committed goal tending.
    6. Melo scored anyway.

    And THIS is paraded as a clip where we should be admiring Giannis? Do you all realize the damage you do to him like this? It is as if the entire basketball world treats Giannis like a spoilt child to whom nobody tells the truth.

    And now it is all falling apart because – as the Greek saying goes – “lies have short legs”.