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"It takes a village to guard that guy" - Golden State coach Steve Kerr on trying to stop Giannis Antetokounmpo
They may have eked out a lopsided win over Milwaukee on Wednesday night, but Golden State coach Steve Kerr admitted they had their hands full containing Giannis Antetokounmpo.
The Warriors gave Giannis different looks before succeeding in pulling off a 125-90 win that snapped the Bucks six-game winning streak.
“It takes a village to guard that guy, and we needed everybody for sure,” Kerr said.
Taking turns guarding Giannis
Draymond Green, Jonathan Kuminga, and Trayce Jackson-Davis took turns defending Giannis. The Warriors somehow succeeded in containing Antetokounmpo, who scored just 23 points, seven off his scoring average this season.
Apparently, Jackson-Davis did his homework and appeared to have studied how to stop Giannis.
“I've never faced anyone like him before, having length like that, as fast as he is, and explosive," Jackson-Davis said. “The person that I watched guard him in the past that has done a pretty successful job is Blake Griffin. Just kind of sitting back and allowing him to come to you, then watching that spin move that he likes to do. Obviously just timing at the rim, I got the best of him with that.”
Giannis attempted 15 shots from the field and made eight of them in 33 minutes of play. It was his first game since missing the Bucks’ 113-97 win over the Los Angeles Clippers last Monday.
Season-series ends at 1-1
Giannis had 33 points and nine rebounds when the Bucks defeated the Warriors in their first meeting on February 13th, 129-118. The two squads split their regular-season series, 1-1.
The only time the two squads could meet again this season is if they both reach the Finals. If that happens, Jackson-Davis already knows what to do from his match-up with Giannis.
“He's a great player, he's a load to guard,” Jackson-Davis said.
