How Long Will Giannis Antetokounmpo Take To Shoot His Free Throws In Game 2?
By Matthew Geagan, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- The countdown will be on for Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo in Boston on Tuesday night.
No, it's not because his team is currently down 1-0 in their playoff series with the Celtics. It's because the Greek Freak takes too darn long at the free throw line, and now most of the world knows it (if they hadn't figured it out already).
According to the NBA's "Last Two Minute Report" released on Monday, which lists all the mistakes the officials got wrong in a given game, Antetokounmpo should have been whistled for a violation for taking longer than 10 seconds to shoot a free throw with 1:22 left in regulation. And then again in overtime -- twice. Things kind of evened out, though, as the report also says officially incorrectly hit Antetokounmpo with an offensive foul call late in the fourth quarter, which is kind of big deal considering he fouled out in overtime.
While the 10-second violation is rarely called, Antetokounmpo has been whistled for it in the past. And he certainly takes forever to shoot his free throws; when you can says his name 12 times between his freebies, you know there's a problem. Antetokounmpo was 13-for-16 at the line during Sunday's Game 1, accounting for approximately half of the game's 2:50 run time.
Chances are Tuesday night's officials will be a little more vigilant at clocking the time Antetokounmpo spends at the charity stripe in Game 2, and if they aren't, Celtics fan certainly will be. It brings back memories of 2003 when C's fans had a countdown for Jermaine O'Neal's free throw attempts during a playoff series between Boston and Indiana. O'Neal was notorious for taking forever to shoot his free throws, likely because he was too busy looking at his biceps.
But it's much more likely that Antetokounmpo's free throw violations will join traveling, palming, the 5-second rule on inbound passes and various other infractions that go mostly uncalled in the NBA.