By Brian Sampson

Since the entrance of Giannis Antetokounmpo into the NBA, the primary discourse surrounding him has seemingly been “what if?” What if he adds muscle to his slight frame? What if he can handle the rock like a point guard? What if he can improve his passing? What if he can add a consistent jump shot to his game?

The “what if” question persists despite Antetokounmpo being named as one of the 75 greatest players in NBA history. Despite him winning back-to-back MVP Awards. Despite him winning the Defensive Player of the Year Award. And despite him winning an NBA Finals and NBA Finals MVP last season with the Milwaukee Bucks.

The one question he has yet to answer is in regards to his jump shot.

The reigning Finals MVP made just 30.3 percent of his threes and 68.5 percent of his free throws last year, leading opposing defenses to highly encourage any shot outside of the restricted area and fearlessly send him to the free throw line when he got too close to the hoop. But “what if” he’s changed all of that?

For the first four years of his NBA career, he unequivocally improved his game in every major facet including scoring, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. He continued to improve his overall scoring and playmaking over the next few years, but seemed to digress with his shooting. There are early signs that’s all about to change given how the first five games of this season has gone.

Following an abbreviated offseason that only included 68 days between the Bucks’ Finals’ clinching victory over the Phoenix Suns on July 22nd and the start of their training camp on September 28th, it appears Antetokounmpo went straight to the shooting lab and revamped his broken jumper.

Through the first five games of this season (a small sample size, to be sure, that can be greatly affected by an outlier performance one way or the other), Antetokounmpo is knocking down a near league-average 35.3 percent of his 3.4 three-point attempts per game and 73.5 percent of his free throws. He’s also been more confident taking (and making) mid-range jumpers than ever before.

It’s clear his head is at the center of his early returns from outside the paint.

There’s a major debate among shooters and shooting coaches alike about which approach is most beneficial for shooters: To keep your eyes on the rim following the release of your shot or to watch the ball all the way to the hoop. The supporters of the latter argument will tell you they gain valuable information by watching the ball that can help their subsequent shots.

However, most coaches teach you to get your eyes on the rim as early as possible and keep them there through the release of your shot. This helps stabilize your head and prevents it from leaning back upon your release.

One of Antetokounmpo’s biggest struggles the last few years both at the free throw line and on his jump shots was that he leans his head back way too far. This creates a lot of extra twitchiness in his jumper and it results in a lot of the inconsistencies we’ve seen.

The general rule is to have your chin over your toes when you’re loading up your shot and releasing it. The best way to ensure that happens is to get your eyes on the front of the rim as soon as you catch the ball and are going into your shot. Antetokounmpo has been locating the rim earlier in his progression, and it’s led to better success through the first five games.

There are other changes he’s made, such as making a “V” with his arms and the ball (AKA tucking in your shooting elbow), centering the ball in his hands better, etc, that are very nuanced shooting details we could dive into. However, his head placement is the most noticeable positive difference in his shot so far this year.

He’s not perfect by any means, as there are still times he’ll dip his head backward, even on his makes. This isn’t something that can be corrected in 68 days as it’s a habit that has been formed over years.

If you watch anything on Antetokounmpo’s shot, keep your eye on his head placement when he’s at the free throw line or pulling up from outside the paint. You should be able to see a correlation between how far back he’s leaning and whether it goes in or not.

Given Antetokounmpo’s storied career and all he’s already accomplished, it’s easy to forget he has yet to reach his 27th birthday. Small changes like this will (hopefully) build up and lead to meaningful changes in his jump shot.

In the long run, this change will help Antetokounmpo move closer to become an average shooter. That may seem like a low bar, but if he can do that defenses will be stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to deciding how to defend him. Perhaps, we’ll soon be asking opposing defenders “what if” questions when it comes to how they decide to guard Antetokounmpo instead of placing that burden on the Greek Freak himself.

Originally published at Forbes