Giannis Antetokounmpo expressed dissatisfaction with the Milwaukee Bucks’ defensive performance after their 112-108 defeat to the Houston Rockets during Sunday’s NBA action. Emphasizing the importance of consistent defense, Antetokounmpo lamented the lack of effort and pride in the team’s defensive game.
Antetokounmpo described the team’s defense as uncharacteristic, highlighting issues like allowing easy drives to the basket, overhelping, and giving up too many open 3-pointers and offensive rebounds.
“Offense is gonna be there some nights, and some nights, it’s not going to be there,” Antetokounmpo told reporters. “Your defensive effort, though, has got to be there. And defensively, our effort wasn’t there. There was no pride.
“Guys were just driving the ball, straight line l drive, getting to the paint, overhelping, shooting threes, and offensive rebounds. There was nothing. This wasn’t the Milwaukee Bucks. This is not who we are.”
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The Bucks’ recent defensive struggles have been a growing concern, with Antetokounmpo’s comments perhaps fueled by back-to-back heavy losses to the Indiana Pacers, where the Pacers scored a combined 264 points. Even in their narrow victory over the San Antonio Spurs, Milwaukee allowed them to shoot 48.4 percent.
Despite the Rockets’ overall shooting percentage not being particularly high, the game exposed persistent issues in the Bucks’ defense, including sloppy rotations and miscommunication.
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Antetokounmpo called for improvement across the board, from the players to the coaching staff and even the equipment manager.
“We have to be better. We have to play better, we have to defend better, we have to trust one another better, we have to be coached better,” Antetokounmpo told reporters. “Every single thing, everybody has to be better. It starts from the equipment manager—he has to wash our clothes better.
“The bench has to be better, the leaders of the team have to be more vocal, we have to make more shots, we have to defend better, we have to have a better strategy, we have to be better. We have four months to get better, so we’ll see.”
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Currently holding the second spot in the Eastern Conference and the NBA’s third-best record, the Bucks are under significant pressure to rectify their recent slip-ups. This urgency is amplified by last season’s disappointing first-round playoff exit to the Miami Heat, leading to significant changes, including coach Mike Budenholzer’s firing and Damian Lillard’s acquisition.
With high expectations for the team, the Bucks face considerable pressure to improve their performance and address their defensive weaknesses.
