The Milwaukee Bucks lost 114-113 to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night and have now tasted defeat in each of their last five games. Despite suffering another loss, Giannis Antetokounmpo didn’t exactly cut a dejected figure postgame, and he made it clear he isn’t too focused on the outcome of games.
“I don’t focus on the results,” Antetokounmpo said. “That’s not my job. My job is to focus on the things that I can do better as a basketball player, the things that I can control.
“I can’t control the outcome of the games,” Antetokounmpo continued. “I can control things that happen within the game and you hope that the outcome is what you like. The things that happened within the game, they were good. Donovan Mitchell could miss the shot and we have a different story. I couldn’t control that shot.
“I can’t control the play that he’s going to make,” Antetokounmpo added. “That he’s going to make a beautiful shot at the end. You can’t control that. It took me a while to think that way but now as a leader of this team, I think we’re headed in the right direction.”
Antetokounmpo wants to win every game, but the processes are more important than the outcomes at this point for him. The 29-year-old saw some progress in that close loss to the Cavaliers and isn’t losing too much sleep over the fact that they lost.
Antetokounmpo has also held up his end of the bargain this season for the Bucks. The eight-time All-Star had 34 points, 16 rebounds, nine assists, and one steal against the Cavaliers, and there’s not much more you can ask of him.
For the season, Antetokounmpo is now averaging 31.0 points, 12.3 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 0.5 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game. It’s shocking that the Bucks are 1-5 on the season despite him putting up those numbers and it speaks to how bad almost everyone else has been.
While the Bucks have had some struggles offensively, their biggest issues are certainly on defense. They have a defensive rating of 116.7 this season which ranks 23rd in the NBA. While Antetokounmpo has seen some improvement on that end recently, I think they might need to make a trade to fix those issues.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Believes The Bucks Are Closer To Finding Their Identity
Following brutal losses to the Chicago Bulls and the Brooklyn Nets earlier this season, Antetokounmpo admitted the Bucks didn’t have an identity. That comment was brought up after this Cavs game, with the two-time MVP being asked if he thinks the team is now closer to finding out who they are.
“Yeah, I think we are,” Antetokounmpo said. “… We definitely getting closer, though, for sure. Our pace is better, our spacing is better, we shooting more threes, which I’m happy about. I think we wasn’t shooting enough, wasn’t making enough. We defend a little bit better, so I think we right there.”
Antetokounmpo added that he has complete faith in his teammates and firmly believes they are close to turning things around. The Bucks are facing the Cavaliers again on Monday night and it will be interesting to see how they perform in that one.
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