The Milwaukee Bucks suffered an embarrassing 132-116 loss at home to the Utah Jazz on Monday night. Utah led by 33 points at one stage in the first half, and Bucks fans expressed their displeasure by booing the players. Giannis Antetokounmpo said it had never happened to him before, but the 29-year-old understood why the fans did it.
“At the end of the day, you got to play hard,” Giannis said. “I don’t think it’s about making or missing shots. It’s about giving effort out there and when you don’t, I think people feel that… I think we have great fans, but around the league, if you don’t play hard and don’t give everything for the team, there are times that you might get booed…S***, I’d boo myself tonight too.”
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When he started hearing the boos, Giannis says he started booing in his mind too. It was really an embarrassing effort from the Bucks, who were down 77-46 at halftime, and you can’t blame the fans for being very upset.
The Bucks then came out of the break with some energy and did manage to cut that Jazz lead to 90-80 entering the fourth. Utah managed to keep them at arm’s length in the final quarter, however, which meant Milwaukee dropped to 25-12 on the season.
Giannis still had a good game here with 25 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists, but most of his teammates struggled. Having some rough shooting nights is understandable though, but what isn’t, is the effort this team puts in on defense.
The Bucks Defense Was Woeful Against The Jazz
The Bucks had been an excellent defensive team in recent seasons, but have been fairly poor in 2023-24. The Jazz shot 52.2% from the field in this contest and you’re not going to win too many games when you allow your opponents to convert shots at that rate.
The Bucks now have a defensive rating of 116.3, which ranks 22nd in the NBA. For some additional context, they had a rating of 110.9 last season, which ranked fourth.
A lot of the blame for the defensive issues has fallen on Damian Lillard’s shoulders, but he didn’t even play against the Jazz. Lillard was out due to personal reasons and the Bucks defense was still woeful. Considering the talent on this team, they will win a lot of games but if they are to win the championship, they have to put in more effort on the defensive end.
Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Stern Message
What makes this display from the team all the more appalling, is that it comes not too long after Giannis sent a stern message. After their loss at the hands of the Houston Rockets prior to this game, Giannis spoke on the Bucks’ struggles.
“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. Every single thing, everybody has to be better. Everybody.”
“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 better strategy. We have to be better.”
Giannis said if they kept playing like this, they wouldn’t be achieving their goals for this season, which is true. The seven-time All-Star said they have four months to get better, and for his sake, you hope they get right sooner rather than later.
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