Giannis Antetokounmpo is not a happy man after the Milwaukee Bucks were blown out by the Brooklyn Nets. It was a second-straight defeat for the Bucks, who had lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers prior to this, and a worrying trend is emerging for the 2021 NBA champions.
They are getting off to slow starts in games, and a 60-47 deficit at the break to the Nets meant they had now trailed at halftime in 4 of their last 5 outings. It was also the third time in this stretch that they trailed by double digits heading into halftime, and Giannis was asked about what he thinks is the reason behind it.
via The Athletic:
“I don’t know,” Antetokounmpo said. “I think being complacent. We are being comfortable. We just expect to, I don’t know, (that) people are just going to hand us games. It doesn’t work that way. I think you have to go out there and kind of take it. You have to go out there and play good basketball, build good habits, defend and kind of, you know, compete.”
“You have to f—— go out there and take things, take things that we want. Nobody is going to give you games. Nobody is going to give you a championship. Nobody is going to give you a trophy. Nobody is going to give you credit for being good or how cool you are and how good you’ve been playing. You have to go out there and play basketball. Don’t talk about it, be about it, play about it.”
Strong words from Giannis there, and he perhaps wants to give a wake-up call to his teammates. The Bucks can’t just walk into the arena thinking that teams are going to lie down in front of them. They have to go and take the game by the scruff of the neck, or else they will dig themselves into a hole that they can’t climb out of. They face another Eastern Conference heavyweight in the Boston Celtics next, and a good start is imperative if they want to win that one.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Is Still Backing His Teammates
While he called out his team, Giannis made it a point to say that he does trust his teammates and that he isn’t worried in the long run. He also backed Khris Middleton, who has had a rough season so far as he tries to get back to his best after some injury issues. Giannis stated that Middleton will be fine once he gets his rhythm, and the Bucks are fine with him taking his time, as they just need him to get going once the playoffs come around.
Giannis himself came under some fire recently from Nets big man Nic Claxton who slammed him for a dirty play during their game. Games against Giannis tend to be grueling physical battles, but we doubt he was trying to hurt Claxton here. Regardless, we would love to see these teams battle it out in the postseason, as there seems to be some bad blood between them.
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