In the aftermath of a loss to the Knicks on Friday, NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo opened up on the level of frustration for his team amid a 2-7 start. Giannis says everyone should be feeling a sense of urgency to turn the season around.
“As a leader of this team, your head cannot be down,” Antetokounmpo said, via the New York Daily News. “You can be frustrated at times, for sure. I’m frustrated. If you’re not frustrated with losing, get the f**k out of here. Simple as that. But at the end of the day, we have another one in two days. We’ve got to be ready.”
To put it lightly, it’s been a rough season for Giannis and the Bucks. After their first full offseason with Giannis, Lillard, and veteran coach Doc Rivers, the team had ambitions to compete for a title in 2025 and bring the Larry O’Brien trophy back to Milwaukee for the first time in over three years.
Instead, it’s been a total disaster on the court. The Milwaukee Bucks are 14th in the East with a 2-7 record through the first two weeks. Despite flashes of dominance, the Bucks’ duo has been unable to stop the bleeding due to major flaws on the roster.
Without Jrue Holiday, the perimeter defense has been sorely lacking with a bottom-10 rating in the NBA on that end of the floor. They are allowing 110.0 points per game (20th in the league) with their opponents shooting 37.2% from three (21st in the league).
Offensively, Giannis and Lillard have done everything they can to offset their slippage on the other end. This season the Greek Freak is averaging 30.1 points, 12.8 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game on 60.5% shooting. Lillard, meanwhile, is putting up 27.3 points per game, 6.7 assists, and 4.7 rebounds in the first 9 games so far.
So far, nothing has worked for the Bucks and it seems not even the heroics from their stars have been enough for them to keep up with the competition.
Giannis, who won Finals MVP during the 2021 title run, is obviously frustrated with how things have progressed and it’s far from what he envisioned for his tenure with Damian Lillard. Fortunately, with most of the season still left to play, Giannis and the Bucks have more than enough time to make a move that will help improve the situation.
We know that they’ve been scouring the NBA trade market just a few weeks into the season and Doc Rivers has also been experimenting with the rotation like with Andre Jackson Jr. who made his second straight start in place of Gary Trent Jr.
So far, the Bucks have had limited results on the court and they are losing a lot of ground that could cost them down the road. But after giving up so much to bring Giannis and Lillard together, the Bucks are committing to seeing it through and doing whatever it takes to put them in a position to make a deep playoff run.
As an ultimate winner and competitor, it’s no surprise that Giannis is feeling frustrated with the season and he wants all of his teammates to feel the same way so that they can work together on solutions to figure it out.
Thank you for being a valued reader of Fadeaway World. If you liked this article, please consider following us on Google News. We appreciate your support.
