The Milwaukee Bucks won the NBA championship in 2021, and they are once again one of the top teams in the NBA. Milwaukee has Giannis Antetokoumpo, and with the addition of Damian Lillard, the Bucks are poised for another big season. They are off to an okay start as they are 5-4, but Bucks fan would've liked a better start to the season. On Saturday, Milwaukee took on the Orlando Magic on the road, and the Magic pulled off the win. The Bucks were favored in this matchup, and Antetokoumpo pointed out some things that the team needs to work on.
“I think the individual pride is there,” Giannis Antetokoumpo said after the game, according to an article from the Milwaukee Street Journal. “The team defense is not there. We’re not helping each other as much as we should. The gaps are so – I feel like the gaps are like wide open. I feel like guys feel comfortable to be able to come down, attack, go downhill, get an angle, make a play for themselves or for their teammate. Like, I wish we were being guarded that way.”
The Bucks have an explosive offense, and because of that, Antetokoumpo knows that they will get everyone's A-game.
“Whenever Khris get the ball, he’s being denied,” Antetokoumpo continued. “They’re being up in pick-and-rolls. Sometimes they’re blitzing him in the post, double-teaming, sending another guy, making us pass the ball, showing a lot of crowds, showing help. The defense is always there. That’s the defense that we play against every single night because we know that teams are going to bring their best against us.”




Antetokoumpo knows what this team is capable of, and he wants to see the Bucks improve more on the defensive end.
“Us, we gotta as a team right now, we gotta stay together, we gotta play better,” Antetokoumpo said. “Offensively, one of our best players didn’t play tonight but defensively man, I feel like we gotta take it up a notch. We have to take it up a notch. This is not who we are. This is not the Milwaukee Bucks. We gotta guard people. Sixty-five points is too much.”
The Bucks will return to action on Monday at home against the Chicago Bulls.