Oh deer.
The Milwaukee Bucks just had their first five-on-five practice on Monday in Orlando and it seems that they have a long way ahead of them. The league's reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo wasn't pleased with the first practiced and was absolutely honest when he talked to media after training.
“I sucked,” Antetokounmpo said (per jsonline.com). “I was terrible.”
Of course, this is sort of expected given that this was the first time the team played a full scrimmage since their March 9 loss against the Phoenix Suns before the league was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since March, the team was scattered and individually isolated as training facilities all across the nation were all shut down. For some of the players, like Bucks sharpshooter Khris Middleton, this was the first time they held a basketball in over four months.
The Bucks have had quite the few weeks as they prepared to resume training camp in the NBA Bubble in Orlando. After their training camp was shut down earlier this month after a member of the team tested positive of the coronavirus, the players had to go through a mandatory quarantine period upon arriving in Disney. It was only Monday when they were finally allowed to play a full-on scrimmage so a little rust should be expected.
“Day by day, you try to get in shape,” Antetokounmpo said. “Try to find my rhythm. Obviously, being in shape and being in basketball shape is two different things. So, I always take it day by day, try to get better each day. I know that I'm gonna be ready when the scrimmages start and the games start.”
Rest assured, the reigning MVP has his team on his back and it's going to take more than a pandemic to stop him from achieving his ultimate goal of winning an NBA Championship.