Milwaukee Bucks champion Giannis Antetokounmpo made some glaring remarks following his team’s second loss in three games to begin the season on Sunday. The Bucks fell to the Brooklyn Nets by double digits on Sunday after losing to the Chicago Bulls in the previous game, also by double digits. They also lost to the Boston Celtics on Tuesday, although that’s certainly understandable. The loss in Brooklyn marks a spotty start for a team with championship aspirations. Giannis voiced his concerns after the defeat in Brooklyn, speaking to a crucial element his squad must find to succeed this season.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Pegs “Identity” As Milwaukee Bucks Main Issue
A Second-Consecutive Loss, More Question Marks
Firstly, let’s be reasonable before Bucks fans light a fire to burn down all hopes that their team will have vastly different results from last season. Milwaukee is nowhere near the trajectory of being in position to draft Cooper Flagg next season with a top pick. Things will get better. That being said, 1-2 to start the year with consecutive losses to teams the Bucks should not be losing to is not the firing of the canon type of start Giannis or Doc Rivers were expecting.
The double-digit losses are glaring, of course. But the Bucks, team-wise, simply have not looked good apart from their opening win against the Philadelphia 76ers. Giannis and Damian Lillard combined for 55 points that game. The Bucks should be 3-0 at this point. Their offense and defense are lacking, and the team had an entire off-season to build continuity and structure within the squad. Elements like identity, for instance, should not be an issue. Yet, identity is precisely the term Giannis used to describe the Bucks struggles thus far.
“Right now, we don’t have an identity,” Antetokounmpo told reporters. “How are we going to win a game? Are we going to defend for 48 minutes? Are we going to move the ball for 48 minutes? Are we going to attack? We’ve gotta find an identity. We don’t have that right now.”
It’s not that Giannis is wrong, or what he perceives to be the issue is out of balance. It’s this type of excuse sounds like what was going on last year for the Bucks. Arguably, you don’t need an identity to ‘move the ball for 48 minutes’ in the general sense of the phrase. But perhaps the Bucks need to focus on specific floor action execution or ATOs (after timeout plays), for example. Simply put, what do they need to do intricately with the ball in their hands for 48 minutes?
Identity Falls on Doc Rivers
The Bucks have 78 games to find their identity, so panic time hasn’t arrived yet. If Giannis truly sees an identity issue, Rivers needs to be the one to reset or identify what the Bucks identity is or needs to be. He caught much flack last season when he took on the head coaching role. That flack continued throughout the season. If the Bucks revert to what they looked like last year, Rivers will reap the harsh critique again. It would appear that just four games into the new season, he is already in a spot where he needs to adjust his team.
“We’ve got to improve on offense,” Antetokounmpo said. “We’ve got to improve on defense. We’re not playing well. We have to be better. It doesn’t matter if it’s Game 1, Game 3, or Game 50, we’ve got to keep coming together as a team, keep on taking care of the ball, keep on being aggressive, find ways to play faster … we are too stagnant and too slow.”
Giannis knows what needs to be done. It’s up to the coaching staff to drive the improvements home so that the team can find its identity.
