Bucks News: Damian Lillard Calls Out 'Ugly' Milwaukee Season Start

Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard reflects on the team''s "ugly" start with surprising optimism.

Nov 4, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard (0) drives to the basket against Cleveland Cavaliers forward Isaac Okoro (35) during the first quarter at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images / Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

To say that the Milwaukee Bucks have gotten off to a rough start is an understatement.

Now sitting with a 1-6 record, the Bucks are currently tied with the Philadelphia 76ers as the worst team in the Eastern Conference.

Naturally, this has fans disheartened, with even Bucks guard Damian Lillard calling the start "ugly." That being said, he appears to have some optimism about the future.

“A 1-6 start, it’s ugly,” Lillard said, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “But when you look at the big picture, it’s such a long season, 75 games left. And I’ve been part of the teams that have won 16 straight, 14 straight."

"Sometimes, you just get in a ditch. Sometimes, it can happen in the middle of the season. It can happen toward the end of the season. And I think because it’s happening at the beginning and we got one win and six losses, it just looks different.”

Lillard isn't wrong. NBA teams go through slumps all the time, and the Bucks have shown glimmers of hope. Yes, they lost their last two games against the Cleveland Cavaliers. But they were both by one score, and that's one of the toughest teams in the NBA right now!

Milwaukee can have an excellent run and make it into the offseason. However, when you start poorly, there's no room for error in the future. And with plenty of talented players on the Bucks roster, Lillard thinks they can do it.

“But I think because of who we have on our team — Giannis, Khris, myself, Bobby, Brook — like, we’ve got an experienced, talented team, we can get a lot of things done,” Lillard said. “And I think how we’ve shown ourselves in games against the top teams like Cleveland the last two games and against Boston. We know what we’re capable of."

“It’s just a matter of putting it together and we got a lot of games to do it. So I think for that reason we’ve got every reason to keep fighting because we’re going to find our way back and be looking back at this at some point. But you can never be the team to fold. You gotta keep answering the call and keep pushing forward and that’s what we’re going to do.”

The bucks will have a chance to turn their fortunes around tonight against the Utah Jazz, another team with a 1-6 record. If they pull through tonight, there may be hope for this team yet.

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