Giannis Antetokounmpo Calls Out Bucks Inconsistency This Season

Ricardo Klein | Jan 5, 2025

Jan 4, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) drives for the basket against Portland Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija (8) in the fourth quarter at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images / Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

The Milwaukee Bucks dropped a pivotal game on Saturday against one of the worst teams in the league, the Portland Trail Blazers.  

More Bucks: Two Crucial Bucks Trade Targets Now Injured as Trade Deadline Nears

The Bucks failed to capitalize on opportunities during the game's final stretch and lost a crucial game in front of their home crowd. They dropped their second game in a row and have now lost four of their last five games. 

Milwaukee now sits with a 17-16 record on the season, which is good for fifth seed in the Eastern Conference. While the Bucks still sit in the suitable spot in the standings, they have lost their groove a bit. 

After starting the season 2-8, the Bucks appeared like a team that was going to blow the whole thing up. However, they turned their season around in the blink of an eye and recorded a 13-3 record in the span of a month. 

It was incredible to witness that; however, since winning the NBA Cup title, they have been on a downward trajectory. They have collected a 3-5 record and have shown themselves to be an inconsistent club. 

The Bucks don't feel right about it, and neither does their superstar forward, Giannis Antetokounmpo. Antetokounmpo was not afraid to call out his team for their lackluster efforts. 

"At times we play good basketball. And at times we don’t," Antetokounmpo said. "There’s a lot of times we step on the court and we feel like we can beat any team in the league, but there’s times we step on the court and any team in the league can beat us – which is incredible.

"But we can watch film, we can talk about, we can walk through stuff, which all those things are good, add to us being ready to compete, but at the end of the day we’ve got to step on the floor and do it. I feel like that’s what we did a couple of weeks ago. We step on the floor like we were tired with just losing and we just going to try to turn it around and we did."

Antetokounmpo was spectacular, recording 31 points, 11 rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two blocks while shooting 14-for-27 from the field in 38 minutes. 

The Bucks have not looked like the same squad we saw even a month ago, and it is due to their inconsistencies through long stretches. 

More Bucks: Doc Rivers Lays Into 'Disappointing' and 'Frustrating' Bucks Losses

Bucks Blockbuster Trade Proposal Sees Them Move Khris Middleton For Star

Giannis Antetokounmpo Calls Out Bucks for Lack of ‘Individual Pride’ vs Nets