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Giannis Antetokounmpo implores his teammates to play with pride

Giannis Antetokounmpo urges his teammates to play with heart and defend with pride.

Jonas Panerio

© Matt Pendleton-USA TODAY Sports
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The Milwaukee Bucks’ disheartening loss to the Orlando Magic on Saturday night has prompted the team’s superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo to come out and implore his teammates to take more pride in defending opposing players.

Milwaukee’s defense has been abysmal this season, ranking 26th in the league in defensive rating. Even with defensive weak link Damian Lillard missing the game versus the Magic, the Bucks still could not stay in front of the Magic players, giving up a whopping 65 points in the first half alone.

This obviously did not sit well with Giannis—a former Defensive Player of the Year winner—who called on the team to do a better job defensively.

“We just gotta do a better job, man,” Antetokounmpo said.

Individual pride is missing

Giannis did his best to carry the Bucks versus the Magic, piling up 35 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists. Milwaukee even did a solid job of keeping Orlando to just 43 percent shooting from the field, including 10-of-26 from beyond the arc. However, the Bucks fouled too much, handing the Magic 35 free-throw attempts where they made 30 of them.

“Right now, I think the individual pride is there, but like, the team defense is not there. We’re not helping each other as much as we should. I feel like the gaps are wide open. I feel like the guys feel comfortable to be able to come down, attack, go downhill, get an angle, make a play for themselves or for their teammates. Like I wish, you know, I wish we were being guarded that way,” Giannis remarked.

Taking up the cudgels

Giannis did not let anyone off the hook, including himself. While he played superbly against the Magic, the “Greek Freak” committed four fouls and turned the ball over six times.

“It starts from me. It starts from the leader of the team. I gotta be better. But again, it’s not one person (that) can do it alone. Defensively, we gotta show more, make our paint look more crowded, make the lanes look more crowded, don’t allow guys to get comfortable and guys to be able to get downhill.”

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Jonas Panerio
JONAS PANERIO