Bucks Zone

Giannis frustrated over the team's poor defense in the loss to Orlando

Antetokounmpo wants his team to step up defensively.

Matthew Dugandzic

© Matt Pendleton-USA TODAY Sports
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Poor defense, or the lack of it, led to the Milwaukee Bucks’ second straight loss on Saturday night. This was the take of Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was left frustrated over the team’s defensive effort in their 97-112 loss to the Orlando Magic.

“Sometimes you have to put your body on the line, take that hit, to make it easier for our defense. The last two games we haven’t done it. Right now, I feel like we’re just being stagnant. We’re going back on defense and not showing a lot of help,” the two-time MVP said.

For the fourth time this season, Giannis scored 30 or more as he finished the game with 35 points on top of 10 rebounds and seven assists.

Milwaukee whines a lot

Those were big numbers from Giannis, but Orlando toyed with Milwaukee’s poor defense and earned 35 free throw attempts and made 30 of them. Bucks only had 25 free throw attempts and made just 12.

Giannis observed that the team tends to whine a lot when committing a turnover.

“We’re not protecting one another as much as we should and sometimes when we turn the ball over, we sit and kind of complain. We’ve got to get out of that mentality and stop feeling sorry for ourselves,” said Giannis, who scored 54 points in Milwaukee’s 124-126 loss to the Indiana Pacers two nights ago.

Bad defense, bad offense

Apart from their poor defense against the Magic, the Bucks’ offense was also nowhere to be found, marking for the first time that they did not reach the 100-point mark this season. Milwaukee’s scoring took a major hit after Damian Lillard failed to suit up due to calf soreness.

It also didn’t help that starters Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez, and Cameron Payne combined for just 33 points. Malik Beasley went scoreless in a starting role. Milwaukee will try to regroup when they host the Chicago Bulls on Monday night. 

Giannis says the tough loss to the Pacers will help the Bucks get better

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Matthew Dugandzic
MATTHEW DUGANDZIC

Matthew finished his bachelor's degree in Economics (Management) at the University of Split and got his master's degree in the same field at the University of Zadar. Whether it is playing the game as an undersized 6'3'' power forward or simply watching it, Matthew can't get enough of it. After all, he has been an avid NBA fan since the 2000s. But don't get him wrong, as Matthew still loves the old-school NBA and is a true student of the game. From on-court moments to off-court stuff, whether it's about the stars of modern-day basketball or legends of the game, Matthew covers every category of the NBA world and basketball in general, as long as it makes for an engaging and exciting story.