Giannis Antetokounmpo isn’t shying away from the fact that the Milwaukee Bucks just got their behinds whooped by the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night. After all, this was Indiana’s second win over them in the past three days. Moreover, in five games played this season, the Bucks have won just once against their Central Division foes.
Needless to say, Indiana has had Milwaukee’s number this year.
Giannis Calls Out Milwaukee Bucks
A disappointed Giannis Antetokounmpo could not help but call out his team after another brutal loss to the Pacers. As always, though, the Bucks talisman criticized himself first before turning his attention to the rest of the squad:
“We have to get better. Everybody. It starts from me. I have to be better,” said Antetokounmpo, via Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “I have to be more aggressive. I have to be way more aggressive. The double team cannot take me away from the game. I tried to facilitate as much as I could, but I have to be more aggressive.
“Guys have to play better. We have to execute better. We have to move the ball side-to-side. We cannot do it on our own. Coach has gotta coach harder. We have to be better. This game goes to everybody. I don’t think anybody from this locker room leaving here tonight doesn’t believe that we have to get better. So that’s not a bad thing. It’s a good thing.”
As Giannis said, the Pacers double-teamed him down low throughout the game. This tactic proved to be a successful one for Rick Carlisle and his men. Even though Antetokounmpo still dropped a team-high 26 points on a highly efficient 8-of-13 shooting, the fact of the matter is that the Bucks still went home with an L.
Answering the Call
The good news for the Bucks is that they have an opportunity to answer Giannis’ call immediately. This comes in the form of a matchup against the lowly San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night.
The Bucks will be expected to make easy work of Victor Wembanyama and the five-win Spurs. At the same time, however, there’s going to be a lot of pressure on them to come away with an impressive bounce-back victory. Milwaukee has already lost two games in a row, and they simply can’t afford to suffer defeat again in San Antonio on Thursday.
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