Milwaukee Bucks fans aren’t happy about Monday night’s loss to the Utah Jazz. So much so, that the home fans at the Fiserv Forum showered their own team with boos in the first half after seeing Bucks go down by as much as 33 points against the Jazz.
Ultimately, Milwaukee suffered a 132-116 loss to mark their fourth defeat in five games. It was an utterly disappointing loss, to say the least, but coach Adrian Griffin was sitll able to see the bright side of an otherwise dark day for the Bucks.
Adrian Griffin Rues Milwaukee Bucks’ First Half Mishaps
To be fair, Griffin himself wasn’t at all pleased by what he saw from his team on Monday night, particularly in the opening half. In the first quarter alone, the Jazz drained no less than 11 triples to close out the period with an 18-point advantage.
By halftime, Utah was up 77-46. Coach Griff revealed after the game what he told his team at the break:
“I think it was just the way they were getting their points,” Griffin said, via Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “A lot of it was just uncontested threes where we’re not into their body. Not physical enough with their screening and our switches.
“At halftime, I probably showed more clips than I usually show. Just areas where we can respond. Sometimes as a coach, you know, you can come in and go bonkers. But I also believe you have to show them the areas you have to improve on. And they responded.”
Griffin Praises Team’s Resilience
Griffin then went on to praise his players for how they responded in the second half. According to the rookie coach, the Bucks could have easily folded and called it a night. Instead, they did everything they could to try and come back:
“We knew we were not playing well,” Griffin said. “We were not playing up to our standards.
“Like I said, at halftime, we showed them areas where you have to improve. They say film doesn’t lie. But, again, we got really strong character individuals on this team. That care about winning. And it showed tonight.
“We easily could have thrown in the towel. Guys were great. Bobby gave us a lift off the bench tremendously. Everyone in the second half, I thought, we flipped it a little bit in terms of our energy and effort. We made it a ball game. But in the NBA, you just can’t dig yourself a hole like that.”
To their credit, the Bucks were able to cut the lead down to seven points in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, they didn’t have enough gas left in the tank to complete the improbable comeback.
As Griffin said, however, their effort in the second half is still commendable, all things considered.
For More Wisconsin Sports:
Follow me on Twitter at @PaoloSongcoNBA, and follow us @WiSportsHeroics. Also, check out our Merchandise Here! Get 20% off with the code “WSH.” You can also reach out to Paolo Songco via email at pao.songco@gmail.com. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in ALL of Wisconsin sports, click here! Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Brewers, Milwaukee Bucks, Wisconsin Badgers.
