The Milwaukee Bucks made it two straight wins on Monday with a hard-fought victory over the Brooklyn Nets, 129-125. There were a lot of positives to take away from the win, including Giannis Antetokounmpo’s season-high 36-point eruption as well as his heroics on the defensive end.
Be that as it may, the Milwaukee talisman still isn’t completely satisfied with his team’s performance.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Wants Better Defense from Milwaukee Bucks
Following the Bucks’ hard-fought victory, Antetokounmpo could not help but call out his team’s defense on the evening.
To be fair, Milwaukee put in a much better effort on the defensive end as compared to their lackluster performances in their past few games — including their two blowout losses against the Atlanta Hawks and the Toronto Raptors. However, Giannis still wants to see more from his squad:
“I hope we can be better defensively,” Antetokounmpo said, via Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I feel like our gaps wasn’t tight. Guys felt comfortable going one-on-one and getting to the rim, drawing fouls. Our help defense has gotta be better.”
The fact that Milwaukee allowed Cam Thomas to explode for 45 points, followed by Mikal Bridges’ 31, serve as proof that the Bucks can still improve significantly on defense — and this is exactly Giannis’ point.
Positive Takeaways
It wasn’t all bad for the Bucks, though. After all, they did mark their first road game of the season on Monday night. For his part, Antetokounmpo gave the team credit for their effort:
“Offensively I think the second unit did a great job just moving the ball, playing fast, getting open looks,” Giannis continued. “And down the stretch I feel like Dame, me and Khris (Middleton) and our shooters were ready to play, ready to close out the game. So, there was a lot of good things that we did, there was a lot of things that we gotta get better on.”
Giannis and Co. now get back to the grind ahead of their matchup against the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday.
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.