Seven games, seven wins… While they hadn’t won a single game in preseason, the Bucks made the perfect start to the season, and after three weeks they were the only undefeated team in the NBA. In the wake of a super Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee even equals a franchise record with this perfect record: 7 wins – 0 losses. Only the teams of 1971/72 and 2018/19 started the season so well.
“We have very good players in this squad set up by GM Jon Horst” pretends to see Mike Budenholzer. “It’s rich and varied. Obviously, I think Giannis (Antetokounmpo) and Brook (Lopez) are mainstays on both sides of the pitch. We have size, physique and athleticism under the panels. »
The Bucks coach thus insists on the foundation of his training with a pair of interiors difficult to move, and above all composed of two of the best defenders in the NBA: Lopez-Giannis. This foundation allows you to win even when the team is clumsy, like this night against the Pistons despite a 10 of 38 from 3-pointers.
Defense wins games
Giannis takes the opportunity to remind that the skill in shooting is not the priority of the Bucks, and that is precisely what makes the difference. “In the end, we will shoot better. I hope we’ll shoot better, but we don’t enter the field thinking that we have to shoot at 40%. Above all, we want to defend for 48 minutes and try to make as many stops as possible. We want to win the most balloons lying around. We want to take the rebounds, make counters. And then the attack will happen on its own. »
This permanent aggressiveness is found in the 15 offensive rebounds of this night, transformed into 24 points on shots in “second chance”. “We have to find other ways to score” confirms Budenholzer. “Offensive rebounds, forcing loose balls, defending very well… We are still early in the season, but we want to be able to win by different means. There are nights where we won’t put our shots, our 3-pointers… We can’t just stay in our doldrums and go home, we have to find another way to win”.
That’s what the Bucks do, still without Khris Middleton and Pat Connaughton. Even though it was only Detroit in front, Giannis really appreciates the way.
“I am happy that the team won, but it is in the background” concludes Antetokounmpo. “I’m happy that the team is picking up some good habits. I’m happy that we can be good even if we don’t put in shots, and it doesn’t affect us. We keep playing hard, we keep moving the ball around. The guys don’t talk in their corner, we talk to each other. We are in a very good position. »
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo | 7 | 33.5 | 56.9 | 24.0 | 66.3 | 2.3 | 10.4 | 12.7 | 5.0 | 3.0 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 2.9 | 33.6 |
| Jrue Holiday | 7 | 34.3 | 43.3 | 38.3 | 82.6 | 1.0 | 4.3 | 5.3 | 7.6 | 2.6 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 2.1 | 20.1 |
| Brook Lopez | 7 | 30.9 | 48.8 | 34.1 | 88.9 | 2.1 | 4.7 | 6.9 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 3.0 | 2.6 | 14.7 |
| Bobby Portis | 7 | 24.7 | 48.1 | 32.0 | 66.7 | 3.1 | 7.1 | 10.3 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.6 | 12.9 |
| Grayson Allen | 7 | 26.0 | 33.3 | 31.4 | 87.5 | 0.6 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 2.6 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 8.7 |
| george hill | 7 | 21.9 | 44.8 | 29.4 | 75.0 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 2.7 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 1.9 | 6.1 |
| Jordan Nwora | 7 | 16.5 | 36.8 | 40.0 | 100.0 | 0.9 | 2.7 | 3.6 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 1.1 | 5.9 |
| Wesley Matthews | 7 | 16.0 | 33.3 | 31.8 | 75.0 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 2.4 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 4.0 |
| Jevon Carter | 7 | 23.5 | 28.6 | 21.7 | 100.0 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 2.4 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 2.9 | 3.9 |
| Serge Ibaka | 6 | 8.3 | 46.2 | 60.0 | 50.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 2.7 |
| Marjon Beauchamp | 4 | 7.2 | 28.6 | 20.0 | 75.0 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 2.0 |
| Aj Green | 1 | 2.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Thanasis Antetokounmpo | 2 | 3.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Sandro Mamukelashvili | 1 | 2.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
