We left the catastrophic Bucks at the end of the regular season, then in the playoffs, and the summer changed nothing! After a convincing victory against the Sixers, deprived of Joel Embiid and Paul George, Giannis Antetokounmpo's teammates have just lost in quick succession to the Bulls and the Nets, two potential “lottery teams”. The fine speeches of the preseason have had no effect, and the “Greek Freak” is saddened by this situation.
“For the moment, we have no identity” regrets Giannis. “How are we going to win the game? How are we going to defend for 48 minutes? Are we going to pass the ball around for 48 minutes? Are we going to be aggressive? You have to find an identity. For the moment, we don't have any. »
Too static, too slow…
While Doc Rivers arrived nine months ago, the Bucks still have no identity, and we can understand that that annoys their leader. “We need to improve our offense and defense. We're not playing, we're not playing at all, we have to do better » he warns. “It doesn’t matter if it’s the first, third or 50th game of the season, you have to continue to work as a team, take care of the ball and be aggressive. We play too static, too slow. We have to find a way to run faster in our lanes, to create shots for our shooters, to make things happen. »
Move the ball to create energy
This is all the more problematic since the next match is this evening in Boston! “Against Boston, we will have to be focused for 48 minutes, because they will play very fast, spread the play out on the court and take a lot of 3-point shots” concludes Giannis. “To create contagious energy, you have to move the ball, set screens, make sacrifices and create an advantage for your teammate. If everyone has the same mindset, that's how you create energy. The ball will find the open man, the hot hand and the rim. We'll have to find a way to match their speed. So far we have not done so. We begin our attack too late. We have to play faster and attack earlier, be more aggressive. »
