Giannis On Slumping Bucks: Put Aside Personal Agendas

The return of Giannis Antetokounmpo didn’t cure all of the Bucks’ ills. Milwaukee lost its seventh straight on Friday, falling to the Knicks, 118-109.

Their superstar tried his best to end the streak, racking up 30 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists in 28 minutes. A groin strain sidelined him the previous four games. Afterward, Antetokounmpo addressed a number of topics, as relayed by ESPN’s Tim Bontemps.

• On the losing streak: “Nobody should have a personal agenda. Nobody should worry about what they want from themselves. Worry only about winning mentality. Winning mindset. The more we can win the games, the more everything takes care of itself.”
• On the need for a team-oriented mentality: “You cannot worry about one shot or two shots that you miss, which took four seconds out of the game to dictate 47 minutes, 56 seconds of the game. So, we got to get back to that mindset. We got to get into the mindset that we got to compete. We got to get to the mindset that this is not a one-man show, that we have to do it together. We got to move the ball. We got to find open 3s, we got to run. We got to create spacing. Our spacing sometimes, it’s shaky.”
• On ranking 20th in defensive field goal percentage: “At the end of the day, you got to come in, do your job, do what you’re paid to do, defend … do the little things. And sometimes, when you worry about doing the little things, all the other things add up. If you’re so concerned about scoring the ball and get yourself going offensively and that doesn’t work for you, now you feel like you cannot do nothing.”

The Bucks are playing the second game of a back-to-back set when they host the Nets on Saturday. Antetokounmpo plans not only to play but to get more court time.

“I know how the protocol is,” Antetokounmpo said. “I know when you come back with my injury, there’s got to be a minute restriction, no matter what you want to do. It doesn’t matter what kind of game it is. Would I want to play more? Yes. Could I play more? I don’t know. But I know one thing for sure: Tomorrow, I will play more minutes, and I’m going to try to help the team win.”