Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo was not pleased at all following his team's embarrassing 116-94 blowout loss to the New York Knicks Friday night, nor should he be. Speaking to the media post-game, he blasted his team and was very critical of their effort, and rightfully so.
His frustrations even boiled over towards a member of the New York media when he told the person that if he didn't want to be there, then he could leave.
It is fair to say that we have never seen Giannis Antetokounmpo this exasperated when speaking with the media in a post-game press conference. He even let some expletives fly, which he normally does not do towards anybody.
He acknowledged that they played great against Utah the previous night, and then they came to New York and lost by 30 points. He rhetorically asked the reporter if he was ok with not competing and then responded by saying he was not ok with that s***.
Giannis then proceeded to say that the Milwaukee Bucks have a game against Boston in two days and if they don't compete, they will lose by 30 points. He reiterated that they have to come out and compete during every possession, dive for loose balls and must do a better job overall.
What's wrong with the Milwaukee Bucks? Plenty
There is much frustration watching this team, specifically when it comes to coming out with energy and competing from the opening jump ball. With a 2-7 record now, the Milwaukee Bucks are extremely soft and lazy in almost every aspect of the game, as far too many times this season, they have generally played with no heart, hustle or energy.
Giannis admitted that at times, there is not enough ball movement on offense with no penetration in the paint. They have to create more space for guys to get into the paint, which continues to be a glaring problem for this team.
As the clear leader of this team and organization, he is clearly frustrated with the team's play. He admitted that he has to hold himself accountable and be honest with his teammates as well.
The Bucks must find ways to be more efficient on both ends of the floor and cannot hang their heads. Giannis sent a harsh message to his teammates by saying that if they are not frustrated with losing, then "get the f*** out of here."
There are a lot of things the team can clean up and do better, as Giannis said, but it all starts with competing. They can't take anything for granted and must go out and earn everything, as nobody is going to feel sorry for them being five games under .500.
Doc Rivers is doing his best to try and figure out the right rotations to turn things around. He is trying to make the necessary in-game adjustments, as all he can do is put them in the best position possible, even with the limited personnel they have on the roster.
After Friday's post-game comments, Giannis basically put his teammates on notice and challenged them, especially the veterans on the roster. Hopefully, they will respond to the challenge once and for all, or they will be gone.
Being the team leader and competitor that he is, Giannis is trying to re-establish the championship culture for the Milwaukee Bucks. Anybody on this roster who doesn't want to be a part of this challenge and follow his lead needs to be moved in a trade immediately.
This roster has too many holes and gaps to be covered up by any amount of offensive and defensive scheme or adjustments. The Milwaukee Bucks still don't have any kind of identity or system.
They have had all offseason to work on this, but nine games into this season, it just hasn't come to fruition. We still have no clear indication as to who they are trying to be and who they want to become, which is a sobering thought.
The roster is very poorly constructed, thanks to general manager Jon Horst. There is no proper direction, and there's no denying that this organization has been horrible when it comes to player development, no matter who the coach has been, over the last number of years.
There also appears to be no quick fix to this entire mess that the team is in with a severely aging core group of players. Let's hope that Giannis' message speaks volumes and penetrates loud and clear with the veterans, including Bobby Portis, Pat Connaughton, Delon Wright, Taurean Prince and Khris Middleton (if and when he returns this season).
If it doesn't, then this season for the Milwaukee Bucks will hit rock bottom, if it already hasn't.