Giannis Antetokounmpo did not appreciate the boos from the Bucks crowd at all

One match without, one more, and a lot of tension. Les Bucks he hoped to return home from his “trip” to the West with a win and something to start the momentum. But the opposite happened. face near Vukov. Milwaukee completely missed a point from the beginning of the meeting.

The Wisconsin franchise was led 76-45 at halftime by a dispossessed teamAnthony Edwards etc Rudy Gobert. The public did not hide their disappointment as they escorted their players to the locker room with whistles. And it was not to taste Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The Bucks star responded in the first minute of the third quarter, when he just scored on a foul by Julius Randle. On the ground, Giannis Antetokounmpo looks up at the crowd and yells “Boohoo,” a thumbs down, before repeating the gesture when he stands up. The scene is almost lunar and says a lot about the climate in Milwaukee, between again disappointing results and uncertainty about the future of the Greeks.

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« I’ve never experienced this, it’s something new for me.” put Giannis Antekounmpo back together to the media in the locker room. « I like it, that said. (…) I sent back a whistle. When they boo me, I fire them. I’ve been doing that all season. Whether she is at home does not change anything. I play basketball for my teammates, for myself and for my family. When people don’t believe in me, I don’t go their way. I tend to be against them. I am a non-conformist, always have been. So that won’t change now. »

“There are so many things we could do better”

True to the attitude that has drawn his motivation from the beginning of his career, Giannis Antetokounmpo nails it: he “ thrives on adversity ». « But I don’t think that’s fair » he evaluates the reaction of viewers on the Fiserv forum. ” But everyone has their own opinion about what they do when they do it. I’m not going to tell them how to behave when we don’t play enough, we lose games or we’re not in the position we should have been. And I don’t think anyone has the right to tell me how to behave on the field when I’ve been here for 13 years and I’m basically the all-time leader in every statistical category. »

Annoyed by this heavy loss (108-139) and still a mediocre result (17 wins – 23 losses, 11th in the East), Giannis Antetokounmpo was unable to turn the script of the match. His revolt early in the third quarter came when the damage had already been done, and his Bucks were abundantly dominated by envy.

What do you remember from the game? ” Nothing » he says puffed up. ” You are obviously frustrated. I don’t think we played very well. We didn’t do the right things. We didn’t play as a team. Not much to take from this game. We didn’t do anything right. You just have to forget about it. Take whatever you didn’t do well, try to improve it and move on to the next game. »

What are the Bucks missing? ” Play harder, in your own way and collectively, which we don’t do » said the nine-time All-Star. ” I don’t know, I really don’t. But these three things are important to win. Right now there are so many things that could be done better. But let’s start with: can we just play harder? Can we play the right way? Can we create an advantage for the other player? Can we just play for our partner, for the team? Let’s start there, and I think the rest will follow. And that applies not only to my teammates, but also to me. »

As if the voice of Giannis Antetokounmpo was not carried

The speech is direct, as is often the case with Giannis Antetokounmpo in front of the microphone. Above all, it is far from a novelty, as the two-time MVP has already called for a reaction from his team several times this season.

But it seems that the message was not received, nor was it heard. “I don’t know, I really don’t” answers the Greek freak when asked about the reasons. ” Maybe we are a young team. Maybe we’re not as connected to each other as we should be. Maybe my voice is just a broken record and guys get tired of hearing it and tend to do what they want. »

Visibly disappointed, the Greek still refuses to give up and assures that he will continue to be who he is in the dressing room, despite the context (and rumours).

« Being a leader is like being a father” he imagines. “You have to always be available, be consistent in your words and actions over and over and over and over again. And one day you hope the message gets through. It’s like when I was 15 and my dad said things to me. I didn’t understand what he was saying until I was 21 or 22. You look back and say, ‘Oh, that’s what he meant.’ But we are not seven years old. We’re halfway through the season. It’s now or never. So hopefully we can turn things around in these next few games. And if not, we can go home. »

Doc Rivers was contradicted by his players

At the press conference, Doc Rivers expressed the idea that the first match is always difficult after an away series, especially on the other side of the country, and that fatigue could weigh on organizations. The hypothesis was initially dismissed Ryan Rollins in the locker room. « I don’t think it has anything to do with our tiredness. It has to do with being ready for that game and playing physically. »

« I don’t think it was because we didn’t have legs ” Giannis Antetokounmpo said, shaking his head and letting out a “ come on man ». « Are we tired? Yes, a little. But today we had a day off, we didn’t go to the gym. So I don’t see the reason. And when I say all that, I’m talking about myself first. I see no reason why I wasn’t more aggressive. I will never say that I didn’t have legs, but always that I could have done better. Maybe I wasn’t as focused as I should have been. But I don’t think it’s about the legs, how old is Mike Conley? 37? I thought he was 41. Well, he was moving faster than us, so that can’t be an excuse. »

The Bucks no longer have the luxury of being patient to get back into shape. This meeting against the Wolves was the first in a series of five games during which Milwaukee will face the four leaders of the West (Thursday at the Spurs, Wednesday the 21st against the Thunder, Friday the 23rd against the Nuggets). A chance to match up against the best… or to further highlight the gap between the Bucks and the title contenders.