Giannis Antetokounmpo calls out teammates after 122-102 loss to Thunder

The Milwaukee Bucks are 4-6 in their last 10 games, coming off a blowout loss to the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander went off for 40 points in the win, and while most teams grow accustomed to losing to OKC, Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo still took issue with the effort from his teammates.

"We're not playing hard," Antetokounmpo said. "We're not playing to win. We're not playing together. Our chemistry is not there. Guys are being selfish. Guys will try to look for their own shot instead of looking for the right shot for the team. At times I feel like when we're down 10, 15 20 [points], we tried to make it up in one play. ... You got to know that you have to compete for 48 minutes, and try to get the best shot for 48 minutes. If you don't do that, and you're trying to get the first shot available, on a one-pass shot, it's not going to work on [OKC, Minnesota and San Antonio]."

Antetokounmpo only shot the ball 11 times and finished with 19 points, which is his third-lowest point total this season. It was an abnormal output.

"I'm not the guy that will yell and cuss his teammates out and demand the ball," Antetokounmpo said. "I've never done that in my career, but I feel like I've played with teammates that kinda understand the gravity that I can cause for our team and how I can create for my teammates or for myself and how I can help the team be more successful. But maybe for some reason -- I don't understand. 

"Maybe because we're young, maybe because we're not playing well, maybe because guys think it's their turn, they want to carry the team on their back and try to turn this around, but I really don't get it. I really don't It's not like I'm not trying to be aggressive. I'm really trying to be aggressive. I have coaches, people that talk to me, they told me there's this thing that's called the white swan and the black swan. You gotta be the black swan and be more aggressive and demand the ball. It's something I've never done in my whole career. Maybe I gotta do it more."

Antetokounmpo not getting enough shot attempts is primarily a product of his teammates struggling to get him the ball. This was the first possession of that Bucks-Thunder matchup, where OKC sends two defenders at Antetokounmpo in the post, denying any chance of an entry pass.

Antetokounmpo averages his fewest touches per game since the year the Bucks won a championship in 2021. And on that championship team, Milwaukee didn't need Antetokounmpo to do everything. They had a free-flowing offense that got Antetokounmpo the ball on the move, but also relied on the scoring from Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday.

On this team, where the second-leading scorer is Kevin Porter Jr., there is no reason for Antetokounmpo to be anything except the primary focus. The defensive pressure he faces contributes, not shooting the ball more than 13 times in each of the last four games.

It represents a symptom of poor roster construction. Unless the Bucks plan on making a major move at the trade deadline, the issue may go unsolved. They could certainly try different things to get Antetokounmpo the ball more, having him bring the ball up the floor more, getting him the ball on the move when he's coming downhill or setting off-ball actions to free him up. But he excels when he's able to use his brute force against opponents, and if he can't get the ball in the post as much, it takes away an important part of his game.

"We got to go through this [adversity]," Antetokounmpo said when asked what's going to fix this. "Got to watch film, work hard and hopefully by the experience you create through the adversity that you face, and then, you know, the winning and the losses, eventually you're going to get it. But we don't have time for that. We don't. We've got 39 games left, we don't have time. We really don't."