Giannis Antetokounmpo: Bucks currently ‘don’t have an identity’

Giannis Antetokounmpo: Bucks currently ‘don’t have an identity’

The Milwaukee Bucks are off to their worst four-game start in nearly a decade (2015-16). They’ve dropped consecutive games to the Chicago Bulls, tanking Brooklyn Nets and reigning champion Boston Celtics after a season-opening 15-point win over the Philadelphia 76ers.

According to Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, the team doesn’t currently have an identity.

“Right now, we don’t have an identity,” he said after Monday’s 11-point loss to Boston. “How are we going to win the game? Are we going to defend for 48 minutes? Are we going to move the ball for 48 minutes? Are we going to attack? … We’ve gotta find an identity. We don’t have that right now.”

According to Dunks & Threes, the Bucks currently sit in the middle-of-the-pack in adjusted NET Rating (plus-1.1), which accounts for their strength of schedule thus far. They have the ninth-best offense and 19th-best defense with the seventh-highest effective field goal percentage and eighth-best defensive rebounding percentage.

The rest of the team hasn’t quite followed suit, but Damian Lillard and Antetokounmpo have come out with their hair on fire to begin the 2024-25 season. Despite a slow start from 3-point range, Lillard’s averaging 28.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 6.3 assists on 47.1 percent; Antetokounmpo, a two-time MVP, is posting 28.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 6.3 steals on 62.0 percent shooting.

They’ve missed the extra creation provided by Khris Middleton, who has missed the start of the season after undergoing offseason surgery on both of his ankles. I’m not completely sure if he can carry the load he had, say, 2-3 years ago. Though his ability to generate good offense when they need him to is something they don’t have outside of their two stars. Both Brook Lopez and Pat Connaughton have gotten off to slow shooting starts while offseason pickups Gary Trent Jr. and Delon Wright are still trying to acclimate themselves into the rotation.

The schedule doesn’t get much easier for Milwaukee, either. The Bucks conclude their three-game road trip against Memphis on Thursday followed by two home-road games against Cleveland, Utah, New York and Boston. It’s still way too early to make any conclusions, but that could still be a season-defining stretch. They are 18-22 since Doc Rivers has arrived–not great, Bob!

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