Saturday’s 112-108 defeat to the Houston Rockets was the Milwaukee Bucks’ second-lowest scoring game of the season.

However, two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo avoided discussing the offense.

Instead, he focused on Bucks defense. After the defeat to the Rockets, Antetokounmpo passionately explained why the club needed to improve defensively to win an NBA title for seven and a half minutes.

“Offense is gonna be there some nights, and, some nights, it’s not,” Antetokounmpo said. Your defensive effort must be there. We were ineffective defensively. There was no pride. Guys drove straight-line, got to the paint, over-helped, shot 3s, and grabbed оffensive rebounds. Nothing existed. Not the Milwaukee Bucks. We’re not like this.”

Antetokounmpo explained the Bucks’ defensive flaws and why they need to improve, but his assertion was inaccurate.

Poor defense used to be unacceptable to the Bucks. However, this season is closer to their benchmark. According to NBA.com, the Bucks are 21st in defensive rating, allowing 115.9 points per 100 possessions before Saturday’s game.

Houston scored 63 points in the first half on Saturday. The Bucks were 20 points behind at halftime. Adrian Griffin substituted rookie wing Andre Jackson Jr. for Malik Beasley in the Bucks’ second-half lineup.

“The second half, we were better,” Antetokounmpo said. We improved in the third quarter. We improved fourth quarter. Both quarters were won. Yes, we competed. We pre-switch, front the post, put our hands in the ball, made it hard for them, and grabbed every rebound. We made it hard. We are that.

we didn’t do that in the first half. Not good, dude. Our current basketball style, particularly defensively, is not us. We must improve. We must improve to win. We can’t count on our offense generating 130-140 points every night. That won’t work. That won’t work.”Antetokounmpo has been outspoken about the Bucks’ defensive troubles in recent weeks, despite their 25-11 record. Antetokounmpo said after the Bucks’ fourth defeat to the Indiana Pacers this season on Wednesday that they needed to concentrate more on defense and stop outscoring opponents.

Antetokounmpo was furious after the Bucks’ defeat to the Rockets on Saturday due of their first-half defensive wоes.

“Pride. Be proud. Antetokounmpo responded, “We gotta take it personal,” when asked how the Bucks can improve defensively this season. Like, we must take it personally. Whoever wants to play hard plays hard. Whoever doesn’t want to play hard must decide. Yeah, me too. Don’t play hard? Sit me out or on the bench. Sometimes I’m exhausted and don’t play as hard, and sometimes I give all I have. We must think about stopping when we foot on the floor.

“That’s how we win. Getting оffensive rhythm won’t win. They were challenging because they switch everything and you had to play one-on-one to break their defense. We can’t trust it. Getting stops is essential. Guys, including myself, must play harder. It always begins with me. Always, including me. I must know how to acquire stops every time we walk on the floor. Play harder. All done.”

When asked how the Bucks can improve defensively, Antetokounmpo responded quickly.

“We cannot Ԁie on screens. Antetokounmpo stated screen deaths include him. “I’m not trying to shame anyone. So I keep saying including myself. Always. I start it. I lead the team. It always begins with me. We cannot perish on screens, but I must improve. Bobby (Portis) and Brook (Lopez) are back there—what does it meаn? That we will Ԁie on screens and allow the guy run downhill and make a floater because Brook will rescue our butts? That will earn us a championship? We won’t win a title that way.”The Bucks had a solid second half and limited the Rockets to 49 points in the last two quarters, but they battled with screens and keeping players out of the lane and basket in the first half. The Rockets outscored the Bucks 18-6 in the last five minutes of the first half, and the Bucks struggled to get past pick-and-roll screens.

Malik Beasley was tricked by Fred VanVleet and caught by Alperen Şengün, allowing VanVleet to pull-up triple.VanVleet took advantage of Beasley and Antetokounmpo in the last five minutes.The Bucks have struggled with transition defense in the first 36 games, but not on this play. VanVleet dribbled off the screen by Şengün after Antetokounmpo failed to retain him.

Beasley got caught on a screen again on the following defensive possession and abandoned his man. Beasley was so captivated on the screen that he left his man and stuck with the rolling big man, leaving Jalen Green alone on the right wing.Griffin called a timeout after Green’s jumper to concentrate his squad defensively, but it didn’t work.

VanVleet punished the Bucks for giving up an оffensive rebound 90 seconds after the break.Damian Lillard pursued VanVleet around the dribble handoff and pushed him off the 3-point line, but he didn’t remain connected enough to make it tough for him. VanVleet took a dribble handoff, entered the paint, and passed to Şengün for a short floater from the right block.

The Rockets employed a top-key guard-to-guard screen on their following defensive possession. The Bucks tried to alter the play with two guards, but Lillard was too passive, so Green drove by him to the basket.

Antetokounmpo believes the Bucks’ defensive struggles go beyond individual effort. Griffin must enhance his techniques for the Bucks to improve on defense.

Antetokounmpo stated, “Now, defensively, we have to have a plan.” “Our strategy? Will we provide many open 3s? Will we let them start painting? Will we play one-on-one with ours when they go in the post? How do we proceed? Right now, we’re offering everything. We provide everything. The 3s are given. We provide direct drives. Me𝚗 may play in the post and feel comfortable. We provide оffensive rebounds.

“This includes me. I always start it. I participate in all of it. We must improve. We must identify what works and build a plan around it as a team. Sometimes you can’t stop everything. We sometimes play teams who like to shoot 3s. Send them to paint. We play teams who like to go to the paint sometimes. Everyone, we must mess up the game, help, and then play. We must work together while playing teams who seek to crаsh оffensive rebounds and get many of them. We can’t trust Brook or Bobby. We must recover as a team.”

Antetokounmpo spent the bulk of his postgame session lamenting the Bucks’ defensive flaws, but he doesn’t think they’ll always be bad. Instead, he believes that fixing the team’s defensive issues now would help them improve before the playoffs.

“At the end of the day, this is not the end of the world,” Antetokounmpo remarked. No, it’s not the end of the world. It’s a start in our desired path. We are not this. We are not this. I doubt we’ll get there if we keep going at this rate.

“We must improve. We must play better. Better defense is needed. Trust must be improved. We need better coaching. Everything and everyone must improve. Everybody. The equipment manager initiates it. He should wash our clothing better. Better benchwork is needed. Team leaders must speak out. We must shoot more. Better defense is needed. We need better strategy. We need to improve…

“We have four months to improve, so see.”