HOUSTON – Sitting in front of his locker in the near-empty visitor’s locker room in the Toyota Center on Saturday night, Giannis Antetokounmpo decided he had something to say.

Following the Milwaukee Bucks’ 112-108 loss to the Houston Rockets, the two-time league Most Valuable Player echoed the postgame comments of head coach Adrian Griffin and teammate Khris Middleton about the team’s poor defensive first half effort in giving up 63 points on 50% shooting to the Rockets.

Yes, the Bucks shot the ball poorly. Yes, they missed 13 free throws. Yes, the 108 points they scored were tied for their second-fewest of the season.

But for them, their third loss in four games had little to do with putting the ball in the basket.

Griffin spoke first, saying that taking the ball out of the basket as often as they did early contributed to the offensive issues. Middleton concurred and said, “We know it was defense. Taking the ball out the net every time and them scoring on most possessions, everything was easy. That got us to the bad start in the first half.

“I think we were just giving up everything. Everything was too easy for them.”

Antetokounmpo spoke last, and most firmly.

“Offense gonna be there some nights and some nights it’s not going to be there,” he began. “Your defensive effort, though, has got to be there. And defensively I don’t think it was not there. There was no pride.

“Guys were just driving the ball, straight line drive, getting to the paint, overhelping, shooting threes, offensive rebounds. There was nothing. This was not who we are. This is not who we are. The second half, we were better. Third quarter we were better. Fourth quarter we were better. We won both quarters. Yeah, we went out there and competed, we make it harder, pre-switch, fronted the post, put our hands in the ball, made it tough for them, got every rebound that we could. We made it tough. That’s who we are.

“In the first half we didn’t do that. And it’s not good, man. ‘Cause right now we’re playing the type of basketball, especially defensively, that is not us. We have to be better. In order for us to win, we have to be better. We cannot just rely on our offense of scoring 130 points, 140 points every single night. It’s not going to work that way. It’s not going to work that way.”

Giannis calls for more pride in defensive effort

It was almost a year to the date the last time Antetokounmpo decided he needed to be heard. On Jan. 8, 2022 – two days after the Bucks were routed by the Charlotte Hornets and gave up 51 points in the first quarter – he was the only player to speak and called for calm, and no panic. At that point, the Bucks had lost six of nine. He was positive and light.

Saturday night, after the Bucks’ third loss in four games, he was stern.

When asked what steps the team had to take to improve defensively, his answer was short and simple.

“Pride. Pride. Pride. Pride,” he emphasized. “We gotta take it personal. Like, we have to take it personal. Whoever wants to play hard, plays hard. Whoever doesn’t want to play hard, it’s gotta be a decision that’s gotta be made. Even myself, too. If I don’t play hard, sit me out, sit me on the bench. There’s times I’m tired and I don’t play as hard as I can. And there’s times even when I give everything I have. But we have to have a mentality of whenever we step on the floor, we have to get stops.

“Like, that’s how we’re going to win. We’re not going to win by getting a rhythm offensively. Obviously they were a tough team because they switch everything and you have to play one-on-one in order for you to break down their defense. But, we cannot rely on that. We have to rely on getting stops. Guys have to play with more effort, including me. It starts with me always. Always. Including me. I have to be able, every time we step on the floor, figure out the ways to get stops. Play harder. That’s it.”

Now, as Griffin, Middleton and Antetokounmpo all said – the Bucks did turn it up in the second half. The Rockets scored 49 points in the second half, and the Bucks nearly rallied. And the 65 points they gave up in the first half isn’t the most they’ve given up – that would be the 76 Indiana scored on Jan. 1.

The 112 points the Rockets scored is actually the second-fewest the Bucks have allowed since November – they gave up 111 to Cleveland (Dec. 29) and New York (Dec. 23).

But since Christmas Day in New York, the Bucks have allowed 122.7 points per game in losing four of seven.

How can the Bucks find that pride?

So, if he felt the issue is individual pride – how did Antetokounmpo feel that could come together as a collective?

“I have seen a lot of times, teams and I've been a part of a lot of teams that guys just play hard,” he began. “Might not have the best direction, but you see they give everything for the team. Like Andre (Jackson Jr.), whenever he steps on the floor, he gives everything for the team.

"MarJon (Beauchamp), at times, when he steps on the floor, he gives everything for the team. He's just sometimes going to foul. Sometimes he's going to turn the ball over. But you see, you feel his energy, you feel his positive energy, he's trying to help the team. He's not coming to be lazy.

“Now, defensively, we have to have a plan. What is our strategy? Are we going to give a lot of open threes? Are we going to let them get in the paint? When they go in the post, are we going to stay with ours and play one-on-one? What is our strategy? Right now, we are giving everything. We are giving everything. We are giving the threes. We are giving straight line drives. We are letting guys play in the post and get comfortable. We're giving offensive rebounds.

“And when I say this, this includes me. Always, it starts from me. I'm part of all of that too. We have to be better. Even as a team, we have to figure out what works and create a strategy around things that work. Like sometimes, you cannot stop everything. Sometimes, we're going to play a team that wants to shoot a lot of threes. We have to send them to the paint. Sometimes, we're going to play teams that want to get to the paint. Everybody, now we got to muck the game up, show help and after that, we play. Sometimes, we play teams that want to crash the offensive rebounds, they want to get a lot of rebounds, we have to come together as a team. We cannot rely on Brook (Lopez) or Bobby (Portis). As a team, we have to get back and get rebounds.”

“Offense, I'm not even going to talk about offense, man. We are talented. Obviously, we need direction. But we can figure things out on offense. As bad as we play sometimes, how many points did we score (against Houston)? 110? We were horrible. We were horrible.

“And the free throws, I probably missed 12 of them. We were horrible. The ball was sticking. It wasn't moving. We weren't playing fast. Walking the ball up. We have to be better. At the end of the day, this is not the end of the world. It's not the end of the world, for sure. It's a start for us to go the direction that we want to go. This is not who we are. This is not who we are. And if we keep on this pace, I don't think we're going to get where we need to get to.”

What can change defensively for the Bucks?

Specifically in Houston, Griffin changed the lineup in the second half. Jackson Jr. started in place of Malik Beasley, and at times guarded 6-foot, 11-inch center Alperen Şengün. Beauchamp played nearly 14 minutes, whereas Pat Connaughton played seven.

Jae Crowder said before the game that he is nearing a return, but he said he can’t circle a date because he still has to go through live, five-on-five practices and see how his surgically repaired left adductor holds up. And, he’ll acknowledged he’ll be on a minute restriction as he ramps up.

So, what could be put together defensively to affect some change?

“We cannot die on screens,” Antetokounmpo began. “We die on screens. Including myself. I'm not trying to throw anybody under the bus. That's why I keep saying including myself. Always. It starts from me. I'm the leader of the team. It always starts with me. I have to be better, but we cannot die on screens. What, because Bobby and Brook are back there, what does that mean? That we are going to; we are just going to die on screens and let the guy go downhill and shoot a floater because Brook is going to save our butts? That's how we're going to win a championship? No, that's not how we're going to win a championship.

"We have to be better. We have to play better. We have to defend better. We have to trust one another better. We have to be coached better. Every single thing, everybody has to be better. Everybody. It starts from the equipment manager. He has to wash our clothes better. The bench has to be better. The leaders of the team have to be more vocal. We have to make more shots. We have to defend better. We have to have better strategy. We have to be better. And hopefully, now, what are we January 6th? We have four months to get better, so let's see.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Giannis Antetokounmpo has firm message for how the Bucks can improve