By Nikola Miloradovic / info@eurohoops.net
After tallying 41 points, 15 rebounds, and nine assists in Milwaukee’s win over Chicago Bulls, Giannis Antetokounmpo shifted the spotlight from his individual brilliance to the team’s ability to recover.
The Bucks bounced back decisively from a 128-100 rout at the hands of the Toronto Raptors in a back-to-back, improving to 6-3 on the season and 1-0 in NBA Cup East Group C play.
“This year is not the year of excuses,” Antetokounmpo said. “It’s easy to blame the schedule or travel, but we can’t do that.”
Emphasizing accountability and mental resilience, the Bucks’ star underlined the importance of maintaining focus and consistency as Milwaukee aims to avoid early-season setbacks and sustain momentum in both the league and NBA Cup play.
For Giannis, things are simple: “As I said, this year is not the year of excuses. You know it’s easy for us to say ‘Ah it’s back-to-back games’. We got in at 2:00 a.m., 3:00 a.m.’ You know, ‘it’s hard.’ We played a tough game the night before with a fast-paced team, blah blah blah blah. No, no, no. Good teams don’t lose two in a row. At the end of the day, we know that we have one goal against Toronto. We knew that this was an NBA Cup game, a team that was playing very, very well. They’re, I think, seven and one. We knew that they were going to keep coming”.