Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo: 'We’re not going to fold as a team. That’s not what we do.'
Down 3-2 in the Eastern Conference finals, the emotions were all over the place Thursday night in Milwaukee. Some of the Bucks left Fiserv Forum in stunned silence. Others said they would take a hard look in the mirror. Others insisted the confidence remained.
Giannis Antetokounmpo could not hide his anger.
“I’m pissed. I’m not going to lie to you,” Antetokounmpo said.
After the Bucks lost to Toronto in Game 5, Antetokounmpo remained true to the positive message he’s been sending throughout this unprecedented three-game losing streak. He spoke of remaining close as a team and trusting one another.
“We got two more games to go and we can do this," Antetokounmpo said. "We’ve had great habits, we’ve been playing great basketball all year, we’ve been a good team. As much pissed or frustrated I am about this game, it’s in the past now. I’ve got to keep believing in this team, keep believing in what we’ve been working on and pick all my teammates up.”
But then he was reminded of the Boston series in the Eastern Conference semifinals. When the Bucks took a 3-1 lead, the Celtics looked beat from the moment they started Game 5 and put up very little fight.
Is there any way the Bucks could go to Toronto on Saturday for Game 6 with no energy or hope as well?
“We’re not going to fold, man. C’mon, man,” Antetokounmpo said, half hidden under the hoodie he’d pulled over his head on one of the warmest days of the year.
“We’re the best team in the league, man. We’re not going to fold. We’re going to go and give everything we’ve got. We’re not going to go there and even (if) they set a great tone and come out and hit us in the mouth first – we can’t fold.
“We’re going to come back to Milwaukee being pissed, like, you cannot fold. You’ve got to go out there and give everything you’ve got. If we lose, we lose. OK, cool. But we’re not going to fold as a team. That’s not what we do.”
But this is a tough one for the Bucks. Besides all of the real world issues and practical obstacles they face – of giving up too many offensive rebounds, struggling mightily with their own three-point shooting, etc. – there is a lack of experience in how to handle this pressure.
"It's not an easy situation. We kind of dug a hole for ourselves,” Bucks forward Ersan Ilyasova said. “But at the end of the day – it's just one more game. We have to go and do the same thing that they did to us. Just come up and try to get another win."
Most of the Bucks have never played in a must-win situation like this. There are no past experiences to draw upon, to go on the road with the stakes so high.
“It's mental. I think it’s going to be about us showing our strength – not just physically," Ilyasova said. "Mentally, because we have to be ready. They will come out full force, and not just them – the fans and everything. We have to stick together and play our best game."
The emotional reaction to the crushing loss could be powerful too. How sleepless was that Thursday night for the Bucks?
How must Ilyasova feel, so close to finally getting to an NBA Finals in his third stint with the Bucks? Or George Hill, with a shot at getting back there as well after getting swept out of the Finals last season while with the Cleveland Cavaliers? How must Malcolm Brogdon be coping, having missed so much while he recovered from plantar fasciitis injury, only to come back and play brilliantly for the most part? Or Eric Bledsoe, who finally found his shooting touch?
"We'll respond the same way – we lost one game," guard Pat Connaughton said. "It's pretty good to be in this unchartered territory. A lot of NBA teams have lost three in a row. It's unfortunate that it's come in the Eastern Conference finals when we had a 2-0 lead, but at the end of the day we have to look at the film, we have to dig deep and we have to look at each other and see what we're made out of.
"We have to look in the mirror and make sure we have each other's backs. Just like we've had all year."
Go through the roster and the Game 5 loss was crushing to everyone on some level. Besides all of the strategic adjustments that need to be made and corrections, the Bucks must confront these emotions.
“I don't think anybody's broken. We're still positive in the locker room,” forward Khris Middleton said. “We just know we've got to fight. We've got to bring it.
"Nothing in life is easy. Winning championships damn sure isn't easy.
"We've got to compete. We know it's not going to be easy. We've got a great challenge ahead. We've faced different types of challenges all year so, it's the perfect one to go to the Finals. We win two in a row and we're there."
On Antetokounmpo’s Instagram and Twitter bio, he makes a reference to “the beauty in the struggle," a reference to rapper J. Cole's song "Love Yourz." He's talked about it too, in the playoffs. The struggles he's faced have made him appreciate the triumphs and successes all the more.
Many of the Bucks have faced tough challenges – in their upbringing, in their personal lives. Before Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Boston Celtics, Antetokounmpo gave an uncommon pre-game speech.
“Giannis’ speech was: 'A lot of us probably came from nothing,'” guard George Hill said. “'You have the opportunity to write your own story. Go take advantage of that opportunity.’”
That opportunity has never been so great nor the stakes so high for the members of this Bucks team. On Saturday in Toronto, they face their greatest challenge yet and one last chance to keep their dreams alive.
Either this season's story will end or they'll find a way to keep writing.
Message Lori Nickel on Twitter at @LoriNickel, Instagram at @bylorinickel or Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ChinUpLoriNickel