“Lot Of Miscommunication And Confusion”: Damian Lillard Opens Up About Giannis Antetokounmpo And The Bucks’ Lackluster Defense

The Milwaukee Bucks are the second-best team in the Eastern Conference with a 33-17 overall record. The team landed the biggest star this offseason when they got Damian Lillard from the Portland Trail Blazers. Yet, there have been times when the Bucks seemed vulnerable on the floor and not a championship-contending team. To pinpoint what the team needs to work on, Damian Lillard opened up about the Bucks’ lackluster defense.

Damian Lillard sat down with ESPN’s Malika Andrews for a one-on-one interview a few days ago. Lillard and Andrews talked about numerous aspects of his career and what the team currently needs. Dame acknowledged that the team has been struggling on defense lately. He addressed the personnel change in the coaching staff as one of the reasons for the Bucks being sub-par on the defensive end.

“I think we have to put a little bit more into the defensive end. I think we’ve had a lot of miscommunications and confusions throughout games sometimes when we change coverages. And things that are just new, our personnel is kind of new.”

Lillard also talked about former Bucks guard, Jrue Holiday. He praised Holiday’s skills on the defensive end of the floor but did not feel the need to emulate Holiday’s efforts in order to help his team win.

“I don’t have to be Jrue Holiday as a defender. He’s the best of the best at doing that. That’s what he brings to the team along with other things, that’s what he does. But I know I don’t have to be that defensively to be better and to be a part of a good defensive team.”

The seven-time All-Star highlighted some of the team’s strengths but also emphasized the things they are looking to improve. Lillard mentioned how if the Bucks continue to get better at the things they want, the outcome would be different come playoff time.

Lillard did not pinpoint the blame on the personnel change but did list it as a factor for the Milwaukee Bucks struggling on defense. However, he is confident that as the season goes on, they will continue to get better on defense as well.

Lillard’s comments are hard to refute, especially when it comes to the differences between what he and Jrue Holiday can do on a basketball court. That said, his opinion about miscommunication within the Bucks doesn’t get off that easy. After all, with this late stage in the season, Milwaukee has no choice but to be on the same page. If that understanding is still lacking within the team, there is absolutely no chance that the franchise will win the title this season.

Still, Damian Lillard has remained optimistic about his team.

Damian Lillard exudes confidence in the Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks are not the same team that they once were on defense and Damian Lillard did agree to that. But he also believes that the Bucks will hit their strides and was confident enough that things will blow over soon.

“The thing that I think about all the time is that we’ve got to give ourselves grace to know that’s what the regular season is for. Especially with a trade this big and this much newness is happening.”

As per BleacherReport, Lillard mentioned how the team has been fine-tuning their plays as they learn to change things while the season goes on. He credited their wins as a way to find out what has been working for them and what’s not.

“We’ve been winning through it. We’ve been finding a way. We just want to hit our stride and for it to click when it should. I got confidence that that will happen.”

The Milwaukee Bucks are 1-3 since Doc Rivers took over Adrian Griffin for the head coaching position. And even though the Bucks did not get off to a great start, Lillard is confident that they will come around by playoff time. Let’s see if Lillard and the Bucks do improve going forward.