Looks like the ‘Fear the Deer’ tagline, that fans so proudly came up with for the Milwaukee Bucks, is slowly starting to fade away. Fans may not want to believe this is the case, but the Bucks’ last few games have been far from a great look for the team. And to make matters worse, while he talked about Milwaukee recently, Kendrick Perkins refused to hold back an inch.
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Just hours ago, Kendrick Perkins went to town on the Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo, following their loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. The Bucks came up short 101-111, marking Milwaukee’s second straight loss.
“And who’re you gonna blame now Giannis? You wanted Damian Lillard, you got him. You wanted a new coach, you got Doc Rivers. And now, where’s the leadership? Where’s Patrick Beverley? I know he didn’t play tonight but he’s still a voice in the locker room, right? He rushed to Twitter talkin’ bout belt 2 a**, right?”
“Where’s that energy at right now? Who’s the voice in the locker room? It’s unacceptable to have these two losses back to back, especially at the crib against a Memphis Grizzlies team, without basically all their players. Like, I know they played hard but damn. Giannis played tonight.”
Despite Kendrick Perkins’ often hard-to-agree-with takes, this time the former NBA champion turned analyst is spot on this time around. The Milwaukee Bucks did drop the ball in their last two games. In the Memphis Grizzlies matchup, while the Milwaukee Bucks did not have Damian Lillard, Khris Middleton, and Patrick Beverley in their lineup, they still had their leading scorer, Giannis Antetokounmpo on the floor. Further, the Grizzlies have been a lottery team this season, with a record of 26-50, good for only 13th in their conference, per NBA.com.
Given that the Bucks are a championship-contending team, it is unacceptable to drop back-to-back games, especially in the final stretch of the season.
The Grizzlies and the Bucks both had four players finishing the game in double-digits. Jaren Jackson Jr. led Memphis with a 35-point performance, coming in clutch in multiple late-game situations. As for Milwaukee, their leading scorer was none other than the Greek Freak who had a menial 21-point game, going 10-23 from the field, and 0-4 from beyond the arc, per StatMuse. In every sense, with his team desperate to be galvanized during a key part of the season Giannis Antetokounmpo has failed to deliver this season.
The Milwaukee Bucks may need to be worried about the 2024 NBA Playoffs
During his supposed rant over the Milwaukee Bucks’ recent performance, Kendrick Perkins emphasized Patrick Beverley’s go-to catchphrase, ‘Belt 2 A**’ that the guard is famously known to chant every time the Bucks come out on top. While Beverley did not suit up tonight, he also ended up receiving heat from the player-turned-analyst for being a vocal voice in the locker room and still failing to rile his teammates up after following their surprising loss to the Wizards.
This truly was an unexpected loss for the Milwaukee Bucks, especially after the team had dropped their last game to the Washington Wizards. Milwaukee has now lost a whopping five of its last 10 games, per NBA.com.
Despite being the second-best squad in the Eastern Conference with a 47-29 record, the Bucks losing to bottom-dwelling teams does raise alarming concerns over how they’ll perform in the playoffs.
