The Milwaukee Bucks look like deer in the headlights after losing their fourth game in a row, this time to the (3-3) Memphis Grizzlies. While superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo was his usual brilliant self, scoring 37 points on 17-22 shooting while grabbing 11 boards, his backcourt partner Damian Lillard shot only 1-12 to score only four points. Meanwhile, to add insult to injury, Grizzlies guard Scotty Pippen Jr. even seemed to throw shots at Bucks assistant coach Darvin Ham for Pippen’s ill-fated tenure with the Lakers.
“One of the coaches over there didn’t believe in me so I definitely wanted to show I can play some defense,” Pippen Jr. said via Grizzlies beat reporter Damichael Cole on X, formerly Twitter.
The Bucks in disarray
It’s still the first month of the season, but sometimes one can already tell where a team will go after only the first five games, and fans dread that this Bucks team looks like a team that just quit.
Likewise, it didn’t help that Scotty Pippen Jr. effectively stopped Dame Time, as “one of the players who guarded Dame the most tonight,” per Cole’s post, and who “definitely took the matchup personal” because of the Grizzlies’ guard bad blood with the former Lakers coach.
The Purple and Gold waived Pippen Jr. before the start of the 2023-24 campaign, owing perhaps to his lack of size and perceived inability to play consistent defense.
While his efforts against Dame certainly played a part in his poor showing, the Bucks superstar only taking 12 shots in 33 minutes might also be a pretty telling statistic.
A player of Lillard’s caliber taking the same number of shots as Gary Trent Jr. is not a recipe for success, and it invites people to ask if the Bucks have severe chemistry issues.
On the other hand, the Grizzlies did practically win the game in the first quarter, exploding for 40 points and shooting for 52.4% from the field and leading by as many as 31 points. Lillard’s shot attempts may not have mattered much in this case.
Outlook
Related Memphis Grizzlies NewsArticle continues below
For now, coach Doc Rivers has taken responsibility for his team’s struggles. Since replacing a 30-13 coach in Adrian Griffin, Rivers has gone 20-27, including the playoffs.
“The defensive transition was still awful tonight and so that’s on me,” Rivers said, via Paul Kasabian for Bleacher Report, quoting Eric Nehm’s tweet. “Everything is on me until we get it right. We gotta fix this.”
Additionally, Pippen Jr. may have gotten the last laugh, as the Lakers fired Darvin Ham after an unceremonious playoff exit last season, and his new team, the Bucks, sit in the Eastern Conference’s basement.
The result of the Bucks playing the undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers on a home-and-home set should tell everyone volumes about this team, and ultimately about Antetokounmpo asking out of Milwaukee or staying for the season.