Giannis: “I need time to be where I want to be, to play my best basketball when it matters”

The Bucks defeated the Sixers (88-90) in Philadelphia in their season opener, with Giannis Antetokounmpo ending the game with a double-double. After the game, Giannis referred to what happened in the game but also to his performance, stressing that it was quite far from what he had in mind.

Giannis explained in detail:

About his thoughts on the first game of the season: “Great win for our team. I think we all played as a team for 48 minutes. We only allowed 88 points, our defense was incredible, Brook Lopez was everywhere, made it difficult for Embiid and made life difficult for everyone.

In attack we moved the ball well, even when we were behind we stayed calm, we trusted each other, we made shots. If someone had told me that we would score 90 points, I would not have believed it, but at the end of the day our goal is to be one of the best defensive teams and we achieved that. It was a good win for us and I hope we can gain some momentum going forward.

About how important Brook Lopez is: “He is important. We forget how important he is to our defence, we take that for granted but in the games he didn’t play last year we figured out what he had to do when Portis and I had to do that. He’s a big physique, he can make blocks, get rebounds, shoot, he’s amazing.”

About Matthew’s basket winning the game and what happened on offense that led to Allen’s support: “I try to make the right decision, to make the players move, not play one-on-one. Allen is very good at handoffs and I gave him the ball. He was able to attack the basket and he made the right decision to pass to Matthews who was free and he took the shot.”

Onto James Harden finding rhythm as Sixers is downsized with Embiid on the bench: “He is a great player. He wants to go to the paint and shoot 3-pointers from the dribble. He has found a rhythm making difficult shots from medium distance. But that’s what we want, a team that shoots a lot of mid-range shots. He’s a great player but if he finds a rhythm he’ll score no matter what you do. But the most important thing is that we didn’t panic in the 4th third when we made consecutive mistakes. We found a rhythm, fired shots and made the right decisions.”

For what he did differently and started the match with consecutive accurate shots: “I just want us to enjoy the game, make the right decisions and win. Can we play better? Sure. We have players who are missing and can help? 100%. Am I at my best? I play good basketball , me making the right decisions but it takes time. I hope to get where I want to go. But I’m in no rush. I want to play the best basketball I can when it counts. I’m glad we won and I’m happy can go out to eat in Philadelphia and see my kids and get ready for the Houston game.

For what he wants to improve: “I want to be more aggressive, but that doesn’t matter. I didn’t have to be aggressive for 48 minutes today. This year I’ve said I’ll trust my teammates, pass and sacrifice things. If that helps us win, I will do.” I do. It’s not about me, I’m fine with myself. I’m glad all the guys helped to get the win. Me and the team still have a level up when the injured come back and hopefully we’re at that point where it counts.”

How important the win is given Bucks’ absence (Middleton, Connaughton): “It’s a great win because it shows what kind of team we are. That we have talent and that we can win if we play in defence.”

Because how important it is that the Sixers were 5/24 3-pointers: “It’s important. We’re competitive, of course we want to do every layup and every shot. We understand that basketball is changing and teams want to try 40-50 three-pointers. If we can get that number down to 30 three-pointers by May 25th , 20 threes gives us more chances to win”

Watch the VIDEO of Giannis’ statements: