In this episode of the Draymond Green Show, host Draymond Green, former NBA star Gilbert Arenas, and an additional participant discuss the Milwaukee Bucks' disappointing 1‑3 start to the 2024‑25 NBA season. The conversation centers on the team's identity crisis, debating whether the blame lies with the coaching staff, the star players (Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard), or systemic issues. Green emphasizes that coaches must first define roles and a clear identity, which then filters down to player leadership. Arenas argues that the Bucks lack trust, communication, and a cohesive system, leaving Giannis and Lillard “stuck in corners” and unable to play to their strengths. They critique the current roster, noting that both superstars are primarily scorers rather than facilitators, and suggest the team needs a true playmaker—specifically naming Ben Simmons—as the missing connective tissue. The panel draws parallels to other franchises (OKC, the Clippers, Doc Rivers‑coached teams) to illustrate how a well‑designed system can amplify talent. Throughout, they propose tactical adjustments such as faster pace, stronger defense, and a more flexible coaching approach that lets Giannis and Lillard operate without micromanagement. The discussion concludes that the Bucks’ problems stem from an ill‑fitted system and roster construction rather than any single player, and that a strategic overhaul is essential for future success.
Chapters
My boy Giannis. Now, my son loves Giannis, bro. And he was talking about how the Bucks need to find their identity.
Gotta find ways how to win the game. Right now we don't have an identity. You know what I'm saying? Like, how are we gonna win the game? Are we gonna defend 48 minutes? Are we gonna move the ball for 48 minutes? Are we going to attack? Are we going to play fast for 48 minutes? Or 36 minutes, slow down the last 12? Got to find an identity. We don't have that right now. You know, and you can feel the game. We're good. But these last two games, as you said, we have to find that. We have to find ourselves.
Like, that's a big word in sports. That's almost like a bad word in sports. A good word or a bad word. They just fell to 1-3. And when it comes to team finding an identity, like who sets the precedence, players or coaches?
It starts with coaches. The coaches have to come in with a certain swagger, with a certain confidence, with a certain seriousness to A, let guys know what their roles are. I think on any great team, coaches come in and they define And it, it's not, all right, Draymond, your role is boom, boom, boom. Steph, your role is boom, boom, boom. It's like, no, you come in and they start establishing, this is what we need. These are the roles to fill. You're gonna, you know, we need you in this spot, da, da, da. And you start to figure out your identity and, and your, well, first your roles. You discuss what it is that we, what we want our identity to be. Right? So we want our identity to be X. We want our identity to be a great defensive team. We want our identity to be a fast-paced offensive team. Push the ball.
Yep.
Get up and down. That's what we want our identity to be. So from day one, that's what we're trying to build, right? And so it starts with coaches.
Right.
Then it moves to your best players. What are y'all doing on a day-to-day basis to make sure that you're bringing X so that everyone else know they gotta bring Y and Z. Because if the top players are bringing X, everybody else, you have to bring Y and Z or you're no good here.
Right.
And so then it starts with players. And I'm gonna tell you this, one thing that Coach Izzo used to teach us, and he would always say, it's a saying he would always say, he said, "A player-coach team is better than a coach-coach team." And that was his motto. When we had a leader that was coaching up the team and holding guys responsible on the court, that things that Izzo didn't have to do because he had a leader doing that, it makes his life easier. It make your players, it make your players' relationship with him better and all of these things, right? And the things that he have to focus on changes. Yeah. It allows him to expand his bandwidth because he don't have to focus on that. And so as much as it is, uh, coaches have to establish it.
Yeah.
It then falls on the players. Who are you gonna bring? What are you bringing to the table? What type of intensity are you coming to the table with every, each and every game? And then what is important? Is winning important to us? Because if winning is important to us, then we'll do the things that we've identified that we want our identity to be. If winning is not the most important thing to us, we usually become a team that is not sure what their identity are. And you don't know from night to night what team is gonna show up. And those teams can't win in the NBA.
And I've been on a lot of those teams, right? And the shit, for real, I've been on a lot of those teams. And like, the thing is there's no trust or communication.
Mm-hmm.
You know what I mean? And so when I look at Milwaukee, you don't trust the system.
Yep.
Right? There is no system that's putting you in a position to where your game, you feel like your game, you know what I mean? Everybody's stuck in the corner. You know what I mean? That's a fact.
That's a fact.
If Giannis and Dame Lillard are stuck in the corner, are stuck in they separate corner and they not communicating, Right? Then now you gotta go to the coach, ask the guys, talk to the coach. You know, now it's therapy, right? And it ain't basketball. You ain't figuring it out. You ain't figuring it out together. And the team that don't communicate, right? Like the Bucks need a little bit of what OKC got.
Yes.
Because they're too serious.
You know what I mean? Yeah.
They're almost too goddamn serious. It's a balance. Yeah, it's a balance. It's a balance you gotta find. And because Giannis has won a championship, right? He is like, that's his determination. And so if people are not up to that level or can't get there or a coach can't bring them to that level, then that's where you have identity issues. I would always say even the Boston team with KG and Paul and Ray Allen, I mean, they got one. You know what I mean? And I would say for a team like that with all that talent in that era, how they put that together, you know what I mean? They were, they were beatable. You know what I mean? Like Doc, the way he puts this team together, the way he coaches his teams, his teams are extremely talented, but the way the system is, is you're playing against the system. Yeah. So you can beat them playing Doc's system. And so it's gotta be a little bit of Doc gotta figure it out, Giannis and Dame gotta figure it out, but everybody else on the team gotta say, "Hey man, we ballers, this is what we like to do." And then you gotta go and try and force that in the game, right? Can't be sitting back at 1-3 saying, "Man, we don't know what—" All right, then you gotta go establish one now. And almost go kamikaze until you get in flow. 'Cause it sound like they ain't been in flow from last year. They ain't have a good training camp, it sound like. They ain't coming into the season and it's still like a major disconnection between your top 3 people, your coach and your 2 superstars.
So I'll ask you this question because I actually came across this earlier today and I hadn't thought nothing of it until we just started talking about the Bucks. I came across a clip earlier today and Gil was talking about Dame and he pretty much said he doesn't think Dame has figured out how to pick and choose his spots when he should be looking to score. Gil's, and he compared it to himself in Washington when he had T'Wan Walker and, or no, T'Wan Jamison and—
Caron Larry.
Caron Butler.
He had a whip.
Absolutely. And so he compared it to himself and he said, listen, I would just pass to those guys to start the game. Let them drive. Caron getting to the cup, getting fouled. Why am I just drawing a blank? I just said his name.
Larry Hughes, Antoine Jameson.
Antoine Jameson getting to the hole, getting fouled. And I let them get the fouls up. Now once they start getting the team to like 3 and 4 fouls, I know you have to guard. Me differently is what he said. Mm-hmm. He said, I know you have to guard me differently because we're in the bonus. And so now I can really attack you. Now I can take advantage of my skill. And, and so Gil made the comparison. He was like, he don't think Dame is letting Giannis go, go, go and then pick and choose in his spots. He said he think Dame's come out, take 3 or 4 tough shots and then if you miss 'em, And then it's kind of tough from there. What are your thoughts on that? I can't necessarily speak to that. I'm not a point guard or I was never a scoring guard. What do you, what are your thoughts to that?
Well, I totally agree. I think Dame is super talent. He's super elite. And for the majority of his career, he had to come out and damn near put up 40 for them to have a chance to win, right? When he played with LaMarcus Aldridge, give it to LaMarcus Aldridge, let him anchor. I think he gotta start going back to that mentality. Like, okay, I got Giannis, let me load Giannis up. Let me get these dudes going, right? And not that you not, it's not yourself, but it's not your points.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm. You know what I mean? Like, you start the game hitting 3, 4, 5 3-pointers in the first quarter, like, that's not going to help the Bucks win. You know what I'm saying? Like, if it was Portland, oh yeah, he about to go off. Everybody is gonna rise to that level because he's elevated them. And Milwaukee Bucks land, That's like keeping you in the game the way they play. You know what I mean?
Yeah.
So he gotta learn how to finesse the situation so it opens up for him, right?
So—
And be Dame time, right? Script, like write a script for yourself, right? Go home, write a script for yourself. Every game, write a script. This is what Giannis gonna give me, boom. This is what, Portis gonna give me, this is what I'm getting from Lopez. This is what I need in this game. And then 4 minutes, 6, we up 6, it's Dame time.
Mm-hmm.
And so you, you start making your points matter based on, oh damn, we down 6, let me go get to the line. Boom. We up 6. Let me take, let me take 2 of these just to see if I can put some distance, right? And so I think it's more so, Dame trying to, once again, it's the system. Dame trying to figure out how to do Dame time and Giannis trying to figure out how to do Giannis time. And so if you remember with the Clippers, you had Chris Paul and Blake Griffin.
Mm-hmm.
And they played two different styles.
Mm-hmm.
And that's why the Clippers could never beat you guys. You know what I mean? They could beat, they beat San Antonio because Blake played well. Chris Paul played well, but together, you know what I mean? There wasn't like, they didn't dominate the game. They actually like allowed you to stay in the game because one player was balling, the other player was balling. But if they were ever balling in sync, they were gonna blow your ass out. You know what I mean? And I think that's where Milwaukee is kind of handicapped because there's no, there's no connective tissue for like, Yin and yang. There's no yin and yang.
So check this though. Check this. If you say Dame, uh, Giannis is the one that has won a championship, right? Dame is still kind of figuring out his way there. At what point does the onus fall on Giannis to maybe get Dame going? Because Dame could also make life easier on him. So where is it, or is it just all on Dame?
It's the system, bro. You feel what I'm saying? 'Cause if you look at Giannis in this system, he don't play like Giannis. You dig what I'm saying?
That's deep.
Like he not pushing it, he not taking it, you know, taking it on the wing and saying, "Hold on." Like, "I ask for forgiveness later." Right? So he's kind of lost, a little bit of who he is and how he could help Dame, right? Or like, it's almost like they're trying to help each other so much that they're overworking without working together. You know what I mean? Yeah. And then when you go into the system, like identity is a system thing. Because if Giannis is saying we got an identity problem, That means somebody don't know who the man around here, and then somebody don't know who the man when the man is supposed to be around here. You know what I mean? And so everybody's uncomfortable, you know what I'm saying? And so that system, the way they play, there are only two playmakers on that team.
That's a fact.
Giannis and Dame Lillard. And Dame Lillard is a scoring playmaker. Giannis is a scoring playmaker, a defensive playmaker. Neither one of those guys are assist guys. They don't set— they're not— they, they wasn't molded to be great to set people up. Their greatness is in their points, you know what I mean? And their pressure that they put on defense from, uh, from an offensive standpoint. Giannis on both ends of the floor. You feel what I'm saying? So like Dame is not gonna be Jrue Holiday for the Milwaukee Bucks. Milwaukee Bucks gotta go find somebody that can do that so Dame can be a better version of whoever was the 2 guard when they won it. You know what I mean?
For sure. So does Chris Middleton, whenever he get back from injury, Does he change that or do you still have the same issue?
No, it, it, it, it— well, one, I wanna see Chris healthy cuz you know, he's— but he's another scorer, right? And so if you asking Chris Middleton to come back and be the Chris Middleton he was during the finals, then you a fool. You know what I mean? Because he was bringing the ball up, he was playmaking. They need somebody that can break down the defense or they need somebody that can look for people, you know what I mean? And you know who they need? They need Ben Simmons.
I was just about to say, ideally, who do you think they need?
They need Ben Simmons, bro.
You think, so you think Ben Simmons is the answer to the Milwaukee Bucks problem?
Hell yeah, hell yeah, hell yeah. All right.
I mean, listen, Ben Simmons—
But I don't think the system is going to work. I think, you know, You know, they had something good with Adrian Griffin, whatever. Like, bro, you know how the drama go. When it's drama, that's all drama and soap opera. Milwaukee has found themselves in the basketball soap opera of, oh, you used to be good, now you about to go through some shit. Now you gotta figure it out. Now you gotta unravel it. And you don't wanna piss off Giannis.
'Cause he can leave. So might I remind you that Doc Rivers was the coach of the Ben Simmons fallout in Philly? Yeah, I know. So I don't know if Ben Simmons—
Bro, they had a squad.
—would be the guy. They did. And Ben, listen, Ben was special, man.
Draymond Green, not the guy, bro. 'Cause he will put you in a system that only he knows how to coach it.
So, so you, so that's what you're saying the problem is. It's not Dame, it's not Giannis.— It's neither one of them.
It's the system, bro.
It's the system.
It's the system and the way you built the team. And so you built the team around two guys that are incredible basketball players, right? But you have nobody in the middle that's bringing them to a point of their comp— ultimate capacity.
Yeah.
If Dame is going, Giannis ain't going. If Giannis is going, Dame ain't going. Why the fuck aren't they both going at the same time? They're deadly in the pick and roll together. Of course. Who's on the opposite side, right? What's happening on the opposite side? Who else is chiming in? Who else is making a play for Dame or a play for Giannis? So when Giannis make a play for Dame and he wide open, it's like, damn, I'm wide open. I ain't never been wide open. And my entire— Dame Lillard has never been wide open in his entire career unless he made himself wide open.
100%.
You feel what I'm saying?
1,000%.
It's new to him too, but they gotta get that connective tissue. And I think you gotta change the system, right? Y'all gotta fast break. Y'all gotta get back to playing defense, right? But you gotta let Dame and Giannis figure this shit out. And get out the way sometimes as a coach. 'Cause you still gonna get wins based on they talent.
Facts.
Like, I'm just, you know, when I'm looking at coaching, I'm like, yo, a Doc Rivers team is a beatable team. I don't give a fuck how much talent they got, 'cause they only playing patterns.
