The Milwaukee Bucks fell at home to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday evening. What made the loss so frustrating was that the Bucks came out of the gate the right way and built a double-digit lead. But from there, they simply crumbled. 

Good habits deteriorated and Milwaukee wound up losing by 18 to a team two spots ahead of them in the standings. In what was Giannis Antetokounmpo's second game back from injury, the superstar spoke on his team's struggles in the locker room following the contest. 

When asked why the Bucks haven't been able to respond to opponents' runs, he had plenty to say. 

"We have the answers," Antetokounmpo said. "The team is extremely talented. We have guys that can put the ball on the floor, guys that can put the ball in the basket. At the end of the day it's like, it's your spirit, what you play for." 

Giannis said the quiet part out loud here. A team can have a roster full of NBA players who are talented in a variety of ways and can operate well as a group. But sometimes, if your heart isn't in it, it's not going to matter. 

"That's what we gotta decide," Antetokounmpo said. "Are we going to wave the white flag, or are we going to come together ... We came out and we set the tone, we were shooting 60% from the field. But after that, we just fell flat." 

Plenty of Bucks fans have been wondering the exact same thing Giannis voiced here. This team certainly has some talented players and plenty of potential. And that makes the struggles all the more concerning. 

This version of Milwaukee may not be the 2017 Golden State Warriors, but there's enough raw basketball ability to form a coherent group that wins a lot of games. It's not like Giannis is totally without any help at all. 

The team's up-and-down play for the last month-plus without him was anything but surprising. But winning six games out of seven with number 34 sidelined was proof that this team has enough to take care of business. 

When you go on the road and defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder, and when you take down a red-hot Cleveland Cavaliers squad at home, both while missing your franchise player, you prove that there's real capability here. The Bucks can absolutely compete with some of the best teams in this league. 

And that just makes their continued struggles even more obviously an issue of intangibles. Giannis has seen a thing or two in his 13 years in this league, and he can spot a team that's lacking the heart of a champion when he sees it. Fix this, and perhaps Milwaukee can still make some sort of late-season push.