The Milwaukee Bucks might have self-sabotaged their season by firing Adrian Griffin after a 30-13 start to the season. Doc Rivers was brought to right the ship but has gone 3-7 in his first 10 games, losing tonight to the Memphis Grizzlies who are missing over half of their rotation due to injuries.
After the game, Rivers attacked his players for their low effort, claiming many had already checked out for the upcoming All-Star break.
“We had some guys here. We had some guys in Cabo.”
Doc Rivers, on the Bucks effort tonight:
"We had some guys here. We had some guys in Cabo."
— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) February 16, 2024
Rivers is trying to hold his team accountable when most of Buck’s problems right now are his fault. The Bucks were struggling defensively under Griffin Sr. but he implemented a modern offense that saw Milwaukee as one of the best offensive teams in the NBA. While Rivers has come in and fixed the defense, they have no structure to the offense they play now.
Giannis Antetokounmpo put up 35 points and 12 assists on 15-17 shooting, trying to single-handedly carry the Bucks to this win. Damian Lillard had another inefficient scoring night, putting up 24 points and seven assists in the loss.
The Grizzlies were without Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, Marcus Smart, Jaren Jackson Jr., Luke Kennard, Derrick Rose, Jake LaRavia, and more on the night. Despite that, GG Jackson and Ziaire Williams both put up 27 points to lead the team to the shock win against a healthy Bucks squad, missing only Khris Middleton.
Doc Rivers Can’t Get The Job Done
Giannis Antetokounmpo has averaged 30.8 points, 11.2 rebounds, and 6.4 assists over this 10-game stretch, numbers that are consistently at an MVP level. But the inability of Rivers’ to find success with him and Damian Lillard is infuriating fans of the franchise.
Every coach needs time to settle in, but to sacrifice this season in the hope that Rivers can pull it together next season is foolhardy. He has over a decade’s experience in not getting the job done, with the 2008 championship run the only successful playoffs of his career. He has the most blown 3-1 playoff leads in history, along with almost every postseason run ending after his team took a playoff series lead.
He cannot comfortably feel the pace of a game and adjust on the fly. That has been one of the main reasons why teams can counter his schemes effectively in the playoffs. His offensive schemes are stagnant and going more out-of-date with innovative ways to score being pioneered around the league.
The Bucks have a fundamental roster problem, but Rivers is not the coach who can clean that up. They have tied up a lot of money in coaching contracts after giving Rivers a big deal along with paying out Mike Budenholzer and Adrian Griffin’s long-term contracts early to dismiss them. They can’t afford to fire another coach, but they may not have a choice.
The front office has gone all-in with no future trade assets available to re-tool this roster. They have what they have, and with a coach like Rivers struggling already, it’s hard to see how he can be the coach to lead them to a title.
Thank you for being a valued reader of Fadeaway World. If you liked this article, please consider following us on Google News. We really appreciate your support.
