During his media chat during All-Star Saturday, Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo didn’t mince words about how hard this season has been for him. Now on his fourth head coach in the span of six months, it’s unprecedented territory for the 2x MVP and he freely admits that it has been a struggle to adjust.
“It’s hard. It’s hard. This is my fourth coach in the span of six months,” said Giannis, via Rob Peterson of The Athletic. “Coach (Mike Budenholzer), coach (Adrian Griffin), (interim) coach Joe (Prunty) and Doc. Different philosophy, different game plan. It’s hard. It’s draining. I’m a student of the game. When somebody asks me to do something, I try to do it to the best of my ability. I try to understand what we’re trying to accomplish, both so I can understand and so I can be there for my teammates when they ask questions.”
Going from Mike Budenholzer to Adrian Griffin to Joe Prunty and, now, Doc Rivers, it’s been a sliding door of coaches in Milwaukee lately and it’s getting hard to keep up. One can only imagine how it must be for the players, who have to learn and remember a new system with each coach that comes through.
The latest hire (Rivers) was brought in just a few weeks ago after former coach Adrian Griffin was promptly dismissed from coaching duties. As the most experienced and qualified candidate available, Doc was an easy hire for the Bucks — but his tenure has been anything but easy so far even though Giannis has fully bought into his system.
“But yeah, I love working with Coach Doc. He’s been very, very successful. We can talk all day about things he’s accomplished around the league. He’s won, I think, 1,100 NBA games. Some people have never played 1,100 games.”
At the All-Star break, Milwaukee is sitting 3rd in the East with a 35-21 record. While it’s been a solid season for the Bucks, it’s hardly been the dominant showing that they (and the fans) were expecting to have with Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo leading the show.
Something Is Wrong With The Milwaukee Bucks
It’s by sheer talent alone that the Bucks are as high as they are in the standings. The greatness of Giannis Antetokounmpo alone has powered the Bucks to many wins this season and Damian Lillard’s clutch shot-making has given them the edge in a lot of games that they probably should have lost. But when you look at the numbers, it becomes clear that there are major flaws with the team right now.
For starters, the Bucks are down to 17th on defense which is a steep decline from where they’ve been historically in the Giannis era. The Bucks are also 23rd in opponent points scored, allowing a whopping 118.8 points per game. Brook Lopez and Giannis were supposed to keep the Bucks no lower than 15th on defense this season but they haven’t been able to make the desired impact on that end of the floor.
Put the defensive woes alongside Lillard’s shocking decline, and it begins to make sense why the Bucks have been one of the more disappointing teams in the association this year. At this point, there is no doubt that Doc Rivers has his work cut out for him and some believe that it’s already a lost cause to get this team playing the right way again.
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