Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers has seen his team start the season 1-6, currently ranking 15th in the Eastern Conference. Amidst their poor start and an injury to Giannis Antetokounmpo, Rivers made it clear he’s not worried about the Bucks being in danger of missing the Playoffs in an interview with The Athletic.
“We will make the playoffs. I’m not worried about that.”
“The team’s very positive. I think they’re upbeat. No one wants to lose. We have some tough games coming up, but one win at a time. We win three or four in a row and then the numbers say if you’re 5-6 after that, you have an 80 percent chance to make the playoffs, you know? So that’s where numbers are so silly sometimes, especially early in the year. And we don’t pay much attention to them.”
The Bucks have looked shockingly poor to start the season, dropping games against the Chicago Bulls (122-133), Brooklyn Nets (102-115), Boston Celtics (108-119), Memphis Grizzlies (99-122), and the Cleveland Cavaliers (113-114, 114-116).
The team has not been remotely as good as the 30-13 roster Adrian Griffin Sr. was fired from last season for Rivers, who has a 20-26 record as Bucks head coach after taking over from Griffin.
Out of the 150 NBA teams that have started 1-6 or worse since 1970, only 12 made the Playoffs. We’ve seen more remarkable season comebacks in recent years, primarily the 2022-23 Los Angeles Lakers who became the first team in NBA history to overcome a 2-10 start and make the Playoffs, ultimately making it to the Western Conference Finals after finishing above .500.
The Play-in Tournament would greatly expand the Bucks’ chances of making the Playoffs if they fail to secure the record to be a top-six team in the East. Given only two teams in the Conference are above .500 right now, the Bucks could be a week’s worth of good results away from storming back into contention.
Unfortunately for them, they’re dealing with some major injuries on their roster after franchise superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo missed their Monday night loss to the Cavaliers with an adductor injury. The Bucks’ competitive hopes with Giannis absent are almost non-existent, so they need the Greek Freak back on the court to kickstart a season comeback.
The team was also dealt bad news about three-time All-Star Khris Middleton, who’s recovering from double-ankle surgery over the summer. Middleton’s recovery process has been slow and according to Shams Charania, the team is yet to identify when Middleton will be able to return to the court.
“Khris Middleton, his absence has been deafening for this team. He’s been out an indefinite period of time all season. It’s still uncertain when he’s going to be back. He has yet to be cleared for 5 on 5 scrimmaging. The Bucks have felt throughout training camp that he was a week away, two weeks ago.”
“Team officials have recognized that this is taking much longer than they anticipated. There was an idea that maybe he was going to be back a couple of weeks ago, but he still has not been.”
Even with the presence of Damian Lillard, overcoming these absences with Doc Rivers’ struggling as a coach will be extremely challenging. They’ll hope they can grind out a few wins before digging themselves into a bigger hole, but it seems the Bucks might be a few weeks away from re-establishing themselves as threats in the East.
Their next game is against the 1-6 Utah Jazz on Thursday but will be followed up with tough matchups against the New York Knicks (November 8) and Boston Celtics (November 10).
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