Photo by Kyle O Sullivan / Unsplash
By Charles Collier
The Milwaukee Bucks are facing a downward spiral under Doc Rivers, as their recent embarrassing home loss to the Memphis Grizzles adds to the disappointment. The decision to hire Doc and fire Adrian Griffin is being criticized. The Bucks are 3-10 under Doc Rivers and appear to be headed to a another first round exit for the second consecutive year. Before the hiring of Doc, the Bucks had an offensive rating of 120.4 which was second in the league. Under Doc’s tutelage the Bucks offensive rating is currently 23rd.
Doc has been a long-time coach in the NBA and has been successful compiling a record of 1099-769. He won his lone NBA title with the Boston Celtics in 2008. That team included Hall of Famers Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Doc has his critics, many sports experts thought that team should have won three championship and not one. In addition, Doc Rivers was responsible for the offensive and then assistant coach Tom Thibodeau was responsible for the defensive.
The million-dollar question is why would the Bucks front office hire an offensive coach to lead a team with defensive issues? That’s a fair question that remains unanswered. The addition of Pat Beverly is a step in the right direction and will shore up the defense. He will be a great leader on the court and will have no problem being honest with his teammates.
Another question is who should be the number one option on offensive? We all agree that Giannis is a phenomenal player. Athletically he is a freak of nature, and he is currently third in the NBA in scoring and second in transition points. However, he struggles in the half court offensive. Shouldn’t Damian Lillard be the number one option in half court sets? According to former player Gilbert Arenas, “point guards don’t flourish in Doc River’s system.” If your best half court player is a point guard doesn’t Doc need to adjust his system to the strength of his players?
It’s hard to judge a coach’s performance after ten games. Doc Rivers has had a successful career as an NBA coach, however; we all agree the Bucks haven’t responded well to Doc’s coaching thus far. I opine, the Bucks need to play better defensively and feature Damian Lillard as the number one option in half court sets. Only then will they get back to playing Bucks’ basketball. Doc Rivers was hired to win a championship, and anything less will be a considered a failure.