Doc still pondering how to heal Bucks
MILWAUKEE — Doc Rivers’ arrival was supposed to ensure the Bucks would develop into one of the NBA’s most dangerous teams by the postseason.
But they sure haven’t looked like contenders so far.
The Bucks return from the All-Star break tonight at Minnesota, having gone 3-7 in Rivers’ first 10 games as coach after the team put together a 32-14 record beforehand. There have been questions whether this was a good move for Rivers, although two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo — arguably the most important voice when summarizing the situation — believes in his new coach.
“He’s coached a lot of successful teams in the past,” Antetokounmpo said during the All-Star break. “When you have that guy on your bench, you have to be able to bring your ‘A’ game.”
The Bucks have been failing in that effort.
Their last game before the break was an embarrassing 113-110 loss at Memphis, which was missing most of its top players due to injuries.
“You don’t want to lose games like this ever,” Rivers said. “Does that change the way I think about the team? No, it doesn’t at all. I got a lot of confidence in this group, but we’re going to have to make changes as far as how we want to play every night and how we ease into the game.”
There are reasons for the Bucks to be optimistic.
Milwaukee’s record before and after Rivers’ arrival doesn’t necessarily tell a complete story.
Rivers took over just as the Bucks were entering the most challenging portion of their schedule. They Bucks haven’t had their entire preferred starting five available for any of their last eight games, and their defense has improved.
Those factors and Rivers’ experience — his 1,100 career regular-season coaching wins rank eighth in NBA history — make the Bucks believe they’ll eventually succeed with him leading the way. Rivers took over for Adrian Griffin, who was fired just 43 games into his first head coaching job.
But the Bucks haven’t delivered in the short time Rivers has been on the bench.
After losing five of their first six games with Rivers, the Bucks won two straight, including a 112-95 victory over the reigning champion Nuggets. But they followed that by losing, 123-97, at home to a Heat team missing Jimmy Butler, and falling to Memphis’ skeleton crew.