The Milwaukee Bucks made an attention-grabbing transfer midway by means of the 2023-24 NBA season once they fired their head coach regardless of a 31-13 report and a top-3 standing within the Jap Convention. Within the place of the departed Adrian Griffin stepped big-name coach Doc Rivers, who admitted on Saturday that the job has been more durable than he initially anticipated.
NBA: Bucks Are Simply 3-7 So Far Beneath Doc Rivers
Doc Rivers on taking the Bucks head teaching job:
“It’s been 3 weeks. It’s been tougher than I assumed.”
(through @VinceGoodwill) pic.twitter.com/6YcAKzgOOF
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) February 17, 2024
It wasn’t the crew’s total play that acquired Griffin fired in his first 12 months on the job. There have been rising rumblings that he was dropping the locker room, and that the crew wasn’t shopping for in to his philosophies, specifically Milwaukee’s stars.
Rivers started serving as an “casual guide” to the Bucks again in December, and it appeared that the writing was on the wall. He was “promoted” to the top teaching emptiness after a few days, and Milwaukee hoped that he’d proper the ship together with his championship pedigree.
However Rivers’ résumé has typically been introduced into query. He did win a hoop with the Boston Celtics again in 2008, however has had some severe playoff failures ever since, together with a blown 3-1 lead in three separate playoff sequence. His Clippers groups from 2013-2020 had been in the end underachievers, and Rivers did not carry the 76ers previous the Jap Convention semi-finals in any of his 4 seasons in Philadelphia.
Rivers Vocalizes His Frustrations Throughout All-Star Weekend
The Bucks are 3-7 within the Doc Rivers period pic.twitter.com/raf6t8jFsm
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) February 16, 2024
Issues haven’t began off very easily in his fifth NBA head teaching gig. The Bucks misplaced 5 of their first six video games underneath their new head coach, and Rivers is now 3-7 in his tenure after losses to the Warmth and Grizzlies coming into the All-Star break. When Griffin was fired, Milwaukee was in second place within the East and three video games behind the Celtics. Three weeks later, the Bucks are actually 8 full video games again within the third spot, and even dropped all the way down to 4th place for a spell earlier than the Knicks hit a dropping streak.
In accordance with a quote gathered by NBA reporter Vincent Goodwill throughout All-Star Weekend, Rivers acknowledges the current shortcomings:
It’s been three weeks. It’s been tougher than I assumed.
Doc Rivers and the Bucks will face a tricky take a look at once they return to their common season schedule. They may play 8 of their subsequent 10 video games on the street, together with matchups with the Timberwolves, Warriors, Lakers, Clippers, and Kings.
Having a profitable report throughout that stretch is sort of crucial in the event that they wish to stay within the top-4, because the sixth place Pacers are presently simply 4 video games again.