Doc Rivers left his broadcasting job on ESPN final month to take over as the brand new head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks had been 30-13 on the day they fired Adrian Griffin; beneath Rivers to date, Milwaukee is 3-7. No staff faces extra stress to proper the ship within the “second half” of the season than the Bucks.
Rivers was making excuses in Milwaukee even earlier than the Bucks began shedding. Rivers laid out why it might be so troublesome taking up the staff in the course of the season, and his feedback instantly became a meme. Because the Bucks have began shedding, the justifications stored coming. When Milwaukee misplaced to an especially injured Memphis Grizzlies to finish the primary half, Rivers mentioned “we had some guys in Cabo.”
Former participant and present analyst J.J. Redick has heard sufficient. Redick blasted Rivers for his historical past of constructing excuses and throwing his gamers beneath the bus throughout a Tuesday morning TV look on ESPN. Redick is taking up Rivers’ spot in ESPN’s NBA Finals protection now that Doc is in Milwaukee. Watch the clip right here:
JJ Redick calls out his former head coach Doc Rivers, who he can be changing on ESPN/ABC’s NBA Finals protection.
“I’ve seen the pattern for years. The pattern is at all times making excuses. Doc, we get it. Taking up a staff in the course of a season is difficult… it is at all times an excuse.… pic.twitter.com/NeTGnP1Suw
— Terrible Saying (@awfulannouncing) February 20, 2024
Redick begins by making an incredible level that it’s additionally onerous for gamers once they’re traded mid-season, however that hardly ever get the luxurious of utilizing that for an excuse in the event that they play poorly. If this Bucks job is so onerous for Rivers, all he needed to do was flip down Milwaukee’s job provide and keep at ESPN.
Rivers famously threw Ben Simmons beneath the bus when his Philadelphia 76ers had been eradicated in the course of the 2021 NBA Playoffs. It’s been a behavior all through Rivers’ profession: he’s so media savvy that he’s glorious at placing out the message he needs to get throughout, but it surely feels prefer it’s beginning to fall on deaf ears.
Whereas the Bucks’ document beneath Rivers is horrible, it does appear to be Doc has already made some progress after taking up for Griffin. Milwaukee’s protection is No. 10 within the league since Rivers took over on Jan. 29 after being No. 21 beneath Griffin. The Bucks’ greatest difficulty as of late isn’t Rivers — it’s that Damian Lillard has been on a chronic stoop.
The dialogue across the Bucks and Rivers proper now finally doesn’t matter that a lot. Milwaukee is in full-on championship-or-bust mode, and they are going to be judged on the size of their playoff run greater than anything. Sure, Rivers has an extended historical past of blowing collection leads within the playoffs. If he does it once more, no matter spin he decides to placed on it certain feels prefer it’s going to get shrugged off.
Doc has to discover a technique to get Lillard proper. He must maintain the protection round a top-10 degree and proceed to fine-tune the Lillard-Giannis Antetokounmpo pairing. The Bucks nonetheless have a championship ceiling, however nobody needs to listen to excuses alongside the best way.