The Milwaukee Bucks made an interesting move halfway through the 2023-24 NBA season when they fired their head coach despite a 31-13 record and a top-3 standing in the Eastern Conference. In the place of the departed Adrian Griffin stepped big-name coach Doc Rivers, who admitted on Saturday that the job has been tougher than he initially expected.
NBA: Bucks Are Just 3-7 So Far Under Doc Rivers
Doc Rivers on taking the Bucks head coaching job:
“It’s been 3 weeks. It’s been harder than I thought.”
(via @VinceGoodwill) pic.twitter.com/6YcAKzgOOF
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) February 17, 2024
It wasn’t the team’s overall play that got Griffin fired in his first year on the job. There were growing rumblings that he was losing the locker room, and that the team wasn’t buying in to his philosophies, namely Milwaukee’s stars.
Rivers began serving as an “informal consultant” to the Bucks back in December, and it appeared that the writing was on the wall. He was “promoted” to the head coaching vacancy after a couple of days, and Milwaukee was hoping that he’d right the ship with his championship pedigree.
But Rivers’ résumé has often been brought into question. He did win a ring with the Boston Celtics back in 2008, but has had some serious playoff failures ever since, including a blown 3-1 lead in three separate playoff series. His Clippers teams from 2013-2020 were ultimately underachievers, and Rivers failed to bring the 76ers past the Eastern Conference semi-finals in any of his four seasons in Philadelphia.
Rivers Vocalizes His Frustrations During All-Star Weekend
The Bucks are 3-7 in the Doc Rivers era pic.twitter.com/raf6t8jFsm
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) February 16, 2024
Things haven’t started off very smoothly in his 5th NBA head coaching gig. The Bucks lost five of their first six games under their new head coach, and Rivers is now 3-7 in his tenure after losses to the Heat and Grizzlies entering the All-Star break. When Griffin was fired, Milwaukee was in second place in the East and 3 games behind the Celtics. Three weeks later, the Bucks are now 8 full games back in the third spot, and even dropped down to 4th place for a spell before the Knicks hit a losing streak.
According to a quote gathered by NBA reporter Vincent Goodwill during All-Star Weekend, Rivers acknowledges the recent shortcomings:
It’s been three weeks. It’s been harder than I thought.
Doc Rivers and the Bucks will face a tough test when they return to their regular season schedule. They will play 8 of their next 10 games on the road, including matchups with the Timberwolves, Warriors, Lakers, Clippers, and Kings.
Having a winning record during that stretch is almost imperative if they want to remain in the top-4, as the 6th place Pacers are currently just 4 games back.
