He’s got experience! He has a powerful voice!
After 43 games, the Milwaukee Bucks brass decided to part ways with Adrian Griffin. Doc Rivers will take over as coach of the team, and many have voiced their opinions regarding Rivers’ suitability for the position ever since his hiring.
The Bucks believe—or fervently hope—that he is. Naturally, a lot of the players have expressed the same opinion. How much more can they say? Damian Lillard was the most recent to share his thoughts following the Bucks’ victory over New Orleans on Saturday. He anticipated that Rivers will bring the following to the team:
“There’s nothing he hasn’t experienced, and I just think his voice, how he’s able to motivate teams … he’s a strong voice and he’s gonna demand more from our team,” Lillard stated. He won’t be scared to put myself to the test. He won’t be hesitant to take Giannis [Antetokounmpo] on. He will not hesitate to take on Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez, as well as anyone else in the future. He seems like the ideal candidate for the job, and I believe that working with a team full of seasoned players and good players like ourselves is necessary if you want to get to the level we want to.”
This is consistent with what the majority of people believe Rivers can offer. Drive. Guidance. Experience. Each and every buzzword. Once more, several other Bucks players have expressed similar opinions. Rivers has been “like a big uncle” to Jae Crowder, according to the Marquette men. Rivers, according to Pat Connaughton, “said a few sentences [to the team] and they were powerful.” Noting Rivers’ “experience,” Brook Lopez remarked that having a man in the locker room who “played in the league for a very long time” would be beneficial.
Adrian Griffin was an NBA player for ten years. He has been an NBA coach for sixteen seasons. In other words, this is just the appropriate thing to say. It’s the criticism leveled at all coaches who are not like Rivers. Since he was once a player, you guessed it—he comprehends the psyche of the players! He has a lot of experience in the league! saw everything! And now Lillard arrives with her “strong voice” antics.
These coach-isms are like fortune cookies. It’s evident that no one has brought up the specific Xs and Os issues that Rivers may potentially assist with. This is because, quite honestly, it will be more difficult to locate individuals, including players, who believe he can truly assist with those matters.
It’s no secret that Rivers struggles with schematics. He rarely made adjustments for the playoffs, and his offenses in Philadelphia were essentially paint-drying pick-and-roll spams with very little tempo or off-ball movement.
Since Rivers has a big name and recent league ties, it’s worth asking whether Milwaukee brass truly believes he’s the answer to all the prayers this team has been praying for, or if he was simply the quickest and easiest hire to justify under what they appear to be pretty urgent conditions.
Ultimately, three weeks prior to Griffin being hired by the Bucks, Rivers was let go by the 76ers. Why didn’t they just hire him right away if they believed he was so ideal? Although it was previously believed that Giannis Antetokounmpo had a significant influence on Griffin’s hiring, it has since been revealed that Giannis’ main concern was not playing for Nick Nurse, who replaced Rivers in Philadelphia. As a result, the team appears to be very different—for the better—than it was under Rivers.
Of course, James Harden is to blame for it. And prior to that, one might argue that Ben Simmons was a hindrance to Rivers. Perhaps you are correct. Perhaps the Bucks are correct. They probably think they have such a good team that they just need a coach to help them along, and they think Griffin was hindering them, especially by forcing an aggressive defensive style that wasn’t appropriate for the Bucks’ players and by not using the Lillard-Giannis pick-and-roll enough.
A thousand pick and rolls is something that Rivers would gladly run, if that were even possible. Milwaukee has the spacing to blow opponents away with this play if Giannis can make the play on the short roll, but that may be a huge if against playoff defenders.
Running pick and roll at a much higher volume could perhaps damage who or what else, but it would undoubtedly help release Lillard, who has failed to find any real consistency this season as he has tried to adjust to playing more off ball.
Although Milwaukee’s defense has undoubtedly deteriorated, a large portion of that may be attributed to roster decisions. You’re going to regress defensively when you start a Lillard-Malik Beasley backcourt after trading Jrue Holiday for Lillard.
It’s true that the data indicate the Bucks are holding their own against Lillard-Beasley lineups; in fact, their defensive measures show that they are performing fairly well. However, leaks are everywhere. There is no transition defense. To that end, there’s a conspicuous lack of dedication that fits with Lillard’s career.
The Bucks would like to believe that Rivers is the one who will “motivate” Lillard. I’ll just say this: Dame ought to be very motivated already if he truly wants to win a championship. That is to say, at this point, everything sounds like talk. The guys are gushing about the “motivation” coach and all the wonderful things he will say. We’ll observe whether any of it truly has an impact.