DOC Rivers’ journey with the Milwaukee Bucks has been a rocky one thus far.
A Deer the player spoke to the US Sun about the veteran NBA head coach’s first month at the helm of the team, who left the locker room questioning his philosophy and leadership.
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Rivers, 62 years old, replaced Adrian Griffin at the end of Januaryjust eight months after the ex-Toronto Raptors And Chicago Bulls assistant got the first head coaching job of his career.
Griffin, who had to overcome the growing difficulties of the new Giannis Antetokounmpo-Super duo Damian Lillard, left Milwaukee with a 30-13 record, tied for second in the NBA.
Entering March, the Bucks are 39-21 – 8.0 games behind the Eastern Conference leader. Boston Celtics – despite winning four straight games since the end of the 2024 All-Star weekend.
A Bucks player told The US Sun that frustration spilled over into the locker room as the gap with the Celtics widened, especially since Griffin’s firing came as a surprise to many.
“It’s very difficult to coach a team halfway through the season, and it won’t go in the best way so far,” the player said.
“We’ve had some horrible games and the coach’s philosophy isn’t very clear, so a lot of players are confused and don’t really know where we’re going.”
Rivers played in 10 games before the All-Star break.
The Bucks went 3-7 during this stint, losing leads and suffer a humiliating defeat 113-110 At Memphis Grizzlies – who missed more than half of his squad – along the way.
Rivers boldly chose to question his players’ efforts after the game against the Grizzlies, the final game before the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend.
“We had guys here.” he said. “We had some guys in Cabo.”
The criticism hasn’t sat well with Rivers’ new players — nor has his recent revelation that two mystery teams had sought his services before he signed with Milwaukee.
“It’s a weird dynamic, and it’s a little hard to hear and be criticized like coach has been blaming us for the last few weeks,” the Bucks player said.
“It’s also a little weird to say the least to see him talking to the media so much since he got here.”
“I mean… the goal is to focus on our team and talk about us. Not the other approaches you had during the season before signing with us.
“It’s a bit ‘all over the place’ and communication with the group isn’t the best.”
Rivers has players in his corner, as evidenced by Patrick Beverley coming to his defense when First take analyst JJ Redick » criticized the Bucks head coach’s public comments.
Redick, who played for Rivers in the NBA, said “excuses” and “throwing teams under the bus” have been a theme of his career.
Beverley later lashed out at the ex-sniper on social media, suggesting he was ungrateful to his former boss.
“That man, Doc, actually saved your career,” said Beverley, who landed with the Bucks before the trade deadline in February. posted on.
“You started when no one else wanted 2. And you retire, go on TV and say that.”
But the Bucks player who spoke to The US Sun said Rivers needs to try harder to connect with the locker room.
“We all know he’s not the best at communicating publicly and privately, and that could backfire if things don’t improve,” the player said.
“The unity is not there so far, and we don’t feel like our coach is the leader, the guide of our group, so far.”
Another NBA player, who played for the Bucks and Rivers in the past, confirmed that there was a feeling of annoyance towards the new head coach among some of his ex-teammates who are still in Milwaukee.
“I still talk with most of them since I left the team and the city, and a lot of them are not happy or don’t feel at their best in his game plans,” he said. he declared.
