The way the Milwaukee Bucks have bounced back from their poor start to the season is commendable. With only two wins in the first 10 games, their season was on the verge of getting over even before it started. However, with seven victories in the next eight outings, the Bucks are up and running. Gilbert Arenas, though, isn’t pleased with the turnaround.
Advertisement
On the Gil’s Arena podcast, the former NBA star pointed out that the Bucks are winning games only because of their easy schedule. The topic came up for discussion when Brandon Jennings sarcastically said that Arenas deserved some credit for the Bucks’ turnaround since he was persistently criticizing them.
To be fair to the Bucks, some of Gilbert’s ire possibly stems from his personal grudge against coach Doc Rivers. And Arenas is sticking to his guns, and stance regardless of the way the Bucks have bounced back.
In response to Jennings’ comments, Arenas said, “Don’t thank me. I didn’t set your schedule. It’s the schedule.”
The three-time All-Star is convinced that facing bad teams at a stretch has made the Bucks look like a better side than they were at the beginning of the season.
When Jennings pointed out how the Bucks HC had predicted this turnaround when he had interviewed him, Arenas countered by saying it was predictable because of the schedule.
“It didn’t take a genius in the coaching staff to look at the schedule and say, ‘Hey, this sh*t is about to turn around. It’s about to turn around’,” he said.
The Bucks have to keep winning to turn it around 🔄 pic.twitter.com/e0PCSvvl02
— Gilbert Arenas (@GilsArenaShow) November 28, 2024
“How many teams that they played is above 500? Zero, don’t even worry about it,” he added.
Arenas is spot on about the quality of the Bucks’ opposition. Only two of their seven wins have been against teams at 500 or above — the Miami Heat and the Houston Rockets.
Arenas added that they could go 17-3 in the next run as most of the upcoming matchups are also against bad teams.
Arenas hasn’t been on the Bucks’ side
Arenas rarely has anything positive to say about Rivers and the Bucks. From the way he isn’t giving out any praise despite a five-game winning streak, it’s obvious what Arenas had been doing when the Bucks were losing.
When they were on a four-game losing streak at the beginning of the season, he had lashed out at Rivers.
“You are 24th in your last 41 games and Doc said he never failed as a coach, what the f**k do you call this? The f**k do you call this…You have the 24th best record since you’ve been coaching, with that team,” Arenas had said.
Rivers’ stint with the Bucks hasn’t been easy. He has lost more games than he has won. The current run from his team is the best he has done yet. Rivers would want to keep the momentum going, the ease of fixtures notwithstanding.
