The Milwaukee Bucks management shocked the league in January by announcing that they are replacing Adrian Griffin with Doc Rivers as the team’s Head Coach. Rivers joined the team with heightened expectations to improve the defensive output of the roster because that was pretty much the only flaw in Griffin’s 30-13 squad. As we know now, it has only gone downhill for the Bucks since then and nobody in the NBA media realm is having more fun with it than Gilbert Arenas.
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On the latest episode of Gil’s Arena, the NBA veteran ridiculed the Bucks coach for failing so miserably. Arenas said that the 62-year-old’s inability to take responsibility for the failure has caused a lot of damage to the team. The three-time All-Star believes that Rivers is moving with the “They can’t fire me now” attitude and that’s why he is feeling immune to the losses that he has taken recently. Rivers’ record with the Bucks after taking over is 17-19. Even though they’ve finished third in the East, the Bucks have looked disoriented since January.
Another issue with Rivers’ approach to coaching, that Rasheed Wallace pointed out, is that he is always on the lookout for someone or something to blame when they lose. However, in the last few weeks, we have witnessed things changing a little bit in that area. Arenas noticed that and said, “Boom, right there. He’s finally taking accountability, right. Because all of the other losses he blamed it on everything else but himself. And then he realized that the offense has been struggling since he’s been there, and he needs to speed the game back up to how they were playing before.”
Even with the late realization kicking in, it is undeniable that the Bucks have been miserable on the court in the last few months. What makes the situation worse is that now they’re gearing up for the playoffs, where they will face the Indiana Pacers in the first round. If Rivers can’t get his team into the right rhythm in the next few days, the Bucks that were touted as the Championship favorites could perish in the first-round again.
Milwaukee Bucks vs Indiana Pacers
The first-round matchup is going to be interesting because even though the two teams performed well in the regular season, they were not at their absolute best. So, they will try to use this as an opportunity to showcase everything that they have. In addition to that, their previous matchups have been sensational where the Pacers have gotten the best of the Bucks. According to Stat Muse, in the five games that they have played against one another this season, the Pacers are up four to one.
Other than the stats, there has also been some drama with the two teams. In December of last year, after Giannis Antetokounmpo finished a game with a career high 64 points against the Pacers, the game ball controversy took place. A lot unfolded on the court and Giannis making a run into the Pacers locker room to retrieve the game ball, created a lot of tension between the two sides. He was seen in a heated exchange on the court with Tyrese Haliburton as well. All things considered, it’ll be nothing short of high tension drama when they start the series on April 21.
