Bucks’ Struggling Defense Gets Negative Verdict of New HC Doc Rivers

The ill-fated connection between Doc Rivers and the  Milwaukee Bucks started in the post-season last year when both the Bucks and Doc’s former team, the Philadelphia 76ers, couldn’t make it to the Western Conference finals. Rivers lost his job, and so did the Bucks’ head coach. Later on in the season, the Bucks made a blockbuster deal by signing Damian Lillard to the team, ushering in the era of ‘Freak-time’. Things were going well until last week.

Without any prior notice, Milwaukee fired their newly hired head coach, Adrian Griffin, and opted for Doc Rivers to take the reins. And it seems like he is settling into his role quickly. In a recent post on X, Doc shared his position on the Bucks’ defensive woes. “You’re correct about the defense. I sat in the stands last night and saw some of it. We have to get on the same page. Our language, and our communication defensively, we have to get that right,” Rivers was reported saying according to Eric Nehm.

Rivers affirmed that he wants to take the Bucks to greater heights than they are now. Midway through the season, Milwaukee stands as the second seed in the Eastern Conference right now behind the Boston Celtics. Despite that being the case, the front office fired coach Griffin. This decision was in part due to him not being able to answer the lack of defense in the absence of Holiday. Although the Bucks are a lot better offensively, a deep playoff run has to be sustained by the same defensive intensity.

Whether hiring Rivers was the right decision or not, only time will tell. Now this begs the question, how bad is the Bucks’ defense?

Doc Rivers has his work cut out to help the Bucks win

The Milwaukee Bucks have a record of 31-14 for this season. While this may essentially not seem bad, it must be pointed out that their victories came mostly due to clutch-time excellence by Damian Lillard and the offensive heroics of Giannis Antetokounmpo. The latter even pointed their defense issues out following their loss to the Indiana Pacers on Jan. 3 saying, “We cannot let a team score 140 points on us and we’re trying to score 142. You cannot be consistent that way.” After Milwaukee’s loss to the Houston Rockets, Giannis shared, “Defensively, our effort was not there. There was no pride.” This was also the game where they gave up 66 points in the first half.

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On the defensive ratings, the Bucks stand at the 18th spot with 117.2 ratings. This is not a good look for a team contenting to be in the NBA finals. Despite having powerhouses like Brook Lopez, it seems like the Jrue Holiday-void is quite large for anyone to fill. Doc Rivers must get down to business quickly and fix this issue. If not, then the Bucks will not go far into the postseason.

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Watch this space as we keep you updated on all the latest developments on this and more!