Ten days ago, ESPN’s First Take studio became the stage for a JJ Reddick outburst. His eyes depicted a profound rage as he unleashed havoc on his former coach Doc Rivers. After taking over the Head Coach position for the Milwaukee Bucks, Reddick berated him for always making excuses and putting the team “under the bus”. Having played under him as a part of the Clippers, Stephen A. Smith knew these allegations were serious.

Patrick Beverley was one of the first to step in front of Rivers and retaliate. I was followed by his son, Austin Rivers who decided to land a few shots of his own reminding Reddick how his father brought his best years while on the Clippers.

“Your best years in the NBA were when you played for him and the Clippers… I don’t know if there’s frustration there or if there’s tension there between you, I know a lot of times we had to sit you towards the end of the game due to defensive reasons,” said Rivers. “It’s just very ironic and kinda weird that you have this energy towards him,”

The situation seemed to be growing worse. Or at least that’s how it could have been perceived. JJ Reddick was clearly not siding with his former HC. Surprisingly, his recent take was rather mature and favorable towards Doc.

JJ Reddick confides in Doc Rivers

During his most recent podcast episode, the former NBA sharpshooter did an overview of the tightly contested Eastern Conference. The ESPN analyst couldn’t go beyond the Boston Celtics winning the Eastern Conference this season. But he was still willing to make an argument, and he began his segment with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Reddick spoke excitedly about the Bucks’ stark defensive improvements. In particular, he highlighted the alterations in the Bucks’ pick-and-roll defense, which has significantly ranked higher since Rivers took over. Then he said something that might make you wonder if he ever did belittle Doc Rivers.

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“I am a firm believer that if this team defensively is good enough. They don’t have to be great and they have been pretty damn good since Doc took over. If they are good enough. Offensively, Doc’s gonna figure out how to maximize this offense. He did that with the Clippers team, he did that with James and Joel. He’s going to figure out how to maximize this offense,” said Reddick.

His tone had completely shifted. There was no more red-hot Reddick when speaking of Doc Rivers. Instead, he acknowledged his tactical mastery when it comes to making a dangerous offense. Rivers has a history of making squeezing the most of the star power, especially offensively. With Giannis Anttokounmpo and Damian Lillard, probably the two most prevalent inside and outside scorers respectively, Rivers is probably in the midst of something groundbreaking right now.

As far as the defense goes, the Bucks started off his tenure playing atrociously. They were 1-4 and the blame quickly went to the HC, just like Austin Rivers said. However, in the past five games, all of which Milwaukee has won, they have kept opponents below 100 points in four games. Additionally, their defense is taking a shape of its own, winning them games and outshining their behemoth offensive power.

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Brook Lopez has been critical in that regard. He is holding opponents to 46.8%, one of the best in the entire league. He along with Giannis Antetokounmpo have shut down opponents ruthlessly. Such developments were bound to happen if we think about it. This is a team that has guys who have a desperation to win. Their desire is brimming.

The question is, can they compete with the mighty Celtics?