Despite firing the coach mid-season and appointing a captain with poor performance in the Playoffs in the past, the Milwaukee Bucks still set very high goals.
After only 8 months of not being the captain of any NBA team and having to work for ESPN to… “kιll time”, coach Doc Rivers has now returned to the position of holding the tactical board.
The 2021-22 NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks has just officially announced a new contract with coach Doc Rivers. Further information by journalist Shams Charania, Mr. Rivers will stay with Milwaukee until the end of the 2026-27 season with a total contract value of 40 million USԀ.
Milwaukee Bucks has just officially announced new head coach Doc Rivers, the new teacher of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard and his teammates.
In the middle of last week, the Milwaukee Bucks shocked the entire NBA when they fired coach Adrian Griffin despite having an extremely good record, possessing the second-best winning rate in the league.
This is the Bucks’ second general change in less than 9 months. Previously, the team fired coach Mike Budenholzer because they were eliminated by the Miami Heat in the first round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs.
Milwaukee then appointed Adrian Griffin in the hope of bringing innovation to the game, but the first-year captain’s journey only lasted 43 matches before being fired midweek.
Initially, Milwaukee Bucks technical director Jon Horst refused to explain and share why the team fired coach Adrian Griffin. It was not until January 27, Vietnam time that this GM made an official statement about his “beheading”.
“The reason here is not because of the players, nor because something was said that should not have been said. It’s all just what I do to help the team become better ,” Mr. Jon Horst shared via ESPN.
“The coaching staff’s primary goal is to find ways to optimize the current squad and convert it into effectiveness on the field. When I felt I needed to change personnel to better utilize the talent the team had, I did so (fired the coach – PV).”
Milwaukee Bucks leaders believe that coach Doc Rivers has the ability to optimize the current squad better than his predecessor, hoping to win the NBA championship for the second time in four years.
Besides the denied rumors about disagreements in the locker room, especially in the positions of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard that directly led to Adrian Griffin’s dismissal, another reason is the decline. of defense.
Last season’s Milwaukee Bucks had one of the strongest defenses in the NBA, centered around Giannis Antetokounmpo and Defensive Player of The Year runner-up Brook Lopez.
By this season, the Bucks not only failed to maintain defensive efficiency but also plummeted to 22nd out of 30 teams in terms of Defensive Rating. This is considered the biggest professional reason leading to Mr. Griffin losing his seat.
The fact that the defense ranked 4th in the NBA last season fell to 22nd this season makes the Milwaukee Bucks leadership unhappy with the head coach position.
With coach Doc Rivers, the Milwaukee Bucks board believes that the captain born in 1961 can both optimize the Giannis – Damian Lillard duo in аttаck and improve the defense to help the team stabilize their performance.
Changing champions mid-stream is often difficult to bring good results immediately, not to mention Mr. Doc Rivers’ unimpressive performance in the Playoffs over the past 15 years. However, Technical Director Jon Horst believes there is still enough time and affirmed his confidence in the new coach.
“I believe that the season is still long enough for the team to build a clear direction under the new coach, from which the players will learn and work together to find the best version of themselves. ” Mr. Horst shared.
“Building cohesion in a short time will not be simple, but the team will adapt quickly thanks to the great trust they place in coach Doc Rivers. I myself also believe that this team can become excellent and great.”
Coach Doc Rivers will face not an easy challenge at the Milwaukee Bucks