Born in Chicago in the neighboring state of Illinois, legend of the college of Marquette where his number 31 was retired, Doc Rivers is back in the state of Wisconsin Called to the rescue by the Bucks after the dismissal ofAdrian Griffinthe former coach of the Sixers will not take long to return to service.
While he will not take office until Monday for Milwaukee's trip to Denver, Doc Rivers gave his first press conference alongside GM Jon Horst on Saturday. He explained the reasons which pushed him to accept, and which are quite obvious according to him, with the prospect of fighting for a title this season.
” Do you know the answer. Giannis (Antetokounmpo), Damian Lillard, that’s the answer », he saidspecifying that he had already refused a few offers this season. “Look at their team. There are, what, eight teams that have a legitimate chance to win the title? I don't know what level they're at, but the Bucks are one of them, right? The other thing is that they built their team with veterans and their players that they improved. I told myself that if I were to join a group at this stage of the season, it would be with this type of squad that I would have the best opportunity to integrate and make things evolve quickly.
Finding the right balance between change and continuity
Doc Rivers also had a little word for Adrian Griffin, with whom he is friends and whom he would have liked to see succeed. For the rest, he measures the magnitude of the task that awaits him in the company of his new assistants Rex Kalamian and Dave Joerger. With 36 games remaining before the start of the playoffs, there will be no time for procrastination. We will have to quickly find a formula that works, without spreading ourselves too thin.
“I have never done that, and given the last 36 hours that I have lived, I would not wish it on anyone… I assure you”he continues. “It’s a real challenge that will present itself. We must organize quickly. You shouldn't try to do too much too soon. We are in the middle of a season, so we have to try to keep our rhythm. There are changes to be made, there is no doubt about it. We will start working on this immediately.”
Take players out of their comfort zone
If the Bucks chose him, it's because they think Doc Rivers has the means to “maximize the team’s potential”. Even if he never arrived in a franchise in these conditions, during the season, he saw enough things to be able to make the group evolve positively. This will also be his 25th season (in a row) on an NBA bench! It will be up to him to use his experience and his character to impose his ideas and succeed in this new challenge.
“I don't know if I have anything to prove other than I want to win. I like to win. I like finding myself in these situations”he continued. “I have known everything, really experienced everything as a coach. That's what's great about this job. There are a lot of ups and downs, and you're always working and learning from those experiences. Ultimately, it's about relationships. As a coach, your job is to get certain players to do things they don't want to do. You're not going to be popular all the time and that's okay, you have to accept that when you take on a leadership role, it's part of the process. If you can get buy-in and get everyone on the same page, then you can be successful.”
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo | 43 | 35.2 | 60.7 | 24.0 | 66.5 | 2.7 | 9.0 | 11.7 | 6.3 | 3.7 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 3.0 | 31.0 |
| Damian Lillard | 42 | 35.3 | 42.2 | 34.3 | 92.3 | 0.5 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 6.7 | 2.5 | 1.1 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 25.3 |
| Khris Middleton | 39 | 26.1 | 48.2 | 37.3 | 83.5 | 0.6 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 5.0 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 14.9 |
| Brook Lopez | 45 | 31.7 | 48.3 | 32.4 | 82.1 | 1.7 | 4.0 | 5.7 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 12.8 |
| Bobby Portis | 45 | 23.3 | 50.3 | 37.8 | 77.6 | 1.5 | 5.2 | 6.7 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 12.2 |
| Malik Beasley | 43 | 29.4 | 48.8 | 47.1 | 75.0 | 0.7 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 2.1 | 11.4 |
| Jae Crowder | 14 | 23.2 | 46.7 | 45.3 | 57.1 | 0.4 | 2.9 | 3.3 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 7.3 |
| Cameron Payne | 41 | 15.1 | 46.7 | 39.7 | 87.5 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 6.4 |
| Pat Connaughton | 39 | 21.1 | 44.7 | 38.2 | 73.7 | 0.6 | 2.5 | 3.2 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 5.5 |
| Marjon Beauchamp | 34 | 15.7 | 47.4 | 40.3 | 60.0 | 0.6 | 1.9 | 2.5 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 4.9 |
| Aj Green | 27 | 7.6 | 42.9 | 41.7 | 100.0 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 3.3 |
| Andre Jackson, Jr. | 38 | 11.4 | 54.5 | 37.1 | 88.9 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 2.2 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.9 | 2.8 |
| Lindell Wigginton | 3 | 2.5 | 40.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 2.0 |
| Tyty Washington, Jr. | 2 | 2.8 | 33.3 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.5 |
| Chris Livingston | 12 | 4.8 | 58.3 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 1.4 |
| Robin Lopez | 12 | 2.7 | 42.9 | 40.0 | 100.0 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.8 |
| Thanasis Antetokounmpo | 18 | 4.1 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 0.8 |
| Bolden Brands | 2 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
