In his long career on the NBA benches, Doc Rivers has never taken control of a team during the season. So it’s something new for him, in addition to arriving in a team that isn’t doing so badly (second in the Eastern Conference). Last difficulty: his first match opposed him to the Nuggets, the reigning champions.
Not easy for a first. “I wouldn’t wish it on anyone”, slips the Milwaukee coach. However, despite the defeat, the Bucks showed an interesting face.
“It’s going to take a little time,” already announced the former Clippers and Celtics coach. “What I try to do, very slowly, is to add my touch and simplify certain things. If there's one thing we don't want to do, and fear doing, it's making them think too much. So it's going to take time. »
An encouraging first match in defense
Doc Rivers' main project is obviously defense. Fierce in this area with Mike Budenholzer, Giannis Antetokounmpo and his teammates no longer display this face this season. For this first test, limiting Denver to 113 points is rather encouraging.
“I told the players: those who say they can't defend are liars. They proved it in this meeting. They gave everything. The half-court defense was excellent. We lost because of our attack. We lacked offensive edge. »
If there was good work on Nikola Jokic, who scored 25 points with 25 shots, on the other hand, they did not manage to limit Jamal Murray (35 units). “ Damian Lillard and Giannis played 40 games together, how many for Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray? “, replies the 2008 champion. “It works well for them, less so for us and that makes the difference. »
Positive speech among players
What does Giannis Antetokounmpo think of this first with the man he called a “legend”? “He was very good,” declares the Greek. “Everyone must be patient. Our way of playing and defending is new, so it takes time. We are adjusting slowly. The coaches must be patient with the players, who must be patient with the coaches. For a first match, it was good. »
Particularly defensively therefore, the big subject in Wisconsin.
“Instructions are one thing, but efforts must always be made,” warns the 2021 Finals MVP. “We have intelligent players and sometimes, when the instructions are not the right ones, the efforts are not there and that is not good. We can't choose. To win, you have to do it constantly. We will lose matches but to win at a high level, you have to be at a certain standard. And in this match, we were there. »
Same analysis at Brook Lopez. “There is calm. We don't get carried away »notes the pivot when describing Doc Rivers' early days in Milwaukee. “He handled things perfectly. He made sure everyone took responsibility, offensively and defensively, that there were no problems. He was good at getting everyone on the same page. »
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo | 44 | 35.1 | 60.8 | 25.0 | 66.4 | 2.6 | 9.0 | 11.7 | 6.2 | 3.6 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 3.0 | 31.0 |
| Damian Lillard | 43 | 35.2 | 42.3 | 34.5 | 92.2 | 0.5 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 6.8 | 2.4 | 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 | 46 | 31.7 | 48.9 | 33.8 | 82.6 | 1.6 | 4.0 | 5.6 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 13.0 |
| Bobby Portis | 46 | 23.3 | 50.7 | 37.9 | 77.6 | 1.5 | 5.2 | 6.7 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 2.5 | 12.4 |
| Malik Beasley | 44 | 29.3 | 48.3 | 46.3 | 72.2 | 0.7 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 2.1 | 11.3 |
| Jae Crowder | 15 | 23.2 | 46.3 | 43.9 | 57.1 | 0.4 | 2.9 | 3.3 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 7.1 |
| Cameron Payne | 42 | 15.2 | 47.0 | 40.8 | 87.5 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 6.5 |
| Pat Connaughton | 40 | 21.1 | 44.8 | 38.1 | 73.7 | 0.7 | 2.5 | 3.2 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 5.5 |
| Marjon Beauchamp | 35 | 15.4 | 48.6 | 40.3 | 60.0 | 0.6 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 4.9 |
| Aj Green | 28 | 7.5 | 42.5 | 41.3 | 100.0 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 3.3 |
| Andre Jackson, Jr. | 39 | 11.5 | 55.1 | 38.9 | 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 | 13 | 4.6 | 53.8 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.3 |
| Robin Lopez | 13 | 2.9 | 37.5 | 33.3 | 100.0 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.8 |
| Thanasis Antetokounmpo | 19 | 4.1 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 0.7 |
| 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 |
