The Milwaukee Bucks have dropped three straight games, the last two in humiliating fashion by a combined margin of 51 points. Despite the ordinary looking final score in a 119-101 loss in San Antonio, the Spurs led by as many as 39. At the halfway mark on the schedule, the Bucks (17-24) are nearing a crossroads if they’re not there already. Head coach Doc Rivers didn’t make things any better with his rather unconcerned stance following Thursday’s defeat.
Rivers’ tone-deaf response leaves fans in despair
Fans have wanted head coach Doc Rivers gone for some time now. His lack of in-game adjustments bites the team on what seems like a nightly basis. His rigid rotations can lead to awkward, stagnant lineups depending on which players are “on” or “off” in a given game. It’s not all his fault, but the team doesn’t seem to be responding to his instructions. The same problems – turnovers, rebounding hustle, fouling discipline – persist.
After Tuesday’s loss to Minnesota, he and Giannis Antetokounmpo clashed in their evaluation of a lackluster performance that drew boos from the home crowd at halftime. Rivers attributed the outing to the players having “dead legs” amid a grueling stretch of road games. Giannis denied that being an issue at all.
The fanbase didn’t find the coach any more endearing after his postgame comments Thursday on how the Bucks are handling the pressure that comes with half a season’s underachievement.
“I think people outside look at that more than the players,” Rivers countered beat reporter Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “Honestly, our players – guys, we got half the year left. I don’t think people are sitting there looking at the record right now.”
Well, news flash, we are. Being seven games sub-.500, 2.5 games out of the last play-in spot, is kind of concerning for a team many hoped could compete for the 6-seed.
“I think they’re trying to get right,” the coach said of his team, “so that’s where it goes. Obviously, you look at it, I don’t even know what we’re out, two games, one game from the play-in – like, it’s a whole half of season left. So I don’t see that [pressure] at all with us.”
Predictably, fans weren’t thrilled with the response. That much was clear from their comments on social media:
“What a pathetic answer. He needs to be fired now. Everyday he doesn’t…screw [GM Jon] Horst and [owner Jimmy] Haslam.”
“Franchise and fan base are dead until he’s gone.”
“Just a word salad. Doc needs to be let go.”
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