The Big Aristotle is not holding back. Shaquille O’Neal is a 4X champion, and he knows better than anybody what it takes to win a championship.
But in his words, the Milwaukee Bucks do not look like a team that will be standing on the podium in June, and he thinks Milwaukee is risking not getting out of the first round.
Shaquille O’Neal criticized the team’s effort after the Milwaukee Bucks’ loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday.
After another lowly performance against the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday, Hall-of-Fame center and 4X champion Shaquille O’Neal said this team is in danger of being knocked out in the first round for the second straight year.
“The Bucks have to understand because of Giannis and Dame, opponents are going to be playing above their heads,” said Shaq. “But forget all that, you’re supposed to blow this team out by 30… They were supposed to come out and smash this team but Chuck said it, they had trouble with the defense, no timely stops, no effort, It’s a championship team on paper but the way they are playing right now, they gonna get swept in the first round.”
A couple of notes here. Khris Middleton has missed the past five games due to an ankle injury and was playing his best basketball before he went out. It’s not fair to judge the Milwaukee Bucks yet because Doc Rivers has only coached this team for ten games, and he took the job in the middle of a brutal West Coast road trip, and he is trying to fix a defense that was in the back-half of the NBA this year while keeping the offensive numbers up. So far, it’s been inconsistent, but they are positive signs to take into the second half of the season.
What has Doc Rivers done to fix the Milwaukee Bucks?
The Milwaukee Bucks have improved under Doc Rivers. The defense has been playing a lot better, and the scores reflect that. Not only that, but the Giannis-Damian Lillard connection is improving to where Milwaukee is running more offensive sets geared toward Giannis and Damian Lillard.
Doc has also found a diamond in the rough in AJ Green, who looks like a knockdown shooter. On February 8, in a blowout loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Green had 27 points on 9-of-11 shooting, including 7-of-8 from three. Green’s defense has also been a positive sign for his development.
Milwaukee has struggled so far in the Doc Rivers era, but we’ll see how the team looks once Middleton is back and healthy and how quickly newly-signed Danilo Gallinari can be one of the go-to guys coming off the bench.
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