From a certain point of view, the Milwaukee Bucks are not exactly having a dominant season like their fans expected, especially with Doc Rivers being hired to coach the team recently. General manager Jon Horst, in response, laid out an honest take on the issue.
Weeks before the trade deadline passed, the Bucks caused shockwaves to reverberate about the NBA by firing its then-head coach Adrian Griffin. This move comes after Milwaukee had the second-best record in the Eastern Conference at that time.
After Griffin was let go, the Bucks were handled by interim coach Joe Prunty before Rivers took over. Unfortunately, the one-time Coach of the Year went on a 1-5 skid as Milwaukee faced a gauntlet of different Western Conference teams.
Apart from getting Rivers to coach the Bucks, Milwaukee also traded for Patrick Beverley by sending Cameron Payne and a second-round pick to the Philadelphia 76ers. In comparison to other teams that made a lot of moves before the deadline, these two are the only major additions to the team.
Milwaukee Bucks General Manager Jon Horst Drops Honest Take On Doc Rivers After Rough Start
Speaking before the media, general manager Jon Horst gives his take on the first move Milwaukee made – hiring Doc Rivers. In an article written by Eric Nehm for The Athletic:
“Doc’s been great, and the additional staff has been great. And it’s like you have to coach-GM partnership, I think the only way to do it and be successful is to be on the same page, tackle things together, have the same goals, the same agendas.
It doesn’t mean you always have to agree, but you’ve gotta go through it together and ultimately come out of it together. It’s not just about the trade deadline or the roster. It’s about staffing. It’s about style of play. It’s learning how we communicate with our ownership group, learning how we communicate with each other, how we want to travel as a team, how we want to integrate and work with the medical staff. It’s not just specific to this deadline or maybe to his dynamic with coaching.
However, I always feel like it’s our responsibility as a staff operationally to take as many things off the plate of a head coach and a coaching staff as possible, so that they can really focus on being great coaches. So, we’re working really hard to do that as well and make it as easy and as smooth as possible for coach (Rivers) and his staff as well,” Horst said.
Horst’s assessment on the matter of Rivers’ performance these past few weeks seems fair and grounded on logic. The buck is now in Rivers’ hands to make full use of the roster, including the All-Star duo of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, to win another ring in the coming months.
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