Milwaukee Bucks: Doc Rivers Breaks Silence on Odd Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard Substitution Pattern

You just knew that Doc Rivers was going to make some major changes in the Milwaukee Bucks’ style of play the moment he stepped in as their new head coach. The 62-year-old made his coaching debut on Monday against the Denver Nuggets and true enough, these significant tweaks were evident throughout the contest.

One of the most noticeable changes Rivers implemented centered around his substitution patterns for Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard. This certainly wasn’t what the fans had gotten used to under Adrian Griffin’s watch.

Doc Rivers Explains Milwaukee Bucks’ Substitution Patters

Rivers made his first substitution of the game at the 5:15 minute mark of the first quarter. The veteran shot-caller decided to take out both Giannis and Lillard for what turned out to be a quick breather. Antetokounmpo checked back in with three and a half minutes remaining in the quarter, while Dame returned with a minute and a half remaining.

Speaking to reporters after the game, Rivers explained that these substitutions were intentional and that they had nothing to do with the high altitude in Denver:

“That was something we talked about,” Rivers said, via Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “We talked about it my first day. I really want Dame and Giannis to be in when we get into the penalty. But I don’t want Dame to be tired when we get in the penalty. So, our plan is to take them out and bring them both back in, so they can end quarters.”

As it turns out, this is something we will all need to get used to now that Rivers is at the helm. As he said in his message above, Rivers sees a lot of value in both his superstars closing out quarters during games and it looks like this is going to be the gameplan moving forward.

It didn’t exactly pay off on Monday against the Nuggets as Nikola Jokic and Co. escaped with a hard-fought 113-107 victory. However, Bucks fans are hoping that these major changes start paying dividends sooner rather than later.

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