The Milwaukee Bucks fired Adrian Griffin and hired Doc Rivers to improve an underperforming team. So far, the opposite has happened, and the group reached a new low on Thursday.
Facing a short-handed Memphis Grizzlies team in the second half of a back-to-back, the Bucs fell out of favor in a brutal 113-110 loss. After Rivers took over for Griffin, the offense dropped them to 3-7 and a 35-21 record heading into the All-Star break.
Rivers He beat the team after the gameEspecially their discipline and effort:
“On the first play of the game, we gamble for the 50th time in the corner. Guy drives, we have to help, it leads to a 3. On our set, two guys forget who we’re running. Then we miss a shot and nobody’s there. That’s how we start the third quarter. That’s where our heads are. It tells you everything you need to know.
“We had some guys here, we had some guys in Cabo.”
Obviously, these guys seem like mistakes that would be made if the team wasn’t trained well, although it’s important to remember that Rivers has been on the job for less than three weeks and may still be trying to figure out what he had. t work.
This early you can reduce the rivers to your Bucks tenure. But maybe not enough effort to convince this Grizzlies team to lose.
The Grizzlies are 20-36 and just played their ninth game in 15 days this month. Also, the likes of Ja Morant (shoulder), Marcus Smart (finger), Jaren Jackson Jr. (quad), Desmond Bane (ankle), Luke Kennard (knee) and Brandon Clark (Achilles) were no more than a full lineup. ) are not all played. The team just traded away big men Xavier Tillman and Steven Adams.
With all that talent out, the Grizzlies’ starting lineup consisted of Santi Aldama, Zaire Williams, Trey Jamison, Vince Williams Jr. and Jordan Goodwin. None of those players have been in the NBA since 2021, and only one (Williams) was taken in the first 25 picks of the draft.
With all due respect to those players, that’s not a lineup that should beat a Bucks team with Giannis Antetkounmpo and Damian Lillard no matter how much Milwaukee is working to figure things out. However, they couldn’t stop Williams (27 points on 9-13 shooting) and bench player Gigi Jackson II (27 points on 10-17 shooting).
It was also a matter of execution, like the Bucks’ last playoff game.
The good news is the Bucks now have eight days to rest and regroup. The bad news is that Rivers will have to spend part of that time coaching a team of Eastern Conference All-Stars, which is a success for the Bucks under Griffin.
It’s been a strange season for the Bucks and they should continue with a tough test on the road against the West-leading Minnesota Timberwolves on Feb. 23.