NBA Coaching: The Milwaukee Bucks should fire Doc Rivers to save the season

What could (and should) be the final nail in the coffin of Doc Rivers’ head coaching tenure with the Bucks has just been driven. Things have gone from bad to worse for the Bucks in this shortened season. After an 8–5 start, which put them in the Eastern Conference playoff race, the team has collapsed. They lost seven straight games (four without Giannis Antetokounmpo) and fell to the 3-16 Wizards, now without Alex Saar, Corey Kispert and Trey Johnson. The losses to the 76ers, Pistons and Heat were understandable without Giannis and Kevin Porter Jr. Those teams will likely finish in the top half of the conference. Still, losing to a healthy Giannis and KPJ (who had 30 points) and possibly the worst team in the conference is absolutely unforgivable.

Adrian Griffin was fired even after barely defeating a bad Pistons team. Granted, there were countless other reasons to let Griffin go, but it’s time to draw a line in the sand. If you listen to Dear Diaries, the last episode I was on, you’ll know that I said Doc Rivers could and should be fired if Brooklyn loses the game against the Nets on Saturday or the game is close. That was my line in the sand, but once he cleared it, I thought Wizards would follow suit with the same result. The thought never crossed my mind that the Bucks could lose this game, with another game coming up this week against Detroit and Philly. Yet, here they sit, the Bucks are 9-13, going 5-12 since that magical 4-1 start, with wins over the Knicks and Warriors (also the last time they won consecutive games). Monday may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back, but it’s more than just one game that justified this conclusion of dismissing Rivers. A lack of energy and focus at times, head-scratching lineups and rotations, a lack of creativity on offense and defense, and a failure to make the best use of the talent he has.

If you’ve read or heard my friend and fellow Bru Hooper, Jack, he has criticized the offense late in the game this season, and rightfully so. Last season it made sense that you had Damian Lillard and Giannis, keeping it simple with a pick-and-roll between the pair or an isolation game for Dame. The now former Buck is one of the best isolation players in the league and bails out the Bucks when they need buckets. Now, without him, they are still running the same separation play for the best player. In the games against the Pacers and Hornets, he simply passed the ball to Giannis and isolated him. It worked against the Pacers but not against the Hornets, and it created a butterfly effect that led to a blowout loss to the Lakers the next day. The same thing happened to Giannis against the 76ers. Doc confirmed that this play was supposed to be an ISO for Ryan Rollins, but they messed it up. It also produced what has become synonymous with Rivers over the years: chokepoint games. The Bucks have played in 13 clutch-time games, which the NBA defines as games of five points or less in the final four minutes; They are 6-7 in those games. Here’s what happened in those seven losses:

Convert three of those seven games into wins, and the Bucks are 12-10, 0.5 games behind the six-seeded Orlando Magic and just one game behind the fifth-seeded Orlando Magic. Instead, they are 9-13, one game behind the Bulls for the 10th seed and 2.5 games behind the 76ers for the 9th seed. This has been a constant theme for Rivers throughout his coaching career, even during his days with the Celtics and the Big Three of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. All those blowout series with the Clippers, Sixers and even the Magic when he got his first head coaching job.

In the 11 home games I have managed to cover, I have noticed a running theme that whenever they lose, or even when they win, Doc talks about how the team has lost its focus in terms of what it was supposed to do. Whether it’s keeping the ball on offense, playing defense or game plan, they lose focus. Even last night against the Wizards he talked about his lack of focus on the game after timeouts. This cannot happen at the professional level, where players cannot concentrate on what they are supposed to do. It is the head coach’s job to ensure that the players are performing to the best of their ability at all times. Games are going to break down, and it’s not going to be perfect, but that’s only because the other team played a great game to beat whatever it is they’re trying to do. Constantly reminding this team to move the ball on offense or commit a tech foul when up by two should not be the case. That’s partly on the players for not doing this, but it also shows a lack of accountability from the head coach to make sure they keep doing the right things.

As far as game plan, coming into the season, they seemed to fit in perfectly with what they wanted to do with all the offseason shakeups. Move the ball more, run in transition, become more athletic, protect the rim, and use Miles Turner more than a Brook Lopez clone offensively. None of this has panned out, with the Bucks ranking 22nd in pace, 16th in offensive rating, 22nd in defensive rating, 11th in assists per game and 19th in fast break points. By eye test, I can’t think of a single possession that I’ve seen where Myles Turner gets the ball at the elbow and is allowed to work there. His job is to stand still and shoot the three, set a screen, or engage in a dribble hand-off. Defensively, Turner has not been utilized well, the Bucks have run a lot of zone and have not utilized Turner correctly in the P&R defense, allowing the roll man to concede 1.37 points per possession – worst in the league.

As far as the offense is concerned, Doc spoke to ESPN’s Tim Legler before the season about how he wants two actions on every half-court possession. They also showed an example from last season, and when I watched it, I felt like the Doctor understood his personnel this season. Coming into the season, that hasn’t been the case at all. I can’t tell you what other actions the Bucks run in the half-court besides P&R and DHO. There is very little off-ball screening for shooters, and most possessions are transferred to the ball handler trying to make a play while the four other players stand around waiting for the ball. It’s the same game as last year, except they don’t have an All-NBA guard to run it. This is no criticism of Rollins or KPJ, who are very good players and can navigate P&R; They are not as good as Dame was. It seems as if Doc wants to run his game plan and not add wrinkles or nuances to his roster.

Doc Rivers’ time has come as coach of the Bucks, a position he probably shouldn’t even have had in the first place. Granted, it doesn’t all fall on him, with Dame tearing his Achilles and Giannis injured in the playoffs. Nevertheless, this season has proven that the league has left Rivers behind. He is now a below average coach with no plan for dealing with less talented players. Bucks fans, you now know how Green Bay Packer fans felt during Mike McCarthy’s final years. We’ll have to wait and see if they find their Matt LaFleur. Meanwhile, Darwin Hamm will get the interim tag, and perhaps that will bring the Bucks back under Mike Budenholzer. Maybe it’s a pipe dream, maybe it’s just facing the reality that this Bucks team will be fighting for a play-in spot all year while also avoiding the constant Giannis trade rumors. Regardless, Doc can’t be the Bucks’ head coach if they want any chance of survival this season and beyond.