I’m not sure Doc is to blame for Embiid and the Sixers failing to advance in the playoffs.
He’s also had two perennial chokers (Harden and CP3) to deal with as a head coach in the postseason.
He may not be Erik Spoelstra, but he ain’t Adrian Griffin either.
@Tschmack posted:I’m not sure Doc is to blame for Embiid and the Sixers failing to advance in the playoffs.
He’s also had two perennial chokers (Harden and CP3) to deal with as a head coach in the postseason.
He may not be Erik Spoelstra, but he ain’t Adrian Griffin either.
Spoelstra is an interesting case. He is widely regarded as the best coach in the NBA and there is no doubt that he coached circles around Budenholzer last year. But in 2021, the Bucks swept the Heat when Giannis guarded Butler. If Giannis doesn't get hurt last year in Game 1, does Bud eventually put him on Butler? No way Butler goes for 56 and 42 if Giannis is guarding him. It was the fact that Holiday was absolutely destroyed and humiliated by Butler (just like he was by Tatum the year before) that was the biggest underlying cause of Bud getting fired and Jrue getting traded.
For all his plaudits, Spoelstra has never won an NBA title without having LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh in their primes (28-30 years old). There are dozens of coaches that could have won a title with that group. He has won more than 48 regular season games once in 10 years without LeBron.
When he had LeBron in his prime, he made it to 4 consecutive finals and won 2. But Ray Allen bailed them out in one of those 2 by hitting one of the top clutch shots in NBA history - which had nothing to do with coaching since Spoelstra drew up a play to have LeBron clank a three badly. His other title was against the Thunder when Durant, Westbrook, and Harden were all very young players with OKC and made their only Finals run.
He's regarded as one of the top NBA coaches of all time but lost in the Finals with LeBron against a team with one guy (Dirk) the first time they got there.
His reputation has been earned getting to 2 Finals in the last 4 years with Jimmy Butler as his best player. If Giannis doesn't get hurt last year, it's very possible the only finals Spoelstra would have ever been in without LeBron would have been the Bubble one. Still an accomplishment, but COVID created a lot of oddities that year.
I guess the point is that how much does a "great" coach matter? You have to be above a certain threshold to win and Griffin was well below that threshold. If nothing else, designing a defense that expected Brook Lopez to pick up guys above the top of the key and trap should have gotten him fired immediately in training camp.
I'm watching Bucks Live before the Cavs game and the guys are acting like they don't know who the new coach is. What the hell is going on here?
Countdown to Giannis making a "what's up, Doc?" pun.
5.. 4... 3... 2...
@PackerHawk posted:I'm watching Bucks Live before the Cavs game and the guys are acting like they don't know who the new coach is. What the hell is going on here?
Yes. It is weird. Marques Johnson has been pretty quiet about it as well. Marques is usually not one to keep quiet about anything he thinks.
I think some of the Spoelstra hype is a bit overstated, but he generally has good schemes and is able to manage star players and (mostly) gets the maximum out of his talent and teams.
To me, it’s win or go home for Rivers - meaning if they fall short I fully expect they will move on from him as well. It’s a risk to be sure, but they were not winning a title with Griffin at the helm.
If they keep this up they will run out of candidates.
My grandsons JV coach is sending in his resume.
Rivers has never had a team like this Bucks team....especially if they get Dejounte Murray.
Dysfunctional Clippers and James "Scrip club" Harden on Sixers with a hurt Embiid. None of those teams were focused on a title like this Bucks team.
Stay healthy please!!
Then.... it'll be Time to flip off the world and get Chip #2 Doc.
Go get em!
Sources: Doc Rivers is signing a contract through the 2026-27 season worth in the range of $40 million to be the Bucks’ head coach. Milwaukee is paying out former coaches Mike Budenholzer and Adrian Griffin, and now Rivers for next 3.5 years. pic.twitter.com/TJNafNFms9
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 25, 2024
Yikes. Must be nice to be able to throw away money like that.
It costs money to win a title 🤷♂️
Jimmy Haslam is worth 8.7 billion.
Let's say a retiree who has saved decently from a blue collar job has 1 million in 401K and savings.
40 million for Doc Rivers from Haslam is the same as the retiree spending $4600 dollars.
@MichiganPacker posted:40 million for Doc Rivers from Haslam is the same as the retiree spending $4600 dollars.
That's a nice vacation.....
1...2....3......CANCUN!!
Putting this link here for the ringer.com. It's a free article. I'm not sure I quite believe that the Bucks are now a title favorite, but it does reveal how incredibly poor a coach Adrian Griffin actually was. Griffin's schemes were terrible and it appears he never took time to sit down invidually and tell players what was expected of them. So, he was terrible at Xs and Os and terrible at communication?
I would guess hearing what Doc has said about not wanting to take over until the all-star break, that the Bucks decided a long time ago to fire Griffin, but wanted to have some time to implement new schemes over the all-star break. However, the schedule was very easy to start the year and when it looked clear that Griffin was going to coach in the All-star game, they moved fast to hire Doc before getting to the point where they'd have to fire a guy over the All-Star break that was coaching the all-star team. It was awkward enough to fire him when they did, but it would have been really, really awkward to fire the guy while he was in Vegas to coach.
https://www.theringer.com/nba/...tokounmpo-doc-rivers
Under Griffin, they owned the NBA’s no. 22 ranked defense. Under Rivers, they are up to no. 6, thanks to a blend of smarter schemes, increased effort, and improved in-game adjustments. Now the Bucks are not just playoff bound, but looking more like the Eastern Conference team to beat.
......
During training camp, Griffin strangely reversed what worked for Milwaukee’s defense in past years. He had his players tightly contest all perimeter opponents, limiting the ability of lengthy players like Giannis Antetokounmpo to defend and rebound inside. He pulled Brook Lopez out of his drop coverage, and the Bucks began hemorrhaging points at the rim. Perhaps the biggest issue of all, though, was Griffin’s lack of communication. Plans weren’t explained to players. Responsibilities were often vague. And the defense never felt like it was connected.
....
Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes reported this week that Rivers sat down with every Bucks player to tell them specifically what he does and doesn’t want them to do. This is simple stuff, but there was no hierarchy and no direction under Griffin. The players eventually recognized how much of a mess it was with no order.
I knew it was bad....this article shines some light on just HOW bad....
Good on Doc not wanting to trample on Griffins grave. He's a good guy and cares about people.
But now....it's time to win and get into playoff mode.
Hi Cleveland, Indiana and Boston 👋🏼😉🖕🏼
