Getty Image / Jamie Schwaberow
Many were surprised when the Milwaukee Bucks parted ways with first-year head coach Adrian Griffin and subsequently hired former Magic, Celtics, Clippers, and Sixers coach Doc Rivers to replace him.
They were surprised due to the fact that, lately, Doc Rivers has not been considered all that great of a basketball coach. It’s been sixteen years since he won a title as the coach of the Boston Celtics.
Since then, he’s been underachieving with rosters that were almost always among the league’s best. Doc Rivers hasn’t coached a team to the NBA Finals since 2010, and is known for his playoff exits and chokes.
Nevertheless, that’s who the Bucks decided to hire last week, but fans may already be regretting it after a puzzling end-of-game decision helped cost them a game against the lowly Portland Trail Blazers.
With Bucks guard Damian Lillard making his first trip back to Portland, the Blazers played arguably their best game of the year. After a late Anfernee Simons bucket, Portland led, 117-116, with 17 seconds left. Somehow, the best shot the Bucks could get was a Brook Lopez step back jumper. He missed, and they fouled. Jerami Grant made two foul shots with 4.1 seconds left, meaning the Bucks needed a last-second three to tie.
Naturally, the player that anyone would want to get the ball to would be Damian Lillard, one of the best contested three-point shooters the league has ever seen. Plus, if the Blazers chose to foul, he would be likely to make both shots, if that’s what Rivers wanted him to do.
What does Doc Rivers do? He has Damian Lillard inbound the ball to Giannis Antetokounmpo, not known for his three-point or foul shooting.
Naturally, the Blazers fouled, Giannis missed the first, and here’s what happened on the second.
Doc Rivers really had Dame inbound to Giannis knowing Blazers will foul 💀 pic.twitter.com/63OallunI3
— Brick Wrld (@BRICKW0RLD) February 1, 2024
After the game, Rivers had a less-than-stellar explanation as to why he had his best shooter take the ball out.
here is Doc Rivers’ explanation for inbounding to Giannis.
he says “if Giannis could make the first”, he liked his chances of Giannis getting the rebound from the intentionally-missed second with no-one in front of him.
1) that's a huge "if"
2) if he misses, then the whole… pic.twitter.com/yUncsXDoaN— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) February 1, 2024
Yikes. The team hasn’t won a game with Doc Rivers, and they’re now 0-2. They’re still in second place in the Eastern Conference standings, but they’re just one game ahead of the surging New York Knicks for that spot.