When the Bucks hired Doc Rivers to be their head coach at the start of the year, they were reeling from a crisis of identity. They were still among the league elite, to be sure; erstwhile bench tactician Adrian Griffin had, at the time of the change, steered them to a heady 30-13 slate, good for second overall in the National Basketball Association. Yet, they seemed on the verge of an implosion. The new mentor wasn’t quite sticking the landing; respected assistant Terry Stotts called it quits in the preseason following a spat, and players were privately seething from unusual behind-the-scenes handling.
Amid the upheaval, the Bucks figured to swing the pendulum in the other direction. Rivers was, on paper, a logical hire; unlike Griffin, he had a ton of experience pacing the sidelines — and especially for and with marquee names. More importantly, he was a playoff fixture in close to two-and-a-half decades of plying the trade. That said, he did not come without risk. For one thing, he was himself fresh off a firing; the Sixers had just parted ways with him after consecutive exits in the second round of the postseason.
To argue that the Bucks should have given Griffin more runway to counter the turbulence would be tantamount to engaging in revisionist history. Foundational piece Giannis Antetokounmpo appeared to have checked out by then, withdrawing his endorsement of the left-field hire as fast as he made it. And, by extension, the choice of Rivers looked smart; the acquisition of an experienced coach had as its objective the injection of stability to the green and cream. The roster turnover was in and of itself significant, and the arrival of an old hand in the industry came across as timely at worst.
Unfortunately, Rivers did not — could not — hit the ground running for some reason. Perhaps he needed time; setting aside Griffin’s evident success on the win-loss front, he needed to ensure that the partnership between Antetokounmpo and eight-time All-Star Damian Lillard would be built for the longer term. In other words, he knew he would have to take a step back in order to move two steps ahead. And, creditably, the Bucks have preached patience in the last 10 months. Under the circumstances, it’s fair to contend that they have stayed focused on the ultimate goal.
At the same time, the Bucks have every right to wonder how long they have to — or, to be precise, can — wait before making the determination that what they see is what they get. Rivers finished the 2023-24 regular season with a 17-19 record, and then crashed out of the first round of the playoffs. And his current campaign has featured more of the same old, same old; including yesterday’s loss to the red-hot Cavaliers, he is an atrocious 1-5 and dead last in the Eastern Conference.
Where do the Bucks go from here? Their murky future regardless of the options on tap may well be the only reason they have continued to preach patience. Anxiety is bubbling to the surface, barely being contained by Rivers’ increasingly unsettling assurances that they’re on the right track even though they’re scraping the bottom of the barrel. And unless and until they get to right the ship, they will, at some point, be compelled to ask why they’re bent on engaging in insanity — doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
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