It is no question that Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers has had a rocky start in his early tenure with the Bucks.
In an interview on Sirius XM NBA Radio, The Starting Line, hosted by Frank Isola and Ryan McDonough, Doc opened up about taking the Bucks job and his understanding of why the Bucks ownership is making a coaching change mid-season.
"Personally, I'll be honest, I told ownership when they called, 'I don't understand why you're doing this,'" Rivers said.
He added, "One of the things they said was, 'Well, it doesn't matter, we've done it now, and we want you.' And so that was a tough one, that's where the hesitation..."
The Bucks came into the season with high expectations after signing Damian Lillard, with the idea of helping Giannis Antetokoumpo win another championship.
Though they played well throughout the season, the Bucks made a drastic coaching change firing Adrian Griffin mid-season, despite boasting a 30-13 at the time.
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The biggest issue plaguing the team is on defense, falling from a league ranked fourth last season to 17th this season. At times, the defense collapses, giving up 120 points on a nightly basis.
Losing all-defensive guard in Jrue Holiday has also played a role in the Bucks' lackluster defense this season.
The Bucks coaching transition in Milwaukee could have gone much smoother. They have slipped under Rivers, losing 3-7 of their last ten games with Rivers at the helm, with their last 113-110 loss to the wounded Memphis Grizzlies without Ja Morant.
Doc Rivers, who was serving as a member of the ESPN broadcast prior to taking the Bucks job, took time to call out his team's performance before the all-star break for their lack of effort.
"We come back on our set, and two guys forget what we're running. Then we miss a shot, and nobody gets back. That's how we start out the third quarter," Rivers said. "That tells you all you need to know about where our heads were."
He added, "we had some guys here; we had some guys in Cabo."
Rivers is still trying to figure out his new team after being thrown into the fire.
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