ESPN NEWS REPORT: The Milwaukee Bucks head coach is been fired due to…
ESPN NEWS REPORT: The Milwaukee Bucks head coach is been fired due to…
After benching Adrian Griffin and making a dramatic season-ending audible, Milwaukee is just 8-8. However, since signing Doc Rivers, the Bucks have turned the page and are much more than just an average team. They had the 22nd-ranked defense in the NBA under Griffin’s leadership. They are up to no. 6 under Rivers, courtesy of a combination of better in-game changes, more effort, and more cunning plans. The Bucks now appear to be the Eastern Conference team to beat rather than just a squad headed for the playoffs.
Griffin inexplicably went backwards throughout training camp from what Milwaukee’s defense had previously employed. In order to minimize the potential of long players like Giannis Antetokounmpo to defend and rebound inside, he had his players closely contest all opponents on the outside. When he released Brook Lopez from his drop coverage, the Bucks started to lose points at the rim. But perhaps the most significant problem of all was Griffin’s poor communication. The players were not briefed on the plans. Frequently, responsibilities were unclear. Furthermore, the defense never seemed to be related.
With Rivers leading the way, Milwaukee appears to be a squad with a strategy, carrying out several tactics every night. The Bucks used traps against Luka Doncic in the second half of their victory over the Dallas Mavericks earlier this month. A week later, in a victory over the defending champion Denver Nuggets, they essentially played drop coverage the entire time to stop Nikola Jokic’s pick-and-rolls. Then, in their first game following the All-Star break, they won impressively against the Minnesota Timberwolves, who were the top team in the West, by doing a little bit of everything.
The video below shows how much more skilled the Bucks appear to be these days. The Bucks gave up just 13 points in the third quarter of their victory over the Wolves. Each turn was executed perfectly. Damian Lillard was moved onto Karl-Anthony Towns on this possession, but the Bucks quickly tried to get Lopez on Towns by an off-ball switch, leaving Lillard in charge of Rudy Gobert. Following yet another switch, Lillard is left defending Anthony Edwards in space, but he maintains Edwards’ lead as his teammates swarm into the paint to assist. After the coaching change, Giannis has been playing at an All-Defensive level. He first establishes his presence in the paint before forcing a tough closeout to block the 3-point shot:
Griffin wasn’t able to change the fact that Lillard isn’t as good of a stopper as Jrue Holiday. Furthermore, there was little he could do about Malik Beasley being a relegation from Grayson Allen. However, keeping his big men nearer the hoop was an easy fix, and the Bucks have given up the fourth-fewest points in the paint over the last 13 games.
Due to the players involved, the Bucks used a different defensive strategy later in the quarter against the Wolves in an effort to make a stop. The Bucks shifted on the perimeter this time, and Edwards and Gobert then ran a joint action. Lopez sat in a deep drop to guard against both a drive and a Gobert lob after Edwards had the ball. Moreover, all five Bucks players crowd Edwards in the lane to take up any space and force a turnover since Rivers has told his team to sag off of mediocre or below-average shooters:
