Giannis Vents Frustration Over Bucks’ Struggles In Doc Rivers Era

Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks had it good in 2021, sitting on top of the basketball world as NBA champions. But just two years later, they fired their championship-winning head coach, Mike Budenholzer.

Soon afterwards, they shipped out defensive ace Jrue Holiday and replaced him with Damian Lillard. Now Doc Rivers is coaching the team, despite his well-documented history of blowing leads in the playoffs.

The result has been a team that has lost its stellar defense and championship-winning formula.

And despite reports that Giannis had lost faith in Griffin and advocated for the Lillard/Holiday swap, he is clearly frustrated with how things have been going lately.

 

“It’s hard. It’s hard,” he said at All-Star Weekend on Sunday. “This is my fourth coach in the span of six months … Different philosophy, different game plan. It’s hard. It’s draining.

“I’m a student of the game. When somebody asks me to do something, I try to do it to the best of my ability. I try to understand what we’re trying to accomplish, both so I can understand and so I can be there for my teammates when they ask questions.”

Milwaukee was 30-13 at the time of Griffin’s firing. They have gone 3-7 since Doc Rivers took over. But Giannis maintains that he is a fan of Rivers.

“But yeah, I love working with Coach Doc,” Giannis said. “He’s been very, very successful. We can talk all day about things he’s accomplished around the league. He’s won, I think, 1,100 NBA games. Some people have never played 1,100 games.

“He brings that level of — how can I say — a championship level to the team. He won. He’s coached a lot of successful teams in the past. When you have that guy in your bench, you have to bring your A-game.”

READ MORE: Giannis and Dame Reveal First Thoughts on Doc Rivers Hiring

Source link

You might like

About the Author: NBA NEWS SITE

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *