2023-24 Bucks Season Thread

[yourout]

Dayum ... Getting the Ray Rohdes treatment.

Good for management figuring out they made a mistake and doing something about it.

[Matt Breen]

While a half season is a crappy way to assess a coach, I credit the team from cutting bait if they truly believe he is not working out. This team is built for now - and we can't afford to wait for our guy to figure things out (assuming there's something to figure out).

 

[OldSchoolSnapper]

The standard is championship or bust and he was 100% not going to get them there. Outstanding shrewd move. They may not get there anyway but they were absolutely not doing it with him.

[thebruce44]

23 minutes ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

The standard is championship or bust and he was 100% not going to get them there. Outstanding shrewd move. They may not get there anyway but they were absolutely not doing it with him.

If only we could apply this logic to other coaches within the state of WI...

[owbc]

19 minutes ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

The standard is championship or bust and he was 100% not going to get them there. Outstanding shrewd move. They may not get there anyway but they were absolutely not doing it with him.

Clearly there was more going on behind the scenes than the Stotts situation. It's not a good look for a black head coach with a 30-13 record get the boot, so something serious must have been going on. I'll bet defense wasn't in the top 5 reasons. 

Perhaps another perspective is that Giannis signed his extension, so his tenure was a success, right? 

 

[owbc]

3 minutes ago, thebruce44 said:

If only we could apply this logic to other coaches within the state of WI...

It certainly helps that every single person who has ever coached basketball would gladly take the Bucks job right now. 

[OldSchoolSnapper]

10 minutes ago, owbc said:

Clearly there was more going on behind the scenes than the Stotts situation. It's not a good look for a black head coach with a 30-13 record get the boot, so something serious must have been going on. I'll bet defense wasn't in the top 5 reasons. 

Perhaps another perspective is that Giannis signed his extension, so his tenure was a success, right? 

 

I think that's a stretch. I do think there were larger culture issues happening most likely, but their defense isn't bad, it's nonexistent. It's like they can't play a game without giving up 130 points. To say defense wasn't in the top 5 reasons is just silly. It was probably the #1 on-court factor. 

There are also like 15 black coaches in the NBA. That bridge has been crossed for quite some time now, not like this is baseball or even football. Everyone watching this team can tell they look lazy and soft. That is a direct reflection of a coach, whether it's Xs and Os or they don't like the guy. He had to go regardless of pigment.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Unpopular zany opinion: the best available coach is Bud. If they had simply not fired him and gotten Lillard that would have solved one of Bud's biggest problems. 

I realize this would never happen, but I don't think it's any less true. 

[SomewhereInTime]

1 hour ago, owbc said:

Clearly there was more going on behind the scenes than the Stotts situation. It's not a good look for a black head coach with a 30-13 record get the boot, so something serious must have been going on. I'll bet defense wasn't in the top 5 reasons. 

Perhaps another perspective is that Giannis signed his extension, so his tenure was a success, right? 

 

I would absolutely guarantee defense is in the top 5 reasons this move was made.

[SomewhereInTime]

On 10/21/2023 at 8:10 PM, SomewhereInTime said:

I haven't watched a second of preseason.  I find it a little concerning the rookie head coach has already had an experienced assistant walk out of the job.  I also find it hard to believe they hired the best guy for the head coaching job.  I also don't care about what you agree with or don't agree with.  This will be the last post I read or reply to of yours.

You could pretty much tell from almost day 1 that this wasn't a good hire.  Kudos to the Bucks for making the move now and not waiting a year or two.  If anything, you have to give them credit for aggressive decision making.

[OldHeidelberg]

It’s Doc Rivers

[stalton]

1 hour ago, OldHeidelberg said:

It’s Doc Rivers

It probably will be, but it's not official. Somehow CNN Sports broke the news but the usual suspects have not confirmed it.

[nate82]

21 minutes ago, stalton said:

It probably will be, but it's not official. Somehow CNN Sports broke the news but the usual suspects have not confirmed it.

Fairly safe bet it is true.  Not sure there was anyone else they even looked at since it was this quick. 

[stalton]

There's something funky going on. TNT first reported the signing citing CNN, but nowhere has CNN actually reported it.

[BrewerFan]

4 hours ago, nate82 said:

Fairly safe bet it is true.  Not sure there was anyone else they even looked at since it was this quick. 

The fact that he was advising Griffin earlier at the Bucks behest makes it that much more likely.

I'd have brought in Van Gundy...

11 hours ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

Unpopular zany opinion: the best available coach is Bud. If they had simply not fired him and gotten Lillard that would have solved one of Bud's biggest problems. 

I realize this would never happen, but I don't think it's any less true. 

I've seen others share this opinion, but would he play Jackson Jr? Beauchamp? We'll need those players in the post-season and I don't think he's real interested in playing any young guys.

 

For all the talk of how poorly constructed this team is(despite being one of the best in the league and still disappointing)...they've got all the offense they could need, they have two DPOY candidates (Lopez runner-up last year, Giannis). 

They have elite scorers at 3 spots. They have the league best 3 pt shooter(this year) at one other. Lopez is a guy who would likely score 20+ still on a bad team and can give you 20 on any given night.

Portis is a high energy player. Jackson is one of the smartest rookies I've seen, Beauchamp is capable of playing defense at an elite level and Crowder has been doing just that for a while.

So I guess I'd like to see them stagger minutes maybe with Jackson and Lillard and then when Giannis comes off, Crowder should be in. 

You can win with Dame/Jackson/Middleton/Crowder/Giannis defensively. Or at least be really good in spurts. For as bad as Dame is, he puts pressure on the defense and he's got pretty good hands. 

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I'm not too happy about Rivers getting the gig but I guess he does have a lot of experience around superstar players and carries some clout.  

[BrewerFan]

1 hour ago, OldSchoolSnapper said:

I'm not too happy about Rivers getting the gig but I guess he does have a lot of experience around superstar players and carries some clout.  

He's had a lot of success. I don't know how much of the Doc hate is him actually being a bad coach or him being around for so wrong.

Hard to blame him for not winning with Ben Simmons, he did with Boston...and I think the players will respect him. 

That's a start. Maybe he brings someone in with him. 

[kestrel79]

As someone who doesn't follow the Bucks as hardcore, what were some signs or examples the coach lost the team?

[young guns]

Well now woj is saying the deal has been agreed to, so I think it's for real this time.

[Samurai Bucky]

I saw an interesting tidbit on a TNT broadcast that said the Bucks have had one of the easiest Strength of Schedules up to this point.  From now on, it will be one of the toughest.

According to this site, they have the toughest road:  https://www.tankathon.com/remaining_schedule_strength

Here is ESPN stating they have had the easiest so far:  https://www.espn.com/nba/stats/rpi/_/sort/SOS

So, Griffin is 30-13 with the easiest schedule.  Knowing that the SOS was going to get much tougher helped them make the decision.

[patrickgpe]

He wasn't my first choice in the offseason, but now they are paying a lucrative deal to Rivers and paying Griffin's salary when they could have just hired doc in the first place. Also Doc is forced to work with a staff that he didn't select. Its not ideal. 

[OldSchoolSnapper]

1 hour ago, kestrel79 said:

As someone who doesn't follow the Bucks as hardcore, what were some signs or examples the coach lost the team?

Giannis scribbling plays on paper during a game. Players calling their own plays in crucial moments.

[patrickgpe]

reports are that Doc is looking at hiring Dave Joerger for an assistant role.

[LouisEly]

21 hours ago, owbc said:

Clearly there was more going on behind the scenes than the Stotts situation. It's not a good look for a black head coach with a 30-13 record get the boot, so something serious must have been going on. I'll bet defense wasn't in the top 5 reasons. 

Perhaps another perspective is that Giannis signed his extension, so his tenure was a success, right? 

 

On the surface, yes, it's not a good look.  But they also fired a white head coach who won a championship for them and hired a black head coach to replace him, so any comments to that nature hold no water.

[patrickgpe]

Rivers is signed through 26/27 for 40 Million. so 3.5 yrs = 11.5 million a yr. he better get a belt.