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“I’m tired of f-ing doing this every game. F-ing play harder!”
That’s a quote from a Will Hardy rant during a timeout this week. Hardy, who coaches the tanking Jazz, doesn’t have to be saying that. His team isn’t good, and they’re not trying to be. Absolutely nobody was expecting them to beat the unstoppable Thunder in the game where his crashout occurred. Yet, Hardy is still going above and beyond for his club, even if it’s in a somewhat controversial fashion. The young coach holds his guys accountable, trying to instill winning habits in the young minds that are hopefully going to grow into cornerstones for the franchise.
Meanwhile, in Milwaukee, Doc Rivers is twiddling his thumbs while everything falls apart around him.
On December 2nd, Giannis Antetokounmpo delivered an embarrassing effort for a player of his caliber as the Bucks fell short to the inexperienced (and flat-out bad) Wizards. He scored 26 points in 31 minutes, yes, but his lapses in defensive attention and shot selection were inexcusable. The Greek Freak even picked up a 10-second violation at the free-throw line, which is _unacceptable_. As the head of the snake, he’s gotta do better. This team goes where he goes. Someone needs to be in his ear, reminding him that, and in theory, that would be Rivers. Yet, all Doc had to say about Giannis’ performance was this:“The five turnovers \[are\] probably what he would like back, but other than that, he played pretty well.”
Throughout the season, Doc has been deflecting blame for shortcomings onto himself and the coaching staff, rather than the players. While it’s probably a good call to avoid publicly scapegoating players, it’s evident in the on-court product that he isn’t doing enough behind closed doors to hold his guys accountable. With a couple exceptions (sans-Giannis wins against Golden State and Detroit, for example), the Bucks have looked like less than the sum of their parts this year. Doc failing to maximize his rosters is far from a new problem. It happened time and time again with the Clippers and 76ers, and even the Damian Lillard version of Milwaukee didn’t meet expectations. Rivers just sits back and lets his stars do whatever they want, which isn’t a winning formula.
In contrast, coaches like Hardy, Brooklyn’s Jordi Fernandez, and Phoenix’s Jordan Ott are building scrappy competitors out of subpar squads. They turn rag-tag groups of role players and fringe guys into unselfish hives of hustle and fearlessness. The Jazz and Nets are bottom-feeders, but their tanking efforts have been actively harmed by Hardy and Fernandez making their teams walking trap games. These first-time coaches are establishing identities in franchises that need them, and it’s tough to imagine them not achieving serious success whenever they finally have competent rosters to work with. Seeing what Hardy, Fernandez, Ott, and more are accomplishing makes it obvious that the Bucks need a fresh face behind the clipboard.
Milwaukee is 10-15 right now, and with Giannis out, they’re only going to fall further below .500. They’re awfully far away from winning a playoff series or two, which is always the goal with Antetokounmpo at the helm. It’s going to take more than just one trade or a crazy hot streak to get this team back in contention. That’s why Doc has to go. He’s stale. Young guns are running the league right now—even Oklahoma City’s Mark Daigneault is only 40 years old.
Now, bringing in another first-time head coach probably isn’t the move, unless the unspeakable trade happens. We saw what happened with Adrian Griffin. There are a lot of great minds out there waiting on their first opportunity, but a rookie coach needs the same grace and time that young players get in order to truly flourish. Still, just hiring literally anyone else to coach this team would give things a much-needed shake-up. Find a veteran. Cleveland got better when they swapped J.B. Bickerstaff for Kenny Atkinson. The Knicks look fresher after bringing in Mike Brown. It doesn’t matter who the alternative is; it’s just time for Doc Rivers to go, because he’s made it clear he can’t help this team reach its desired heights.
Sorry Doc, you’re a Hall of Famer, but the future is now, old man.
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