In The Athletic's anonymous player poll (subscription required), former Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers was voted among the coaches that the voters found "the least impressive" this past season. He ran away with 14 percent of the voting, trailing only Washington's Brian Keefe. The decision to go their separate ways will only age more gracefully.
Everyone knew Rivers was an issue last season
Rivers wasn't the only issue in Milwaukee last season, but he was a big one. From flawed schemes to telling players to "Google Me" to fire them up, his tactics were far from ideal. While there were plenty of injury issues all year, that shielded what was shaping up to be a pretty ugly season for the Bucks, regardless. There was just too much disconnect between the players and the coach.
This voting had nothing to do with Milwaukee's players saying how they really felt about their coach. The results came from other players, showing exactly how the rest of the league feels about the man who used to coach the Bucks. It's an issue that seemingly everyone outside of those making the key decisions in Milwaukee knew.
Rivers remains adamant that he stepped down from the Milwaukee job and was not fired, as he said in an interview with Andscape's Marc J. Spears. If true, Bucks management didn't even pull the plug on what was clearly a failed experiment. It was Rivers' call to walk away, meaning there was a possibility that he could have been back for another go-round next season.
Imagine that timeline.
Bucks have moved on to greener pastures
Shortly after Doc Rivers departed, the Bucks hired Taylor Jenkins, a former assistant coach under Mike Budenholzer. Given how swiftly they acted, it's clear they think he's their guy. Understandably. Jenkins alone won't elevate the Bucks back into contention, but he checks off plenty of boxes as a coach that should help the cause.
Jenkins is surrounded by far less controversy than Rivers. From day one of the Rivers hiring, there were skeptics because of his lack of success since his title with Boston nearly two decades back. With Jenkins, the general consensus is that this is a strong hire after he was wrongfully given the boot in Memphis in the eyes of many.
Milwaukee Bucks fans can only hope that Jenkins does not end up on the same list that Rivers did this time next season.
Stay tuned for more Milwaukee Bucks analysis.
Add us as a preferred source on Google