The Bucks keep clinging to Doc Rivers as if he's an answer. He's not. He never has been.
Milwaukee's championship window is closing with alarming speed, yet they're entrusting their fate to a coach whose playoff collapses have become annual tradition. The disconnect between what this roster needs and what Rivers provides grows more glaring every season.
Anyone paying attention to the Bucks towards the end of last season knew that this Bucks team as currently constructed screamed for pace and creativity. They were simply at their best when the three-headed beast that was Gary Trent Jr., Kevin Porter Jr., and AJ Green could trap ball-handlers, get clean strips, and run the floor for easy layups or transition threes.
Doc Rivers has yet to adjust his coaching style after two years
Despite the new approach that the new acquisitions necessitated for this team, the Bucks continued to play Rivers ball. Giannis thrives in space and motion, yet Rivers generally ran him through predictable post-ups and hand-offs that hardly create any advantages. When healthy, Dame Lillard also mostly ran isolation and pick-and-roll. Young legs like Kevin Porter Jr. and Jericho Sims paired with Giannis Antetokounmpo's transition dominance should create a devastating fast-break attack.
But instead of playing to his team's strengths, Rivers demanded that his roster fit his outdated philosophy.
And worst of all: those pieces can't do what they do best if they hardly even see the floor. For all of Rivers' talk about needing his young Bucks to earn their keep, he has done little to quell criticisms of his longstanding reputation as a veteran-first tactician.
Rivers was brought in mid-season years ago to stabilize a shaky Adrian Griffin tenure, but the results were worse: no defensive identity, a stale half-court offense, and zero in-game creativity. All the hallmarks of a Doc Rivers playoff exit were there, and the team let it happen in Round 1 for two years in a row.
Milwaukee's offense looked disjointed and unintentional. The defense was largely reactive rather than purposeful. Meanwhile, teams with inferior talent consistently out-executed the Bucks in high-leverage situations. And as a result, it took an elimination game for Rivers to finally listen. And by then, it was simply too little, too late.
Which brings us to today.
While other contenders evolve their coaching approaches and maximize talent even in the offseason, Milwaukee doubles down on a coach whose playoff failures span multiple franchises and decades. Rivers' reputation as a "players' coach" means nothing when those players consistently underperform in elimination games.
Bucks ownership seems content watching their championship window slam shut rather than admitting they made the wrong hire. Every game Rivers coaches this season represents another wasted opportunity in Giannis' prime, another step toward inevitable playoff disappointment.
The harsh truth Milwaukee refuses to face: Doc Rivers isn't the solution to their championship chase. He's the biggest obstacle to it. And until they address it, they'll stay ignoring the one move that can change their future for the better.