The Milwaukee Bucks need to embrace change. Now. On Tuesday night, they lost by 33 points to the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves. Given how their season has gone, that might not sound shocking. However, Minnesota was without Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert, its top two players. For the Bucks, even without Myles Turner, to lose that poorly, it's clear something needs to change.
The Bucks need to shake things up or suffer from their own failure
The mighty have fallen. Years ago, this team was competing for titles and No. 1 seeds this time of the year. Now, they currently sit outside of the Play-In Tournament at 11th in the Eastern Conference. The Bucks, 17-23 now, are not a well-constructed team. After early-season injury woes, the hope was that they could get back on track once healthy, but that certainly hasn't gone according to plan.
It's easy to say that the Milwaukee Bucks need to shake things up, but that's truly the only way that this team is going to get back on track.
The Doc Rivers hire has been a disaster, as many predicted it would be from the jump. His concepts are stale. Adjustments are minimal. Energy is nonexistent. Weaknesses are bountiful, however. The Milwaukee Bucks have no shortage of issues, and despite it being clear to everyone that a fresh voice could help turn the tide, nothing has changed. Milwaukee appears firm that Rivers is staying.
Milwaukee is seemingly afraid to make a mid-season coaching change after the Adrian Griffin fiasco. A questionable hire from the beginning, the Bucks fired Griffin, who was 30-13, and rushed to bring in the most experienced name they could find. In hindsight, most Bucks fans would have likely rolled the dice on Griffin.
Is a new coach fixing everything? No. The roster is still flawed. There's a reason why the Bucks have been connected to every single major name on the trade market. Whether it's changing up the roster or hiring a new coach, the Milwaukee Bucks need to do something, and they need to do it now. At this moment, they are a sinking ship with no rescue in sight.
Giannis Antetokounmpo has committed to Milwaukee for now, but if this is how the team keeps playing nightly, that stance could change quickly. Good teams, heck, even mediocre teams, don't lose to a team without its two best players by 33 points. If the Milwaukee Bucks want to right the ship, they have to show it in their actions, and they have to do it fast.
The loss to Minnesota should be a turning point for Milwaukee. If they start their next matchup with everything intact as it was from the Minnesota game, who says anything will be different?
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