PHOENIX — The Milwaukee Bucks have a lot to learn.
That's not the best place to be in the middle of the NBA season. And it's a particularly uncomfortable place to be during a five-game, 10-day road trip through the Western Conference. But that's the situation with the Bucks, who are trying to get used to doing things differently on offense and defense under new head coach Doc Rivers.
Before Adrian Griffin was fired in his first season as an NBA head coach, the Bucks held a 30-13 record and were in second place in the Eastern Conference, but the organization felt a change needed to be made. was. Rivers spearheaded changes to the team's tactics on both sides of the ball in his first week with the team. And that means the team went back to trying to play every other night last week as well as building the basics of the strategy.
“It definitely had a training camp feel,” Bucks center Brook Lopez said of the team's only practice on Friday's trip to Dallas. “You learn a lot, you talk and listen, you go back and forth, you just figure things out. But we're fortunate that we have smart players, talented players, unselfish players. We have a lot of players and those three things give us a big curve when it comes to grabbing new things.”
Sneaking training camp activities into the NBA schedule is a difficult balance for any team or coach to balance.
“Our shootaround was long and we know that,” Rivers said Sunday before the Bucks' 123-108 loss to the Utah Jazz. “It'll probably stay like this for another week or two until they don't like it anymore. So we're going to take advantage of that.”
The Bucks are 3-4 in the seven games since Griffin was fired, interim head coach Joe Planty is 2-1, and Rivers is 1-3 in his first four games on the road. was. This reflects the difficulty of mid-season coaching changes, but the fundamental numbers so far are interesting.
In the seven games following Griffin's firing, the Bucks ranked 17th in the NBA with 115.5 points per 100 possessions and 10th in the NBA with 113.9 points per 100 possessions. This is a noticeable change on both ends of the floor, as the Bucks were second in offensive efficiency and 22nd in defensive efficiency before Griffin's firing. Improved defensive acumen was the organization's most desired outcome when making the coaching change, but a decline in offensive line productivity was an unintended consequence of the change.
Offensively, Rivers talked about how difficult it was to understand the team's terminology midway through the season. For example, some of this season's actions are the same ones Mike Budenholzer executed when he was the Bucks' head coach (and Rivers scouted the Bucks as head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers). ), those actions were called different under Griffin. So even if Rivers can explain the action or play he wants them to perform, he needs to first understand what the team is calling it this season, so he can quickly explain that action on the fly. I can't call you by name.
Those gaps in language and terminology, and Rivers' desire to introduce new plays and actions, are what kept the offense from working smoothly in the first week.
“Most of the time in practice, we're just talking to him about how we want to play,” Khris Middleton said of how they've been trying to make things work. . “And in a game, we kind of know what we want to run at a certain point, and we talk to the doctor about the plays we want to run.
“Sometimes we run it, sometimes we don't, but he's trying to learn our terminology, what we like to call him, the plays and actions we like to run, so right now So here's the conversation. But he's also trying to figure out how to take us to the next level. So right now we're working together as a group to try to get on the same page as quickly as possible. .”
Defensively, the new coaching staff is only required to develop a defensive game plan of principles and how the team wants to defend certain actions, rather than calling specific plays in a game. Things just got a little easier for Rivers. specific time. These principles are much more static and don't change much from match to match.
In fact, on the defensive end, Rivers is trying to take coaches out of the process to some extent.
“It was probably the first practice for the coaches, so it was a quiet practice meaning the coaches couldn't talk, just the players,” Rivers said after Friday's practice in Dallas. “And when they bump, they bump. The only reason they met is because they didn't talk. And I said to the team, do you think we're a team that talks a lot? I asked, do you think it's medium or low? And I said, actually low. And I said, So now I know I can fix it. ”
Rivers has argued that since replacing Griffin, the Bucs can bring better communication and effort to the defensive end, but the silence on the defensive end is due to players not knowing what they should be doing. I also acknowledged that it may indicate that there is no such thing. Rivers suggested this is similar to a student sitting in a classroom hoping the teacher won't call on them because they don't know the answer.
When it comes to communication, Rivers cited Lopez and veteran forward Jae Crowder as the team's standout talkers on the defensive end.
“Everyone is definitely trying to do that,” Lopez said of the team trying to have more conversations. “And it's clear that it's going to take a little more time to figure that out, probably given the combined groups of old and new that we have. It might take longer than we thought for different people to understand each other. You can also throw in different coaches and things like that. Different concepts.
“So there's a lot to understand and you have to really understand what you're doing and understand things before you can be confident speaking on the spot on the court.” You can always talk about trivial things like how you got your boyfriend back, but in reality you have to be able to understand concepts and concepts. know What do you need to say in order to be able to speak with confidence in the floor at a time like this? ”
So far, the Bucks are 1-3 on the road, and new lessons and new thinking haven't translated into wins. But after the game in Utah, Rivers admitted to reporters that he may have to reconsider his rotation after the Jazz outscored the Bucks 40-13 in the fourth quarter. He said he thought part of the reason for his tired legs was because: A commitment to improving the team through longer practice and shoot-around times, as well as a stronger defense.
It was a sentiment shared by his best players.
“I definitely agree,” two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo said after the loss to Utah. “What I've been feeling since practice is that we're adding things, that everyone's excited, that everyone's seeing what we're trying to accomplish here and what we can do as a team. Or because you're excited about how much better you're going to get.'' And just like in practice, people go faster and run up and down. And obviously, with a new coaching staff, I have to show who I am and what I can do. In shootarounds, players are more aggressive, shooting more, cutting more and playing harder. Shootarounds are longer because we're adding items, but then when you go into the game you feel a little gassed up, I'm not going to lie.
“But at the end of the day, you find a happy balance. Right now, it doesn't matter. And I hope everyone in this locker room feels the same way I do. It doesn't matter. No. There's a lot of things we're working on right now, and we're getting better. And then everything clicks, the legs are in place, the mind is in place, everyone's healthy, everyone's grounded. In the moment, I think it's going to be very successful. I really believe.”
Although things haven't gone perfectly for the Bucks on this road trip, Antetokounmpo is encouraged by the work the team has done thus far and believes the changes made will be beneficial for the team going forward. .
“It's a very, very tough schedule, but once everything settles down, it's going to go very, very well,” Antetokounmpo said. “I truly believe. I believe we are moving in the right direction.”
(Photo of Giannis Antetokounmpo: Chris Nicoll / USA Today)
