Doc Rivers vs Adrian Griffin: Closer look into Milwaukee Bucks' coaching conundrum as 2008 championship-winning HC accounts for more losses

The Milwaukee Bucks have been the talk of the town after firing Adrian Griffin as head coach and replacing him with Doc Rivers. The Bucks changed their approach when Rivers took over, which became a significant source of their problems. Changing personnel in the middle of the season has never been easy and Milwaukee is the latest victim of it.

The season started with Griffin as the franchise's new head coach, following the front office's decision to fire Mike Budenholzer from the position. The Bucks performed well under their new leader and had a record of 30-13. But alleged internal problems were the source of why they had to let him go.

Enter Rivers, who was fired by the Philadelphia 76ers after the 2022-23 season, as he failed to lead the team past the second round. By the time he was hired, the former player-turned-head coach was working as part of the ESPN broadcast team, together with Mike Breen and Doris Burke.

Compared to Griffin, Rivers has proven himself to be a winning coach. He won a championship in 2008 with the Boston Celtics and led the organization to contention multiple seasons. But he hasn't won anything since leaving the Celtics, despite coaching top-tier talent with the LA Clippers and Sixers.

Now with the Bucks, Rivers has a 15-14 record. The sample size for the current head coach is small compared to Griffin, but he's had more losses in a shorter span than the former coach. According to sources, the team's offense has declined since he took over, from 122.1 to 116.5.

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Doc Rivers (14) officially has more losses than Adrian Griffin's tenure as the Milwaukee Bucks head coach (13). With Doc, the Bucks have gone 14-14.
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Defensively, Rivers didn't affect the team's performance negatively, boasting a defensive rating of 114.0. The playoffs are approaching and all eyes are on the Bucks and how their head coach will perform. With a negative reputation for not getting past the second round, he will have to prove that hiring him was the right choice.

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Doc Rivers addressed the Milwaukee Bucks' recent road losses

In the past eight road games for the Milwaukee Bucks, fans have seen the team lose six games. Interestingly, some of the losses they've suffered were against losing teams. In their recent loss against the Washington Wizards, the second-worst team in the East, Rivers addressed their problems.

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"We don't bring the necessary professionalism and seriousness on the road. And that's something that we can fix. And that's something we're going to have to fix," Rivers said.

If there's a time for fixing their road problems, it should be now. The playoffs are near and having them potentially play more than two games each series, getting the team together on the road is important.

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