The Milwaukee Bucks begin a 5 game road trip with Doc Rivers at the helm

The Milwaukee Bucks begin a 5 game road trip with Doc Rivers at the helm

Coming up on today’s locked on bucks we are live here this Sunday a.m We recap what happened last night uh relatively impressive win for the bucks as their offense found their footing against the New Orleans Pelicans a good defense in the Pelicans too by the way and the

Bucks take two of three on this home stand so they now move ahead on this five game Road Trip and they do so with a brand new head coach we’ll examine the five-game road trip and get in into some of what Doc Rivers had to say as he met

With the media yesterday join us coming up here on locked on bucks you are locked on bucks your daily Milwaukee Bucks podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day and welcome in to another lock on bucks I’m Justin Garcia you can hear me

On the Bucks radio network and on 620 WTMJ here in Milwaukee join joined by Camille Davis you can hear her on the technical file podcast the Carri the G podcast in MK and uh of course on lock on bucks each and every day we thank you for

Making locked on bucks your first listen every day we’re free and available wherever you get your podcasts viewable as well on YouTube part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day um Camille the elephant in the room we will get to in a moment but I I suppose we’ll

Start first at least knocking out the game recap that the Bucks won last night beating the New Orleans Pelicans and you know I not to be a Doomer but I know I mentioned on the show earlier in the week of I was a little uneasy about this

Week this is a very big stretch we had two games against the Cavaliers who were playing very good and you know there were some claims of well who did Cleveland beat well schedule wasn’t the toughest but one of those good teams at least we think that they beat was You by

40 points and they were beating teams Dom Min so you knew it’s only a two game separation in the Los colum between the Bucks and the Cavs you have two games with them the Pelicans are playing very well as as well very good as well and

Then in the midst of all this you make a coaching change so there is a lot of maybe concern but just wonder over where does this go from here and do we exit this week with the Bucks in fourth place in the Eastern Conference and that’s not

The case because of the way they played on this home stand and because they did get some help as well around them absolutely and that’s what you need sometimes you have to take care of business yourself but also you want to see what other teams are doing

As well along the way but your main focus of course is worrying about the games that are in front of you and what you actually can control and heading into this week before there were even any coaching hirings once the Bucks got blown out by 40 against the Cavaliers I

Already looked ahead to the next week which was this past week we just had and saying hey we have the Cavs backtack at home in one of these little two game miniseries that the NBA seems to be doing a bit more frequently now which I

Actually kind of like I have to say I do kind of like that energy of having like the back-to-backs against the same team it kind of builds things up and when the Bucks won on Wednesday coming off of the coaching news and then they lost on

Friday okay we split with the Cavs the season series between us are now it’s now tied I’m we think about tie Breakers and future sliding in that sense then you have the Pelicans coming in second night of a back toback already fig there would be no Chris Middleton or if there

Was Chris Middleton playing it would be for limited minutes which we have seen uh throughout the season so far and instead the Pelicans game started off back and forth back and forth but I believe it was tied 17 all Jay Crowder hits a three bucks go up 2017 and they

Don’t look back in that game and the Friday game against the Cavaliers it was one of those where you look at the score and you’re thinking like oh was it a situation where the Bucks defense let us down again but the Bucks offense just kind of they just couldn’t make a bucket

On Friday night’s game against the Cavaliers the defense was good the defense has actually been pretty decent over the last three games and again that’s two games against the Cavaliers a game against the Pelicans but neither one of those teams are offenses to sneeze at so seeing the Bucs keep those

Teams uh pretty low on the scoreboard was nice to see and again them being able to play ball this well again two-one record but I think the ball that they actually played was pretty good having this record with all the noise that’s going on around you I think

That’s a win for this Bucks team Yeah you mentioned uh the defense actually played pretty well and um it’s it’s three games that I kind of mentioned too like I know these games count in the standings um but in many ways especially leaving the arena those three nights it

It almost felt like a preseason game where you knew and especially Friday night when it was official late in the fourth quarter that Doc Rivers is the head coach of the Bucks you know you left the last two games especially knowing I know these games count in the

Standings I’m just not sure what we can take from them you know like the defense look better but there’s going to be changed there’s going to be new members of the coaching staff Doc Rivers is is going to run things differently offensively and defensively though he did make some interesting comments about

That that we’ll revisit here in a moment it was just a weird feeling of I mean these are probably the closest to preseason games that we’ll get within the regular season that and you know the last couple of games of the season when when you typically sit guys if things

Are locked up um but in those three games a small sample size warning here under Joe prty the pr God the buts are seventh best defensively in the league in those three games yeah it it so with that there gonna be some people pointing to like hey like this

Goes to show you that you know the Bucks didn’t have the talent whatever the case may be you can make up a lot of different narratives around what happened in the last three games but for me it was what we we saw like I mentioned before that I thought this

Team could win a championship under Adrien Griffin because of the talent alone this is before all the reports that came out about what was going on with the team how players were receiving things and we got more details but just watching them play like you know they

Have the talent to be better to do better we’ve seen them in games where they have the effort from beginning to end and it looks a lot different than other games where it just seems like they’re getting off to slow starts and over the last three they seemed pretty

Focused like you mentioned it kind of having some preseason Vibes to it for me it was like I don’t know what to take of this like should I be looking deep into the fact that Andre Jackson Jr isn’t playing should I be looking into the

Fact that Maran was sent to the herd to play a game when the Bucks were going to be playing a home game that same evening should I be looking into the fact that campaign is back in a rotation like there’s so many different question marks

And I know we’re going to get into some of the Doc Rivers comments which kind of clears some things up but also still leaves some things that you’re going to be like I have to keep an eye on what this is going to turn into

But was it was fun I know we mentioned that we might talk about the Royal Rumble but when they announced that they were hiring Doc Rivers in that Cavaliers game where you know like okay the Bucks aren’t going to win this game on Friday and then you start seeing them showing

Doc in the Sky Box just just up above everything like very WCW uh sting Vibes where up in the rafters uh watching over uh what’s happening and like I’m just really excited to get to this next phase like this we had the Adrien Griffin phase and then we had the pry era which

Shout out to Joe pruny two onone record as an interterm coach the the pressers were entertaining nonetheless I enjoy Joe PR’s energy uh him just talking about what do you how do you know this is a big game he’s like did you hear it in my voice like they hear hear my voice

Go up a couple of octaves yeah like I enjoyed Joe PR’s energy and one of the things I know we’re going to talk about as we dive deeper into Doc’s comments is around the bench because uh doc made no quals say I don’t know what this bench

Is going to look like and I doubt that everyone who is here will continue to be here because I need to be comfortable myself so things to watch but I’m glad that the Bucs were able to come up with a winning record over this three- game

Stretch while they were kind of in just a floating Middle Ground of waiting for their next head coach to be announced yeah it uh it was an interesting stretch that we now put behind us here for the bucks and now move on with h with Doc

Rivers and look I I think you know I I I think we kind of mentioned two and it’s three games and things could drastically change in terms of who gets what minutes who’s playing versus who isn’t or just the overall schemes you run are going to

Be different though doc did kind of hint at that that we’ll get to with those comments but the defense at least to the naked eye it did look better and it do did look like and and Doc pointed to this as well that you have the capability with the group that you have

While there are some flaws and limitations that you can be League average better than League average and they just weren’t functioning at that level and and again if you can sit at that level everybody’s going to make the analogy in comparison to the Denver Nuggets of great offense uh slightly

Better than League a average defense I think you pointed it out earlier in the week too yes but also we’re discrediting what Denver did the last month or two months of the regular season when that defense played a lot better and was really clicking moving into the playoffs

Maybe you can do that but I I do think you at least see there is a skeleton here for this defense to be better than terrible and if they can sit in that range of 12 13 15 in Le in defensive rating you have a chance you have a very

Good chance with your offense and how we think it’s improved in the half court and again this is one game to point to but the Bucks did a much better job in transition and defending in transition against the Pelicans you got to see this moving forward can’t just be a one game

Sample size here um but the Pelicans actually lost points per possessions um in their transition offense the Bucks were doing that good of a job defending them and part of it was it wasn’t off of steals a very very low volume there they limited their live ball turnovers it’s

Amazing how far that will go with helping your defense but that’s one of the things that we had talked about with Doc or whoever this was that took over of you know I have to assume the major starting point the first two things that you’ll Circle and say look if we can fix

These and clean these up we might not be elite we’re going to be much much better and give ourselves an even better shot rebounding which they’ve gradually done a better job of even under Adrien Griffin this week especially though when you think about the impact Brook Lopez

Had they’ve done a better job on the glass and transition defense if you can clean this up we’re not putting ourselves behind the eightball and giving the opponent these free points that had seemingly been the biggest issue for the bucks part of that’s tied in the offense part of that is just

Knowing do I get back what’s my role in this and for three games we’ve seen it starting to get clean cleaned up I I would imagine um those are going to be the transition defense aspect especially the first task for uh for Doc Rivers here as he takes over and the last thing

I note again just from one game to take away from but this is good Pelicans defense and um I think there are some limitations with a guy like herb Jones who is the type of Defender you want in this league to be clear I don’t know that you want herb Jones defending

Giannis that he has the wingspan he has the quickness he has the ability to switch and stick with guys on the perimeter we saw him block that shot in the corner too I think was that Dame that he blocked um but Giannis and the brute force of Giannis as we saw last

Night that’s not what you want to throw herb J Jones on no there’s not many guys who can defend Giannis one-on-one like that’s a hard ask of anyone at that point but herb Jones for his credit I mean he he tried he hung in there he

Does have some length but jannis is just a different beast but that’s not to say that herb Jones isn’t a good Defender when the reports came out about Herb’s name possibly being available 2019s raised their hand and said yes please me like yes absolutely like he’d be number one on my bucks wish

Trade wish list uh if he really was available but the Pelicans game was one where I didn’t know what to expect I mentioned again second n of back toback the Pelicans were also coming off of a back toback where Zion didn’t play um on Friday night so wasn’t exactly sure what

We would see but to see that this Bucks team was able to build that lead after a little bit back and forth early and continue to build on that not give it back it never felt like the Bucks were at at any point after they started to

Get that lead really in a lot of danger of letting that lead slip letting it go like everybody who got in the game contributed in a way where you’re like this is what we expected and earlier in the season I remember I can’t forget which when it was after but Adrien

Griffin was mentioning the fact like it feels like there’s a dark cloud around us and when we’re not winning certain games by enough points but like any win is a good is good for us and that’s what he mentioned too like you don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes and

That was very early in the season that I remember we talked about this on the show and thought what’s going on here yeah like strange you’re mentioning dark clouds after a win but it it just goes to show like there are certain ways we expect the Bucks to look when they’re

Winning and I didn’t expect it to be this big of a blowout against the Pelicans because as we mentioned they’re a good basketball team but once the Bucks really started pushing it and building and building and building and we got to this Victory this large blowout margin where it was like this is

What we’re talking about where wins we want them to look a certain way and the Bucks never looked like they were going to give the game away because a lot of times it’s like the Bucks are beating themselves as you mentioned transition buckets or taking difficult shots

Offensively that aren’t in the flow of the game which leads to the other team being able to get out really quick initiate their offense so it just looked better and this again like you mentioned it’s kind of a a weird you know interm stage right now but you’d have to think

That some of this will carry over with Doc and he mentioned like I saw quite a few things myself but the reality of it is we can only change one or two things starting immediately luckily we have a veteran group uh that can handle some of

That but we can’t throw a lot at these guys right now we just have to tweak a few things off top and then continue to build from there all right we mentioned Doc Rivers quite a bit if you missed the introductory press conference from Doc Rivers yesterday we will bring you some

Of those comments and key takeaways and the things that stood out the most to Camille and I we will get into that discussion coming up after the break unlocked on bucks passion drive and patience that is what brings home the winning trophy it’s also what keeps your ride or die alive

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Today here for you 247 covering the top stories of the day with the local Experts of locked on plus all the national shows we have that cover every single League Super Bowls right around the corner we’re we’re moving into the trade deadline for both the NBA and the

NHL and the All-Star Game for both of those as well so a lot of national stories out there go to lockon sports today on YouTube and subscribe to the first ever National Sports 247 streaming Channel and before you know it too Camille we’re going to have spring training here so it is really

And the NCA tournament so there we’ve rattled off everything that’ll have you covered on lockdown sports today we should also send a line to um to the team here to David lock and Company to see when can we get locked on wrestling and uh we can lend some support to that

One but not to Sidetrack too much we’ll get back into Doc Rivers here um we mentioned he he met with the media yesterday and I think a lot of people questioned you know what Thursday and Friday of all right it’s gonna be doc when when are we going to hear that this

Is Doc and when is he going to be coaching and word started to trickle out I think Friday even before the Bucks announced it that um he’s probably gonna coach his first game starting with this road trip and that was confirmed uh yesterday Saturday morning in his press

Conference but there was a lot that we uh we took away from from Doc Rivers I pulled some of the audio that we’re going to play here on the show but before we get to some of the cuts that stood out the most to to you and I your

Overall takeaway when you left listening to Doc Rivers speak what was the first thing that came to mind this is probably the type of coach that this particular team needs that was my very first thought when I walked away from it because when we initially hired Adrien

Griffin I was like hey I hope that this works out uh again I have an interest in Milwaukee Bucks I want the Bucks to do good so if you are representing the Bucks of course I want success for you and what you’re looking to do and set

Out to do but I said this is a lot for a first-time head coach to take on because upon his signing we didn’t have a Giannis extension him ex him extending does take some of that weight off that was on uh the back of a first year head

Coach but knowing that this is a team with championship aspirations first-time head coach you have to deliver and that is a very difficult situation to walk into when it’s your very first time uh with head coaching experience and then you add in Dame and now you have Superstars that

You’re going to have to manage as well in your locker room and not to say that Giannis and Dame are like Diva Superstars like we know that they’re more uh humble they’re more unselfish they’re looking to do but they’re still stars and they still expect certain things certain touches uh expect things

Go a certain way so that was always my biggest concern of just having a first-time head coach I had similar concerns when Darin ham went to the Lakers where I was like I want ham to land in a situation that works out for him where he has time to grow and learn

With this team and when you’re walking into a situation where they expect championships it’s difficult it’s difficult because you don’t have as much grace to make mistakes as you’re learning something for the first time but hearing Doc and the thing that stood out to me was when he mentioned the fact

That I’ve seen it all you know this is 25th year coaching coming in with the bucks now I’ve seen it all I’ve been in locker rooms with stars I’ve been in locker rooms with all NBA players and the truth of it is that I’m going to

Have to be the voice that tells these guys what we need them to do and sometimes they’re not going like hearing that and I’m fine with them not liking that because it’s going to be good for the team and when I heard him mention that aspect of it being like sometimes

They’re not going to like me and I’m cool with that because I want this team to win that’s what set out to me where it’s like it’s a veteran group they know what they’ve been in the league for a while they understand what they need to

Do but they might be asked to take on certain roles or tasks that they haven’t done before or they they don’t like doing we all have things in our jobs that we don’t like doing and me personally I try to avoid them I’m not get to that paperwork later I’ll do this

Part later but if Doc’s coming in saying no we need you to do this now and he has a voice that they respect that’s what this team needs and that was was something that came out to me where I’m like this is the right hire for this

Team in this moment yeah um that was was what struck me the most as well is okay a lot of the things that we had had some concerns over and questions over that these have been addressed I’m sure that was calculated um but it it’s also who

Rivers is and you know we we had um heard from Willie Green prior to the game as well who played for Doc under or or in Los Angeles when doc was coaching the Clippers and he had kind of talked about the fit too and the things that he

Learned from Doc and mentioned quite a bit that last um item that you brought up of you know part of the manager experience is not only putting people in a position to succeed and developing them um getting the most out of your team and still finding a way to juggle

How do I improve individuals but do it at um we’re we’re also helping the team that it’s it’s not at the expense of the team takes a step backward because I gotta help you know this one individual or two and that’s not in sports that’s anywhere but it it’s also being

Realistic and being you know honest and having difficult conversations when they need to happen I don’t know that we had that a lot and it’s it’s not just under Adrian Griffin even dating back to the last few years of Mike buen holer though I suspect there was a lot more of it

There um and it’s it’s not you know exclusive to the Bucks that that’s what a lot of younger and new coaches go through and you can see the effects that it has so to me that was one of the bigger takeaways as well is this is a

Guy that he has been around the block and he has seen everything he even joked of you know that that it’s here in Milwaukee and that my number 31 hangs in the rafters I can point up there and say guys I swear to God I played trust me

Like I’ve been through this um the other thing too was just you know and and this is not new to any of us that have been around and followed the league as much as we have just how Dynamic Doc Rivers is that even if you are one of those um

People that is unsure about this or is going to point to the track record in game sevens and Closeouts and Etc and say I don’t I don’t know about doc yeah when you listen to him talk and when you’re in the room with him you just

Leave thinking all right uh I’m going to go do whatever that guy wants I’m I’m in absolutely absolutely and something else that stood out to me from him and just the ability that he’s able to command in the room like you mentioned is identity and he mentioned that you know I talked

To the guys like what what is this team’s identity and that’s something that we have talked about here on lock on bucks like what is this team really good at what do they hang their hat on here what is the identity of this team and he was like you know 43 games in

This team doesn’t know yet we still have to figure out what the identity of this team is and we have to go on that and he mentioned like hey the slogan here is Fear the Deer right is anybody really fearing the deer this year and that’s a

Feeling that I had where it felt like teams weren’t scared to play the Bucks it’s like okay we know they they’re good but I don’t I’m not scared to come in the building and play these guys like let’s lace them up and let’s go and

That’s a piece of it where there is room to improve because we’ve mentioned we don’t know exactly what this defense is known for doing what do they take away what have they taken away yian lamented about that fact after a game earlier in the season where he’s like we’re giving

Up everything we can’t give up everything and then so I loved that dot called out we need to find an identity for this team and we need to lean on that going forward because if you don’t know who you are it’s really hard to go out there and really execute so we

Mentioned uh the audio and you mentioned the identity piece too that is one of the bigger takeways that I had um but instead of us just recapping what Doc Rivers said I think it makes more sense for us to actually play you some of those cuts and react to

That audio so we will get into that you’ll hear from Doc Rivers himself coming up after the break on locked on bucks well this episode of lockdown pucks is brought to you by quiz today we’re going to have some fun and test your bucks knowledge should be a very

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Rivers and the audio from Doc so you mentioned the identity that was really one of the first things that struck me was hearing his Takeaway on that I just think we have to find our identity that’s is more the message like um you know if you’re going to have fear of the

Deer you got to fear of the deer you know you know what I mean like um but our identity uh right now you know and I ask them like who are we and you know you know when the team is connected and they got it they’ll give you the answer

You know we don’t have an answer yet and and we got to find like what are we who are we every year you’re on a New Journey you know uh we have five guys here I think it’s five that have won a title I meaning the players right and

And so we have to make sure they understand that we want to do a lot of what they did but you can’t go on the same Journey every year the journey is different even if the same guys came back with the same culture and everything that journey is different and

And so we have to figure out who we’re going to be and and and the type of Journey that we need to go on to get what we want I just think we have to find our identity that’s is so that’s Doc Rivers there and I I think the big

Part was that part somewhere there in the Middle where he had mentioned um I asked the guys and they couldn’t really give me an answer what’s your identity and to anybody watching the Bucks this season that much was apparent right that you know you looked at and and jannis

Kind of talked about this too like what are we taking away what are we going to give to the opponent what are we taken away under bud you knew what that identity was that you knew we’re taking away shots at The Rim and we’re going to let you take long twos mid-range shots

The last year we’re going to contest threes a little bit more as well but we’re taking away shots at the RAM and free throws that is our our identity you’re not getting the easiest baskets and there’s just none so it kind of goes hand inand with all right fix the

Transition and that’ll go a long way find an identity and that’ll go a long way as well it will and I saw one of the comments come through again shout out to everybody who’s joining us this is a live recording of locked on bucks for our Monday episode T said do you think

This team is still building on the things that butd had implemented and that doc clip I think answers that really really well where it’s like every season is a different Journey even if you have some of the same faces in place here like there are things that are

Going to change so while you might see some of the shells of things that worked for example we know that it works when you have Brook Lopez and drop coverage that is the preferred defensive coverage for Brook Lopez we know that works and that’s something that bud brought forth

And implemented so yes you might see it but it might look different different around the edges for him like it’s going to be a little bit different for sure with this team and it’s going to be no matter what the season is every single year is a different journey and I loved

That messaging from it where it’s like I might ask you to do something different than you did before like there’s many different ways to get to a championship and just because you did it this one way before does not mean that is the only way that we can get there so I expect

Him to challenge some guys to do things a bit differently than what they’ve done before as they look to find this um Improvement find this identity for this team because they need one like you need some you need to know what you’re good at like when you walk on the courts like

I know we’re going to like you mentioned when you had bud we’re we’re gonna protect the rim above anything else we are not giving that up and we’re not trying to give up many threes unless you’re not a good three-point shooter in which case go at it so like you need

That to come into place and I love that doc brought that up about the journey and how it’s different and how guys might be ask to do something different but you can still get to the same end goal just trust the process this particular season and I I think the

Other big one we had mentioned um I think on the last episode of the show to the the anticipation that there’s going to be adds to the staff that was the other question that brought up I believe it was Jim oari that uh asked doc we saw

The reports out there for a day or so leading up to that announcement that um Dave Jagger who he worked with last year I believe the last couple of years in Philadelphia and has experience as a head coach too in Memphis and with the Kings Dave Jager is joining him Rex cian

As well who basically filled the role of tibs who uh doc had in Boston has his basically defensive coordinator that’s what Rex was in Los Angeles with the Clippers on the most recent low post I think that came out on on Friday Zack low talked quite a bit about um about

Rex camian and his background and the type of guy that he is so if you’re looking for more insight on that I would encourage you after you finish lockdown bucks to listen to a Zach’s latest podcast but Dr talked about that as well and addressed those names specifically

And this new look coaching staff and Dave uh will definitely be joining the staff uh I don’t know in in what row yet um this is different you know obviously I’ve talked to about seven coaches already who have done this uh some really good coaches who have actually

Done exactly this already and every one of them had I was hoping it would be the same thing and that didn’t go well cuz each one had a whole different story about how it went but the toughest part is that this is a human business and we

Have a lot of coaches who are here already and so you evaluate everybody you do you don’t come in with a set idea I I guess I’ll find some new friends and learn some stuff too you know and so I I’m going to open this with an open idea

I mean obviously we’re going to make changes we have to because I have to be comfortable but at the end that was the interesting part is um yeah you know we knew there was going to be ads to staff and and Doc pointing out the obvious of you know a lot of coaches

Aren’t going to be that candid of why are you making these adjustments like well I’m I’m new I’m the new guy like I need to find my level of comfort and my comfort is with the guys I’ve gone through this with before so there’s that part um but also you know he he

Mentioned a little bit later too that we’re we’re probably gonna have a bench that’s too big in the early going but it’s it’s part of just I don’t want to say trimming the fat and and reduce anything that those coaches do but it’s essentially that to doov I’m going to

Start out with everybody I’m G to take everybody’s input I I know Rex and Dave are obviously staying and I know what to get from them but this is almost an onthe job interview for the rest of the staff of I’m sure there’s going to be

Input from the players as well when you think about relationships guys like Josh Oppenheimer and Vin Baker have with Giannis especially and for Josh this is now one forehead coaches that he’s been through here in Milwaukee but there’s going to be that aspect of it but that

Last part too of you know this is how you find those coaching staffs where you think man that’s that guy’s a part of that staff it’s stuff like this that happens where maybe Joe prty for example or any of these assistants weren’t on Doc’s you know staff the last few times

But then this stop happens and then doc sees you know what I really like what this guy brings or I never thought about this and then they’re on your staff going forward wherever it is that you end up that’s how you always kind of see this mixture I loved the honesty in his

Response to that question where he’s like at the end of day I have to be comfortable like I’m the head coach and I need to be comfortable but like you mentioned he said I might make some new friends along the way and those are the voices that like I wouldn’t have thought

To reach out to this particular Voice or this particular person to begin with and we have heard doc mention that during this time that he has not been coaching when he’s been working for ESPN he has been talking to other coaches in different leagues he made a joke like

Not too many NBA coaches I didn’t want anybody to think like I was inform form or anything like that but you know just talking to coaches and getting advice and getting experience to try to be better the next time I did end up in this seat and sometimes having those

Oppo not should say opposing voices but voices that you don’t know as well they might bring interesting ideas to your table that’s on you to decide of what you do with that information and how you move forward for it I was very unsure myself how would Mike look with the

Coaching staff once doc came in and doc has said he’s never been in this situation exactly before where he’s coming in the middle of a season uh so with that like when you’re coming in there is going to be some leaning upon some of the coaches who have been here I

Would assume since they’ve been here for the day-to- day the flow of things and they have the players already and then as time continues to go on whether it’s doc realizing it or even some of the assistants might be realizing like this isn’t the right fit for me uh going

Forward or I have a relationship with some and so over here and I’d rather try to figure out a way to get onto their staff so there probably will will be some guys moving moving on from the bug staff who those guys are can’t call it

Today um but right now it’s a good thing that the bucks came in one of the smaller staffs in the NBA in regards to assisant coaches because Griff had a pretty lean staff before Gleason came in so at least with Doc coming in and bringing in two more guys like it might

Be too big in what doc Envision but um looking around the league it’s still not going to be one of the biggest assistant coaching rooms so there is some Grace in that as well no it’s a good point is you know even before the the opening from Terry stott’s departure and in adding

Trevor Gleason it was still a very relatively speaking in comparison to other teams it was still a small staff so it’s not as though you you already have you know three rows of coaches and now we’re we’re continuing to add to it here so that’s that’s one thing to keep

In mind um he did talk about the schedule I’m not going to play that cut but just joked about how how difficult it is in front of them but I I thought the the most interesting interesting part to pull from that is something we’ve talked about before and that the

Notion of practice in the league and Doc very bluntly pointed out we only have three practice days remaining on the schedule when you look at the way things break out of days off and in travel days and not being on the road that we only have three days we circled where we said

We can we can put in a practice here that I I think you hear practice and you assume well they do it on every single off day and it’s not the case you’ll have shootarounds you’ll have walkthroughs you’ll have film sessions but like actual practice where you’re

Getting on the floor and and going through more of these drills and instructing and and trying to install things it’s very limited once the season begins that’s the other challenge here and as doc said just just three of those days so that’s certainly a challenge I don’t know uh if it’s necessarily music

To the players’s ears to hear him also mention like we’re gonna have to do more shootarounds and things like that to kind of install that um he also the other funny part which can again lead to a Doc Rivers potentially perhaps being too candid at times um when he talked

About his relationship with both Giannis and Damen Lillard and that he he he just was really talking to both of them for the first time in the last couple of days but without naming him talked about Phil Beckner who is Damen Lillard’s shooting coach and and said I know Dame

A little bit through through him that we hired him on my staff in Philadelphia a couple of years ago I’m not going to say whether or not that was with the intention of maybe doing something else a couple of years from now so all of the conspiracies out there that exist of oh

I wonder if teams were sniffing around than asses for this reason or if you would hire a guy that’s close to a player for that reason Doc Rivers confirming yes that is why we did that in Philadelphia to try to get dve Lillard to come to the 76ers he let us

In on a little secret there and again like that’s something about doc that I think is refreshing as well when it comes to who he is with the media um he is someone who has historically been pretty candid um and to some people to a fault at times because he’s going to say

Exactly how he’s feeling or thinking or what was going on in the moment and I love that little nugget about it because it’s something that we’ve always thought like hey they’re making a play they’re trying to of course entice someone to come here or whatever the case may be so

Him hinting on that it did make me laugh a little bit as well so you know I’m here for it I’m I’m ready for the Doc Rivers era to kick off like you mentioned he is coming in ahead of a really tough uh West Coast trip for the

Bucks right now and you start your coaching debut with the Bucks against the Denver Nuggets in Denver um and that’s going to be a tough place to play but I’m very much looking forward to it like I we talked about earlier in this episode the last three games have felt

Kind of like a fog of like a okay we’re kind of just in waiting for the next phase of Bucks basketball to begin luckily they came out of that with a winning record two and one you of course want three and0 but two- one you will

Definitely take um so it’s on to the to the Doc Rivers era of the Milwaukee Bucks which I’m hoping uh includes an identity for the team I’m hoping it includes uh just some better ball from this team because there’s another there’s other levels for this team to

Unlock and we’ve seen that um and I’m waiting to see that because I do think this is a championship contending team uh just a few more cuts that we do want to play in the interest of time here because I I think these were the the four ones that I have left here

Maybe the ones that that stood out the most so I’m gonna play this one and present it without comment and no judgment this was Doc Rivers asked about the timeline and the reports that surfaced about what was going on leading up to the coaching change that’s not

True I don’t know where that came from actually uh I was never a consultant if I was i’ need to get paid some more money uh for that because I didn’t I didn’t get a check but Adrian and I are good friends um I talked to Adrian the

Last three days you know I talked to him the night of the firing I talked to him we talk a lot so listen I wanted him to do well I I look at him as guy that he’s a lifer and he’s here for 15 years

Trying to get a job and then he gets a job and it doesn’t work out for him and you know this league in a lot of ways can be fair and not fair that’s for everybody else to judge I just know him as a human and he’s a terrific dude

That’s so doc River saying the reports that came out I was a consultant it is not true I was not a consultant for the bucks um he mentioned the relationship he has with Adrien Griffin and that’s always the interesting part for any of these coaches when you take over for

Another coach is it it’s like with the players you know it’s it’s a fraternity there is this circle of coaches that you have a relationship with them and it’s always going to be awkward anywhere where somebody loses their job and you come in and take that but there are also

Only three 30 of these jobs that you it’s it’s not like being in the private sector where you can take a stand if you fired my friend I’m not doing that some coaches will do that um but in the instance where there’s only 30 jobs there’s only so much of a high ground

You can take there is and I love that human aspect of the human element and I think it should be just said again uh that Griffin being Let Go by the Bucks isn’t any like Mark against his character or who he is because all reports have indicated and everybody

Who’s met Adrien Griffin has mentioned what an outstanding man that he is um and how people think that there is a future for him as another head coach in the league once that time comes it’s just that again walking into a situation with expectations this High where you

Don’t have as much time to learn or as much grace to grow with your team because the expectation is a championship and if the process isn’t leading to the right results then something has to change and although the Bucks have been winning games just hasn’t looked right as we mentioned

Earlier in the episode so I love the fact that doc did come in and just mention like hey me and grip have a relationship he pushed back on that Consulting piece which I hear you I hear you go ahead and do that uh because it seemed like there was some dirty macking

Going on if you were a consultant to the team and then you come in and take the head coaching job I get it so um I’m glad that he was able to get a chance to kind of clear up how it was on his side

Um but overall just got to get ready to go you got to get ready to go and wishing the best for Adrien Griffin and whatever comes next for him but uh Doc Rivers is here now and it’s time for him to go forward yeah as as Eric says it’s

It could be an adjustment for all of us to get a more blunt coach is Eric says better be prepared for Doc Rivers to push back on some tough questions if you’re uh in that room and in the media so that look those those situations in

Those settings as I I kind of joked about too uh again not to take away from anything Adrian Griffin was and brought to the team but Doc Rivers is such a dynamic personality that you saw that in that press conference you saw it when he appeared on the coure too in that

Marquette game yesterday and addressed the crowd that there’s all these things that Doc Rivers is as Camille as I see what you’re wearing too that there’s all these things that Doc Rivers is bringing uh to the Milwaukee Bucks a couple of other things but I think this is the

Most pressing on a lot of Bucks fans Minds is we saw minutes for Maran bamp for Andre Jackson Jr and to a lesser extent too for AJ Green that we saw earlier in the season that in the case of Marjan and AJ really started to taper off we had that conversation earlier

About Jay Crowder and look the minutes got to come from somewhere you you don’t get Jay Crowder back and now you’re allowed to play a 58 minute game so somebody is going to lose their minutes and it’s a knock on not just Bud dock a lot of Veteran coaches they lean on

Veteran players and players that they trust and a lot of times rookies and young players you don’t have that trust yet because you haven’t been in that spot but I I do believe the Bucks are in a very unique situation where we know they need to fix the defense and in

Terms of internal options the best way to do that is with these young players whether it’s Andre or Maran so I don’t suspect and maybe this is my naiv coming out I don’t suspect they’re all going to be just buried on the bench and Doc Rivers talked about that a little bit I

Can’t wait to get in the gym with him that’s the guys that I can spend time with because you know they don’t have they’re not high minute guys yet but one of those guys are going to have to help us is the way I look at it from afar you

Know you may get in the gym and that changes but right now I look at our young guys and I always one of these guys maybe two but one for sure will will at some point have to help us and that’s our job job as a staff to develop

Them and it’s not just develop them individually it’s more team development to develop them to learn how to play with a veteran team and people don’t realize how hard that is for young guys every guy that comes out of college is the guy on their team and now you join

This team you have Giannis and Dame and Chris Milton um you’re not the guy on this team and and and learning how to play in that role and being successful is ex extremely hard uh but I really believe by the end of the year one of those guys will definitely be able to

Help us that was the most interesting part to me is because you as I just gave you the high level too coaches don’t really trust you know younger guys but for Doc to explain why of it’s not only developing a young guy but it’s also developing you of okay here’s how you

Improve as a player but you also have to fit in with this group that we have Dame that’s that’s going to carry a lot of the offense and Giannis our two-way guy Brook is doing this Chris is our supplemental scorer here so how do you

Fit into this like how do you do what we’re coaching you through and maximize those things and do them well but how do you find where that fits in with this group and that to me was the most interesting part to hear doc lay that out and talk about the challenges of not

Only bringing players up to speed but also find your lane on this team and continue to grow absolutely that reminds me of when Christian Wood was still on the Milwaukee Bucks and people were seeing what he was doing when he was with the G league and it’s like look at the numbers

That he’s putting up and the question would be okay but what is it that he’s doing there that think makes you think that he can do that with this team in the role that he’s going to have when he’s on the main roster him and jannis play the same position you’re not going

To see Christian Wood being you know the lead offensive option on this Bucks team so what can he do in a role on this team that can be beneficial and it just never was a clear fit and it’s really important for young players coming on to these teams especially a team with so

Many evets like this of how do you find what your role is going to be and how can you be successful in that role and that’s why drafting somebody like Andre Jackson Jr was one of those things where you’re like hey this could be a fit

Because he was a superb role player in the college and he won a championship doing it so there’s some level of understanding that you can look at Andre and say hey we know you probably were the best guy on your high school team but we saw you in college win it all by

Playing a particular role on this team so you are have an understanding of how important it is uh to play a role Dante Devon chenzo was somebody similar as well where it’s like hey you know how to play a role we’re coming in here and

We’re asking you to play a role and it might be different than the role you played in college but understand it’s still a very important role and I love the fact that he said we are going to need at least one maybe two but at least

One of these young guys to hit because they’re going to have to contribute we’re going to need them down the stretch um so I had questions too like how much playing time will we see with these young guys because as you’ve mentioned experienced coaches tend to

Lean on bets just because I don’t have the time to coach you we have things we’re trying to do um and we need to get it done so um I love that he said there’s still going to be room for at least one of them in this rotation I

Just have to figure out which one of those guys it is and we have to develop them in a way that’s going to fit well onto what this team and what this team needs from its role players with Giannis and Dame and Chris and Brooke and Beasley like these are guys who are

Going to have a higher offensive pecking order um than this rookie or young player coming in on the team yeah the the I mentioned a couple of cuts the only other things I was going to touch on which I’m not going to play here in the interest of time um he mentioned

Expectations and we’ve talked about that too of coming into a team with these expectations and as doc said I’ve I’ve coached teams with I’ve coached teams without I can tell you it is a lot more fun and a lot more rewarding to coach a team with expectations and it’s part of

The job that it’s it’s a stressful job but it’s almost not stressful if this is what you love to do and as he said I’m a basketball lifer so it is what I love um and the other thing was his legacy somebody asked him about that as well of

Do you have something to prove and again as as we’ve mentioned a number of times this week that when you mention the name Doc Rivers everybody’s going to jump to like oh can’t win in the playoffs and the three and two up three to2 losses

And three to one uh leads that he lost and that’s that’s going to continue to come up but as he said you know no I don’t feel like this is for my legacy or that I have something to prove I love winning and kind of talked about that

Feeling which we’ve talked about in this show too that once you get it it’s unlike anything else I think he said it’s it’s like getting a blood transfusion is is what he said and Giannis has that Chris has that Brooke has that Bobby poris and Pat hitan they

Have that there are five guys on this team that and Jay Crowder not here but Jay Crowder is has been to that level that there’s five guys on this team that have been through that and Dame wants that and that’s that’s what I’m searching for again after he won that

Title in Boston and and coached in uh in two finals so I thought that was interesting too to hear him say look I love basketball and I want to win this isn’t me trying to say I gotta you know extend my legacy and I gotta prove I can

Win those games that’s what this is about and this was you know one of the only jobs I was interested in as he said he was contacted by a number of teams and he wasn’t going to leave for just any job that this one made the most

Sense and somebody asked him why and kind of joke why do you think there’s Yiannis and Dam andard but that’s what makes sense so all in all again 30 plus minutes we heard from Doc Rivers where he just had control of the room and you listen to everything that he said and a

Lot of it checked the boxes that we were looking for and now tomorrow today whenever it is you listen to this Monday night um we get to see that put in place with Doc on the sidelines in a big Showdown with the Denver Nuggets who we

Presume are going to have a game where they do actually face the best players on a team and not avoiding all the players where doc was just previously coaching in Philadelphia so that adds even more to it the last thing we’ll point out as Michael mentions all the

Stuff and all the News That’s popped up here Kane pman appearance on the show at some point um we’ve been trying we’ve put out the bad signal know I do know he’s he’s had a pretty long couple of days here and he got a new cactus that

He’s trying to take care of the previous one died so there’s a lot that he’s juggling at the moment as well but we will have Kane Pitman on the show relatively uh soon here and especially leading into the trade deadline which we haven’t gone into great detail In

Fairness to be honest we’re still ironing out all the details Camille you and I but we do plan and maybe Frank as well maybe K we do plan on doing something uh very special the day of the trade deadline to put some reactions out there because I would presume there’s

Going to be movement from the Bucks and uh from a lot of teens at this deadline given all of those handcuffs that are going into place not just for the bucks but a lot of teams this summer with the uh the second apron uh a good place to

Wrap it up there is as we went close to an hour today on the live show but certainly warranted with the Doc Rivers announcement and getting to hear from Doc himself about what to expect for this team now beginning on Monday when he takes over as the head coach of the

Bucks in Denver we will have the postgame show for the reaction to the first game coached by Doc Rivers and um some more thoughts on the doc experiment or experience on the show on Wednesday moving into that game previewing a big Showdown as Dame goes back to Portland

And what that’s going to mean for him and then before you know it after that game we’re a week away from the trade deadline so a lot to get into here on the busy season of locked on bucks thanks to everybody in the comments today everybody that was joining on the

Live show as well for Camille I’m Justin we will talk to you tomorrow with more locked on bucks

Justin and Camille revisit Doc Rivers’ introductory press conference and touch on some of the key takeaways, ponder what we can actually take from this recent 3 game homestand and preview a big 5 game trip