Austin Rivers on Doc and the Bucks’ Improvement | Off Guard With Austin Rivers | The Ringer

Austin Rivers on Doc and the Bucks’ Improvement | Off Guard With Austin Rivers | The Ringer

The Milwaukee Bucks just fly under the radar with their undefeated fly the radar because they’re winning how annoying is that well that’s just what we do uh no that’s not what we do that’s that’s what we mainstream media does you know what I mean it’s turn on other

Networks on TV and people are just bashing you know doc the Bucks you know this this and that yeah you know accountability you know all these things and then now they’re like stringing games and wins together and it’s quiet it’s the same thing we saw with the

Clippers and James Harden right you know James is one of those guys that people love to throw rocks at the glass house and then as soon as the you know the house gets built up nice and everything starts moving good and grass is green and everything’s nice people just like H

I don’t want to talk about them anymore yeah people like ugly people like controversy people like problems failure you know what no I hate saying this but like unfortunately misery loves company and I’m not saying everyone who talks trash about the buck is miserable but people like looking at that stuff more

Where you see it all the time on the news and the Feelgood stories are far in between Queen you know what I’m saying of course so it’s just like that’s just it happens in news it happens in sports media just it’s what draws people in unfortunately we’re more attached to

Trauma it’s like going through your comments and someone’s like you look good you look good you look good you look good yo you’re ugly that ugly comment means more to you yeah it’s the same thing with like media you could Clippers are doing great people like cool Clippers struggling they lost seven

In a row people like it’s just a thing right so it’s funny that you mentioned the Clippers too because the Bucks had their I would say like win of the season last night without Yiannis yeah yeah yeah um there’s six and0 since the All-Star break do you think the break

Was the reason that they needed like a little time because obviously doc takes the job mid-season did they needed a little bit of a break a little timeout obviously Dame had a great All-Star Weekend um it seems like it was just what they needed or do you think they

Were just going to eventually find their stride anyways um I thought that team was going to find their stride it’s a lot to ask to have those major changes in the season season when we’re talking about a coach um you know star player coming in whole new Dynamic media’s picking at

Every little wrong thing that you’re doing to just for it to click right away I feel like they needed games they needed to go through struggle they needed those bad losses in Memphis they needed to get you know what I I got to tell you as much as we can poke fun at

The media for being very hard on the Bucks and then now being silent in their success a part of that brutal media thing can bring a team together it almost like puts a chip on their shoulder um it it it can ban a team together and I think you’re seeing that

You saw the passion last night in that wi Bobby poris you know Pat Beverly’s bringing that energy Pat Beverly nine rebounds four steals doing like Pat Beverly you’re doing Pat Beverly stuff and then just the energy the camaraderie you could see this team like has a chip

On their shoulder now like all right y’all going to count us out are y’all talking negative about us you know blah blah blah you know that’s can bring a team together so um you know with every like I said you know cause there’s an effect and you’re starting to see that

With this team you’re starting to see them you know really uh tap into shape here so again and I said this when they were losing games and I’ll say the same thing now that they’re winning if I’m going to be honest it’s great that

Theyve won six in a row do I think it’s the end all Beall or does it matter in hindsight no maybe they can get better seating for the playoffs which would be important they’re not going to catch Boston so best case scenario you’re number two seed they should be a two

Seed anyway yeah um and they should get it now that you know brunson’s going to be out for a little bit um randle’s going to be out for the foreseeable future Mitchell’s going to be out for this foreseeable future we’ll get into the next too the nck look like it’s just

It’s just tough because a couple weeks ago we were talking about how excited we were about their pie next year they’re going to be a top tier team is this a thibs thing though like everyone just gets like injured and like runs to the ground Tim T tib sorry does wear people

To the to the ground that’s a known thing um he’s a great coach yeah a lot of players don’t complain because it’s hard as a player to complain about playing too much right so I got Josh Hart playing 43 minutes this is like what’s he gonna say but exactly you’re

Like man I’ll play 43 minutes if you want me to other side of that coin on the other side of the coin it’s like these guys eventually like their bodies just aren’t going to move the same and something could go wrong very simply you know and I’m talking about on a non-

Contct play Jaylen Brunson pulled up for a mid-range with no contact yeah L gave out bro so scary that’s that’s a usage rate injury to me he didn’t plant wrong he didn’t step on anybody’s foot nobody ran into him he didn’t land weird he jumped up for a mid-range and something

Gave luckily nothing serious happened yeah but that’s a that’s a wear and tear injury bro yeah and that’s no disrespected tips but he’s got a long history of this of like guys just wearing people down people felt the same thing about Derek you know what I mean

And a lot of other guys that he’s played for you know he he wears those guys down yeah the only guy that keeps coming back for more is uh Tosh Gibson he’s just that guy and he has like nine braces on to hold himself together shout

Out to Taj still doing it um yeah they uh yeah he’s he’s he’s one of those coaches that really kind of you know again it’s it is what it is you know what I mean but you know long practices hard training camps long film sessions a

Lot of minutes in a game it’s just it is a burden to go play for him you know it’s again he’s a good coach so like I said there’s there’s the other side of the coin you’re going to be on a good team you’re going to be well coached

You’re going to be pushed he could bring probably the best out of you and if you are one of the key players he’s going to play you a lot of minutes giving you an opportunity to probably put up career numbers yeah but with that you know like

Listen it’s not it’s not easy you know I mean people talk about that on the you know this is a different I don’t like comparing him to something like this because this guy’s won championships tibs is never won one as a head coach but Bill bich is a guy like in football

He’s regarded as one of the best coaches ever maybe the best head coach ever right he’s a guy that a lot of players in today’s NFL are like I I’m good I don’t want to go there they say like the joy and fun in the game and like the how

It how it is there like yeah it takes a certain kind of personality BR it’s brutal bro like it’s not for everybody that’s why tips brings in his own guys all the that’s why tibs constantly brings in his own guys and like even before a guy gets there like a cam

Reddish or this guy he’s like he ain’t go he already he’s not gonna fit I actually went to the magic Pistons game the other day and Evan Foria was getting a lot of reps up I was like good for him man finally for instance exactly you

Know Evan doesn’t fit that you know Evan was like yeah and Evan played his part well there and was extremely professional but he was a guy that I think was in New York for a while too long and at some point was like yo I gotta get out of

Here man and that’s how a lot of guys who play for tibs it’s either one or the other they’re like oh I love tibs or like you’re one of those guys like I I don’t want to do this it’s not that you don’t love the game as much or this is

That some guys just like fitwise personality wise like just don’t fit with him yeah um you know so it is what it is man you know I I um I played for tibs briefly back to the Milwaukee Bucks thing you were saying chip on your shoulder I was just

Thinking about how your your your dad probably had a chip on his shoulder because all the guys that got him fired kawhai Paul George James hard and all on the same team that he went against last night so it’s probably a big win for him

Too you know I would like to say and again I don’t know this because I’m not in that locker room in Milwaukee but I’d like to say that those guys maybe had a talk let’s go get this one for Doc yeah like Paul George quit Qui quit and listen these are all

Fantastic players but day they let doc go and they didn’t do that without probably talking to those guys I assuming let’s talk to those guys absolutely they talked to Paul they they talked to kawhai we all know the the James situation I don’t really think

James was a guy who got him fired I think James was just part of the reason but I think that was more so due to you know Daryl thinking James wanted this and you know at the end of day Daryl Mor fired my dad I mean that’s just Daryl M

Fired dog James didn’t fire dog by the way why would a guy go out of his way to get someone fir when he was leaving and wasn’t even getting a Max contract offered to him yeah they didn’t even offer James a contract back what he

Wanted so why the hell would he get a coach fired he didn’t care he’s just trying to get his own money that’s a good point by the way if they’re calling anybody to get doc fired in Philly who’s that guy Joan beid yeah okay so like Everyone likes to throw James under that

Bus I’m not saying he didn’t have a little bit to do with it but I don’t think James was like yo get doc fired he didn’t even get a deal to go back there in the first place yeah so you know I don’t I just think that I think he had

Something to do with it in terms of during the season there was a little bit of a I don’t want to say a rift but maybe they didn’t like I told you some guys aren’t for tibs some guys aren’t for Doc they’re players who like don’t

Do well under doc yeah doc ain’t for everybody I’ll be the first one to say that I play for Doc and I play for players with Doc while I was in the locker room I was like this guy ain’t gonna do well here because I know what

Type of guys bother him and I know what type of guys don’t do well under him just like I know for tibs and other guys right you could tell that same thing with Dan Tony I that’s how coaches are there’s some guys it’s all opportunity based right it’s all situational so not

Everybody’s for everybody you know I mean it’s all about chemistry fit you know Personnel personality uh and docs a strong strong willed personality so it’s like that’s not for everybody so you know James kind of moves a different way so that didn’t work out its best I think that had to do

With him getting fired I don’t think James was actually on the phone D like get him out of here you know uh from what I heard that’s not what happened I heard that had to do with someone else uh so I think it is what it is I think

Also Daryl likes control and he likes doing things his way I actually know he does because I played and worked for Daryl M as well um and my dad likes doing things his way as well doc likes running his own stuff yeah so that was

Part of the reason why he got fired that is the reason why he got fired not not uh James Harden but you know as terms of Paul jores and kawhai two phenomenal players unbelievable um players you know obviously Paul George would probably be a Hall of Famer absolutely and um

Obviously kawhai is first ballot but you know those guys did quit on my you know quit on that Clippers team um I don’t like to say they quit on Doc because it wasn’t Doc’s team it was their team they quit on themselves it was the circumstances with the bubble in the

Bubble and that the bubble was nasty you know Lou Will you know Montes Pat Uh they had a lot of guys leave come back uh Paul George M had the mental health stuff going on he’s like I’m not happy in here I’m not here to make fun of that

He might have he might have been going through stuff in his life at that time he wasn’t invested wasn’t playing his best basketball kawhai wasn’t playing his best basketball the Nuggets came back from 3-1 which was really the beginning of the surgents of Denver if

We’re going to be honest um and so could you look at that instead of saying it was such a big upset where dockets fired and I can’t believe the Clippers lost to the Nuggets could we look at that and say that’s actually like a pretty much a championship team Jamal missed the next

Year um that’s really is like a title contending team that was that was a title contending team yeah so it’s not the biggest craziest upset you see Happ year following when Jamal came back they won right right so it’s just like that that was the beginning of that

Team making that push and really yic becoming one of the best person in the league right and that duo between him and Jamal that’s when everybody started to see Jamal go was at that time people called it bubble Jamal yeah remember was like that’s bubble now it’s just Jamal

Yeah so that was the time where you’re starting to see Michael Porter Jr that’s where he got paid that’s when he started playing and he was healthy and his back finally was like and he was hooping you saw this team finally start to form and now they’re known as the best team in

The league along with the Cs Aaron Gordon was the last piece for that and then Aaron they brought in Aaron the following year that’s a good thing too to talk about because we’re talking about guys and self situational finding the right coach that fits your kind of mentality playing style with Aaron

Gordon it’s finding the right team too because you who’s on the magic we put him at the three-point line yep we’re trying to run him like this perimeter guy go-to guy and all it takes is you know one trade and other teams should have went for him you know what I mean

People should have saw this guy that was kind of just being misused he goes to the nuggets and right before we started the Pod I watched this highlight tape most Unstoppable play in the NBA and it’s joic throwing all these lobs to Aaron Gordon it’s just like man you know

He was just playing completely different in Orlando over 100 lobs this year Aon which is nuts um they constantly are doing pick and rolls where they Place middle pick and rolls where when Jamal comes off because he’s such a lethal score and shooter the Big’s got

To be up a little bit he’s great at hitting that pocket pass and now you have a three on two situation on the backside with yage now in the middle getting the ball in the pick and roll and he has Aaron Gordon in the dunker Michael Porter Jr in the wing you have

To choose which one to give up yeah see they give up an open three which a lot of people don’t like to do in today’s NBA especially a corner three it’s the worst shot you can give up in basketball um so he’s just getting these lobs and Aaron’s just getting you know

Spoonfed and it’s perfect for him and he has actual natural feel he’s like always looking at where yic is he’ll like he’s always floating around the Baseline he’s really found his Niche like you said you know uh he was Miss diagnosed in Orlando they they wanted him to be a a scorer

Yeah um they and I get it you know he was a fourth pick of the draft they offense I totally understand what they wanted him to become yeah so you know that’s kind of what they wanted and it just didn’t really work out but you know

He goes to Denver finds the right fit finds the right offense plays with the right player you know the rest is history you know Aaron’s now you know one of the better role players we always talk about the Derek whites and all these guys and no one ever really talks

About Aaron Gordon you know what I mean but Aaron Gordon’s one of the best role players in the NBA yeah uh in the playoffs last year he guarded every best player in every series man and then he’s also putting up 14 15 points a game he’s also getting rebounds blocks he does

Everything yeah that’s why he’s going to get another 80 90 million and he’s the reason we talk about how how much size that that nugget started that’s why they’re big bro he puts them over the top you know I mean without Aaron they’re a whole different team so it’s

Just like I feel like we give dererk so much praise and rightfully so you know and some of these other role players um but you know yeah I I I I look at a guy like Aaron and I put him in that same cloth same category as a Derek White a

Austin and Pausha talk about the surging Milwaukee Bucks, how they’ve improved, why no one is talking about their success, and what it’s like playing for Doc Rivers.

Check out the Bill Simmons YouTube channel: youtube.com/billsimmons

Subscribe to The Ringer on YouTube: http://therin.gr/5te1wFL

CONNECT
Shop: https://theringer.com/shop
Website: http://theringer.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ringer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ringer
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ringer
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT83YP07yVuaH9J19YABhlw