FIRST TAKE | Stephen A. reacts to Giannis, Bucks losing to Nuggets in first game under HC Doc Rivers

FIRST TAKE | Stephen A. reacts to Giannis, Bucks losing to Nuggets in first game under HC Doc Rivers

Beat the Bucks Monday to hand Doc Rivers a loss in his first game with Milwaukee the Bucks entered Monday ring second in the NBA in scoring the season but they struggled against the Champs scoring only 107 points their fourth fewest in a game this season here’s Doc and Giannis

On a very important virtue it’s all patience just we had fight um you know we we scrambled well uh I told our guys anyone who told you you couldn’t play defense lie uh you proved that tonight uh you competed tonight it was great it was great um everybody have to have

Patient it’s new the way we play uh the way we defend um no it’s going it’s it’s going to take a while to get used to you know we slowly slowly adjusting change a couple stuff uh you know coach staff got to have patience with the players players

Got to have patience with the coach staff but I feel like for the first first game it was good all right as how much Faith do you have in Milwaukee’s title hopes uh so so um average um I still think that Boston is a team to beat within the Eastern

Conference I think a Philadelphia 76ers with a healthy Joel embiid right now uh should be ahead of them and the way that the New York Knicks have been defending uh with the acquisition of OG and aobi being the number one defense in the NBA I think they have to be taken seriously

As well we all know Doc Rivers is an upgrade from Adrien Griffin God bless him I hope that he ultimately gets another opportunity to get a head coaching job because even though they struggled miserably on the defensive side of the ball Milwaukee was still 30

And 13 with him as the head coach so it’s a damn shame that he had to lose his job but they were a shell of what they used to be defensively um and obviously they felt they needed veteran leadership which is why for the first time in history really we’ve seen a

Championship Contender make a change in mid-season by not upgrading a assistent coach to the interim status or having a president come downstairs Like Pat Riley did when he got rid of Stan Van Gundy to take over the head coaching him they went on the outside and they brought in

Doc Rivers having said all of that I expect them to improve defensively when Doc Rivers was the coach of the Philadelphia 76ers last year they were the fourth ranked defense in the NBA so you take those things into consideration plus his veteran leaders his his relationship with veterans and what he

Could peel from them but let’s be clear we can’t we can’t completely absolve Doc Rivers from PR most of the pressure is on jannis anth DMO you’re the Superstar on the squad you okayed Adrien Griffin being signed you signed off on him and within and by

The time you went to the bathroom to pass gas and came out you wanted him gone so that’s on jannis and Tumo but also we can’t ignore Doc Rivers from this perspective there are five consecutive game sevens he’s lost in the postseason he failed to get the Clippers

To the Conference Finals he failed to get the Philadelphia 76ers to a Conference Finals even though some people Blame A lot of people blame James Carter for that and on top of it all he had three one leads on three separate occasions that were overcome those things can’t be ignored I love Doc

Rivers I root for him I’m wishing him nothing but the best success or whatever but we do have an obligation to be objective and to point out some of the citiis that has been thrown in his Direction including by including by your former teammate KP and Rashid Wallis who

Said that who said the things that he said about him as well along with Gilbert Arenas we can’t ignore that that’s a reality of the situation Gilbert Arena said that to you on night cap Shannon you know what time it is you know how he feels about Doc Rivers you

Know how Rashid Wallace feels about Doc Rivers we know what the stats and the numbers say all I’m saying is I believe in Doc Rivers as a coach but we’d be remiss and neglecting to point out he’s under immense pressure himself I wish I had more time to

Address Gilbert and rash because I’d address him like the numbers on the house but I don’t I’mma stick to the topic I give you time I’ll give you myc I give no no no no no well bring me on okay how much Faith do I have in the bo

Bucks title HS I don’t I don’t have no faith whatsoever you know why because doc was just curing part of the problem they need a Personnel trade and with this C current roster I have no hope in the BCS to win the title especially this season I have the Celtics ahead of them

I have the 76ers ahead of them I have the Knicks ahead of them I have the Nuggets ahead of them and I have the Clippers ahead of them so I don’t have hope in the Bucks that they can win a title with this roster right now they lack athleticism at the wing position

That is the most important position in the NBA when you have to go against guys like kawi Leonard when you have to go against Jason Tatum and jayen brown you have to have a guy that could defend don’t you you think it was a you think

It was I crazy that the Knicks are playing exceptionally well right now since they made the trade for OG no they knew how important that position was to the NBA and making a title run so with they La lack of a athleticism at the wing the way that Damen Lillard has been

Horrible defensively I have zero Faith zero Faith with this current roster that they can win a title this season it was funny to me to hear Giannis talk about patience something that he didn’t have with Adrian Griffin now like Stephen A you said this jiannis is under immense pressure Jason kid is

Gone Mike BOS gone Adrian Griffin is gone now that is his fourth coach in a matter of four years now there ain’t nobody coming and going without jiannis a tmo’s blessing that’s on him so for me patience Pat is going to take time something that you was unwilling to give

Adrian Griffin no I don’t have any confidence in them because a lot of the teams that perk that you have I got the Celtic in front of them I got the Sixers Joel and bead seem to have cleared his stomach issues because over the last five six years only babies have more

Stomach problems than Joel EMB seemingly he got on some good Gerber some good baby formula and his stomach issue has been resolved he he no longer has IBS so he’s good on that end I got the Clippers and I got the nuggets in front of them

So they have some some adjusting to do in that time but you perk you say Dame has been horrible at De not Dame spte we know what Dame is he’s an offensive Juggernaut he can like the he can shoot he can average 30 from the three he can

Go get you 50 60 on a given night and Giannis is playing exceptional but there are some things like defensively how can you be that bad defensively when you got Brook Lopez who’s a defensive player you got Giannis that can play defense I just don’t understand it I don’t understand

It but they got some issues they got some issues in let me goad go ahead per let me say this to you real quick I understand Daman Lillard is not labeled and not known for his defense but I always make this example Eddie house was one of the best Shooters

This game has ever seen I watched Eddie House put more effort on the defensive end than I watched with Damen Lillard when you’re trying to compete when you’re playing meaningful games when you P up with yanis tupo damn it you could do it go get on the speed ladder hell I

Wasn’t the fastest person in the league but I knew how to defend it’s a mentality 90% of Def I mean uh you know 90% of it is mental when it comes to the defensive side of things you know what I mean so I just can’t buy that I agree

With you I agree with you there there’s no question about a mentality has something to do with it because when you acquire Damen Lillard you have one of the most explosive closes this game has seen in quite a long time because this Brothers a sniping we all know that and

As as a result you’re thinking more offense would make up for obviously the deficiency in defense because he’s no holiday on the defensive side of the ball so we get that number two I’m not gonna sit up there and ignore what Giannis has accomplished yes it’s on him

You’re absolutely right Shannon in terms of the lack of patience he showed to Adrien Griffin but let’s remember in the five years that buen HOSA was the coach of this team they did win a title they did win a title and he was an NBA Finals

MVP so he did close the deal at least once we’re not walking around looking at somebody that hasn’t won the Chip he has won it it’s just that now that the change has been made and so little patience was exercised with Adrien Griffin a person you signed off on as a

Result clearly there’s some pressure on jannis S TMO because when it’s Jason kid to boen hoser and now Adrien Griffin and now Doc Rivers you do it does give you CA to pause when you look at him but in he Andrew Holiday it still comes down to

Do rivers as well I got cause to pause right now cuz we got a commercial break to hit folks some footb to get into Yesterday Stephen A said something about Lamar Jackson that’s got to Victory is tingling we will create a new world team desty an enemy an enemy has been

Defeated I’m ready to fight for a better future an enemy has deated Ally deated ultimate an enemy has def Foree an enemy has been defeated ulate fore for for foree fore foree fore for speech for foreign spee Fore an enem An enemy deated down you have deated an enemy enamy to en speech foreign spee spe spee foree

FIRST TAKE | Stephen A. reacts to Giannis, Bucks losing to Nuggets in first game under coach Doc Rivers