Doc Rivers holds his first Milwaukee Bucks practice in Dallas: 'We changed a lot'
DALLAS – The Milwaukee Bucks held their first practice under new head coach Doc Rivers on Friday afternoon, one of only a handful of dates the team will be able to do so outside of the all-star break.
Rivers, who took over Jan. 26 and coached his first game Monday, said the lengthy session was a mix of film and on-court work and was an important day for him and the team in advance of back-to-back games against the Mavericks and Utah Jazz over the weekend.
“We made a lot of changes,” Rivers said. “And that, listen, they were great, they got them all, especially on the defensive end. Will be able to do them (Saturday)? Absolutely not. But we’re going to do them (against Dallas). And, you know, we may screw it up too. That’s OK. The guys understand that. Can we win doing it this way? Yeah. But it’s going to take a minute. Doesn’t mean we can’t win (Saturday). We won’t be great at what we’re doing. We understand that.”
Now, Rivers and the players weren't about to detail what those changes were. But through the first two losses on the road trip the rotations have changed, and a few different defensive wrinkles have been added – and also an emphasis on some basics like getting back in transition and identifying a man to pick up.
On Saturday, they face the 26-22 Mavericks, who have been missed Kyrie Irving for the last five games but still have Luka Dončić. The Bucks then have a quick turnaround to Utah to face a Jazz team that blew them out in Milwaukee on Jan. 8.
Rivers said he’s not worried about losing games early in his tenure because the reason he was hired was to get the team playing at its peak for the playoffs – but it doesn’t mean losses will be acceptable.
“I want to win while we’re trying to figure it out,” he said. “But I understand sometimes those two things don’t go together. I’m not going to say I’m fine with that because I’m not. That would be untruthful. But I’m realistic about it as well.”
More: Highlights from Doc Rivers' first news conference as coach of Bucks: 'We have to find our identity'
As for the Friday practice session, a focal point was communication, on both sides of the ball.
Rivers acknowledged the offense had been good, there was still confusion and hesitation on certain plays and calls, so they broke down elements as simple as proper running lanes and where the ball should go.
“That’s an honest conversation,” Rivers said of the ball sharing. “Guys have to be able to take that. You can’t say you want to be something but you don’t want to hear something. So, we had some clarity conversations today about that, and where the ball should go, where people should be. Guys were great. They were great at it. (Saturday), will they do it? Half the time. But if they do it once, and they see it, then you’re better the next day and that’s what we’re looking at.”
Aside from ball sharing, Rivers has also noted on the road trip the team emphasized two-man actions with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard and three-man plays with Khris Middleton. Increasing Lillard’s comfort level within the offense – on and off the ball – is also on the checklist.
They’re just some of the things he feels needs to be tweaked so the offense can go from good to elite.
“Just not playing as individuals, figuring out how we can be a threat as team,” Middleton said. “Knowing that we got a lot of guys that can score but how can we make it easier on ourselves by playing more together. It takes time to play as one and not individuals. There are stretches of the season where we figured it out and we’re in a stretch right now where we have to figure it out again.”
On the defensive side, Rivers said the team acknowledged in practice that their communication was not very good. So, for a part of it, the coaches stood silent as they figured out where to be and when.
“If they run into each other, they run into each other because the only reason they ran into each other is because they didn’t talk,” Rivers said.
“So, today they were great, they were yelling. But at the beginning you could see ‘em waiting for the coaches to say something and all the coaches were just told not to say a word. And so, finally, they started. I thought it was good. Talking is natural, but also believe this – you talk when you know. The reason we’re not talking is we’re not sure what our coverages are.
“It’s like being in the classroom – when you didn’t know the answer you weren’t raising your hand, were you? But when you knew the answer you wanted to be the first to talk. I told our staff, it’s our job to give them the answers so they feel confident enough to talk. And that’s going to take a minute.”
The Bucks fired Adrian Griffin when they were 30-13 (and interim head coach Joe Prunty went 2-1) but the move was made because management felt the team couldn’t get where it expects to go – the NBA Finals – if it stayed on the same trajectory.
There is time for patience – the regular season ends April 14 – but there is also an urgency to make the most of the remaining 34 games. As of Friday afternoon, the Bucks stood just a half game ahead of the New York Knicks as the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference and only one game ahead of Philadelphia in the loss column for the No. 5 spot.
“Just making sure each game, each day, we’re making a step in the right direction,” Middleton said of the current process. “That’s the most important thing whether we’re winning games or not, just making sure we’re cleaning up our mistakes that will eventually lead to wins down the road.”
And in order to clean up mistakes, it means they have to know why they were made in the first place.
“I just think it’s taking a step back and being like OK, what’s our foundation? What’s our identity? What are the basics that can put us all on the same page?” Pat Connaughton said. “Because I think there’s been a mixture of some game plan mistakes that caused baskets and then some trying to think about what we’re doing and in that split-second – it’s the NBA, man – it’s over.
“So, I think getting it to a place where everyone is on the same page with what we’re doing, with what Doc wants us to be doing, trusting in what he’s talking about and making sure that we’re trying to implement that on a daily basis, grow in those areas, should take out of some of those ‘thought mistakes,’ If you will. Then it becomes how do you execute on our basic principles that we now all have the same understanding of. And then how do you execute on the game plan for that specific game that is built on top of that foundation.”
More: Establishing an identity and leveling up: Why Doc Rivers was the choice for the Bucks
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Doc Rivers holds first Bucks practice in Dallas: 'We changed a lot'
