Doc's Bucks Are A Hot Mess

Yo Wisco fam… how you livin? Hopefully better than your basketball team. Because your Bucks are a HOT MESS right now. 

Thankfully, we just hit NBA All Star weekend and I say thankfully because those dudes in Milwaukee need the break. Because those dudes in Milwaukee need to get their bleep together. There’s limping into the All Star break and then there’s falling backwards down a flight of stairs into the All Star break. Which is basically what the Bucks just did.

Remember… when Milwaukee bleep canned Adrian Griffin 43 games into his coaching career, they did it because they weren’t winning enough. They ran that dude into a woodchipper after 43 games because 30-13 wasn’t good enough.

And look, I thought it was extreme, but I respected it. Because the Bucks absolutely should be in win-now mode. They have to be in win-now mode. They have two of the best players on the planet in their PRIME at the same time. That window is never gonna be more open. And they absolutely have to make it count, RIGHT FREAKING NOW. 

So I understood the urgency. I respected the urgency. And I’m sure Wisco fan appreciated the urgency. Because it sends one hell of a message to say 30-13 isn’t good enough.

Here’s the problem, they’re now 3-7 with Doc Rivers. Three and seven! They were 30-13 with the last coach, in his first 43 games ever as a head coach, and that wasn’t good enough, so they went out and got Doc, and now Doc is 3-7 in his first 10 games. And this was supposed to be a win-now move.

Here’s the other thing… is anyone even surprised by this? Because I’m not. I said right from the beginning that I respected the ambition and the urgency of saying 30-13 wasn’t cutting it. And I understood why the urgency was turned up that high. 

But what I never understood, from the beginning, was how Doc Rivers makes it any better. Granted, at least he usually waits until the playoffs before the team starts melting down. Usually he waits until his team has 3 wins in a playoff series before everything goes to crap.

This time, he’s blowing a huge lead right up front. This time, he’s blowing it in the regular season. The gig Milwaukee handed Doc was basically a 3-1 lead and he’s already gagged it right back. 

And it’s not like they’re close either It’s not like they’re just barely losing against great teams. Or the team looks like it’s about the click. Or the vibes are good, and the results just aren’t there yet. Because none of that is the case. Case in point, last night.

The Bucks lost to the Grizzlies, which is not good on its face because Memphis is one of the worst teams in the league. But they didn’t EVEN lose to Memphis’ best. They pretty much lost to Memphis’ worst. They pretty much lost to the Grizzlies backups. 

Memphis had no Ja Morant, no Desmond Bane, no Jaren Jackson Jr, no Marcus Smart and no Brandon Clarke. And oh yeah, they were also on the second night of a back-to-back. Meanwhile, Milwaukee hadn’t played since Tuesday… when they got waxed at home by the Heat.

Basically the only thing that could make this situation any more of a flaming dumpster fire would be for Doc to hit the podium after that debacle last night and RUN HIS  team under the bus. So I bet you can guess what happened next. Yes, of course, Doc hit the podium after that debacle last night and RAN HIS  team under the bus.

Although I’ll give Doc credit for this much… at least he did it in a hilarious way. At least he made RUNNING his new team under the bus incredibly entertaining. Seriously, this is an all timer. Put it up there with 1, 2, 3 Cancun! Because I think this quote is gonna stick.

We had some guys here… we had some guys in Cabo! That’s good.  His team’s not.  But that is.

Look, to be clear, I don’t blame anyone for dreaming about Cabo.  We used to have a house there: that’s how much I love the place. My only question is where exactly those guys went in Cabo in their minds….  Los Ventanas or the El Dorado Club? Or maybe their minds were in Cabo Wabo.  OR THE OFFICE.  OR BOTH.  I’d love to know.

ONE THING, THOUGH, DOC: are you sure you weren’t with them? Because it’s not like you’re doing the best job ever either, my dude  Based on the way your team looks, it seems like you’re mentally posted up at the palmilla as well. Usually Doc doesn’t start dreaming about hitting up the giggling marlin in Cabo until he’s up 3-2 in a playoff series. But clearly the dude’s mind is already wandering. Probably because he has no ANSWERS TO THIS TEAM’S PROBLEMS; AND IS PUSHING ALL THE WRONG BUTTONS.  .

AGAIN, the funniest thing about this is that Milwaukee is getting exactly who they hired. Which is why from the beginning, I didn’t understand the hire. It’s not that I didn’t support the firing of Adrian Griffin, as harsh as it was. It’s just that I didn’t understand the hiring of Doc… and I still don’t.

Credit to GG Jackson of the Grizzlies by the way FOR getting right to the point in his postgame interview about HOW Memphis was able to pull the upset.

Of course, he didn’t mean it THAT way. Of course he was just trying to be classy and give credit to the opponent after humiliating their asses. He wasn’t trying to go all Phil Jackson on Doc. Although he absolutely could have and should have gone all Phil Jackson on Doc. Because nobody has ever had Doc pegged the way Phil had Doc pegged.

None of this brings me any pleasure Wisco FAM. You know this is a big Bucks house Wisco FAM. You know I love Giannis, even if I hate his take about failure in sports. And you know I love Dame and that comes with no qualifier at all, I just love the dude. I want this to work. I want this championship window to stay wide ASS open.

And that’s exactly why I was so confused that you capped your 30-13 coach to hire the guy who has lost TEN Game 7’s in his career… and has blown SEVEN 3-2 series leads… and THREE 3-1 series leads… and lost an NBA record 32 series close-out games. Not to mention the time he got toe tagged and body bagged by the best caller ever to this program.