Following a demoralizing defeat against the short-handed Miami Heat (123-97), Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers didn’t mince words about his team’s performance, particularly their lackluster offense.
Despite shooting 51% at halftime, Rivers believed the Bucks’ offense was subpar throughout the game, which affected their defensive effort as well.
“Just the [Heat’s] speed, pace. They were quicker on everything on both ends,” Rivers said postgame. “You have these nights, you hate them, but it is what it is.”
“I thought as bad as it looked defensively, I thought our offense was way worse tonight,” Rivers continued. “I thought it started early. We were shooting 51% at halftime and I thought we were just playing awful offense, and I thought that startled our defense.”
“Ball didn’t move a lot tonight, not the way it’s been moving,” he added. “I think right now with our team is it we get our personality from the offensive end and we don’t want that. We want to get our personality from the defense, from playing hard and doing defensive things. Tonight you can just see it everyone was trying to force the ball.”
Acknowledging Miami’s defensive prowess, Rivers emphasized the importance of maintaining composure and executing efficiently against such formidable opponents.
“Give Miami credit. The one thing you can’t do against them is hold the ball and dance with the ball. They’re a great load up team,” he said.
It was the Bucks’ ninth game since Rivers replaced Adrian Griffin as the head coach. Having defeated the defending NBA champions the Denver Nuggets in the previous game, Milwaukee fell against the Heat. The Bucks are 3-6 with Rivers at the helm.
