Former Sixers Head Coach Doc Rivers - Photo by YONG KIM / Staff Photographer
MILWAUKEE, WI (WSAU) – The Milwaukee Bucks will have a new coach on the sideline on Monday night with Doc Rivers set to officially take over against the Denver Nuggets.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN was the first to report that Rivers is anticipated to make his Bucks debut on Monday after agreeing to take over the position from Adrian Griffin on a three-year deal worth upwards of $40 million per year.
During his introductory press conference on Saturday morning, Rivers stated that several organizations contacted him about coaching this season, but he decided to hold off until the appropriate opportunity presented itself saying, “You know the answer. Giannis, Dame. Really, that’s the answer. Like, you look at their team. You know, I don’t even know the list, right? What is it, eight teams that have a legitimate shot? And I don’t know if it’s that high, but the Bucks are one of them, right? The other thing is the way they’re built with the veterans and their grown-ups.”
Rivers also spoke about the challenge of taking over a team mid-season saying, “Yeah, listen, I’ve never done this. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone, I can tell you that, just from the day-and-a-half. But it’s going to be a challenge. It’s a challenge that I’m running towards. We’ve got to get organized quickly. Can’t try to do too much too soon. We’re in the middle of a season, so we’ve got to try to keep our rhythm. We’re in the middle of a season, so we’ve got to try to keep our rhythm. There are changes that we have to make, there’s no doubt about that.”
He was also asked if he’s had any conversations with stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard yet saying, “Not a lot. I talked a little bit, I showed Giannis something that we hated when he did when we coached against him. He hadn’t done it a lot this year and I was asking him about that, he was laughing, he thought it was funny, I didn’t think it was very funny. (Chuckles) So we talked about that a little. It’s funny, he tried a little of it yesterday and had some success.”
The Bucks will enter Monday’s game against the Denver Nuggets second in the Eastern Conference with a 32-14 record, three games back of the Celtics. The pre-game will begin at 7:30 p.m. CST on WSAU with tip-off coming at 8 p.m.
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