Doc Rivers, head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, can admit that last season didn’t go as planned.
The team suffered from a lot of big changes and some nasty injuries too.
Speaking to SiriusXM NBA Radio, Rivers said that Damian Lillard coming to the team right before the start of last season led to the Bucks “not having great team connection.”
He promised that things would be very different this season and said the team has been spending a lot of time together in the summer, taking trips to Greece and Portland and building real camaraderie.
"It just lends itself to not having great team connection."
Doc Rivers is confident this season will be a lot different for Damian Lillard and the whole team@TheFrankIsola | @Scalabrine pic.twitter.com/QILNnedMYs
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) October 22, 2024
Lillard’s addition to the team was very complicated.
After months of him wanting a trade from the Portland Trail Blazers, he was sent packing to the Bucks.
But Lillard was hoping and planning to be dealt to the Miami Heat instead.
This had an impact on Lillard, Rivers said, and it required an adjustment period.
Team chemistry is vital and the Bucks just didn’t have a lot of it last year.
Both Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo are incredible basketball players but they weren’t working in tandem like fans had hoped.
That hopefully will not be the case in 2024-25.
After a season together and growing closer, this could be the duo that people expected.
A large part of the team’s success has to do with Rivers, of course, and he is adapting to leading the Bucks.
This will be his first full season coaching the team and he knows the pressure is on.
The days of a bad team connection are gone, Rivers said, and fans are hoping he’s right.
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