Instead Of Hiring Doc Rivers The Bucks Should Just Say Screw It And Let Giannis Be A Player/Coach

Patrick McDermott. Getty Images.

By now, everyone has heard the news that the Bucks sent their rookie head coach Adrian Griffin packing just 43 games into the season despite their 30-13 record. Not completely unprecedented when looking back through NBA history, but certainly not common. You could make the case that their record didn't really tell the whole story of how that team looked, not to mention they've had the 30th toughest schedule in the league so far.

Listen, if the Bucks (aka Giannis and Dame) didn't think Griffin was the guy and they felt this was their best option moving forward in a title or bust season, so be it. Go nuts and make the change. The only issue there is the fact that they're putting a full court press on Doc Rivers of all people to take over

Call me crazy, but if you fired Coach Bud because of his lack of playoff adjustments and playoff underachievement, I'm having a tough time understanding how DOC RIVERS is your next choice. You know, the guy who owns the most blown 3-1 leads and had a pretty tough time with in game adjustments in another underachieving postseason just last Spring.

So, what should the Bucks do?

I say go nuts. We all know Giannis basically runs things with this team (as he should), so why not go completely out of the box and just make Giannis the next player/coach? Think about it. For starters, it wouldn't even be the first time the Bucks did something like this. They made Andrew Levane a player/coach in 1952-53 and Red Holzman in 1954. Sure both had awful records, but times have changed.

Not only that, Giannis is already drawing up plays like we saw last night against the Pistons

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and he had a pretty good breakdown of why the Bucks defense is a complete disaster when discussing their system and philosophy 

so really, how much worse could he be than Doc? I'll forever love what Doc did for me in 2008, but it does feel like he's living off his name/that title more than anything else. He's the type of coach you bring in when you need to turn things around and establish a better culture or you're looking for a coach to relate better/build relationships with his players. That's not really the situation here. The Bucks need someone who can adjust on the fly and fix their defense, and I'm not sure Doc does that.

Plus, I just think it would be awesome to have player/coaches back in the NBA again. We've seen player/coaches win a title before, Bill Russell has 2 and Buddy Jeannette has 1. Everyone knows once the playoffs roll around the only sort of strategy the Bucks need is "just give the ball to Giannis", so I feel like he could handle that. 

It's clear when it comes to coaching hires and roster moves, maybe Giannis isn't the best GM. That's fine, not everyone is built to that job. But considering the bigger issue in MIL is their roster construction than who their coach is, you may as well put all of your eggs in the Giannis basket and just tell him to figure it out. Right now, all we're getting is the excuses that are starting to leak out

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and to me, the easiest way to get the players to play a certain way is to have the most important player make all the decisions. We've seen Giannis handle subbing himself in and out, one could argue he's paid his dues and is ready for the opportunity. If it fails, who cares right?