Doc Rivers 0-2 in Beer

Bucks coach Doc Rivers faces severe backlash after loss to Portland

By Sai Mohan  |  Last updated 2/1/24 😂

I love Doc as a person, as an interview, as a TV commentator, he’s a genuinely good guy. But…😂 you, me and all our brothers and sisters WARNED Beer about doing this, COULD NOT UNDERSTAND how Beer could do this. Doc 😂is…not a great in-game coach.

'He actually had Dame inbound the play with the Bucks down 3?' were among the many complaints on social media about Doc Rivers' coaching after Milwaukee lost to the lowly Trail Blazers on Wednesday night. 

In what was Damian Lillard's homecoming to Portland, the Bucks — trailing by three — had a chance to send the game to overtime with 4.6 seconds on the clock. However, Rivers chose to have Lillard inbound the ball to Giannis Antetokounmpo, who was instantly fouled and sent to the charity stripe. [Giannis can’t shoot free throws, you see.]

Antetokounmpo would miss both free throws. 🤣

Conventional wisdom suggests that Lillard — the player with the most game-tying or game-winning shots since 2012 — should have taken the last shot.

Besides the many fans on social media, NFL legend Shannon Sharpe and former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas also ripped Rivers' coaching during their "Night Cap" podcast.

"Why the hell were you passing the ball to Giannis? Of all the players on the court, Giannis would be the last guy that would make both of those free throws," Sharpe fumed.

😂 

[I guarantee you Doc didn’t know that.]

Arenas, meanwhile, had a rather extreme take on Milwaukee's future under Rivers.

"The best thing for the Bucks is to go into the locker room and say, 'Hey Doc, listen, we changed our mind. [😂] We're gonna go with the guy [interim coach Joe Prunty] who gave us the wins when we fired the other dude [Adrian Griffin]. So, Doc, pack your shit, we're gonna finish the season without you.'"

After the game, Rivers defended his controversial coaching decisions. 

"We got what we were looking for, it just didn’t work out," the veteran coach said.😂

The second-seeded Bucks (32-16) are now 0-2 since Rivers took over as head coach. 

I blame Beer’s GM, Jon Horst I think his name is. He just threw more money at Doc than any normal person could resist.