Bucks Zone

Doc Rivers hopes to get the best out of the partnership between Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard

"It should be dominant, in my opinion."
Jonas Panerio|
© Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

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Milwaukee Bucks

At 32-15, the Milwaukee Bucks are one of the NBA's best teams, capable of standing atop the NBA mountain when all is said and done this season. While there were doubts regarding how the combination of two high-usage players like Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo would work, the two superstars have worked well together.

Giannis has been his usual dominant self, averaging 31.0 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 6.2 assists per game, while Lillard is norming 25.1 points and 6.8 assists per outing, albeit on subpar shooting percentages. The Bucks' new head coach, Doc Rivers, has liked what he's seen from the dynamic duo but believes they can still be much better this season.

Needs to be fine-tuned

The Bucks' offense is a big reason they have racked up more than 30 wins at this point of the season. The Bucks are in the top five in points scored per game and offensive rating, with Giannis and Lillard playing a massive role. However, it cannot be denied that Milwaukee looked lost on offense under previous coach Adrian Griffin. This is where Rivers comes in to fine-tune the dynamic duo's performance.

"It's been effective, but it should be dominant, in my opinion," Rivers said before the Bucks' game against the Denver Nuggets.

"We did a lot of two-man work today. You won't probably see a lot of it tonight, but it was clear, I think the whole team pretty much got what we did after 20 minutes of doing the same thing. It's important for us."

Rivers also noted the importance of ensuring Giannis and Dame are in synch with veteran wingman Khris Middleton, as it's likely that these three players would handle the ball and make plays when the game is on the line.

"And then the three-man game with Khris. Throw Khris in there, too. That's important, as well."

Collaborative effort

With Doc taking a crash course in how to handle the Bucks after taking over the team this week, he admitted that he'll be leaning on the assistant coaches and the players themselves to speed things up.

"You don't normally see that, but we're a veteran team, thankfully, that can help him along the way with stuff that we run and stuff that we like to run at certain times during the game," Middleton said.

"And he'll adjust to that, and he'll give us some new stuff and some other stuff to think about and to run, so I'm excited about the process."

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Jonas Panerio
JONAS PANERIO