Doc Rivers Refutes Claim That Bucks Are Trying to Catch Up to Pacers

Rivers doesn't think that this narrative is true.

Apr 27, 2025; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks head coach Doc Rivers call a timeout in the fourth quarter against the Indiana Pacers during game four of first round for the 2024 NBA Playoffs at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images | Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

The Milwaukee Bucks have been eliminated by the Indiana Pacers in the first round in each of the last two postseasons. The two teams have faced each other 20 times in the last two years.

Indiana made the Eastern Conference Finals and the NBA Finals, respectively, in those seasons. There's a narrative forming that the Bucks need to catch up to the Pacers.

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Bucks coach Doc Rivers has heard that narrative, and that's not something that he is buying. He's rejecting that narrative in a pretty strong way entering this season.

Doc Rivers Doesn't Think the Bucks are Catching Up to the Pacers

As Eric Nehm chronicled in The Athletic, Rivers doesn't believe that copying the Pacers is going to be anything that will help them. He wants them to be them.

“There’s a difference,” Rivers explained following the Bucks’ first training camp session on Tuesday. “There’s copycats. Everybody spent years trying to be Golden State, and nobody was. We’re not going to be (the Pacers). We’re going to be us."

The Pacers had one of the most unlikely runs to the NBA Finals last season in NBA history, so other organizations are certainly taking notice of what they did to get there.

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Rivers does acknowledge that the Bucks need to play a bit quicker than they did last year.

“We’re going to play at our pace, but we’re going to do things quicker. We are changing because I think that’s how we have to play," Rivers said. "But if we were a slow, big team, I wouldn’t try to play like that. I just think you’ve got to be the best version of yourself to win. I think teams make a mistake when they try to be someone else.”

The Bucks Have to Play to Their Strengths

Indiana was able to play so fast last season because it had the personnel to do it. The Bucks can't just say they are going to play fast. They need to play to the strengths that they have on the roster.

The Bucks feel that they can play better than last year, while still keeping their style of play mostly the same as it has been. Rivers feels confident in what they are doing.

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