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Jim Owczarski, Bucks beat writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, answered readers' questions about the team in a mailbag this week. Here are excerpts related to the status of coach Doc Rivers and why the Bucks recently gave general manager Jon Horst a contract extension.
For the full Bucks mailbag, click here.
Considering Mike Budenholzer was fired after a 58-win season in 2023, and Adrian Griffin was axed after being 18 games over .500 in 2024, it’s a fair question asked by several readers. Rivers was brought in midseason in 2024 to replace Griffin and push the team back to the conference finals or finals. Instead, the Bucks have gone 65-53 in the regular season and have been bounced twice in the first round of the playoffs.
Horst was not available for interviews after the season and at the time of publication Rivers is still the head coach – so it stands to reason the team is currently moving forward with the belief he can do what’s necessary with a retooled roster to get the Bucks back to the top of the Eastern Conference.
Rivers has said he came to the Bucks because of their talent and the expectation of contending for a title, so should the organization make a sudden pivot away from those goals, perhaps there’s a bigger conversation to be had if the 63-year-old would be the right person to do that. But for now it appears the organization is moving forward with the Marquette University alumnus in the lead chair.
A lot of readers are seeking clarity on why the Bucks extended the contract of Horst during the playoffs, as the team decided not to issue a press release with statements from co-owners Wes Edens and Jimmy and Dee Haslam, or club and arena president Peter Feigin. There was no press conference for ownership or Horst.
So, without any of their words to go by, the simplest assumption regarding why ownership extended Horst is that they felt he was the best choice to keep the Bucks competitive and rebuild their roster to a championship level.
Many readers pointed out the coaching changes and roster misfires since the 2021 championship, a time in which the Bucks have won just a single playoff series, and has helped create the situations they’ve been in, either with little draft capital to trade, or money to work with in free agency periods.
Whatever the reasons or motivations were for all those decisions, the results have been underwhelming since 2021. But clearly ownership has determined since Horst’s promotion to general manager in 2017 that the coaching has been the larger issue facing this team than the roster building, as Horst is going into his ninth season in that chair while Rivers is the team’s fourth head coach in that time.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bucks mailbag: Answers to questions about Doc Rivers, Jon Horst
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For the full Bucks mailbag, click here.
Is Doc Rivers’ job safe as head coach?
Considering Mike Budenholzer was fired after a 58-win season in 2023, and Adrian Griffin was axed after being 18 games over .500 in 2024, it’s a fair question asked by several readers. Rivers was brought in midseason in 2024 to replace Griffin and push the team back to the conference finals or finals. Instead, the Bucks have gone 65-53 in the regular season and have been bounced twice in the first round of the playoffs.
Horst was not available for interviews after the season and at the time of publication Rivers is still the head coach – so it stands to reason the team is currently moving forward with the belief he can do what’s necessary with a retooled roster to get the Bucks back to the top of the Eastern Conference.
Rivers has said he came to the Bucks because of their talent and the expectation of contending for a title, so should the organization make a sudden pivot away from those goals, perhaps there’s a bigger conversation to be had if the 63-year-old would be the right person to do that. But for now it appears the organization is moving forward with the Marquette University alumnus in the lead chair.
Why did general manager Jon Horst get a contract extension?
A lot of readers are seeking clarity on why the Bucks extended the contract of Horst during the playoffs, as the team decided not to issue a press release with statements from co-owners Wes Edens and Jimmy and Dee Haslam, or club and arena president Peter Feigin. There was no press conference for ownership or Horst.
So, without any of their words to go by, the simplest assumption regarding why ownership extended Horst is that they felt he was the best choice to keep the Bucks competitive and rebuild their roster to a championship level.
Many readers pointed out the coaching changes and roster misfires since the 2021 championship, a time in which the Bucks have won just a single playoff series, and has helped create the situations they’ve been in, either with little draft capital to trade, or money to work with in free agency periods.
Whatever the reasons or motivations were for all those decisions, the results have been underwhelming since 2021. But clearly ownership has determined since Horst’s promotion to general manager in 2017 that the coaching has been the larger issue facing this team than the roster building, as Horst is going into his ninth season in that chair while Rivers is the team’s fourth head coach in that time.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bucks mailbag: Answers to questions about Doc Rivers, Jon Horst
Continue reading...
