‘I want us to put our names on it’: Bucks coach Doc Rivers embraces challenge of claiming NBA Cup

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LAS VEGAS — Doc Rivers stopped himself from going into a full rant — half baptist preacher, half exasperated coach — when talking about the simplicity of basketball, the simplicity of this NBA Cup.

“I’m not gonna get on the soapbox,” Rivers said Saturday. “But I just think, and they’re gonna [blame this] generation, but I’m trying not to, but accept the challenge. We run from challenges a lot.”

The Milwaukee Bucks coach wasn’t talking about his team specifically with “We,” but regarding basketball culture as a whole. In a lot of ways, players have become too cool to try, that something as physically and emotionally draining as putting yourself out there is looked upon as a black mark, a reason to ridicule players. Being a “try hard” is mocked in some spaces, in maybe small but loud corners of basketball discussion.

That’s why the Milwaukee Bucks advanced past the Atlanta Hawks to the NBA Cup final, which will take place Tuesday night in Las Vegas, and even perhaps why Warriors coach Steve Kerr was so dismayed at the ridiculous call at the end of his team’s knockout round loss to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday.

Both coaches were unafraid to put it out there, even though this isn’t a playoff series or playoff game, and this can easily be forgotten by the All-Star break when the regular season truly sets into its usual lather, but it’s high-stakes competition that should be invested in.

Doc Rivers displays his brand of intensity during the first half of an NBA Cup semifinal against the Atlanta Hawks at T-Mobile Arena on Dec. 14, 2024, in Las Vegas. The Bucks defeated the Hawks 110-102. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

“Let’s put our name out there,” Rivers said. “We’re gonna try to win it. If we don’t win it, we don’t win it, but … there’s nothing wrong with saying you want to win something, and if you win it, great, and you don’t, at least you went for it.”

That’s an attitude that permeates through the playoffs and the must-win games, but not during a Tuesday night in December when the playing court isn’t some monstrosity and it’s just a regular old logo.

Yahoo…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/i-want-us-to-put-our-names-on-it-bucks-coach-doc-rivers-embraces-challenge-of-claiming-nba-cup-035851413.html

Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-12-15 03:58:00

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