Former Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers criticized Giannis Antetokounmpo’s game on a podcast this past week, after the Bucks traded the star forward to the Miami Heat over the summer.
Asked about it Saturday, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra moved quickly past Rivers and on to his own team’s defense.
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Erik Spoelstra Weighs the Miami Heat’s Defense Against Their Offense
Rivers, who coached Antetokounmpo for parts of three seasons in Milwaukee, described coaching the two-time MVP on “The Bill Simmons Podcast.”
“He’s not easy. He’s not easy because he plays at this crazy downhill pace. He’s really a difficult guy. I was telling someone this. He has this great passing ability, but he doesn’t necessarily have a super IQ at the same time. It’s really a strange thing.”
Rivers also described what he told the forward: “I told Giannis this: The thing he still needs to learn is the value of execution. How important it is, when you’re in practice and at shootaround, to lock in on execution.”
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He finished with a nod to Antetokounmpo’s new coach: “Now he has a coach who’s as good as there is in execution.”
Asked on Saturday about Rivers’ comments on coaching Antetokounmpo, Spoelstra responded in remarks reported by The Athletic‘s Eric Nehm.
“Look, I like Doc, and I respect him. This is our business now. We’re going through a process of trying to develop a defense that’s meeting our potential, and we’re not right now.”
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The Heat coach then turned to how far that process has come. “Like I said, we’re making some progress. I’m not so stubborn that I can’t see it. I can see it. It’s not happening fast enough, and it’s not happening with enough collective urgency and toughness,” Spoelstra added.
Miami’s two most recent losses both came against teams that shot better than 50%. The Los Angeles Lakers shot 57% from the field and scored 60 points in the paint in a 138-117 win on Nov. 2, and the Golden State Warriors shot 53% with 50 points in the paint and 21 fast-break points in a 120-100 win on Nov. 5.
The offense, and the adjustment to playing alongside Antetokounmpo, drew a different assessment.
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“In terms of getting everybody comfortable offensively, that’ll take some time, but that’s ahead of our defense right now, despite what guys may feel individually. We went into the season thinking that that would be a process, playing with somebody that commands so much attention. That’s a different style than some of the guys that have come here, that have played before. We’ll be able to figure that all out. We’ve already made a lot of strides.”
The player commanding that attention led the Bucks to the 2021 championship, the franchise’s first in 50 years, and was named Finals MVP.
The Heat are 3-6 and ninth in the Eastern Conference, and the defense Spoelstra ranked behind his team’s offense gets its next test Sunday night against the Sacramento Kings.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.
