Did the Bucks make the right call with Doc Rivers hire?

The news of Griffin's mid-season firing shocked the NBA, with Milwaukee 30-13 and tied with Oklahoma City and Minnesota for the second-best record in the NBA. But in the wake of the news, reports surfaced about the first-year head coach losing the locker room led by Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard. 

There is certainly circumstantial evidence for this on social media. 

One clip that led to speculation was Antetokounmpo apparently drawing up plays during a timeout on Monday's game against Detroit -- something usually done by a coach. 

Even back in October, there were signs the two weren't on the same page. Griffin tried to take Giannis out of a game against the Philadelphia 76ers, but Antetokounmpo didn't come out. 

Good players can carry a franchise to the postseason, sometimes with inflated numbers thanks to matchups against non-playoff teams. Once the playoffs begin defensive talent and intensity tend to rise dramatically, suddenly making a coach the entire team believes in important.  

Milwaukee's offense is running like a finely-tuned machine, tied with the Indiana Pacers for the league lead at 124.6 PPG. The team's concern is at the defensive end, where it allows the 25th-most PPG.

Regardless of the wins and losses in the regular season, Milwaukee brass had to make a decision based on its playoff aspirations. While a surprising move, it isn't as drastic a change as it may seem.

Yardbarker's Sean Keane wrote on Tuesday about Rivers' connection to Milwaukee, which began around the same time as their in-season tournament exit to the Pacers as an "informal consultant." 

This set up Milwaukee to promote the next coach from within, while also installing someone with experience coaching multiple superstars to a championship.

In 2008, he led the legendary Celtics "Big Three," of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett to the team's first title since 1986, and took them back to the NBA Finals in 2010 before losing to Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.

Since leaving Boston after the 2012-13 season, Rivers has coached star-studded groups like the "Lob City," trio of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan with the Los Angeles Clippers; and more recently he led the James Harden/Joel Embiid pairing in Philadelphia. 

Despite the talent he's surrounded himself with, his team hasn't led a team past the conference semi-finals since 2010.

Rivers is undoubtedly a coach who knows what it takes to win games in the regular season. Until he proves otherwise, Milwaukee should be a popular upset pick in the early rounds of the postseason.