Yes, Doc Rivers will play golf this summer. But the work of fixing the Milwaukee Bucks comes first

Last summer, Doc Rivers didn't have to think about basketball.

He was relieved of his duties as head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers in May after the team was eliminated in the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals. Rivers, an avid golfer, didn't know if he would coach again, so he spent a lot of time on the links.

“Listen, I work all summer when I have a job on our team (for) the following year,” Rivers said. “I worked on my short game last summer, and it got worse. My putting was excellent.”

The 62-year-old Rivers will have a lot more on his mind over the next few months. He parachuted in as Bucks coach in January after Adrian Griffin was fired. It was a challenging finish to the season, with injuries curtailing what Rivers could do with his new team.

Now he gets an offseason to prepare for his first full season with the Bucks.

“The last thing that I thought of (last) summer − and even half the year − was coaching the Milwaukee Bucks,” Rivers said. “I didn't know I was going to do that. As I've said before, I had no plans on coaching this year. Like, zero.

“I told people there was no way I was going to coach this year. But then this opportunity came up and the thought of coaching those three guys (Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Damian Lillard), in this city. This city played a big part in it for me, it really did. People don't get that, but it did.

“And so now I'm here. Finally found a place to live in. And now this summer, I can think about building this team and getting it right. I believe in this team, I really do. I think our window is still very much open. But we got to get it right, and this summer is going to be huge.”

Doc Rivers thinking of ways to use Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard

The Bucks went 17-19 to finish the regular season under Rivers. Then, with Antetokounmpo missing the entire series with a calf injury, Milwaukee was eliminated in the first round in six games by the Indiana Pacers.

Rivers is eager to tackle the Bucks' issues.

“Usually right after the year, you want to go take a break,” Rivers said just after the Bucks' Game 6 loss in Indianapolis. “I can't wait to get started. To get into camp and get all the things that we need.”

Rivers hopes that when training camp opens in October, he will have Antetokounmpo, Middleton and Lillard at full health. That trio played only six full games together under Rivers.

“We never really had a chance to create that offense that we wanted to create,” Rivers said. “But we'll have that chance. We'll have a camp. So I'm looking forward to it.”

He'll be brainstorming more ideas about how to meld − and exploit − the offensive talents of Lillard and Antetokounmpo.

“I told Giannis and Dame I’m going to send them things all summer we’re working on for them to work on,” Rivers said. “And they both were very excited about that.”

Doc Rivers will get chance to learn Bucks roster

Taking over in the midst of the grind of an NBA regular season, Rivers didn't have the time to forge relationships with his players.

The roster likely will be tweaked after back-to-back exits in the first round. The Pacers took advantage of the Bucks' lack of speed.

“It's too early for me to tell you what those changes are going to be, but clearly athleticism is probably one of the things at the top,” Rivers said. “But we don’t need track athletes, we can go get those from anywhere … we need skill athletes. I think that’ll be a very high focus for us.”

Rivers knows that Antetokounmpo will be on the roster, and the coach joked about taking advantage of Antetokounmpo being in Greece to visit his star “four or five times.”

“No good golf there that I know of, but good beaches, good food,” Rivers said.

Rivers also will get players together in Los Angeles. He still spends a lot of time in the city in which he coached the Clippers for seven seasons.

“People come there, that's where the whole NBA works out,” Rivers said. “I try to get three and four guys together. I often do it with no coaching allowed.

“Like, no coaches can go, just four guys go and work out. We try to provide the gym space for them. We'll try to get our whole group to go somewhere at some point this summer. We can't set it up, but we can communicate it. I think all those things are important.”

There will be time for golf. But the work comes first this summer.

“I just think we’ve got an opportunity and we’ve got to get it right,” Rivers said. “This summer is a very important summer for us. I have a lot of work to do.

“I’m going to take a break at some point, but not right away. Right now, I have some work to do that I have to get things right to make sure we’re ready for next year.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Doc Rivers will study using Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo