Griffin fired!- Doc Hired - Joerger likely on his way

[nagawicka]

I just watched yesterday's postgame pressers. Whaddya think the chances are some players were informed ahead of the news?
$5 Bucks—NO TEN $10 Bucks says Brook and Giannis *knew* and had already been informed of Grif’s impending dismissal. Brook’s “Everything is satisfactual” hoodie quotes Disney's '"Zippedy doo da! Zippedy ay! My oh my what a wonderful day!” OTOH . . . could be the Disney Geek in Brook--
Giannis in a goood mood avoids the first question and instead plays a song w “Hallelujah lyrics”— Mebbe nothin’ just makes me curious –am I imagining things?

[Baddy Chuck]

If we signed Doc to like a 3 year deal I would have thoughts on it that wouldn't be so good but if we got him locked in for the rest of the season, and the team bought in, I think he could be a good fit to somewhat right the ship. If it works out explore bringing him back, if not start the search all over. Same thing with your Atkinson's or Stotts' as well. Hell, Doc usually is able to bring in some solid guys as his assistants throughout his career, maybe Stotts would come back as an assistant with Griff gone. I wouldn't be super doom and gloom bringing in Doc for the rest of the year.

[emunney]

Also I hope we can count Prunty out, but considering how much better the team looked when he took over for Kidd, and considering AG was substantially less prepared than Kidd, it shouldn't surprise anybody too much if **** gets weird.

[Prez]

Yeah, the several Pacers games in a relatively short timeframe were about as close as you'll get to a playoff series within the regular season, and Griffin got utterly embarrassed by Haliburton and Carlisle. There were tons of games this year that showed blatant incompetence but that was the most damning one because it was the same team over and over and we needed a 64 piece from 34 to even get one.

[nagawicka]

Doc Rivers over Doc Griffin is doubling down on stupid, have they contacted Mark Jackson too?

So if the choice is Doc or Griffin you're taking Griffin?

Talk about sticking JayMKE on the Antlers of Dilemma -- are those really the only coaches we can't accept

[emunney]

We hired a new assistant coach less than a month ago lmao

[Ron Swanson]

Not a lot of great things to say about Doc, but to his credit, he had the Sixers as a Top-10 defense with a Maxey/Harden backcourt last season and that's no insignificant task. We gotta cling to those silver linings here...

[MiltownMadness]

It's weird to say but Doc feels like a somewhat smart move. I worry about the playoffs obviously, but he can right this ship by getting the players to buy in quickly I believe. He might be the best candidate for that job, we only have half a season.

[JayMKE]

Griff was getting called out by Stephen A back in December, think there was grumbling early on and then things got worse

[TroyD92]

Does Doc have a good relationship with Stotts lol

Who cares

I'd prefer some more good coaches if we bring in Doc

[aboveAverage]

Wow, props to the ownership and Horst for making this really difficult decision.

I don’t blame Griffin. He had no business getting this job. He was completely in over his head. I blame the front office for even considering him. I wish him all the best in his future career.

Honestly the best hope we have is to somehow convince Bud to come back. If you get him a defensive wing, this is an ideal roster for him to redeem himself with.

[Jez2983]

I am much more interested in a Terry Stotts redemption arc than I am for a Doc Rivers redemption arc.

[ABucksFan]

To be fair have any of the players Doc has coached who he "choked" with actually had any success in the playoffs? He's def at fault, but the guys he's coached haven't exactly been playoff world beaters, they have their own issues as well.

O god...it's happening lol, time to justify Doc haha

[WiscoKing13]

From stein



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Inside the Bucks' sudden dismissal of Adrian Griffin: This one, mostly, is on Giannis

The Bucks hired Griffin as their coach because that's who their superstar wanted. But there's even more to it as explained here

MARC STEIN

JAN 23

∙

PAID

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[https://ci3]

It was exactly two weeks ago today that one of the most well-connected NBA insiders I know sent me an alarming rumble about the Milwaukee Bucks.

Heard [Terry] Stotts would be coaching the Bucks today if he was still there.

I always — always — trust this particular informant, but I have to put my hand up and admit that I struggled to believe this specific scenario (which is why I couldn’t report it just because I had heard it).

As rocky as things have been in Brewtown all season, going all the way back to Stotts’ without-warning decision to walk away from Griffin’s staff mere days before Opening Night, I couldn’t imagine circumstances that would compel the Bucks to fire Adrian Griffin less than halfway through his first season as an NBA head coach.

I was proven right … but just barely. The Bucks only waited until Game 43 to oust Griffin, despite Milwaukee’s 30-13 record, thus publicly confirming that they completely bungled last summer’s search to replace the highly successful Mike Budenholzer.

This one, though, is mostly on Giannis Antetokounmpo.

As first reported here in May — which was the first place you read it in the wake of Budenholzer’s dismissal — Griffin was the candidate who most intrigued Antetokounmpo before quickly emerging as the favorite to get the job in spite of his lack of previous NBA head coaching experience … all largely because he had Antetokounmpo’s backing.

The question then was: Why?

And: How?

Why was Antetokounmpo throwing his support behind Griffin?

How did Griffin gain that sort of endorsement from a superstar of Giannis’ stature when they had never worked together before?

League sources say now that the desire to play for Griffin is better described as a determination to play for someone other than Nick Nurse.

Nurse was among the candidates that the Bucks had high on their list after a five-game drubbing by No. 8-seeded Miami in the first round of last season’s playoffs, which led to Budenholzer’s ouster after five seasons in charge and, of course, Milwaukee’s first championship since 1971.

But sources say that Antetokounmpo wanted the Bucks to go in a different direction and thus chose to champion Griffin.

You’ve seen the instant impact that Nurse has had in Philadelphia. The 76ers entered Tuesday’s play at 29-13 — just a half-game behind the Bucks — even after trading James Harden to the LA Clippers on Halloween. The Sixers also entered Tuesday’s play ranked fourth in the league in both offense and defense … with Joel Embiid fresh off torching San Antonio for a career-high 70 points.

Milwaukee?

Desperation, as covered extensively in this cyberspace Monday, was evident with the Bucks even before they announced Tuesday afternoon that Griffin is suddenly out and that Joe Prunty has been named Milwaukee’s interim coach for the second time (Prunty, remember, replaced Jason Kidd on the Bucks’ bench during the 2017-18 season).

We wrote all about it in Monday’s around-the-league notes when explaining the Bucks’ unforeseen attempts to join the trade chase for Atlanta’s Dejounte Murray.

Milwaukee ranks a heady No. 2 in offensive rating after acquiring Damian Lillard shortly before training camp and pairing Dame Time with The Greek Freak … but the Bucks awoke Tuesday ranked an alarming No. 22 leaguewide in defensive rating. They needed to do something drastic and, let’s face it, making an abrupt coaching change — uncomfortable as it is — was a far easier move for the Bucks to make given their limited assets available to make a difference-making trade.

That desperation will now apparently manifest itself in an all-out quest to convince ESPN/ABC’s Doc Rivers to leave behind the comforts of television, after just a half-season to enjoy them, and jump back into the hot seat business.

It’s easy to say, with hindsight, that the Bucks should have hired the coach they deemed to be the best fit for the post in June rather than giving such sway to the face of the franchise. Don’t forget, though, that Milwaukee had neither traded for Lillard nor had secured Antetokounmpo’s signature on a new three-year contract extension worth nearly $190 million at the time Griffin was hired. The star’s wishes had to be heeded.

Some of you might recall, when the season began, how intrigued I was by the idea of Stotts and Prunty — both former Bucks head coaches — being named to Griffin’s initial staff. I couldn’t remember such a scenario before and have had trouble confirming any previous examples.

Barely a half-season later, with the Bucks in the midst of a 6-5 January, their coaching situation turned about five levels stranger.



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[MissKhriddleton]

Man, I've been high on Doc even before the PP thread. Feel like I got in on bitcoin when it was a dollar. Can't wait to cash in all my takes.

[JayMKE]

poll with bud as an option

[nagawicka]

Here comes Doc

i said the same thing a few months ago. they couldn't fire Grief, unless they had a LEGIT HC in line, the only guy out there is Doc. He has milwaukee ties, is popular, and players like him.
Hopefully Doc has something left or can at MINIMUM get the players organized and playing good basketball.

Curious doesn't he know Crowder and all the Marquette guys

[ReasonablySober]

Does Doc have a good relationship with Stotts lol

Who cares

I'd prefer some more good coaches if we bring in Doc

It would be truly hilarious if Stotts decided to give it another shot with a different coach now that Grief is gone.

[BigO]

Can you guys slow down? I can't keep up with these posts. You're writing them faster than I can read them. Seriously, think about your elders.

Here's my official take:

1) It had to be done and I'm sure the owners are behind it.

2) No to Doc Rivers.

3) No To Bud. He wore out his welcome and was consistently robotic during the playoffs in his schemes, no matter who the opponent was. So stop it please. It's annoying. Let's be real.

4) I'm in no hurry to get a new coach unless it's someone not already mentioned. I am really curious to see if and how Prunty changes the defense. I assume he knows what the players would like, so that's a start. They should know more about the schemes they are best at than choosing a coach.

[Frank Nova]

Completely disagree with the bolded.

And you’re absolutely entitled to your opinion but I’m just not sure how anyone can get excited about firing a bad coach just to immediately turn around and hire another bad coach? That makes zero sense.

Because there are degrees of bad?

That’s worth being excited? I wanted Griffin fired just like every other Bucks fan with half a brain, I didn’t want him hired in the 1st place. I was a huge advocate for Kenny Atkinson when they named the final 3 and wanted Chris Quinn most of all if we were going to go the rookie HC route. But 1 name I never wanted to even be a possibility was Doc Rivers and for good reason, he’s an absolute **** coach. And here we are. So what’s everyone so excited about? We got it wrong twice, yay?