BigO wrote:sidney lanier wrote:old skool wrote:<snip>
But I recognize that I don't understand what Griffin is trying to teach the Bucks players to do, nor do I understand what the upside come Spring can be for what he is trying to teach and implement. I see the uneven results, but don't know how much to blame Griffin for Lillard shooting like a end of rotation player, or for Middleton to be averaging 12 ppg or for the Bucks to be outrebounded more often than not. I HOPE the Bucks win against the Pacers, but watching Williams and Popovich struggle tells me that maybe it is not the wisest thing to make absolute judgements based on short term results because players impact winning more than coaches.
What a pleasure to read a thoughtful, insightful post. Well done.
Like you I've been thinking about Monty Williams standing there with his arms folded as his Pistons team reels off 20 losses in a row. Player deficiencies will rip that "I'm a Genius" button off your lapel in a heartbeat.
Griffin hasn't yet gotten his button, but he's gotten plenty of challenges to deal with -- great expectations, two megastars, one of whom superficially should be good in the pick-and-roll but is instead a diver to the basket who makes that play easy to defend, and a supporting cast that is on-again, off-again. He's managed to compile a good record without earning style points.
He'll continue to attract hysterical, misplaced criticism here, but I'm good with watching his journey continue.
Not sure what misplaced criticism you're referring to.
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But being one of the worst defensive teams in the league with Giannis and Lopez on the roster is not acceptable, unless we can see incremental improvement.
This isn't about how you treat a coach and giving him a chance. It's about having an open window for a limited period and trying to maximize it. If the Bucks had the Bulls talent, I'd say give Griffin a year or two. We don't have that luxury.
We not only have that luxury, the Front Office and Horst are exploiting it to the hilt. Assessed our open window, interviewed Head Coach candidates, and selected Grif as the guy most able to maximize results during the Bucks' current window, to the extent Giannis + Dame can keep it open w/ the addition of Beas, Payne, AJJ et al. They looked at Grif's proposed plan, took into account his ability to maintain player relationships, and selected him. You think they didn't do their due diligence? that they're not all trying to solve the same things we see? Nah, he can't be accused of being a player's coach and too hard on/ripping on his players at the same time; or of saying exactly what every other coach ever has said after a game, when it's objectively true ('we got beat'), not without calling into question the critics. Who cares if it looks ugly, real ugly is EXACTLY what every 'Fire Bud!' poster wanted; now they've got it and surprise they don't like the ugly they asked for just because that's what comes with coaching changes. No one gets the magic NBA Christmas present they've always wanted forever and ever, a free ride to Championship Land.
Defense? The Bucks' tenacious defense hung on Dec. 5th during the last two quarters to preserve the hair-thin 24-point lead that sealed the win. WHAT No lies detected and no room to be big mad at getting a laugh there when the board here excoriated Bud's Defense and the Front Office looked at it, and promptly traded Jrue and dumped Wes.
old skool wrote:We fans can smugly lambaste a first year coach after 3 games or 23 games, and we might be right. But if we are honest, we would also dismiss Williams and Popovich for their lack of success. And we can't endorse Budenholzer who three times in five seasons couldn't win a title (or even reach the Finals) with a #1 overall seed.
Under Griffin, the Bucks have looked shaky. Very bad at times. Worse than a year ago, even though the expectation is that they should be better, not worse. Just like teams coached by Williams and Popovich.
At the end of the day, we fans are better at identifying things and people that we dislike, than we are at knowing what and who really makes the team better. It's easy to insist, without accountability, that Green or Beauchamp or Jackson should play over Payne or Beasley or Connaughton. It's even easier to show disgust for a coach by calling him names - nothing solves a problem like name calling.
BigO wrote:Not sure what misplaced criticism you're referring to.
With loads of misplaced criticism to choose from, omitting much of those listed from your pull quote doesn't mean you've adequately addressed the ones you've talked about. They don't look great but they didn't look great under Bud regular season OR losing how many post-season series where Bud's Bucks were odds-on favorite. No way around playing through choppy waters in this or any other season.
