Milwaukee Bucks: Reports Suggest Mike Budenholzer’s Job is “Safe”
By Paul Bretl
With uncertainty surrounding Mike Budenholzer’s future with the Milwaukee Bucks, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports that his job is “safe.”
The Milwaukee Bucks face a crucial offseason ahead after a disappointing second-round exit to the Miami Heat. In the last few days, there has already been rampant speculation about Giannis Antetokounmpo’s future, with many also wondering what roster moves will be made this offseason, and of course, whether or not Coach Mike Budenholzer will be back.
Two seasons in a row now, the Bucks have been a dominant regular-season team, cruising through the Eastern Conference and holding the league’s best record. They had similar success through the first two rounds of the 2018-19 playoffs, but after taking a 2-0 series lead against Toronto, Milwaukee was unable to counter the adjustments made by Raptor’s Coach Nick Nurse as they proceeded to lose the next four games.
Unfortunately, and as we all know, this postseason was much worse.
Despite completing the gentlemen’s sweep against Orlando, that series was far more difficult than what it should have been. Then in Round 2, the Bucks ran into a gritty and defensively stout Miami Heat team that controlled most of the series.
As a result, Budenholzer has been taking a lot of the Heat – pun intended – for the Bucks’ postseason struggles, and as he should be. While he’s shown that he is an excellent regular-season coach, Budenholzer’s unwillingness to make adjustments and his reluctance to play his star players more in crucial games played big factors in Milwaukee’s early postseason exit.
A prime example of Bud’s lack of adjustments is the fact that the Bucks still don’t have a counter punch to the wall strategy that teams use to slow down Antetokounmpo. The Raptors deployed this 15 months ago in the Eastern Conference Finals – with the Heat executing it to near perfection – and Milwaukee still has no answer.
Budenholzer’s issues in the playoffs aren’t something new that has popped up either. With the Atlanta Hawks, Bud led them to a 60 win season before they were ultimately swept in the Conference Finals by Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
At the time, it was shrugged off as the Hawks running into one of the best basketball players to ever step on the court. But now two seasons into his tenure with the Bucks, many are starting to realize that there is much more to it than the fact that the Hawks had to go up against Lebron James.
Now with the basketball world taking notice, even before the series against Miami had ended, many fans had taken to Twitter demanding that the Bucks fire Budenholzer. However, to what I’m sure will be the disappointment of many, Shams Charania of The Athletic (subscription required) recently reported that Bud’s job is “safe,” and that they will continue “stocking their roster with key decision-makers” – making it quite clear that Jon Horst and company still believe in the former Coach of the Year.
Next. 3 Huge Moves for this Offseason. dark
In only two seasons, Coach Budenholzer took the Milwaukee Bucks from a perennial first-round exit to a team with championship aspirations. And while this roster certainly needs some retooling this offseason, it is perhaps Bud who can make the biggest difference. That is if he’s willing to make some adjustments.