Mike Budenholzer’s final stand for the Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks are under an enormous amount of pressure heading into Thursday night’s Game 6 against the Brooklyn Nets in the second round of the NBA Playoffs. Especially their head coach Mike Budenholzer. Although he’s only been the Bucks’ head coach for three years, it feels like it’s been a decade or longer. That’s what a drama-packed tenure will do to you.
Before he took over as the head man, the Bucks were a walking first-round playoff exit–they didn’t make it past the opening bout since the 2000-01 season. Since then, they’ve advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2019, the second round in 2020, and find themselves once again in the second round in 2021. However, all three playoff runs have been filled with slow adjustments, frustrations, and a season-ending loss to a team the Bucks were supposed to beat.
Entering this series against the Nets, the Bucks didn’t necessarily fall into the final category. Brooklyn had two former MVPs in Kevin Durant and James Harden along with a third stud in Kyrie Irving. The Nets were finally healthy and were heavy favorites to beat the Bucks and win the NBA Finals.
Everything changed within the first 45 seconds of Game 1 when Harden came up lame with a right hamstring injury. He ended up missing the rest of the contest and didn’t return until Game 5 when he was clearly still hampered by his injury. Kyrie Irving then went down with a nasty-looking ankle sprain in Game 4, missing the rest of that contest before sitting out Game 5 and being ruled out for tonight’s matchup.
Those injuries opened the door and turned the tide in the Bucks’ favor. After falling into an 0-2 hole, they clawed their way back by winning Games 3 and 4 in the comforts of the Fiserv Forum. They looked to be in complete control and on their way to taking a commanding 3-2 series lead back to Milwaukee in Game 5. They were up by 17 points midway through the third quarter before the all-too-familiar happened.
Just like in previous playoff series against the Raptors in 2019 and the Heat in 2020, Milwaukee blew an enormous lead and looked completely out of whack. Durant led a furious comeback that left Milwaukee disoriented on both ends of the court and not knowing which way was up.
Not having an answer for one of this generation’s best talents in Durant is one thing. Durant was shooting fireballs at the net and was literally unstoppable. Sure, Budenholzer was slow to switch up coverages and often left Brook Lopez on the court to get cooked, but this was a performance of a lifetime by Durant. There is certainly blame to be put on Budenholzer for the Nets’ offensive comeback, but the biggest issue with the Bucks’ head coach took place on the other end of the court.
The Bucks offense looked completely lost and useless. After discovering how effective actual ball and player movement is in Game 4–an adjustment that led them to a double-digit victory–Milwaukee naturally went away from that and back into their isolation ball that led them to scoring 86 points twice in this series. Possession after possession the Bucks would make one or even no passes before getting a shot up. It was U-G-L-Y.
The players are to take some of the blame, but the majority falls on Budenholzer’s shoulders. Milwaukee abandoned the offensive concepts that are implemented in grade school and are as elementary as they come. Instead, their best player, Giannis Antetokounmpo, has continued to jack threes (he’s shooting 24 percent from downtown), take mid-rangers, and try spinning post-fades against undersized players. He’s forgotten what has made him so great and it’s clearly affecting him mentally (he’s only made 41.5 percent of his free throws this series after making nearly 70 percent in the regular season).
Mike Budenholzer is looking down the barrel of the gun when it comes to his time as head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks.
Even before the Bucks blew Game 5 in embarrassing fashion, rumors have begun to leak about the Bucks’ head coaching job.
Budenholzer is on thin ice regardless of the outcome of the playoffs and his job is in serious jeopardy. To make matters worse, candidates have already begun to emerge, even with the Bucks in the middle of a playoff run! Rick Carlisle (still under contract with the Dallas Mavericks) and Mike D’Antoni (assistant coach on the Nets) have been rumored to be interested in the Bucks’ head coaching job. Milwaukee assistant coach Darvin Ham is another name to watch.
It’s very rare to have so many rumors about an existing coach, especially when that team is in the middle of a tough playoff battle. That tells you just how bad things are for Budenholzer and the Bucks right now.
Next. Jrue Holiday wins NBA Sportsmanship Award. dark
Entering Thursday night’s Game 6, Budenholzer likely knows his job is on the line. Anything short of a comeback this series and he could be ousted as the head coach of the Bucks. And even that might not be enough. Milwaukee will have the most desirable vacancy in the NBA if they choose to do so and will have a plethora of candidates lining up for an interview. This could be Budenholzer’s last stand.