Adrian Griffin was set as much as fail from the beginning. The second he was appointed head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, this felt just like the making of a tempestuous union. Watching Griffin ink a deal to imagine one of the crucial pressure-filled, win-now jobs within the NBA, then rent former Bucks coach Terry Stotts as an assistant, just for administration to plant Damian Lillard’s former head coach as an assistant, felt like being at a shotgun wedding ceremony. Griffin was all the time a poor match, and it was by no means going to final, however no person anticipated it to be a cameo look. The obvious neon signal that Griffin was not lengthy for the Bucks was evident from the second Stotts was employed as a pseudo-offensive coordinator.
It seems Stotts wasn’t the one coach administration was philandering with. Based on The Athletic, Doc Rivers was initially a consultant to Griffin on the behest of the Bucks when the latter was employed in Might of 2023. After the In-Season Match, they once more approached Rivers to function an assistant to Griffin. Griffin was by no means the man. He was merely a caretaker. What’s that outdated saying? Don’t let your girlfriend cease you from assembly your spouse? Yep, that applies right here.
When one door closes, one other one opens. Normally, Rivers steps by way of that door. The second Griffin’s hiring was fired, the pro-Doc PR machine launched with extra precision than a presidential marketing campaign. You’d have thought Rivers was operating on a third-party ticket given the best way each insider from Shams Charania to Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Rivers was being thought of because the frontrunner to exchange Griffin. Rivers’ identify was invoked as a candidate to replace Monty Williams as the Phoenix Suns head coach this summer season, however the push feels extra direct now.
Within the midst of their 30-13 begin to the season, Griffin had the aura of a decorative statue quite than a revered bench authority. Giannis Antetokounmpo’s choice to play for Griffin, whereas he negotiated a contract extension, was what helped him earn the job, however lower than a month into the season, Antetokounmpo was displaying up Griffin on the scorer’s desk. The perimeter protection is in shambles since Lillard was acquired within the Jrue Vacation swap and there weren’t any options on the best way.
If something, Griffin made it worse by exacerbating their woes by implementing an aggressive defensive scheme that relied on one of many league’s worst defensive guards pressuring the ball and forcing turnovers. That glided by the wayside, and luckily Lillard and Antetokounmpo had been transcendent sufficient offensively to maintain Milwaukee in competition for the highest seed. Their aspirations are greater.
However the expectation was that Griffin would not less than get the David Blatt courtesy to stay round for not less than a playoff, possibly even 1 / 4 of subsequent season. Groups sitting on the cusp of the No. 1 seed sometimes don’t shoot their head coaches out of a cannon, so there was motive to consider he’d get a possibility to develop into the job. As a substitute, the Bucks reduce quick his tenure after 43 video games, the third-shortest stint in NBA history. The one shorter stints had been Bob Weiss’ 30 video games because the Sonics coach after 11 years as an assistant, and Jerry Tarkanian’s Sept. 11 file in 20 video games with San Antonio. The Bucks wished Griffin gone so badly that he was canned with a file 17 video games OVER .500 so they might doubtlessly make room for Rivers.
Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson can be a candidate, however who’re we kidding? That is Rivers’ job to lose. Firing a head coach in the midst of the season is all the time a precarious transfer, nevertheless, Antetokounmpo’s effervescent frustrations, the dip in Lillard’s play and utilization offensively, and a hunch spurred the Bucks to behave. There simply aren’t as many bonafide championship pedigree coaches floating round close to the All-Star break as there have been this summer season. Trae Younger hasn’t been round Quin Snyder lengthy sufficient to shove his physique overboard into the unemployment abyss, in order that pipeline is out of provide.
The shallow area is Rivers’ acquire. Perhaps it’s the nickname that lends him a credibility he doesn’t fairly have anymore. Since 2008, Rivers’ profession has hit tough patches, potholes and he’s pushed not less than three franchises off the cliff, however Rivers’ agent all the time finds a approach to harm organizations from inside. Rivers has extra lives than Jason Vorhees.
It’s additionally jarring to witness Philadelphia’s extra cohesive offensive unit since shedding Harden and Rivers. His rotations, the execution and outdated offensive philosophy have been discovered wanting in recent times. The league has developed since Rivers’ crowning achievement in 2008 with the Boston Celtics, however he hasn’t caught as much as the occasions. Nurse overhauled the Sixers offense to resemble the Denver Nuggets’, Harden was shipped to the Clippers, and ran extra of their offense by way of Embiid and sailed by way of the East.
Philadelphia’s free-flowing offense highlights simply how a lot potential Rivers’ Sixer squads squandered. Rivers is basically the Bucks’ solely choice. He has them cornered except the they resolve to experience with veteran assistant Joe Prunty at some stage in the season. Then once more, in the event that they wanna drudge up the fossils of a retread, possibly they need to look to Mike Budenholzer.
Observe DJ Dunson on X: @cerebralsportex
