The Doc Rivers rule.

Hell nah not anymore! Frank and Bud both got fired like a year or two after winning a title. I think Doc is phenomenal in the sense he keeps getting a job. He is great at communicating and telling the front office what they want to hear and see. He might even stay on in the advisory role with the bucks

And on a small market? That used to be statue-worthy.

used to essentially get you a job for life in the NBA.

I’d say that’s the exception rather than the rule these days. Just look at Mike Malone, Nick Nurse, Mike Budenholzer, and Tyron Lue.

That’s what every fan says when they want their coach fired for reasons lol

The adjustment he wasnt making was about the defensive scheme, particularly the 3 point defense. Bucks under Bud had a defensive scheme where they would shut down the paint and let other teams shoot 3s.

They would also rarely double or give Giannis the toughest perimeter assignment. Eg, Butler giving Jrue 50+ going 1v1 pretty much all game

Bud would never change the defensive scheme even if they werent getting any stops in key games because the thought was that this was the best strategy long term.

I vividly remember this being a key discussion point around those Bucks teams

I wasn’t one of the people calling for Bud to be fired. But it is true, he was poor/slow at making adjustments during games, or even during series. One easy example is the Toronto series in 2019 (the year Toronto won): the starting lineup included Nikola Mirotic at shooting guard. He shot under 20% from 3 point range, and Toronto adjusted their offense to target him specifically. The Bucks net rating was -17 with him on the court. The Bucks had started Malcolm Brogdon all year at SG, and the Bucks net rating was +16 with him on the court. It took until game 6 to swap back to the original starting lineup, despite the difference in performance between those two. By then the Bucks had to win both, and it didn’t happen.

On the flip side, Bud was fantastic at putting together a team strategy when given the offseason to work with. The team basically gained 10 wins a season when he took over. He simplified both the offense and defense, tailoring both to work with the strengths and weaknesses of the players on the team. Instead of trying to shoehorn players into a system, which has happened both before and after Bud was coach.

That’s gonna be my problem with the coaches in these playoffs. I want to see some damn adjustments. I want them to adjust and then win. When you don’t make adjustments, you don’t win and then you get fired.

Please do not ask me to elaborate!!!!!

Ngl brook Lopez dropping after every single screen is why jimmy popped off, he was killing in the space.

As a raps fan I’m happy he was only playing Giannis 35 mins per game in the ECF. Thank you Bud for that ring.

I mean I don’t think Bud has proven he’s some special coach with his last two stints

A key part of his defensive system was about pushing the “wrong people” to take 3s. They kinda talked about it at the time, they had analytics that supported this idea of stopping the stars and key shooters and making the role players hit shots.

They would massively over-help on drives and PnRs and leave the ‘weaker’ shooters open on the perimeter.

That’s a problem, because the better teams in the league are well-rounded enough to hit those shots. In fact, some of the teams they faced were built around hitting those shots.

One example is Boston, who had an incredible amount of success over the past decade with their in-house shooting development. They always have guys who can hit corner 3s, and the organisation is famous for empowering role players. Daring them to shoot can backfire really easily, as it did in G7 of the 2022 ECSF, where Grant Williams scored 27 points and went ⁷⁄₁₈ from 3.

A better example is Miami. Their entire offence was built around their stars collapsing the defence and then kicking out to jump shooters. So a defensive strategy designed to force the ball out of the hands of the stars and daring role players to shoot was really just playing into Miami’s hands. Miami wanted Butler/Bam kicking out to Robinson/Vincent/Strus/Martin/etc.

Those Miami teams were famous for having no-names light up teams, so daring their no-names to make shots was just asking for trouble.

Plus they just made really odd decisions at times. Remember the Milwaukee / Brooklyn series where Durant nearly carried the team. only lost because his foot was slightly too big and then Giannis declared Durant the best player in the world?

Milwaukee was going under screens that series. They were conceding midrange jumpers from KEVIN DURANT. By design, they were giving up shots he wanted to take. That’s a big part of why he played so well in that series.

And that’s what people meant when they talked about “adjustments”, Milwaukee was really tied to analytical models that really only made sense in the regular season. Conceding midrange shots and forcing role players to make 3s works in the regular season, but you do need to bring more to a playoff matchup.

Adjustments and rotations are always the way fans try to sound intelligent about why their coach is bad.

Man, I distinctly remember this discussion during the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals. People were dunking all over Bud for not adjusting the game plan when Nick Nurse was adjusting his.

In 2019, he was super determined to get Pat Connaughton and Eric Bledsoe their minutes when guys like George Hill and Brogdon were outplaying him. In addition, he was super dumb with handling minutes management of Giannis in the ECF

When you realize 95% of NBA coaching criticisms are about either “adjustments” (undefined) or after-timeout plays, you realize how little NBA fans understand what they’re watching

Like 98% of fans don’t even know what a basketball play looks like when they are watching

He 100% made adjustments in the finals against the Suns.

The main adjustment that he failed to make was getting the Bucks shooters to make their open jumpshots.

nah his issue was he was playing his stars like 30 minutes or less a game in the playoffs. Once he went away from that they won a chip.

Took the Spurs system and implemented it Atlanta the next year. Then we had 4 all stars and a 60 win season. Bud deserved better.

With how quickly teams have gotten rid of Bud when they struggle, I assume that he’s particularly bad at the office politics part of his job. Because the only reason I can see someone with his track record being fired so quickly is if he has a tendency to make enemies in the front office.

Bud is hands down one of the best coaches in the league. He’s not a Kerr, but he’s damned good. I miss him in ATL

When your team has a multiple MVP winner but isn’t making deep runs, the coach is usually easier to change than the roster.

Malone had legit excuses though. The Nugs lost two years of Jokers prime and team championship window when Murray missed two playoffs and an entire season.

Super glad the kept Malone. So satisfying to see the coach that grew the team organically get a championship. His parade performance makes him a legend too.

Really though, that’s a pretty high bar for this sub.

Yeah, his playoff rotations left a lot to be desired

Bud was a god compared to his replacements. If you’re making that move it has to be an upgrade, you can’t fuck it up like the Bucks did.

Hiring Doc after that got my eyes spinning round in my head like a slot machine if Bud’s scapegoating is just an eye roll.

Not if you’re just going to make 2 shitty hires

Having some loyalty to a guy that just won you a title isn’t a wild expectation

It’s fucking Milwaukee

Probably since the Toronto series tbh but after the championship i felt like all the fire Bud stuff was dumb. Not that it was necessarily a terrible decision to part ways, but to do so without an idea of who we’re replacing him with was irresponsible decision-making imo.

I’d say in the 2010s he legitimately was a great coach. Dragged a hawks team that would be lottery bound most years to 60+ wins and ECF, had legitimately strong teams and a fresh meta fit offense. 2020s the game passed him by, but he definitely was great

He’s an elite floor raiser of a coach but absolutely terrible at maximizing ceilings.

I think it does. It’s like threatening to leave someone that’s a little chubby if they don’t lose weight and then once you decide to move on you immediately start dating Gorlock.

One lost their job 2 years removed from winning the title. The other continues to secure jobs by politicking and flashing their only ring from a decade and a half ago.

The Bucks won despite Bud, not because of. They didn’t win that long ago, it was a common consensus that his time was up.

Oh no, your coach won you the title. Too bad he couldn’t be fired without winning, that would’ve been so much better, right?

not trying to be pedantic or anything, but i see lots of people saying this even though their record was good under him… why was he bad?

It just fits the ‘Giannis is a cancer and at fault for everything’ narrative that some Bucks fans have embraced recently

Truth is all these rumours were started by ESPN and were never verified by Bucks media, but now everyone is quoting them like facts

LeGM would be gilded if not for injuries in 15’ and that Warriors gigateam 

LeGM has run circles around GMis

Meanwhile Sixers fans want Nurse gone. Basketball coaching is wild. You can scheme all you want and there are definitely bad coaches, but a lot of success comes down to player performance

nah kenny atkinson should’ve been the coach. nurse is also pretty mid

Too bad Giannis couldn’t bury the hatchet on losing to him in 2019.

Google him, but unironically.

He has a pretty good (not great) track record overall and I don’t think that should all be overwritten by one weird season

While true, Spo also coached some massively overachieving teams during that stint that earned him a lot of leash.

Also I like to shit on Doc as much of the next man, but it wasn’t just 2008 that allowed him to hang around the league. He got a lot of clout and credit for the 2018-19 Clippers who won 48 games despite trading away their best player (Tobias Harris!) at the deadline.

I’m not saying he deserves to still be coaching because of that, but at that point he was still getting a lot of credit as a coach.

Hall of famer