Rastall: Bucks Make Course Correction with Jenkins Hire
Ever since the Milwaukee Bucks fired Mike Budenholzer three years ago, the franchise has repeatedly tripped over their own feet with essentially every decision made regarding their head coaching position. At least on paper, they seem to have finally reversed that trend with the hiring of Taylor Jenkins.
The reported finalists to succeed Budenholzer back in 2023 were Nick Nurse, Kenny Atkinson and Adrian Griffin. Passing up on Atkinson, who was eventually hired in Cleveland and was named the NBA Coach of the Year after guiding the Cavs to a 64-18 record last season, was a missed opportunity.
The Bucks instead went with long-time NBA assistant Griffin as Bud’s successor, and he was famously fired midway through his first season despite Milwaukee’s 30-13 record. It was a shocking firing when it happened, but those who watched a lot of Bucks basketball under Griffin will likely remember that the picture wasn’t as rosy as that record might indicate.
The offense was historically efficient in that first half-season with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard and Khris Middleton all sharing the court, but the Bucks’ schedule was very favorable early in that 2023-24 season and Griffin also had the luxury of Giannis, Dame and Middleton starting together in 32 of his 43 games as head coach. Injury issues — especially for Middleton — led to that trio only starting together in 13 of the next 88 games between Griffin’s firing at Middleton’s eventual trade to Washington.
There were additional games where Middleton came off the bench and they were given chances to share the court together, but he was often on a minutes restriction and we never got to see that trio’s full potential together.
On top of that, Griffin insisted on trying to deploy an aggressive defense that the personnel he had was woefully ill-suited for. Having Bobby Portis blitz ballhandlers just past midcourt and Brook Lopez do anything other than serve as a rim protector was defensive malfeasance, and Griffin seemed to fully lose the locker room in record time.
While you can make a justifiable case for firing Griffin due to underlying issues despite the gaudy record, there was no justification for panic hiring Doc Rivers on a multi-year contract.
I can understand wanting a veteran head coach for that year’s playoffs, but if Doc was unwilling to accept an arrangement where he was only assured the job through the end of that 2023-24 season — the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights are doing that exact thing with John Tortorella right now after firing previous head coach Bruce Cassidy ahead of the postseason — then they would’ve been much better off just riding out the rest of the year with Joe Prunty as the interim coach before conducting a full offseason search.
Instead, Bucks fans were left to experience Doc’s crimes against basketball for the last 2.5 years as the halcyon days of the Budenholzer era started to feel like a distant memory.
But at long last, there’s cause for optimism that competent coaching might be returning to the Cream City after the Bucks successfully landed Jenkins, a former assistant under Budenholzer in both Atlanta and for his first year in Milwaukee who went on to have a successful stint as head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies.
While in Memphis, Jenkins was an adherent to the principles for success that are emphasized in today’s NBA, focusing on winning the possession battle, crashing the offensive glass and getting out in transition. Even though the Bucks were one of the best-shooting teams in basketball this season, it barely mattered because of their turnover issues and rebounding woes.
Whether Giannis remains with the Bucks as they try to retool into a contender or he’s traded away and they go for a youth-led rebuild movement, Jenkins is a guy you’d be happy to have in either situation. Landing that type of coach is an excellent way to start what promises to be an eventful offseason in Milwaukee.
