The Milwaukee Bucks fired head coach Mike Budenholzer after another disappointing showing in the NBA Playoffs. Despite winning the NBA Championship in 2021, Coach Bud’s lack of game-to-game and in-game adjustments cost the Bucks numerous times. For years, Bucks fans have been frustrated with his lineups during games and his inability to counter when his opponents adjusted to his strategy. However, one national talking head, Colin Cowherd, believes that Giannis Antetokounmpo is the real person to blame for Budenholzer’s dismissal.
Colin Cowherd Calls Out Milwaukee Bucks Star Giannis Antetokounmpo After Mike Budenholzer Gets Fired
Now, Cowherd has never been one to talk kindly about Wisconsin sports, athletes playing for Wisconsin teams, or really anything for that matter. His latest rant about Giannis being the reason Coach Budenholzer was fired is just one more in an eternal series of confusing and incoherent arguments that he has had regarding the Bucks and/or other Wisconsin teams:
"The reason [Mike] Budenholzer was fired is because of Giannis [Antetokounmpo]… The better the stars, the higher the expectations."
Colin Cowherd explains why the Bucks fired Budenholzer, who was very successful in Milwaukee.
(via @TheHerd)pic.twitter.com/ZjlZMhRGF8
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 5, 2023
“With all do respect to Steve Kerr [who defended and spoke well of Mike Budenholzer], only one team can win. And Giannis changes the temperature of the room. So did LeBron in his prime. So did Kevin Durant in his prime. So did Steph Curry in his prime.
“The reason Budenholzer was fired is Giannis. Because when you have Giannis, you can’t get rolled in a series where you’re the favorite and get outcoached. The NBA, we watch it during the playoffs.
“If he had some coaching gaffs Tuesday night against Orlando, if the Packers play the next day, no one’s talking about it in Milwaukee. But in the Playoffs, everyone watches, you get rolled, you get fired. Giannis and Embiid in their primes. LeBron in his prime. Steph in his prime. There’s a downside to even the best of news.
“That’s why many people in the industry call being a NBA head coach ‘The Worst Great Job in America.’ You get paid a fortune, you get to coach stars. The bigger the stars are, the higher the expectations.”
It is somewhat easy to see where he is coming from in this. Yes, having a superstar player does raise expectations. It is also true that the Packers are far more popular in Wisconsin than the Bucks. However, Cowherd misses the mark on the following points:
- Giannis was hurt for most of the Heat series and the Bucks were still expected to win when he couldn’t play. In fact, the only game in the series that they won was a game in which Giannis didn’t play. Budenholzer wasn’t fired because having Giannis made the expectations greater; he was fired because he couldn’t adjust within a game.
- In what universe would the Packers play the next day after the Bucks played Orlando on a Tuesday night?
- The Bucks didn’t have a .500 record under Jason Kidd; Mike Budenholzer helped make Giannis into a MVP and he does not get enough credit for that. The expectations are high in Milwaukee because Bud made them that high.
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