Monday Morning Media Roundup: February 22nd, 2021

For those who make the wise choice of avoiding Twitter like the plague you may have missed what appeared to be the attainment of a critical mass behind the idea of firing Mike Budenholzer. It has all the hallmarks of a Bucks fanbase turning against the coach: Dissatisfaction, gallows humor, and hundreds of accounts sporting the same badge:

And you know what? I get it.

Perhaps the most annoying aspect of these past three seasons for the Milwaukee Bucks is the overriding feeling of existing in a sort of basketball purgatory. Good enough to disregard the regular season as something to be concerned about, poor enough in playoff outings to keep the idea of a shoo-in Finals appearance out of reach, and with a supermax extension hanging over everything in-between.

Once people begin to think that some action has moved from possibility to inevitability it is natural to believe that avoiding confrontation with said inevitability is actually detrimental. The reasons fans have for wanting to move on from Budenholzer are many (our own comments section have plenty of misgivings), but what underpins this streak of visible discontent is a sort of mass belief that the Bucks under Budenholzer will be incapable of reaching the ECF at which point the team will fire him. If that is the case, why wait around four months to get to that point?

The team probably won’t bow to those calculations. Either their numbers add up to a different result, they’re not interested in handing the reins to an assistant who would merely tweak the scheme, or they’re willing to wait out a transition year under a coach who isn’t an active corruptor of the team’s culture. All of those conclusions are equally reasonable when sufficiently argued, and this season does have the feeling of a transition which allows for the Bucks to sit, wait, and (hopefully) plan.

In the end, nobody is happy and everybody is upset. We’re back in purgatory. Home sweet home.

Let’s roundup!

---

Here’s our Milwaukee Bucks All Food Team (Milwaukee Record)

This is an impressive list that I assume was gathered by perusing the franchise Basketball Reference page for any name with a tangential food connection. OJ Mayo, Darvin Ham, John Salmons, Dell Curry, and Vin Baker wouldn’t win you a lot of games in today’s NBA, but it’d win you the battle that matters most: The fight for memes.

Giannis Antetokounmpo bummed to find out Bucks beat writer got a new gig (Awful Announcing)

While I appreciate Giannis’s reaction to having found out that Matt Velazquez had left his position, I should also note that Matt has been gone all season. What jogged his mind in this particular direction 30+ games into the season?

Anyways, maybe they can reunite the next time the Bucks make a trip down to Indianapolis.

Bryn Forbes is still taking Gregg Popovich’s advice (Pounding the Rock)

A nice little piece from Bryn’s former neck of the woods in recognition of how well he’s played since arriving in Milwaukee. Part of Forbes’s issue in San Antonio was his placement in a starting lineup with other net-neutral to net-negative defenders which went a long way to cementing his reputation as a poor defender. He hasn’t been stellar on that end of the floor, but he’s been passable, and when you’re passable and also shooting out of your mind from three on the other end of the floor? Well, we can make that work around here.

Fan Post of the Week

JS Online Castaway 2.0’s “Brewhoop Username Origin Stories” is the kind of wholesome, blog-uniting content I love getting to see. We’re a strange bunch, but this is one of the few places where I can successfully set off a chain reaction rendition of “That’s Amore” in a FA thread. Whatever we can do to build bonds between members, I’m fully on-board with.

Know Your Enemy

• Minnesota Timberwolves - Canis Hoopus - Timberwolves Dismiss Head Coach Ryan Saunders, Hire Raptors Assistant Chris Finch

Finch was an assistant that many folks “in the know” are very high on as an offensive mind. He’ll have his work cut out for him trying to right the perpetually sinking ship that are my local NBA team, but there literally couldn’t be lower expectations in the league.

• New Orleans Pelicans - The Bird Writes - Pelicans should reconsider their toxic relationship with the backcourt

“Eric Bledsoe? He cares as much as I do about this paragraph.”

Uh... ouch.

• Los Angeles Clippers - Clips Nation - Despite the blowout loss, the Clippers did some good things on defense against Utah

The Clippers have been so far off my radar that I’ve forgotten that 1) Ty Lue is their head coach 2) Luke Kennard is a Clipper. But they’ve got Kawhi Leonard on the squad, so as long as he shows up and the rest of the team can drag itself along, they’ll be a threat.

The Social Media Section

...he sure about that?

Looks like the dude can ball. That’s good news, folks

Keep loose, keep winning

I’m torn (sorry) on Thanasis’s jeans here

---

Riley’s 2020-2021 Prediction Record: 20-11

retired janitor’s 2020-2021 Prediction Record: 18-13

I vastly prefer having teams come visit the Bucks rather than have them spend extended time out on the road. I’m in luck, too, with Milwaukee in the midst of an eight game home stand that will see the Wolves, Pellies, and Clippers stop by on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday.

Knowing our luck, the Wolves will come out looking like NBA Finals contenders and beat the brakes off us through sheer new-coach bounce, so chalk up a loss there and two wins against the Pelicans and a showcase against the Clippers with Jrue Holiday back in the fold.

The All-Star Break is just around the corner everyone. Amazing as it is, we’re almost there.

Happy Monday!