Monday Morning Media Roundup: May 8th, 2023

Mike Budenholzer losing his job felt all but guaranteed the last time I wrote up a MMMR intro. The only question (to my mind) was the matter of when, not if, especially given the recent passing of Bud’s brother. It seems the Milwaukee Bucks accepted being labeled as callous/reactionary what with Bud’s track record in Milwaukee, and were OK looking even worse with the extenuating circumstances. That Jon Horst moved as quick as he did in kicking Bud to the curb belies the pace and mentality of decision-making the team feels it needs to be running at to keep this show on the road.

Frankly, they’re not wrong.

Site co-overlord Mitchell Maurer beautifully set the table not once, but twice last week on all the different choices that will need to be managed by Milwaukee this summer. Hiring a new coach will be one cog in a whole machine of ‘em with contracts to be doled out, trades to potentially manage, and pick number 58 in the draft to be scouted.

Firing Bud was a hard thing done quickly. Don’t be surprised if it is merely the first of many band-aids ripped off in the near future. A lot of sacred cows don’t look so sacred anymore, do they?

Let’s roundup!

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Budenholzer dismissal punctuates volatile nature of NBA coaching gig (NBA.com)

A point discussed here and worthy of further spotlight is the fact that NBA competitive timelines have been exponentially compressed over time. Between franchise players’ revolving contracts once they hit their peak years and the crunch of luxury tax penalties (not to mention incoming extra-luxury tax roster construction restrictions) everyone in an organization is automatically placed into a pressure cooker.

Yes, Bud had a lot of success here. I also don’t think the choice was made off a sample of five games. Five years is plenty to assess with and the ur-hinge point for the Bucks beckons. If GM Jon Horst thinks a shakeup will get them past that bend more or less in one piece (AKA with Giannis still around), then so be it.

Mike Budenholzer Takes The Fall For The Bucks’ Playoff Flameout (Defector)

Oh, worry not folks who are just tuning into the Bucks after they slammed face-first into the offseason: Mike Budenholzer will likely not be alone in taking “the fall” for what went down v. Miami. We may or may not see the immediate departure of key players this summer, but rest assured by the possibility that that series defeat is the first domino to fall, generating ever-widening series of consequences that costs lots of people their jobs in the coming years.

Or maybe they’ll right the ship right away and win another title or two! Who knows?

How Mike Budenholzer’s time with the Bucks compares to the franchise’s past coaches (Wisconsin State Journal)

If you’re looking for a trip down Nightmare Memory Lane through the mishmash list of every coach the Bucks have ever had, we’ve got the link for you.

Five coaches to watch as Mike Budenholzer’s replacement with Bucks (NBC Sports) & Bucks coaching candidates: Nurse, Lee among likeliest choices to lead Milwaukee (CBS Sports) & 5 potential head coaches for Bucks after Mike Budenholzer firing (Yahoo)

Round and round the coaching carousel goes, who will end up coaching the Milwaukee Bucks this fall, nobody yet knows! I can’t quite tell if the likes of Mike D’Antoni getting thrown into the ring so consistently is a sign of 1) His agent doing good work 2) There being real interest in him 3) Because he’s one of the few names generalist NBA media people can pull from memory, or 4) All of the above. I’ve little preference in any particular name seen so far, although I find the idea of Doc Rivers getting canned by Philly and then us rushing to snap him up a bit insane. I’m sure we’ll be hearing plenty of names rotating through Milwaukee in the coming weeks as the search gets underway.

Brian Windhorst’s shocking Giannis to the Knicks report from First Take has future meme potential (Awful Announcing)

I’ve a strong dislike that the author of this piece just kind of took Windhorst’s throwing out “the Knicks would like to have Giannis Antetokounmpo” and running with it as something now written in the stars. However, I do appreciate another edition to the Windy TV meme catalogue. Anyways, I'm not too worried about the Knicks. It’s not like there’s an intersection between that franchise and Wisconsin sports stars...

Aaron Rodgers bonds with new Jets teammates at Knicks playoff games (BasketballNews.com)

...God help us. We’re doomed.

Fan Post of the Week

So nice they had to post twice this week just to make sure the FPOTW award was a lock: R983 will be walking away with the hardware for “R983’s Thoughts (mostly gloomy)” and “R983’s Head Coaching Candidates”.

The former is a detailed summary of the season for every player, Bud, Horst, the training staff, etc. whose conclusions read (to me, at least) just about on the money. The latter is as good a starting list of candidates the Bucks could look at to replace Bud that I’ve seen (national media included). Great stuff as ever, R983!

Where In The World Is... Jae Crowder’s Next Team?

• The city: Bonn, Germany - pop. ~327,000
• The league: Basketball Bundesliga
• The pay: ~$1 million in a best-case scenario
• The logo:

• The pitch: I’m partial since I’ve been to a TBB home game and enjoyed it immensely, but if Jae found Milwaukee’s unique blend of contemporary urban development, (German) Renaissance Revival architecture, and a sense that the city’s past was more impactful than its present, Bonn might be just the ticket! Having been the capital of West Germany and temporarily of the newly reunited Germany until 1999, Bonn is still home to about a third of the German federal government’s personnel and a number of ministries. Cool! They’ve art (Beethoven-Haus!), a business hub (DHL! Deutsche Telekom!), and water (the Rhine!). Per Wikipedia, Telekom Baskets Bonn’s PF rotation consists of a grand total of two dudes which means he should be able to compete for a starting spot right away.

The Social Media Section

Eric making waves

I wonder what it all means

Eagerly waiting for Dame to draw upon his deep well of personal experience winning NBA titles to explain to me why he, assuredly an NBA champion, has special insight on the decision to let Bud go

This dude’s abs remain insane

Is “The Lab” code for “they’re finally kicking me off the roster and into a front office role”?

Jrue on Mamu’s Instagram story sighting

It’s really only setting in now how much time Giannis must spend manipulating his gargantuan hands to get the sunglasses emojis in the exact right place on each post

OK, but what if YOU aren’t with the org in like, a few months?

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Not a whole heck of much else to note down here. Fingers crossed we start getting a trickle of names linked to the Bucks so the site can provide a little more focused research for you readers. Until then, though...

Happy Monday!