You can’t replace Mike Budenholzer at the snap of a finger, and the Bucks needed three weeks to compile a list, narrow down their choices, and then finally go with Adrian Griffin.
The former Bulls and Mavericks player, who has become a renowned Raptors assistant, will be the next Bucks coach in the coming hours. A way to come full circle, since it was the Bucks, in 2008, who offered him his first experience as an assistant. It was in 2008, and he was supporting Scott Skiles.
At the time, Giannis Antetokounmpo was not there yet, and the owners decided to involve their star in their search for their new coach. The Athletic reveals that GM Jon Horst went to his player’s home on Tuesday, accompanied by each competing coach: Kenny Atkinson, Adrian Griffin and Nick Nurse.
A closer relationship
On Wednesday, these same technicians met with the owners. Thursday, place for the debriefing, and Jon Horst organized a dinner with his superiors, but also Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton.
Saturday, early in the day, the candidacy of Nick Nurse was not retained, and everything was going to be played between Kenny Atkinson and Adrian Griffin. With Giannis’ agreement, the management finally opted for Griffin, an assistant for 15 years in the NBA with experiences with the Bucks, but also the Bulls, the Magic, the Thunder and the Raptors.
In each of his formations, he was a specialist in the defensive sector, even if he had more offensive responsibilities in recent seasons in the staff of Nick Nurse.
According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Giannis Antetokounmpo was looking for a closer bond with his coach, one that goes beyond practices, video work and tactical work. A link that he obviously thinks he can develop with Adrian Griffin, a former player with whom he could bond more.
Under the orders of Mike Budenholzer, the “Greek Freak” was however elected MVP twice (2019 and 2020), winning the title and the MVP trophy of the Finals (2021) during five seasons where the team monopolized the peaks of the league. But there has obviously always been a certain distance between the coach and his “franchise player”.
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo | 63 | 32.1 | 55.3 | 27.5 | 64.5 | 2.2 | 9.6 | 11.8 | 5.7 | 3.9 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 3.1 | 31.1 |
| Jrue Holiday | 67 | 32.6 | 47.9 | 38.4 | 85.9 | 1.2 | 3.9 | 5.1 | 7.4 | 2.9 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 19.3 |
| Brook Lopez | 78 | 30.4 | 53.1 | 37.4 | 78.4 | 2.0 | 4.7 | 6.7 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 15.9 |
| Khris Middleton | 33 | 24.3 | 43.6 | 31.5 | 90.2 | 0.8 | 3.4 | 4.2 | 4.9 | 2.2 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 2.1 | 15.1 |
| Bobby Portis | 70 | 26.0 | 49.6 | 37.0 | 76.8 | 2.2 | 7.4 | 9.6 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 14.1 |
| Grayson Allen | 72 | 27.4 | 44.0 | 39.9 | 90.5 | 0.8 | 2.4 | 3.3 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 10.4 |
| Jevon Carter | 81 | 22.4 | 42.3 | 42.1 | 81.6 | 0.4 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 8.0 |
| Pat Connaughton | 61 | 23.7 | 39.2 | 33.9 | 65.9 | 0.8 | 3.8 | 4.6 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 7.6 |
| Lindell Wigginton | 7 | 12.4 | 48.6 | 33.3 | 88.9 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 1.7 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 7.1 |
| Joe Ingles | 46 | 22.7 | 43.5 | 40.9 | 85.7 | 0.3 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 3.3 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 6.9 |
| Jae Crowder | 18 | 18.9 | 47.9 | 43.6 | 83.3 | 0.9 | 2.9 | 3.8 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 6.9 |
| Jordan Nwora | 38 | 15.7 | 38.6 | 39.2 | 86.0 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 3.1 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 6.0 |
| Goran Dragic | 7 | 11.8 | 38.9 | 41.2 | 100.0 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 5.6 |
| Marjon Beauchamp | 52 | 13.5 | 39.5 | 33.1 | 73.0 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 2.2 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 5.1 |
| george hill | 35 | 19.1 | 44.7 | 31.1 | 73.9 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 2.5 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 5.0 |
| Leonard Meyers | 9 | 12.6 | 48.3 | 38.9 | 88.9 | 1.3 | 2.4 | 3.8 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.8 | 4.8 |
| Aj Green | 35 | 9.9 | 42.4 | 41.9 | 100.0 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 4.4 |
| Serge Ibaka | 16 | 11.6 | 48.1 | 33.3 | 61.5 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 2.8 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 4.1 |
| Wesley Matthews | 52 | 15.8 | 36.3 | 31.5 | 85.7 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 2.2 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 3.4 |
| Sandro Mamukelashvili | 24 | 9.1 | 32.8 | 21.9 | 66.7 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 2.4 |
| Thanasis Antetokounmpo | 37 | 5.6 | 43.5 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 1.4 |
