J-Speaks: Bucks Axe Kidd

As their lead man on the sidelines his first three full seasons, Milwaukee Bucks head coach Jason Kidd led them to the playoffs twice. Under his guidance, Giannis Antetokounmpo became an All-Star, and a MVP candidate; Khris Middleton into the team’s No. 2 scorer, and second-year guard Malcolm Brogdon into an important part of the team’s rotation, and future. Even with the growth of these three individuals, the Bucks had yet to become a legitimate contender in the East, especially this season, where they have been as up, and down as the U.S. stock market prior to this past year-plus. Unexpectedly at the start of this week, the Bucks organization made an unexpected choice. 

On Monday, the Bucks relieved Kidd of his coaching duties. He was 139-152 in his three-plus seasons. 

After making the playoffs with a 41-41 mark in his first season on the sidelines in 2014-15, where they lost to the Chicago Bulls in the opening round 4-2, Kidd’s squad won just 33 games the next season. Last year, they made the playoffs as a No. 6 Seed, and lost a tough series to the No. 3 Seeded Toronto Raptors in six games.

With the start Antetokounmpo got off to this season, the acquisition of Eric Bledsoe from the Phoenix Suns earlier this season, Middleton coming into this season healthy as compared to a season ago, and an ever-improving Brogdon, the Bucks seemed poised to make some noise in the East. Recent struggles, where the Bucks had lost two in a row, and four of their last five, as well as a strain between Kidd, and the organization led to this tough call, according to a report from Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. 

Assistant coach Joe Prunty, who worked with Kidd with the Bucks, as well as when he was the head man with the Brooklyn Nets in the 2013-14 season will take over as head coach on an interim basis for the remainder of the season. 

In their first game with Prunty, who on the sidelines hours after firing Kidd, the Bucks (24-22) overcame a 10-point deficit to record a 109-105 victory versus the Phoenix Suns (17-30).

This was not Prunty first game on the sidelines for the Bucks, he was 8-9 in Kidd’s stead when the future Hall of Famer was sidelined recovering from hip surgery.

Along with outscoring the Suns 33-26 in the fourth quarter, the Bucks recorded 14 steals; forced 18 Suns turnovers, scoring 23 points off them; and held the Suns to just 9 for 26 from three-point ranges. Suns’ star guard Devin Booker was held to 14 points, on 2 for 14 shooting, including 1 for 6 from three-point range. The Bucks offensively shot 53.5 percent from the field, and were 28 for 37 from the free throw line. 

“We’re professionals. It’s about regrouping, and coming out there, and doing your job,” Brogdon, who scored a career-high 32 points, going 11 for 14 from the field.

Middleton, who evolved from strictly a perimeter shooter in his time with the Detroit Pistons before coming to the Bucks four seasons back into an all-around scorer, put that on display with a game-high 35 points on 13 for 19 shooting. Bledsoe had 19 points, seven assists, and four steals.  

“It’s tough for me,” Middleton said. “He took my game to another level. He took this team to a whole other level. Today was a tough day. 

Middleton also said of Kidd, “He’s been a great teacher for me. Mostly, I was a spot up shooter. He allowed me to post up, and expanded my game to pick-and-rolls, and driving.” 

The other issue that fractured the relationship between Kidd, and the Bucks front office is the fact that Kidd’s mild-mannered demeanor on the sidelines did not raise the Bucks into a team that played at the level of some of the other East’s best like the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, and Raptors. 

Prunty, who has been an assistant for 16 seasons with the San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks, Portland Trail Blazers, Cavs, the previously mentioned Nets, and Bucks displayed plenty of fire at times on the sidelines. He even jawed with the officials Derek Richardson, Zach Zarba, and Nick Buchert during the game, which was a complete departure from the demeanor Kidd had. 

One thing that Prunty, did stick with coming into the game versus the Suns on Monday night was rest Antetokounmpo for a second game in succession because of knee soreness. 

If the playoffs began today, the Bucks would be in the No. 7 spot in the East, would once again face the Raptors. 

With 36 games left in the season, the Bucks will have time to right themselves, especially with the return of forward Jabari Parker on the horizon. 

Even with that, the Bucks must find some way of bringing a consistent effort on both ends of the floor if they have any hope of elevating in the standings, and advancing past the opening round this April. 

“Once they made the decision, which was a tough one, that they did, they put the onus on the players. We understand that it’s going to take us as a group collectively,” veteran guard Jason Terry, who played with Kidd with the Mavericks on their 2010-11 championship team said. 

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 1/22/18 NBA news portion of ESPN Bottom Line news crawl; 1/22/18 8 p.m. contest Phoenix Suns versus the Milwaukee Bucks on FOX Sports Wisconsin with Jim Paschke, Marcus Johnson, and Telly Hughes; www.nba.com/games/20180122/PHXMIL#/recap/boxscore; www.espn.com/nba/matchup?gameid=400975437; www.espn.com/nba/standings; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Milwaukee_Bucks_seasons; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Prunty.