As good a coach as Mike Budenholzer is, he’s been exposed and outcoached in the playoffs in all but one year of his career. That year happened to be when Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Milwaukee Bucks to the NBA championship.
Coach Bud always thrives in the regular season and then is unwilling or unable to make adjustments in the postseason. That has come back to haunt him every single year against multiple rivals.
So, it seems like even an easy-going and coachable guy like Giannis has had enough of this trend. He called him out for not even trying something different to stop Jimmy Butler in their series loss to the Miami Heat.
Giannis Antetokounmpo Calls Out Mike Budenholzer
“I don’t know, double-team him more, try to make him pass the ball,” Antetokounmpo said. “Maybe switch the matchup for a little bit, give Jrue (Holiday) a break. I don’t think as a team we made the right adjustment) or we didn’t make as many adjustments as we could have against him.”
Budenholzer Could Be Out As Coach
So, now that Giannis has openly said what the rest of the world was thinking, Shams Charania of The Athletic reports that Budenholzer’s future with the organization is very much shaky at this point:
“Mike Budenholzer’s status as Bucks head coach is very much shaky; there are questions across the organization, locker room, throughout this franchise about his status moving forward” Charania said. “I’m told Budenholzer has two years and $16 million left on his contract. He is a championship coach. But you can look at three factors to why people are pointing the finger to Budenholzer, particularly the lack of adjustments to Jimmy Butler.”
Truth be told, it looks like Bud is more suited to be a top assistant rather than a head coach, and him having a ring is even more of a testament to Antetokounmpo’s greatness and the Bucks’ depth.