On Wednesday, the team announced that it had fired coach Jason Kidd after a lackluster start to the season where they are now 23-22 and currently sit eighth in the Eastern Conference.
The biggest reason for the higher expectations for this season has been perennial All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo. He has emerged this season as an All-Star starter and a possible MVP candidate, but currently that candidacy is in question regarding their season and the way they have been playing.
Bucks assistant coach Joe Prunty will become the interim coach, beginning with the game against the Phoenix Suns on Monday night. Before this gig, Prunty served as an assistant with a couple of different teams, including the Spurs teams that won the NBA titles in 2003 and 2005. He also has served as the head coach of the British national team from 2013 to 2017.
According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Chris Haynes, both Kidd and Antetokounmpo hadn't been told the news when it happened and they were both surprised by it.
Sources: Jason Kidd hasn’t been officially told yet. Giannis Antetokounmpo is devastated. https://t.co/FGaqQybJtn— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) January 22, 2018
The firing seemed to have been put in motion as early as next week, when after a loss to the Miami Heat, Kidd had criticized his team for playing "bad basketball," and suggested that the team has struggled because of youth and inexperience. I would hardly see that inexperience has anything to do with it, considering that they've made the playoffs two of the last three seasons.
This is the first big move for new Bucks GM Jon Horst, who took over the position from longtime GM John Hammond last summer, who went to the Magic. Now Horst will be able to go out there and find a new coach who Horst is hoping will have more confidence and the ability to get through to this young Bucks team to become a bigger contender in the East. Clearly, Jason Kidd was not that.
Let's say this about Jason Kidd: He's already been through two jobs and hasn't been successful at either, if we're being honest. He was a disaster with the Brooklyn Nets and even after he left. He went to Milwaukee, where it was a little bit easier and perhaps less media attractive since Milwaukee is not a major market for basketball. He was such a great player when he played, but when he became a coach, it seemed that success could not translate. And going into this job, you would've thought that Kidd found his home with these young players and this management. Nope.
Higher expectations are what you're going to get when you've made the playoffs last year. Every team has those higher expectations, and that's what the Bucks had. But with the struggles they've had this season and the fact that Antetokounmpo, despite being an All-Star starter this season, hasn't been able to get this team over the hump. Now, maybe a change will help this team and they'll wake up and start winning meaningful games. But not now and they have to figure that out if they're going to have to chance to back into the East mix and maybe get far into the playoffs.
I hope Jason Kidd can find another job, and one where there's going to be lots of confidence and faith from the front office. Brooklyn didn't have it, Milwaukee now doesn't have it, and I wonder what management out there is going to have confidence in Jason Kidd to lead this team. He can be a good coach but it has to be the right situation, and he's one of the few that needs confidence from all sides in order to win at this level. Good luck to him.
As for the Bucks, the devastation is understandable, but the inability to meet expectations is hurting this team, as is the departure of John Hammond to Milwaukee. They have a new boss with a thin skin and they're going to have to meet that at this point if they plan on becoming a perennial team in the NBA.
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