⏪ FLASHBACK TIME! ⏪ Stephen A. called the Bucks firing Adrian Griffin 👀 | First Take

⏪ FLASHBACK TIME! ⏪ Stephen A. called the Bucks firing Adrian Griffin 👀 | First Take

Magic Johnson weighed in on the reaction posting on social media I think the Bucks firing former head coach Adrien Griffin was a big mistake it’s not his fault the Bucks traded their best on basketball Defender Drew holiday they’re not a good defensive team and are all around too slow it’s always wonderful to

Be joined by Brian windhorse hello Wendy how are you this morning first of all good morning Brian first of all it was great it was great to hear from Magic Johnson I mean he’s been doing so many damn things uh I’m waiting to hear from the basketball

Savant comment on basketball so it was nice to see him have an opinion about it sounds personal I say tell me this are you surprised Stephen A that the Bucks who are second in the East they’re 30 and 13 fired their first year head coach

Um no I am not surprised a matter of fact I’m the one person in America who shouldn’t be surprised to my producers could you do me a favor please could you please roll the tape from months ago weeks ago I said the same thing over the last several months could could you

Please play the tape I suggest you pump the brakes because Adrien Griffin if you are listening I assure you the Milwaukee Bucks will cancel you in a heartbeat if Giannis wants them to do so Adrien Griffin is going to get himself fired I don’t care that they’re 23 and six

Against everybody else outside of a one and four record against the Indiana Pacers you are the successor to Mike buen hoser when have we complained about a Mike buen holds a defense I say it with no pleasure I think Adrien Griffin might be a one-year head coach in

Milwaukee you got to fix this defense you can’t they didn’t they didn’t do all of this to not be in the championship picture before we get into this I just have to say I was just a little distracted because the first shot he had on a tracksuit like he looked like he

Was in Sopranos and then he was you know suited and booted he was a banker and then we had two chains like he came from the lead out of the club so it’s just great to see your range there Stephen I called versatility it’s called versatility that’s what it’s all about

Listen doggy Wendy I’m I’m sad for Adrien Griffin I mean this is a man that got interviewed 14 times before he finally ended up getting a job on his 15th try as a head coach I’m sad because at 30 and 13 being a black man coaching in the National Basketball Association

With a 30 and 13 record in the top two seed one would surmise that that is not a cause for firing but you remember Wendy I raised red flags cuz I was at the inseason tournament in Vegas Dogg and I had asked Giannis a question um in

The in the in the presser and Giannis just went in and went off and I said yo y’all I I’ve covered this league for a long time I’m telling you this is not a good look Adrien Griffin is in a world of trouble and this is the coach that

Jannis picked they they interviewed three coaches as Wendy informed us you know at the time and Giannis picked Adrien Griffin and almost instantly you could see that he wasn’t trying he wasn’t feeling it at all I remember earlier in the season when they wanted to shift gears because they had gotten

Blown out in Toronto and they felt that they were playing they weren’t playing according to their culture and they and and Brook Lopez wasn’t playing the way that they needed him to play so they wanted to change things defensively and obviously that didn’t really pan out too well because their defense has been

Poorest and we have to take that in consideration we also have to take into consideration that we shouldn’t have expected them to be what they once were with benen hoser because you didn’t have drew holiday when Griffin first got hired what did they say they had Drew holiday still there Damen Lili hadn’t

Been traded for yet so as a result you’re looking at your team and the team that you inherited as the new head coach was a bit different than the team that you ultimately ended up happening but here’s the bottom line currently with the 21st ranked defensive rating

28th in the month of January 121 points per 100 possessions you cannot follow up buen hoser whose defense was ranked first from 2018 to 2020 slipped to 9th in 2021 slipped to 14th in 2022 and then last season elevated themselves back to Fourth buen hoser does know how to coach

Buen HOSA does know how to coach defense and when you see Boston and you see embiid and Maxi and Philly playing the way that they’re playing and you see Nick nurse coaching them the way that he’s coached them okay and you turn that around and you have a situation where

You cannot defend against anybody where the Indiana Pacers are shellacking you and busting your living you know what I’m not surprised I don’t think I don’t I’m very sad for him I think he should have been given a full season but I knew from the moment Giannis responded the

Way that he responded at the inseason tournament in Vegas I told you from that day Wendy in Vegas I said this man is in trouble I looked you right in your face and I said to you I don’t think he’s going to last the season I came on First

Tape I said it not once not twice but three times and sure enough here we are yeah I remember that press conference after the game where they got blown off the floor by the Pacers and we all thought that you were outside getting clowned by Shaq and Charles and

It turned out after you got that whole experience you came into the press conference you weren’t done working and you asked Giannis a question about the coaching and Giannis said we were disorganized and I remember my head shot up as soon as he said that because he

Was speaking the truth and the timing of this is surprising that this would happen on this particular day especially a day after they won although these days if you don’t pound the Pistons by 30 it’s considered a disappointing performance and the only one I think by less than 10 um but

Anybody who was out there watching this team knows that this team was struggling and I’ll be interested so magic had those comments I’ll be interested today as the coaches begin to talk to Media whether or not they come to his defense and how hard they come to his defense

Because I remember vividly guys back in 2016 in fact it was this week in 2016 when the Cavs fired David blat and they were in first place and they were 30 and 11 just like the Bucks are 30 and 13 but if you were around that team you knew

That that wasn’t working and everybody went crazy and they ripped the Cav for that decision but they also knew under the surface that it needed to be done this was very apparent right away that Adrien Griffin was struggling it was a major red flag when Terry STS a very experienced assistant coach resigned

Before the start of the Season very concerning and they were trying to save it and they were still getting wins but they weren’t playing winning basketball and so I actually think this was the correct decision and a gutty decision even if it feels a little bit unfair

From the outside yeah I’m not giving the Bucks any break at all I remember one thing about plat he played in an NBA final against Golden State they were up two games to one and he didn’t have Kyrie Irving in love so let’s keep that in mind he had LeBron and guys like

Jameson against the Warriors and then all of a sudden we bring Lou in and Irving plays like an alltime great and makes the big basket the wins in game seven so let’s be fair to plot because he had nothing to work with in an NBA final outside of outside of

LeBron first off I’m going to give Yannis a little grief here where was he last year when they fired Boon hoser which was the worst thing the franchise ever did the guy lost his brother in a car accident right around that first round playoff series against Miami

Giannis decides he doesn’t want to play half the games they lose in a Bad series no question but Miami went to the NBA final for crying out loud and beat the Celtics on the way to do it and a fire boen hos r that who won a championship

Whose brother was killed in a car accident right around that start of that series did jannis go to the and jannis can do anything he wants he’s making a fortune in a small Market he runs the team if Giannis wanted to keep booser he could have said you know what this is

Not fair keep the guy here I didn’t play in half this series why should I why should you fire him but he didn’t say anything so they fire him boen hoser and then the buck decide to bring in a guy who’s got no coaching experience as a

Head man all together on any scenario change the focus of the team and say hey go win an NBA championship and so all he does is go 30 and 13 and now the Bucks are going to get him out and listen I love Doc Rivers I’ve known him forever

Nick followed them I’m a big fan let’s also be fair doc was fired in Philly fired in the clippers for underachieving with great teams now all of a sudden Doc Rivers is R Outback so we’re going to run and get Doc Rivers in here do good

Fire he did terrible Harden got him out and FL I don’t like Harden but he got him out last year he lost a game seven and then the Clippers got him the heck out of there when they got murdered by Denver but now all of a sudden Doc

Rivers who just took the job with us now all of a sudden Doc Rivers is essentially the next bat rally and he’s going to go fix the Bucks you got to be kidding me so I am really down in the Bucks and Yiannis they they got Bo Hol

Out of there won a championship unfair when he lost his brother unfair and then yis everything you just said is very strong Brian wior I want your reaction to What doggy just said about the firing of Balden hoser and and the rest of it I

Would say that’s a very good idea in the NBA whatever your reasoning for removing a coach if you fire a coach who’s been successful you better know who you’re going to replace him with you better have your ducks in a row the Bucks didn’t and they and they paid for that

But I’m telling you dog if you people in the NBA don’t consider the Bucks a serious Contender right now and that’s a big problem is they got a a roster that they have to win the record is irrelevant you do not watch them and consider them a serious

Contender they can’t change the roster they’re sort of hamstrung in with what they’ve got they can change the coach I know that they’re going to take some heat for a few days here there there is nobody who has been watching this team closely who feels that this is a major

Mistake well though and and to piggyback off of what Wendy said doggy is that anybody that thinks that they made a mistake is in getting rid of buen hoser it’s not getting rid of Adrien Griffin now if you’re Adrien Griffin here’s the sad part here’s the sad reality you’re

30 and 13 and people still feel that way I mean think about that that that that that’s crazy so you know that there were red flags and Wendy’s absolutely right there were red flags everywhere regardless of them winning games how they were winning games their struggle people were very very they were they

Were not high on on the job that was taking place yanis especially in the month of January the Bucks are allowing 125 points per game that’s third most in the entire NBA they never should have fired B hoser that was completely out of line andana should have gone to their

Defense well no no no no what I would say real quick Molly is this benen hoer I think you’re looking at it wrong doggy he because of possibly what you highlighted he seemed distant he seemed like he needed a break like he wasn’t himself anymore so you you’re you’re

Taking it you’re looking at it from a basketball perspective what you’re not thinking about is that he may have been so devastated the kind of impact that he once had it affected him and his psyche that’s why he’s not somewhere else coaching right now because we all know

He’s a great coach but sometimes you need a break and that’s what I saw when I looked at buen HOSA last year all right M right now far yep when Kevin Durant was foot was this far to forward in the 2021 playoffs if his far if his

Foot is this far back and and and the Nets win game seven knock out he’d have been fired that he’d been fired that year it was it was in some ways it was that close and I know they won the title he was that close to him keeping the job

For two more years that’s the way it was Y and right now again Doc Rivers the front runner uh for the position we Got

Stephen A. Smith, Brian Windhorst and Chris “Mad Dog” Russo share their thoughts on the Milwaukee Bucks firing head coach Adrian Griffin after 43 games.
#firsttake #nba

0:00 Stephen A.’s reaction to thr Bucks firing head coach Adrian Griffin
5:00 Stephen A. knew Griffin wouldn’t last the season
5:50 Brian Windhorst’s reaction to the firing
7:15 Mad Dog’s reaction to the Bucks firing Griffin

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