Yep, it was ALL ME.
I bag on the Bucks (see my blog of a few days ago--the one sotted with dead venison), say they're dead to me and POW! Heads roll. Wins happen.
Nice guy Terry Stotts walks the plank, replaced by assistant Larry Krystkowiak. Why did the switch happen now? There are different schools of thought.
Salt Lake City papers say the University of Utah was about to pitch big time woo to Krystkowiak, leaving one to think Milwaukee G-M Larry Harris felt the need to act now, before his top candidate got snarfed up.
Harris admits to WTMJ's Bill Michaels tonight that he was going to fire Stotts at the end of the season anyway, and concedes there was a bit of a Utah factor in the timing. He also denies the allegation that Andrew Bogut wanted Stotts gone, and, that since Krystowiak was Bogut's tutor, Bogut won the locker room tussle.
And, Harris says Monday night's debilitating loss to the Raptors played a part, too. It was after that game that Stotts, in a break with tradition, ripped his team for a lack of effort.
That was the game that broke my Bucks' back for this season, and I'm not sure the ascension of Krystowiak will stoke my fires again. There's more to this mess than the firing of a single coach can fix.
A former Milwaukeean who know writes for NBA.com has a take on the situation:
http://www.nba.com/features/peterson_070315.html
Rob Pederson alludes to the infrequency of Bucks' coaching changes the first two decades of the team's existence--and the rapidity of them now. George Karl came, saw, almost conquered, then flamed out. Terry Porter had Harris' arm around him one minute, Harris' foot in his can the next. Terry Stotts' stay ran shorter than most car leases.
Firing coaches is so typical, so band-aid. A change now probably does the team more harm, at least in terms of the lottery. Every win from here on out only costs the team ping-pong balls--it won't bring the Bucks any closer to the postseason. That ship sailed.
The time to make this switch was November, when there was still some season to salvage--if the injuries had still happened, then Krystkowiak (or whoever else got the gig) would've gotten a freebie: a season to implement systems, check the bench and plan for a brighter 2007-2008.
Harris' handling of the Porter dismissal has a lot of the faithful wondering about the legitimacy of his word--would YOU want a Larry vote-of-confidence? The way that who scenario played out--firing a coach without having your top candidate in the fold--is a stain this franchise has yet to wipe away.
Thursday night's win over the Spurs is a good start for the Krystkowiak era. The rest of this season is about pride. Bucks fans are a patient lot and thought there'd be a postseason to celebrate this spring. Then again, Terry Stotts probably thought he'd be having his Easter ham in Milwaukee, too.
I bag on the Bucks (see my blog of a few days ago--the one sotted with dead venison), say they're dead to me and POW! Heads roll. Wins happen.
Nice guy Terry Stotts walks the plank, replaced by assistant Larry Krystkowiak. Why did the switch happen now? There are different schools of thought.
Salt Lake City papers say the University of Utah was about to pitch big time woo to Krystkowiak, leaving one to think Milwaukee G-M Larry Harris felt the need to act now, before his top candidate got snarfed up.
Harris admits to WTMJ's Bill Michaels tonight that he was going to fire Stotts at the end of the season anyway, and concedes there was a bit of a Utah factor in the timing. He also denies the allegation that Andrew Bogut wanted Stotts gone, and, that since Krystowiak was Bogut's tutor, Bogut won the locker room tussle.
And, Harris says Monday night's debilitating loss to the Raptors played a part, too. It was after that game that Stotts, in a break with tradition, ripped his team for a lack of effort.
That was the game that broke my Bucks' back for this season, and I'm not sure the ascension of Krystowiak will stoke my fires again. There's more to this mess than the firing of a single coach can fix.
A former Milwaukeean who know writes for NBA.com has a take on the situation:
http://www.nba.com/features/peterson_070315.html
Rob Pederson alludes to the infrequency of Bucks' coaching changes the first two decades of the team's existence--and the rapidity of them now. George Karl came, saw, almost conquered, then flamed out. Terry Porter had Harris' arm around him one minute, Harris' foot in his can the next. Terry Stotts' stay ran shorter than most car leases.
Firing coaches is so typical, so band-aid. A change now probably does the team more harm, at least in terms of the lottery. Every win from here on out only costs the team ping-pong balls--it won't bring the Bucks any closer to the postseason. That ship sailed.
The time to make this switch was November, when there was still some season to salvage--if the injuries had still happened, then Krystkowiak (or whoever else got the gig) would've gotten a freebie: a season to implement systems, check the bench and plan for a brighter 2007-2008.
Harris' handling of the Porter dismissal has a lot of the faithful wondering about the legitimacy of his word--would YOU want a Larry vote-of-confidence? The way that who scenario played out--firing a coach without having your top candidate in the fold--is a stain this franchise has yet to wipe away.
Thursday night's win over the Spurs is a good start for the Krystkowiak era. The rest of this season is about pride. Bucks fans are a patient lot and thought there'd be a postseason to celebrate this spring. Then again, Terry Stotts probably thought he'd be having his Easter ham in Milwaukee, too.
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