Over the past few years, the Toronto Raptors have lost several of their most talented assistant coaches. Not only was Nick Nurse able to secure employment elsewhere, but assistant coaches such as Adrian Griffin were also successful in landing jobs as head coaches.
Nate Bjorkgren’s firing after only one season with the Pacers and Chris Finch’s transformation of the Timberwolves into a contender in the Western Conference meant that Griffin would be the deciding vote in the long-running controversy concerning nurse assistants and their suitability when leading teams.
With Damian Lillard making waves in the community and Giannis Antetokounmpo playing some of his best basketball of his career, Griffin could not have asked for a better starting situation in his first season as head coach. Griffin’s career is coming to an end after just six months.
Despite having a solid start in the standings, the formerly highly regarded candidate lost his job as the head coach of the Bucks. After giving Griffin a lot of consideration in their search for Nurse’s replacement, the Raptors seem to have made the right decision in selecting Darko Rajakovic instead of letting Griffin go to Milwaukee.
Toronto Raptors avoided a bullet following Adrian Griffin’s firing by the Bucks.
It makes perfect sense if Griffin’s dismissal surprised you greatly. Milwaukee’s offence, which averages more than 124 points a game, is now the second best in the league. The Bucks, who have won five of their past six games, are 30-13, good for second place in the Eastern Conference and tied for second place in the NBA.
Griffin’s primary problems appear to be on the defensive end of the ball, as Milwaukee ranks 21st in defensive rating after finishing fourth the previous season with almost the identical roster. Of course, part of that was the result of trading Jrue Holiday to acquire Lillard, but that drop felt enormous.
Rajakovic is currently having trouble with the Raptors, but his original role was offensive coach. If nothing else, his superb ball movement has made the offence considerably better. Griffin had an extremely spectacular failure if his goal upon hiring was to strengthen the defence.
When Rajakovic works his player development magic with a young, rebuilding squad, the Raptors should be at least exciting to watch. The Bucks appear to think that trying to duplicate Nurse’s recipe from Toronto hasn’t yielded the desired results, even though the record may not reflect that.
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