Milwaukee Bucks: 3 reasons the season is over

3. Joe Prunty was spectacularly out-coached

When head coach Jason Kidd was fired at midseason, it caught the basketball world by surprise. Not because Kidd didn’t deserve to be fired, with his hyper-aggressive defense, inexplicable rotations and lack of late-game execution, but by firing Kidd midseason and elevating one of his assistants, Joe Prunty, as interim head coach, it seemed to be an acknowledgment that this season would end in disappointment.

While there were flashes of improvement — a tighter, more conservative defensive scheme being the most obvious — the Bucks performed at a similar level through the rest of the season. The playoffs then pitted Prunty against one of basketball’s sharpest minds, Celtics coach Brad Stevens. The matchup did not end well for Prunty.

More from Milwaukee Bucks

• NBA Rumors: 3 teams emerge as most-likely Giannis destinations
• 7 players the Milwaukee Bucks gave up on far too soon
• Report: Bucks, 76ers, and Suns all vying to land this championship coach 
• 5 potential candidates for Bucks’ head coach
• NBA Rumors: Milwaukee may overhaul roster after early playoff exit

Stevens took what remained of an injury-riddled roster and put together cohesive lineups that performed above their heads throughout the series. Prunty, unable to iron out bad habits or tighten his rotation, tried lineup after lineup throughout the series just hoping something would stick.

He lucked into Thon Maker stepping up in a huge way in Game 3, then refused to start him over Tyler Zeller until Game 6. Bench players such as Shabazz Muhammad and Matthew Dellavedova played major roles one game and then not at all the next. Sterling Brown played well in Game 2 and never saw the court outside of garbage time after that.

The pinnacle of Prunty’s struggles came in Game 7, when his first choice at a substitution pattern fell flat in the midst of a 20-2 Celtics first quarter run. Whether through panic or simple incorrect calculation he then began to cycle through lineups at a frenetic pace. The result was not pretty.

The crowning moment was midway through the third quarter, when Malcolm Brogdon was unable to get a shot off before the buzzer and the Bucks were charged with a shot clock violation. Prunty displayed the same quick-twitch reaction he has all season, pulling competent guys after one mistake, and subbed in 40-year-old Jason Terry.

Terry can do one thing at this point in his career, and that is shoot a decent percentage from deep. He cannot defend, rebound, cut, create off the bounce or in essence do anything that makes Malcolm Brogdon so valuable.

Prunty heaped indignity upon incompetence later in the quarter, subbing in Matthew Dellavedova and Shabazz Muhammad to create a stunning lineup around Antetokounmpo: Dellavedova, Muhammad, Terry and Jabari Parker. Unsurprisingly, that lineup gave up two quick 3-pointers. Tony Snell, a deserving starter for much of the season, was +13 in 22 minutes in Game 6. He played just three minutes in Game 7. Jason Terry played 20 minutes, including 15 of the final 18.

Joe Prunty’s management of the roster before him during this series was horrendous, and quite likely will be the final nail in the coffin for his chances at retaining the head coaching job. It certainly buried the Bucks’ chances at moving on.