Detroit Pistons coach: The argument for Mike Budenholzer
Budenholzer was a part of four title teams as an assistant coach under Gregg Popovich with the San Antonio Spurs.
He then took an entirely mediocre Hawks team to the Eastern Conference Finals after winning 60 games with a team whose best player was Al Horford.
He won another title as the head coach of the Bucks, and has racked up two Coach of the Year awards along the way, so this guy has championship chops and a track record of making bad teams good and making good teams champions.
The most common criticism against Budenholzer always revolves around “adjustments” one of those narrative words that most fans can’t explain. Ask them what adjustments a coach can make to losing an MVP. I’ll wait.
Budenholzer is known as an innovator, especially defensively and has had the Bucks near the top of the league every season after having the Hawks perennially in the top-10 in his time there. Budenholzer knows how to maximize player’s talents, especially defensively, and we saw guys like Jrue Holiday and Brook Lopez get even better in his system.
The Detroit Pistons just had the worst defense in franchise history, so having a guy who knows how to scheme and coach defense is a must.
Budenholzer took the Hawks to the playoffs in his first season there and then the Eastern Conference Finals the year after that. Take a look at the 2014-15 Hawks’ roster and tell me Budenholzer doesn’t know how to coach.
He got the most out of role players and put them in a position to win.
I understand some of the trepidation in hiring a guy who just got fired, but there is literally no one else available who is even close to Budenholzer in experience and accolades. He would immediately put a legit face on the Detroit Pistons’ bench and make them a more attractive destination to free agents like Jevon Carter, who the Pistons could use and who improved defensively under Budenholzer.
Budenholzer may not be interested in taking on a rebuild at this stage of his career, but if he’s up for it, the Detroit Pistons should at least have an interview.