The Bratwurst - Milwaukee Bucks Blog

After yet another Bucks collapse after having a lead, it is time for me to send out the SOS.  Save our souls or fire Terry Stotts.

A coaching change might actually do the team well, despite what many say.  Obviously, this is a team with talent.  This isn’t a bottom cellar team.  They have the pieces to be a playoff team, they just need molded.  Some of that molding is already complete, the Bucks are completely capable of getting leads in the first half, and getting hot and coming back from deficits.  The offensive powerhouse that is the Milwaukee Bucks is built to do this.  A coach is needed to manage the other aspects.

The Bucks came into the second half of Saturday night’s game with a 14-point lead.  Come the end of the third quarter though the Bucks looked like a different team and the Celtics were on a roll.  What was happening?  The current starting 5 was on the court looking like a dysfunctional team, getting beat both on offense and defense.  Terry Stotts had two choices once he saw this swing starting.  He could call a timeout, change up the lineup, slow the game down, and instill a defensive mindset in the players on the court.  He could have also called a timeout and set-up a series of go-to plays designed to screen off defenders and get a Andrew Bogut/Michael Redd pick-n-roll play.

What did Terry Stotts do (which may spawn the popular catch phrase What Would Terry Stotts Do - WWTSD)?  Terry Stotts, probably working on alcohol addiction at this point, took the first step.  He admitted his team had a problem and called a time-out.  It was at that point he walked out of the Coaches Anonymous meeting.  The Bucks changed absolutely nothing.  They came back out looking like the deer-in-the-headlights team.

The offense was still terrible.  There wasn’t any flow to the game, Michael Redd was still dribbling too much, Andrew Bogut still couldn’t get the ball in the post, and Mo Williams is well Mo Williams.

The defense remained in the headlights as Paul Pierce continually drove the lane and made the free throw lane look like Interstate 90 on Thanksgiving week (a blood bath of mangled deer carcasses).

Yes, the Bucks have two starters that are out (Charlie V and Bobby).  Yes, Michael Redd isn’t the floor leader that Kobe Bryant is, but he can’t and won’t be traded.  Yes,  Andrew Bogut has yet to find a crunch time move.  Yes, Mo Williams is an average at best point guard.  Yes, Steve Blake has yet to play well in a Bucks uniform.

Most important, however, is the fact that Terry Stotts has been unable to don the blaze orange and hunt for a victory.  In the events that the Bucks have a quiet floor leader (Michael Redd), the coach needs to step up and manage the team.  He needs to establish the tempo of the game and call plays that will enable the team to win.  He needs to shake up the line-ups when things aren’t working.  He needs to reign in his point guard and star shooting guard who tend to dribble more and think less in crunch time.

Instead of leading his deer into the woods, away from the men in blaze orange, Terry Stotts lets the Bucks play on the Interstate.

Terry Stotts needs to go.

Consider my application hereby submitted for the future Milwaukee Bucks Head Coach vacancy.  Larry Harris, my phone number is 608-774-0704.  Demonstration of ability to yell at millionaire underachievers available upon request.