The playoffs are in full swing, the NBA's playoffs are coming, more than a dozen teams are fighting, it is a pity that the Silver and Blacks have not been able to break into the playoffs this season, and this season has stopped here. Sad and trance-like, I think of an old Friend of a Spurs fan, Mike Budenholzer, who is leading the Milwaukee Bucks to prepare for the playoffs, and looking back at his story may inspire us a little.
Mike Budenholzer (born Aug. 6, 1969 in Holbrook, Arizona) is an American professional basketball coach who is currently the head coach of the NBA Milwaukee Bucks. In 1996, he served as a spur assistant coach, and officially left in 2013, experiencing 17 years in between, which can be described as accompanying the old man for half a life.
In fact, as early as after graduating from high school, Mike Budenholzer, at the urging of his brothers Jim and Joe, applied to Pomona College in California (the most difficult world-class student distribution center in the United States to apply, ranking second in the United States in 2013 over Harvard) just because there was a very good basketball coach there: Greg Popovich.
Coincidentally, in the year of Budenholzer's enrollment, Popovich accepted an invitation from Larry Brown to resign to go to the San Antonio Spurs as an assistant coach. Soon after, Mike graduated with three bachelor's degrees in economics, political science, and philosophy, and traveled to the Golden State to join Popovich (who at this time served as a teaching assistant to Warriors vice president and head coach Don Nelson).
It wasn't until 1994 that Spurs new owner Pete Holt invited Popovich to return to the Spurs as the team's general manager. Popovich returned to San Antonio with a team of assistant coaches he had assembled, and the core of the wave included R.C Buford, Hank Egan, and Mike Budenholzer, who formed the original team of the "Spurs" team. Since then, Budenholzer has started his career as the Spurs' first assistant coach.
One of the most famous things about his time as a coaching assistant for the Spurs occurred in the 2010-2011 season, when the Spurs were in the era of GDP, when one of manager Popovich's favorite disciples, George Hill, was still playing on the spurs, playing on the bench, averaging 11.6 points, 2.5 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game.
But one day in the middle of the season, Spurs general manager R.C Buford called Budenholzer and all the management staff and watched the video of Cowy Leonard's game with them, and everyone didn't know he would be a future superstar, but Budenholzer insisted on getting him.
Budenholzer recalled: "Draft meetings were always tough and how well a rookie could perform was influenced by a lot of uncertainties, but after studying Leonard's footage, I expected the Spurs to make that decision — it looked like an opportunity for the Spurs. ”
At Budenholzer's insistence, the Spurs completed the deal. Budenholzer said: "Things are going according to normal trajectory. You can see leonard can take every chance without the ball, and his hands are unbelievably big. ”
But when Popovich was told that the price for the Spurs to get Leonard was to pay George Hill, the old man kept shaking his head and asking, "Why would you want to trade Hill for a big guy who only grabs rebounds?" In the end, Budenholzer successfully brought Leonard, who Spurs fans once loved and hated, back to The Holy City and enabled the Spurs to win the NBA championship in the 13-14 season.
It can be seen that Budenholzer has a brain possessed by a highly educated person, knows how to analyze a player, is good at observing the advantages of a player, and also has a certain sense of adventure. So, with all this, Budenholzer successfully spent 17 years at the Spurs, making a great contribution to the Spurs.
In 2013, Budenholzer took office as the head coach of the Hawks, and since then, the Hawks have become the "Spurs" of the East: In the 14-15 season, under budenholzer's leadership, the Hawks won 60-22 in the regular season. Topping the east in first place. What's even more terrifying is that the team does not have superstars at this time, everyone is very balanced, and the starting five Tigers can each average more than 12 points per game (Millsap, Horford, Teague, Korver, Carroll).
Budenholzer used the Spurs' team tactical philosophy, abandoning Popovich's complex tactical running positions, pulling Horford out to handle and shoot from a distance, leaving Jeff Teagues not to break through but to conduct assists, opening space to Korver and Millsap. The starting five Tigers have a certain shooting ability, and it has to be said that it coincides with the current small ball era. Budenholzer's foresight is evident.
With the tragic collapse of LeBron at the pinnacle, the Hawks eventually disintegrated. Soon after, Budenholzer took over the Bucks. And eventually led the Bucks to the championship as the head coach. The Bucks' offensive system is "one star and four shots", with the ability of the alphabet brother to pull away the space of the other four people and shoot. At the same time, on the defensive end, Budenholzer used the strategy of not changing the defense of the whole team. Frequently let everyone defend alone, with the start of excellent arm span and interference ability to play a miracle effect.
In the final finals, Budenholzer used tactics to disassemble the Suns' backcourt double guns, preventing Paul and Booker from erupting at the same time, limiting one superstar and severely depleting the other's stamina. In the end, it only made our other old friend, Monty Williams, come back with a grudge.
All of the above shows that Budenholzer is a coaching genius with a big strategy, of course, in the eyes of some fans, his excessive contempt for the inside line, the game does not know how to be flexible may lead to him not being favored. But in the end, he also became the champion coach and took a step towards his teacher on the road to Popovich, and still keeps moving forward.
Budenholzer's story is far more prosaic than Uduka's story, it seems that as soon as he appeared on the scene, he took the aura of the protagonist, entered a prestigious school, chose Popovich, followed Popovich and further studied, and finally became a teacher and succeeded. But in fact, there is an important factor that accompanies him on the way forward: boldness.
When choosing a school, how many people can choose a school for someone who has never seen a reputation before? And how many people switch to coaching after earning a degree and becoming a successful person in academia? And how many people are willing to give up important members of their bench for a player whose future is not yet known, and even a player who may become a starting defender? This kind of personality of his may be able to play a certain enlightening role for the Spurs who are not up and down now.
Boldness is like a double-edged sword, it can make you no longer entangled, can let you not be entangled in the ropes of reality, find the real self, but at the same time, reckless choices, may bring some negative effects. Therefore, in life, there are very few people with the spirit of adventure and courage, but in fact, people who are often able to fight hard at the right opportunities are more likely to succeed. Blindly shrinking hands and feet may sometimes be able to seek steady progress, and sometimes it is more than worth the loss.
So, if you choose a path, be brave and chase it, after all, there is no longer road than a foot, no mountain higher than a person. No matter how many difficulties there are, as long as you have enough courage, the thorns on the road will eventually be cut off by you.
Also in the next draft, the Spurs have a lot of first-round picks, and many young people in the squad seem to have a lot of potential and market, no matter how the Spurs management chooses, I will support this team, and the young people who come out of this team. But perhaps, the San Antonio Spurs need to make a bold choice again, once again desperately thrown, a backwater battle. Just as Budenholzer did a few years ago, you can reach the top and get a bird's eye view of the world's bustling beauty.