There wasn't much chance Bucks' interim coach Jim Boylan was going to hang around past this season, but you
would have to think any chance is now gone after his benching of Brandon
Jennings, and continued issues over playing time. Jennings is a restricted free
agent after this season and his minutes and production down the stretch and in
the playoffs will have some effect on his next contract. I don't mean to say all
he cares about is the money, as NBA stars are rarely happy about benchings regardless of their contract status.
Some of Jennings' quotes can be found on the Journal-Sentinel's Buck's Blog.
Jennings was benched after being beat for a layup in the 3rd quater against Philly and did not play the rest
of the game. The MJS quoted him "This is
the third time I've been benched in the second half and it hasn't been under
(former coach Scott) Skiles".
The drama continued in a blow out win last night when the Bucks won
131-102, but Jennings played just 24 minutes. Jennings was quoted after the game
saying "From where I was looking at, it looked like it was fun," and when asked
by the MJS if this is the way the Bucks
want to play, at such an up-tempo pace, Jennings said: "You would have to ask
(coach) Jim Boylan."
What's going on here is hard to say. If this was an established coach I
would think they were sending a message to the team and Jennings. Boylan certainly knows he has no chance to
return as Buck's coach, so why the benching if there is no long term reward to
the team. Is there a personal score to settle? I doubt it. Boylan doesn't seem the type and management wouldn't have any
problem dumping him if there was. If you want more conspiracy theories then
maybe management knows they have no option but to match whatever offer he gets a
restricted free agent, so devaluing him now could save them some money. This
seems even more unlikely than the Boylan
score settling.
It will be interesting to see how the minutes get divided up down the
stretch, and especially in the playoffs.
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