"You move forward, but it's not easy" - Interim HC Joe Prunty preaches resilient Bucks for edging the Cavs

With less than 24 hours since they picked up their 30th win of the 2023-24 season against the Detroit Pistons on Monday, the Bucks have shockingly sacked Adrian Griffin out of his head coaching duties. Shortly after this, they immediately rerouted themselves and identified Doc Rivers as their newest lead play-caller.

Throughout the roller coaster process, the franchise has temporarily handed the coaching keys to Joe Prunty. Wearing the interim tag, the said position isn't entirely new to him as a seasoned mentor. 

Picking up the victory with the Bucks on Wednesday against the red-hot Cleveland Cavaliers meant special and resilience for him amid the unexpected occurrence that emerged around the organization.

A great team win amid shocking happenings

The last time that Prunty filled the interim coaching position for the Bucks was notably in 2017-18 when he replaced Jason Kidd after the team's 23-22 start. He proceeded to lead Milwaukee to a 21-16 record for the remainder of the season, but they came up short in the first round of the playoffs after a grueling seven-game bout with the Boston Celtics.

As six years have already passed, he and the Bucks were placed at a familiar spot once again. This time around, he couldn't be more proud about how the team performed at its best by trampling the Cavs within the Fiserv Forum, 126-116

"It's great getting the win," Prunty said. "As far as for me, that was the task at hand. That's what they said, 'you're going to coach this game,' so really, in all of my years of doing this, I've been blessed to be a part of a lot of great things. Three championships and a thousand wins and whatever, it's never been about me. So, those guys played really hard, did a lot of great things tonight.”

Keep moving forward

From all of the things that transpired, Prunty can only admit that it has been a tough stretch not only for him but the entire ball club. But in the end, the responsibility that was handed to him needs to be fulfilled, and he has to lead accordingly by any means necessary.

With the hiring of Rivers yet to be made official by Milwaukee, Prunty remains committed to advocating a focus on what lies ahead in their ongoing season.

“It’s not easy, but you do have a job to do,” Prunty said. “That’s one of the things that we talked about as a team, just talked about, ‘Look, we still have responsibilities. We still have roles. We still have jobs that we have to do on the court.’ So you just do. You move forward. But it’s not easy. It really isn’t.

“It's a tough situation, but it happened.”