“I’m Letting Him Down”: Bucks HC Adrian Griffin Takes the Blame for Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Ejection Against Pistons

The Milwaukee Bucks took down the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night, with a 120-118 win. It was a close game and among the many other things that went down, this game will probably be remembered for the Bucks’ star player Giannis Antetokounmpo being ejected mid-game.

This ejection was following two ‘unsportsmanlike’ technical fouls that the refs called on Giannis. Did he deserve the ejection? It is debatable, but the truth of the matter is that such calls by the refs are not reversible, and so there is no point brooding over it. However, Head Coach Adrian Griffin shouldered the blame for Giannis’ ejection during the post-game interview. He said that he should have been more vocal and stood up for Giannis.

Adrian Griffin thinks he let Giannis down

Coach Adrian takes it all upon himself and regretfully admits that he should be standing up for Giannis more during the games, “Giannis doesn’t complain to the refs. He’s really respectful to the refs and I think I’m letting him down in that sense, uh, because I think I need to be a little more, you know, just vocal about, uh, during the games when he’s getting hit and kind of stick up for him a little bit better.”

Despite Wednesday’s game being a rollercoaster ride, Coach Adrian says it was exciting and emotional. Giannis performed well as usual, at least before he was ejected, and Coach Adrian was impressed by how quickly Giannis moved on from his first technical foul. However, even he found the second foul surprising and unexpected.

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Trouble during the second and third quarter

Giannis got his first technical foul during the second quarter. Crew chief Rodney Mott stated in the pool report following the game that Giannis thought he was fouled during the game when he drove to the basket. So he went up to the referee and started using foul language, which is a technical foul for displaying unsportsmanlike behavior.

The second technical foul was as surprising to everyone as it was to Giannis himself. During the third quarter, Giannis went for a one-hand dunk over the Pistons’ defender Isaiah Stewart and stared at him after landing, he proceeded to do the ‘little’ celebration. Immediately, the ref called out a foul and ejected Giannis out of the game.

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Do you think Giannis deserved the second technical foul? Let us know in the comments below.