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Seeking change amid midseason struggles
Authentic Brendan Leipsic Jersey , the Milwaukee Bucks fired coach Jason Kidd on Monday after a slide that left a team with designs on challenging the NBA's best in eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
It was a surprising end to Kidd's three-plus-season tenure in Milwaukee, during which the Bucks made the playoffs twice, exiting in the first round each time. Giannis Antetokounmpo turned into an All-Star under his watch, and the Bucks were considered an emerging force in the East at the start of the season.
But the Bucks had lost four of five to fall to 23-22 going into Monday night's game against Phoenix and had been prone to defensive lapses, especially on the perimeter. Turnovers were an issue of late as well.
General manager Jon Horst, who was promoted from director of basketball operations in June, said it was time for a change. Kidd was fired hours before the Suns game.
Assistant coach Joe Prunty will serve as interim coach for the rest of the season, co-owner Wes Edens said in an interview before the game.
Under Kidd, the Bucks had a regular-season record of 139-152.
""A general manager in the NHL had a statement once: `If something is inevitable, why wait?'"" Horst said at a news conference.
Horst added that the decision was made ""relatively quickly,"" and was not in the works through the season.
""We just felt that we got to a point in the season where this team could do more and could perform at a different level in a different way and (we are) looking for a fresh approach and different voice in leadership for the team,"" Horst said.
Kidd was hired a few months after a group led by Edens and Mark Lasry bought the team in April 2014. The Bucks traded two future second-draft picks to the Brooklyn Nets for the then-first year coach.
""I think Jason's done obviously a tremendous amount for the organization. He's a good friend, he's a soon-to-be Hall of Fame basketball player,"" Edens said. ""But we think this team can be the best team in the East and we want to give ourselves every chance we can to do that.
""Sometimes that requires change. That's the judgment that was made by Jon Horst. We the ownership are universal in support of that,"" he added.
Milwaukee has largely treaded water in the wide-open East even after adding talented guard Eric Bledsoe in a trade with the Suns in November. The Bucks are hoping to get Jabari Parker back in a few weeks from a left knee injury that has kept him out all season.
Milwaukee is 8-12 since going a season-high five games over .500 on Dec. 9.
Asked to assess the problems with the Bucks, Prunty said, ""Well, I think the bottom line is, we've talked about this as a staff, is that we have been consistently inconsistent.""
Bledsoe said he was shocked by the firing of Kidd, whom he called a mentor.
""I thought he did a great job, but it's a business. You can't control it,"" Bledsoe said.
This is an important year for the franchise, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary and getting ready for the opening of a new downtown arena next season.
""We believe that making this change now is important for the organization and gives our players the best chance to reach their full potential this season and beyond,"" Horst said.(Agencies)
" The beagle dog has increased in popularity in the United States and Canada, which is quite strange when you consider that the beagle is native to the United Kingdom. The Beagle dog has been the star of many dog shows since the early 1900?s and its star studded history has definitely lasted through the ages until today.
The Beagle is named after the Old English and French word beag which also means ?diminutive.?, and when you consider it, beagles are known as some of the smaller species in the dog family. Beagle dogs of today are used in legal hunting sport and by a large number of customs and law enforcement collectives for the purpose of sniffing out the illegal substances that some pirates might try to smuggle.
This miniature ?foxhound? is a popular choice for families and even aged retirees, especially beagle puppies, as they are a bundle of joy to behold. One of the reasons this is so is because of the general appearance of the beagle puppy, which most people akin to a cute puppy who always has a pleading hound puppy look.
Beagle puppies are also known to be very affectionate, calm and entirely loving to their owners. Beagle also can come in a variety of warm and appealing colours, which include a tricolour coat from a shade of black to several different shades of brown with white patches all over. Most beagles are born in a shade of black against white, with their darker patches of coat turning a light shade of brown when they start to grow older and grow out some of the darker colours.
The beagle puppy is indeed one of the cutest things ever to grace the dog world and even in old English times, many Victorian paintings had their proud, noble and beautiful pictures painted by some of the best artists during that era.
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From pure breeds to crossbreeds, the beagle is indeed a beautiful puppy and if you do choose one, you are bringing home a bundle of joy and a tear jerking pretty puppy at the same time. The beagle is such a popular dog that there are celebrity versions of the dog, which include many in films, television and comic books.