MILWAUKEE — Quentin Grimes unloaded his frustrations with his diminished role after another disappearing act Tuesday.
“It’s just hard when you go the whole quarter without touching the ball, the whole second quarter without touching the ball, and then you get one shot and you got to make it,” Grimes said. “So it’s tough going out there and just standing in the corner the whole game. Then you got to make the shot when you shoot the ball one or two times per game. It is what it is.”
Grimes, the starting shooting guard, took just one shot in Tuesday’s 146-122 blowout loss to the Bucks, giving him seven consecutive games with just four points or fewer on six field goal attempts or fewer.
His shot Tuesday was an open 3-pointer off the rim in the third quarter, which transitioned to a benching for the entire fourth quarter.
It was the third straight game Grimes didn’t play in the final period.
Then he implied Tom Thibodeau’s leash is unfairly short.
“It feels like if I don’t hit the shot, I’m coming out,” Grimes said. “So every shot I shoot probably weighs like 100 pounds if I don’t make it, and our defense, it ain’t cutting it, so I know I ain’t going back in.”
Grimes joined Josh Hart as the latest role player to voice frustrations about the lack of opportunities. It’s a product of an offense that features four ball-dominant lefties (Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle, RJ Barrett) and entered Tuesday at 28th out of 30 teams in assists.
Grimes’ averages dropped over 11 points in 30 last season to about six points in 23 minutes during this campaign.
The defensive specialist said he’s felt the change.
“I just know last year RJ missed a lot of games (last season). Jalen missed some games. So I had the ball in my hands a little bit more. I knew I wasn’t coming out,” Grimes said. “I knew I was going to be in there and get more shots, play the whole first quarter, the whole third quarter. I knew I had opportunities to get the ball and get my shots up. Now it’s just a matter if the ball come my way, really.”
After the starters were shellacked in the third quarter Tuesday, Thibodeau danced around a question about whether he’d swap Grimes out of the lineup.
Theoretically, putting Grimes with the second unit could open more offensive opportunities.
“I look at how the unit is functioning. And so, I would say tonight, we didn’t play well and to put it on Quentin is not fair,” Thibodeau said. “I don’t think we really had anyone who played really well. So, we’re capable of a lot better. You win together; you lose together. Just focus on the improvement and getting ready for the next game.”
Julius Randle, who scored 41 points Tuesday, took some responsibility in getting Grimes involved.
“He has a hard job, a tough role,” Randle said. “But we have to do a better job of trying to get him better looks.”
Brunson co-signed that response but as more of a mental uplifter.
“Obviously, we have three players in the lineup who all go left, all do a lot of similar things. When it comes to Quentin, he’s going to be open, he’s going to get to do stuff,” Brunson said. “He’s going to get the ball so sometimes when the confidence is low it seems like the end of the world. But as teammates we need to pick him up and make sure he gets back on track.”
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