Turns out, there was a method to the madness of Mike Budenholzer.
The Hawks coach got his first technical foul called against him in the first quarter of Tuesday’s win over the Rockets. Budenholzer was not demonstrative in complaining about an offensive foul call against Kent Bazemore. He apparently said enough to warrant the offense.
Following the play, Budenholzer and Bazemore were seen slapping hands.
On Thursday, Bazemore all but confirmed Budenholzer got the technical on purpose.
“We weren’t playing with energy at the time,” Bazemore said. “He sacrificed some of his money to get us going. I thought it was great that he stuck up for us like that. That is good when you’ve got your coach who will fight for you like that.
“I love that from coaches. My coach, Blaine Taylor, at Old Dominion would get a tech super quick to get us going. I love it.”
Budenholzer will be assessed a $2,000 fine for the technical.
“It’s a competitive game,” Budenholzer said after the game. “The refs have an incredible difficult job. At times you feel like it’s not going your way. I guess he didn’t like what I thought or said.”
