Milwaukee Bucks general manager Jon Horst and head coach Adrian Griffin appeared on NBA Today with ESPN’s Malika Andrews to talk about some interesting topics ahead of the Bucks’ preseason game on Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Bucks Head Coach Says Practices are Competitive
One of the main highlights that everyone talks about is the fact that two NBA superstars are going to be on the same team together, playing alongside one another. Malika Andrews asked coach Griffin what his thoughts were on the team dynamic:
“Practices are extremely competitive. We’ve had the chance to match them up and they haven’t disappointed,” Griffin said. “Just like anything else, the more opportunities we can get them playing together, the better. So count on Sunday, to be the next time we want to see them out there in a live, competitive play.
“It’s an exciting time for us, but we’re just taking it step-by-step.”
Coach Griffin gave us official confirmation that we will see both Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard are going to be making their preseason debut on Sunday against the Lakers. This will be the first time we see Lillard in a Bucks uniform on the court.
The Difference Between a “Giannis Team” and a “Giannis and Damian Team”
Clearly when you get two superstars on the floor at the same time, there’s going to be adjustments from all ends of the spectrum. Being able to have two great players in Lillard and Antetokounmpo is definitely something worth talking about, but Griffin says nothing ever changes within the team.
“We have some special talent on the team, but, nothing ever changes. The magic is in the work. When you put a roster together like this, the expectations come along with it. But what I’ve been preaching to our team is ‘Okay, execution, right, expectation without the execution is nothing. So again, magic is in the work, we gotta come ready to work, attention to detail, and not skip the steps, and buying into the process, and they’ve been great with it.”
Expectations
When you win a championship, the main goal and expectation year-after-year is that you go back and win another one. With it being two years since the Bucks brought the trophy home to Milwaukee, the expectation hasn’t changed. But, how does coach manage?
“I feel very prepared,” Griffin said. “Again, I was undrafted, the only thing I know is the work. So we just focus on everyday, coming in and we have a saying in our organization with our practices, ‘You know, I got this from Phil Jackson.’ But we have to make the mundane sacred. It’s easy to look down the road, too far down the road, but we have to produce in the present, that’s what it comes down to.
“And that starts with having a great practice, having a great training camp, which they have, and get ready for our season opener. But we don’t want to look too far down the road, we gotta focus on what’s right in front of us.”
The full interview with Malika Andrews is linked below.
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