The Milwaukee Bucks are now 1-0 in the preseason after their impressive win against the Chicago Bulls on Sunday. One player, in particular, stood out in this one as incoming second-year small forward MarJon Beauchamp came out with an eye-opening performance as the Bucks opted to give their stars a night off.
Milwaukee Bucks Head Coach All-In on MarJon Beauchamp Hype
After Milwaukee’s hard-fought 105-102 win against the division rivals, head coach Adrian Griffin was asked to share his thoughts on Beauchamp’s performance. The first-year shot-caller heaped praise on the 22-year-old’s two-way play against the Bulls:
“He was great on both sides of the ball,” Griffin said. “We’ve talked about what kind of identity we want on the defensive end and I thought he’s really buying in. He’s a hell of a defender as well. Offensively, I just thought that he’s physical with his drives, attacking the rim, not settling. I thought he played a superb game today.”
Beauchamp came off the bench to play a team-high 28 minutes for Milwaukee. I’m not entirely sure if this was the plan from the get-go, but the fact that he was playing incredibly left Griffin with no other choice but to keep Beauchamp in the game for an extended period.
The former Yakima Valley Community College standout finished with a game-high 18 points on 5-of-11 from the field, to go along with one triple, nine boards, and three assists.
Defense is Key
The Bucks shouldn’t have any problems on the offensive end this coming season. After all, they have two of the best scorers in the NBA right now on their team in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard.
Coach Griffin is putting a lot of attention on the defensive end, and it looks like Beauchamp has done enough to earn the admiration of his coach in this regard:
“He has good feet,” Griffin said of Beauchamp. “He’s a physical specimen. A lot of defense is really grit, desire, and wanting to compete on that end. And then when you have the physical tools, You just make sure you’re even more of a threat on the defensive end. Again, it’s just about will. I thought he imposed his will on both sides of the ball, and that’s what we need from him.”
Beauchamp is making his case for a starting role for Milwaukee this coming season. We shall see in the coming weeks if he will be able to do enough to secure his spot with the starters once the new campaign begins.
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