A few snippets from Nehm
“He’s got music playing, a lot of coaches don’t do that,” Payne said. “I just feel like he’s a player’s coach. I mean, he played, so he kind of understands the players a little bit better. Like some coaches, they’re just coaches. They ain’t never played. You can relate to him and he can relate to us. That’s cool to have in the locker room.”
After five seasons of Mike Budenholzer practices, the music — spun by DJ Shawna, the Bucks’ official in-arena DJ, in the northeast corner of the gym — might be the most obvious change. But it was far from the only different thing about a Griffin practice.
In his team’s first practice, Griffin told reporters he focused on his team’s “competitive spirit” and doing things that would foster competition between the players. Griffin helped out in that regard by confirming the Bucks have an open spot in the starting lineup alongside Damian Lillard, Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez and that that spot will be earned. For Griffin, it goes beyond competing for spots in the rotation. It’s more about competing in general.
“I don’t like to stop and talk,” Griffin said. “I believe you learn by doing. We’ve just given them some basic principles, a foundation of how we want to play on the defensive end — that’s pressuring the ball, impacting bodies, being physical, protect the paint, contest shots and then block out.
“And then on the offensive end, we just want to play with a little bit more pace, get to our spots, so we gave them some basic principles out there, but today, I wanted to really play and you learn more to me by going through the actions. But it was great. I thought they responded very well. We had a couple one-on-ones, a tournament. Giannis won that tournament. He’s hard to stop one-on-one. But it was fun watching everybody in the gym.”
Forward Bobby Portis told reporters that a one-on-one game — like the one they played on Tuesday — is something the team probably only did once during his three years in Milwaukee under Budenholzer. Considering one-on-one was an activity they did on their first day under their new coach, returning players seem to think learning how Griffin wants to practice and play is going to keep them on their toes.
“Great coaching staff. Obviously, it’s a lot different than what we’re normally accustomed to, but it’s kind of refreshing a little bit,” Portis said. “Just to get a different feel coming in every day, don’t really know what to expect. For three years straight, I think we kind of knew what it was going to be like on a day-to-day basis.
“But now it’s kind of cool just not knowing how the day is going to go, what we’re going to do in practice, what he’s going to implement, what he’s going to do or draw up or whatever it is. And that’s kind of cool, especially as a basketball player, just being challenged and tested.”
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