One of Taylor Jenkins' greatest strengths as a head coach is his ability to bring the best out of young players. It's one of the significant reasons the Milwaukee Bucks hired him, and he's already vindicating them for it based on some recent comments from Brayden Burries. The combo guard recently talked about how Jenkins has been fueling his growth as a vocal leader early on with the Bucks.
Interviewer: Anything specific [Taylor Jenkins] has held you accountable on so far already?
Burries: Just talking more. Being more vocal. That's what I'm trying to learn. Trying to be better at. Being more vocal and being a more talkative guy.
Jenkins already working with Burries
It sounds simple, sure, but it's the idea that Jenkins is already pushing Burries to step outside of his comfort zone and embrace a new challenge that is so compelling here. Jenkins doesn't want to ease his rookie into NBA life and let him grow on his own. He wants to immediately push him to implement something new into his game that can be useful for the rest of his playing career.
If Burries is being more vocal during the Summer League, he will certainly be loud when the actual NBA season starts. Then, he can focus on growing other parts of his game, such as his shot-making, defense, or anything else from a skill standpoint, rather than being behind and having to battle the vocal aspect of it as well.
Burries could be the future of this team
It's not controversial to say that Brayden Burries' development could shape the Milwaukee Bucks over the next decade or so. This team has not had a draft pick as high as him—10th overall—in a long time. In years past, stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton could make up for brutal drafts. They are gone. The Bucks desperately need Burries to break the curse. Jenkins should help.
Everyone saw how successful Jenkins was when working with Ja Morant during his time as the coach of the Memphis Grizzlies. Morant was the Rookie of the Year and a multi-time All-Star. Sure, Burries is not as highly-touted as Morant was coming into the draft, but he's still a tremendous prospect. If the two sides can work that well together, Brayden Burries' future will be all the brighter.
Like most youngsters, Burries has displayed some rookie jitters during Summer League, but he has clearly flexed some potential. Under Taylor Jenkins' guidance, it should continue to shine brightly.
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