Highlights from new Milwaukee Bucks head coach Taylor Jenkins' press conference
· Yahoo Sports
The Milwaukee Bucks introduced Taylor Jenkins as their head coach May 6 at a public press conference at the Milwaukee Art Museum, which the team said about 500 people attended.
The session lasted about 40 minutes, during which Bucks co-owner Jimmy Haslam and general manager Jon Horst also spoke. Players Myles Turner, Bobby Portis Jr., AJ Green, Pete Nance and Cormac Ryan were in attendance, as were members of the Bucks front office and player performance and development staffs.
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In his opening statement to introduce Jenkins, Horst outlined what he was looking for in the team's next head coach.
“We want a build, you know, this isn't about rebuilding, we'll get into that," Horst said, in part. "This is about building, this is about being better than we were yesterday, getting better every single day, Taylor will touch on that. We want to build something special. We want to build an identity and a culture and get back to the sustained success that we've all known for near a decade here. And this is the person to do it.”
Here are some highlights from the press conference. Some answers were edited for length and clarity.
Q. Jimmy, this is the first time we’ve seen you sitting in Milwaukee like this since you bought into the team. Does this signal a greater involvement from you on the basketball and business side of the Bucks?
Jimmy Haslam: Yeah, I think so, but I want to be careful because I have a great partner in Wes [Edens]. But do I think we'll be here more? I do. And very, very excited to continue working with Jon and we've already established a great relationship with Taylor, but work with he and the guys to build the kind of team that this community deserves.
Taylor, you were going to be one of the top coaches on the market. What specifically stood out to you about this job?
Taylor Jenkins: It was pretty easy for me. It’s people. That's one of the most important things to me in my life, professionally and personally. Obviously, I’ve known Jon for many years now, so I have high regard and respect for him. And as he said earlier, not just professionally, but also personally. And as I got to spend time with Jimmy and Wes, intimately in our home, it became very clear these are individuals I want to partner with, and I'm obviously very familiar with many other members of the Bucks organization in the front office, on the medical and performance side, throughout the entire staff, basketball operations.
So, when this opportunity became available, I was like, I know the people. I know what they stand for. I know what their standards are going to be on a day-to-day basis, and naturally, as we navigated this past season as a family – got to spend a lot of great quality time with them – we were very intentional about the things that matter to us, both personally and professionally.
And the people, that's the thing that really gravitated us back here to Milwaukee. And obviously, my time here for a year was really profound and impactful. I joke sometimes with my wife [Chantall], we were here for maybe like 10 months [in the 2018-19 season] because we were in and out, but even outside of the special moments that we had in the basketball space, this community, how welcoming people are, we could see our family being here and planted here and raising our kids here. So got that experience and that was always in the back of my mind. Even coming back as a visiting coach, this was always the one city in the NBA that I couldn't wait to come back to because of the people and also the city itself.
What do you feel like this team needs to do to get back to being a championship contender?
Taylor Jenkins: We're all striving for consistency on a day to day basis. My three pillars are going to be pretty easy. I think these guys may have already heard it. I’m gonna regurgitate it, I told them, they're gonna probably roll their eyes at some point. But it's: Compete. Together. Get better. I don't want to overcomplicate this.
So, from Day 1, it's how are we gonna be the most competitive team in all areas of what we do, not just on the court, but also off the court. How together are we going to be on the court? Yes, that's our play style, the unselfishness you guys are gonna have to have offensively and defensively, but also what we're going to do in our lives, beyond basketball, to develop that togetherness.
But, in my time in Memphis, six years, my mentality was always, we're building something. We're trying to daily get better. And that's me. If I'm going to lead the charge here with these guys up here, I gotta look in the mirror first and figure out how I'm going to get better every single day, because I want them to feel that from me, so we can talk about partnership and in relationships as much as we want, but it's the day in and day out, working and living together that I'm going to make top priority No. 1. That's what we're doing right now, and it's exciting. We got a little runway getting to start of next season, but I want these guys to know, I'm going to be on them from the get go figuring out how we’re going to build this together.
How much of your conversation initially with Jon revolved around Giannis Antetokounmpo, a star player that you may have on this roster next year, but you might not for multiple years?
Taylor Jenkins: I'd say we talked about everything and anything. You want to look up at any conversation that you're going to have naturally in the interview process, we laid it out there. As Jimmy said it was, it was, it was six long hours, and it was even followup conversations from that. So naturally, we did talk about Giannis, the entire roster, developmental pathways for everyone you know, moving forward. Because from the coaching lens, I gotta start formulating that, you know, what we're going to do, not just this offseason, but when we hit the ground running, you know, at the start of training camp. So naturally, talked about that. Had great dialogue, full transparency.
I don’t get into specifics when it comes to roster construction and decisions that are going to be had or not had. But obviously it was very important to navigate that, amongst so many other things that are going to be important to us.
Taylor you mentioned you have a vision. What is that vision? And is it somewhat in flux because you're not sure about your centerpiece?
Taylor Jenkins: It's clear to me: We’re gonna operate the same way every single day. Jon said it, I'm going to be on repeat. You know, my vision is going to involve a lot of different things, but I’ll try to simplify it: We're going to be the most competitive team.
It's not just how hard you play. It's your preparation, it's your execution. It's the sacrifice that you make, it's your willingness to go the extra mile in all areas of player development and getting this team to be the best version of itself. I'm gonna be maniacal in competitiveness.
(Jenkins then looked at the players sitting in the front row.)
And we're also gonna have fun doing it, too. I want you guys to know that too. That's gonna be the biggest thing.
Do you have a message for fans and what they can expect from your team?
Taylor Jenkins: I can probably answer that in a lot of different ways, but if I can simplify it: When you watch the Bucks, you’re going to be proud. When you leave Fiserv Forum, when you watch it on TV or whatever streaming service, our team’s going to play with pride to represent our city. I’m very big, as I talked about personally about how we invest ourselves as a family in the community. You’re going to see me out and about. This is home for us. And I know how this community embraces everyone in the Bucks organization, players included, especially our players. So that when they see us go out there repping our jersey, that’s who we’re playing for. You’re going to hear compete, compete over and over and over again. But you can be proud of who’s representing you. Yes, this is a job. We know what we’re signing up for. But at the end of the day, who are we playing for? So I want to embody that.
That’s why I said I can’t wait to reconnect with the city because then I can understand how we live that out with what we do on the basketball court every single day. That’s kind of my focus and that’s why I talk about the responsibility of being the head coach and being able to set that direction for how we play for this great city.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Highlights from new Bucks coach Taylor Jenkins' press conference