Taylor Jenkins Gets Brutally Honest About Bucks After Preseason Loss

The Milwaukee Bucks are a team that underwent a lot of turnover this offseason, and they have a lot of new faces on this roster. They traded away star player Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat, and now the team is in a full rebuild. 

The team also hired Taylor Jenkins as their new head coach, and they recently played their preseason opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Bucks lost 116-97, and Jenkins was not pleased with the effort his squad put out. 

"Defense was lacking for 48 minutes," Jenkins said. He went on to mention that there was a lack of defensive communication on fast breaks, and he wanted his guys to stop fouling when defending. 

In this game, the Bucks had 28 total personal fouls compared to the Timberwolves' 23. Minnesota also shot 6 more free throws than Milwaukee, and if the Bucks want to have a successful season, those self-inflicted issues can't continue. 

This loss may give the Bucks more sense of urgency. Jenkins went on to tell the media that there was no excuse for their performance and that they had to play better moving forward. Jenkins has been known to be a coach who stresses the importance of defending. 

In his days with the Memphis Grizzlies, Jenkins coached a team that was known for playing a physical brand of basketball on that end, and he may be looking to bring that same identity to Milwaukee. 

Offensively, this Milwaukee team is expected to run through guard Tyler Herro. Herro was the most notable asset the Bucks got back from the Giannis trade, and he was not very efficient in his 19 minutes of playing time. 

He shot 3-for-9 from the field but was 2-for-4 from long range. Herro finished with 11 points and was not the highest-scoring player for the Bucks. Instead, it was guard Ryan Rollins, who scored 15 points in 14 minutes. 

As the preseason continues, there will be a lot of questions that will be answered about the Bucks. With the abundance of veterans on this team, it will be interesting to see how Taylor Jenkins will structure these rotations in order to get young players like rookies Nate Ament and Brayden Burries involved. 

The Bucks will continue their preseason campaign against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Oklahoma City on October 7th. It will be interesting to see if there are any lineup changes ahead of this game and what kind of adjustments Jenkins makes on the court.