MILWAUKEE — NBA draft lottery picks Nate Ament and Brayden Burries, who will team up as Milwaukee Bucks rookies, got their first bit of tough love from their new coach well before discovering they’d be playing for him.
During their introductory news conference Thursday, Ament discussed a predraft meeting with Taylor Jenkins in which the new Bucks coach went over the 6-foot-10 forward’s five worst plays from his lone college season, during which he helped the Tennessee Volunteers reach the NCAA Division I tournament’s Elite Eight.
“He did the same thing with me,” said Burries, a 6-4 guard who was a freshman for Arizona this past season as the Wildcats advanced to the Final Four before losing to eventual national champion Michigan.
Burries and Ament can look forward to many more of those types of sessions as the Bucks count on them to fill vital roles in their rebuilding process now that two-time league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo is heading out of town.
Jenkins believes they’re up for the challenge. He praised their competitiveness and unselfishness Thursday while noting that the 20-year-old Burries and 19-year-old Ament have plenty of untapped potential.