Coaching Staff Feature

BUCKS COACHING STAFF STRESSING
HARD WORK AND FUNDAMENTALS
TO YOUNG BUCKS
By Patrick Stumpf
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2014-15 Milwaukee Bucks Tipoff
Two words have been a relative mainstay in every Jason Kidd
press conference this season: energy and effort.
Five months into his coaching tenure in Milwaukee, it’s what
Kidd looks for out of his players and reminds them to give on a
daily basis.
It may sound like a simple credo, but it’s working. As of Nov.
29, the Bucks have been more than competitive—they’re win-
ning—and garning national attention.
Kidd is still adjusting to life in the state of Wisconsin. So,
too, are three of his five assistant coaches, who joined him from
Brooklyn last summer. But when it comes to life on the basketball
court, giving energy and effort is the one thing Kidd doesn’t need
to remind any of them. To each of them, an undying work ethic
comes naturally.
“They’re all hard workers, they spend a lot of time in the
office, they spend a lot of time in the gym,” Kidd said of his staff’s
dedication. “They set an example and are showing guys how to
get better, and they have a willingness, no matter what time it is,
to make sacrifices to try to get players better.”
Together, Kidd’s assistants are helping lay the groundwork
for a new era of Bucks basketball, with the collective eye set on
returning a championship-caliber team: one practice and one
lesson at a time.
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B U C K S C O A C H I N G S T A F F S T R E S S I N G H A R D W O R K
A N D F U N D A M E N T A L S T O Y O U N G B U C K S
V E T E R A N C O A C H P R U N T Y B R I N G S
W E A LT H O F E X P E R I E N C E T O B E N C H
Entering his 19th season in the NBA, and 23rd overall,
he’s been a part of three championship teams in San Anto-
nio, coaching teams both young and old, relatively speaking.
After being named the head coach for Great Britain
before EuroBasket 2013, now he can say he has worked with
players overseas, too.
At this point in his career, there’s not a whole lot Joe
Prunty hasn’t seen.
His international coaching experience affords him the
chance to meet numerous players from around the world
each year. He didn’t know it at the time, but one encounter
this past summer was particularly unique: dinner and a
personal tour from a player he would go on to work with
every day.
“This summer [Great Britain] played Georgia, and we
had flown into Georgia with the Great Britain national team
and I got to meet Zaza [Pachulia] for the first time,” he said.
“Things like that are invaluable, not only the opportunity
to get to know somebody, but you build relationships with
numerous people. All the experiences you accumulate helps
in all phases.”
The 2014-15 Bucks group is a complete 180 for most of
these coaches, who were part of one of the oldest rosters in
the NBA last season, the 2013-14 Brooklyn Nets.
But despite the fact the entire staff is still building con-
tinuity amongst each other and the players, Prunty knows
they all have something to contribute.
“We’ve come from different places that help us in all sce-
narios,” he said. “We’re willing to share and talk about those
things. ‘Oh, what did you do?’ or ‘Oh, let’s try that and let’s see
what works and makes sense.’ We are a young team relatively
speaking, but we all have experience in numerous ways.”
That experience, Prunty says, has helped give every
coach the freedom to express their ideas through an open
line of communication amongst themselves and their play-
ers, and the results are showing.
“The one thing I like is how we all fit together,” he said.
“We all share a lot of responsibilities. We have designated
duties so to speak, but we’ve got a lot of great minds [here].
We all share in throwing ideas out there, concepts to help
players, concepts to help on offense and defense.”
“We always talk about wanting players to communicate.
Well, that’s what we do as coaches. I really appreciate and
respect that we have very open communication across the
board, and I think that’s one of the reasons we’ve been able
to do some of the things we’ve done early on this year.”
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For Eric Hughes, there are a number of reasons why there
might not be a better coaching fit for himself than in Milwaukee.
Reason number one?
“Everything’s 15 minutes away,” he said. “My wife and I
live in Los Angeles in the summertime, so that’s traffic. We
just moved from New York, that’s traffic. Before that we lived
in Toronto, so that’s traffic. It’s a nice change of pace to be five
minutes from the arena, 10 minutes to the practice facility and 15
minutes to the airport. I think that should be Milwaukee’s slogan:
‘everything’s 15 minutes away.’”
Given his years of expertise in player development in both Se-
attle and Toronto, working with some of the league’s brightest stars
like Dwight Howard, Kevin Durant and DeMar DeRozan, there might
not be a better fit for the Milwaukee Bucks than Hughes, either.
“Dwight, Durant, Al Horford, [Gary] Payton – those guys made
my job easier,” Hughes said. “It’s been fun to watch the young play-
ers grow [here] and we’re hoping we can take some of the young
players on this team and turn them into All-Star caliber players.”
Early on this season, the Bucks have focused on daily im-
provement as a young team. Hughes believes developing good
habits and seeing the process through is paramount.
“Winning and losing all comes, but developing players is
what our jobs are all about, and if you develop them, winning
becomes that much easier,” he said.
“That’s the one thing that I think makes Jason [Kidd] such a
great coach. People always say he’s a great ‘young’ coach – no,
he’s a great coach, period, because we stress the fundamentals
and do them every day.”
“Coaching is coaching, if I was teaching a third-grade team
or an NBA team. The fundamentals are the same. Obviously NBA
players can do them faster and longer and they can do more reps
as opposed to third graders where you just have to slow them
down. But the game is the game. Fundamentals don’t change.”
It’s his love of the fundamentals that gave Hughes a chance
to take a prominent role on Kidd’s staff in Brooklyn. In Milwaukee,
he is only looking to continue his own progression, right alongside
his players.
“When Jason gave me the opportunity to move up to the bench,
it shows the confidence he has in me, but hopefully it shows that
maybe I’ve grown in my career a little bit,” he said. “I’ve been lucky.
I’ve worked for good head coaches, had good co-workers that have
taught me a lot. It’s kind of a bit of a natural progression but at the
same time I would hope it’s a little bit of hard work that’s paid off.”
H U G H E S E M B R A C E S D E V E L O P M E N TA L P R O C E S S I N Y O U N G P L A Y E R S , H I M S E L F
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At 6-11, Greg Foster is certainly the most imposing of the
Bucks’ assistant coaches this season.
Along with his size, however, Foster brings a wealth of
knowledge as the only former NBA player on Jason Kidd’s staff
who had the opportunity to play with some of the game’s greatest.
More than anything else, Foster says his playing days have
helped him serve as a relatable figure off the court.
“Personally, it helps me relate to the players because I
can kind of get into their mind and I understand the head space
they’re in when you go through the rigors of a long NBA season,”
he said. “It takes a lot of mental fortitude to get through [an 82-
game season]. Myself and Jason can help those guys through it.”
Foster says the largest challenge he and the rest of the
coaching staff face is transforming the culture back into what it
once was when he played in Milwaukee with the likes of Ray Allen,
Glenn Robinson and Sam Cassell in 2001-02.
“When you have a young group and a group that’s had some
hard times the last couple years, you’re constantly de-program-
ming and re-programming the mental side of things,” he said.
“I’ve been on both sides of the equation. I’ve been on some
losing teams and been fortunate to have been on some great teams,
including the Milwaukee team that I played with. The everyday ap-
proach to being successful is a lot different with winning franchises.
To build a winning culture like we’re doing here takes some time
and a lot of discipline, but that’s the challenge of coaching.”
Throughout his 13-year playing career, Foster played
alongside a host of Hall-of-Famers, including Karl Malone, John
Stockton, Steve Kerr, Scottie Pippen, and even Kidd. All of that
experience plays a role in how he will look to help re-establish
that culture Milwaukee has struggled to find in recent years.
“All those guys were the hardest workers on all those teams,”
he said. “When younger guys see that, even when role players see
[or hear about] that, you can’t
help but follow. We’re trying to
build that kind of culture here,
but to be able to coach young
guys like this it’s fun to see their
maturation and development.”
“We have expectations here,
but the big push is for devel-
opment and you’re seeing wins
that come with that. These guys
really get after it, coaches and
players alike.”
Nearly a quarter of the way
through the season, Milwaukee
has boasted one of the high-
est-scoring bench units in the
league, which has kept nearly
every player from huge minutes.
Thus far, Foster said he has
been pleased with how the en-
tire team has handled that fact
on a nightly basis.
“All the guys cheer for
each other which is a wonder-
ful thing to have, because it’s
not always like that on NBA
teams,” he said. “We’ve benefit-
ted from having a deep bench.
There are a lot of guys that can
play significant minutes on any
given night, which is a wonder-
ful thing. I think our guys have
embraced it.”
B A C K I N M I LW A U K E E , FO S T E R B R I N G S N B A P L AY I N G E X P E R I E N C E T O B U C K S B E N C H
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S W E E N E Y F E E L I N G B A C K
H O M E I N W I S C O N S I N O N
K I D D ’ S S TA F F
When the Bucks took on the Memphis Griz-
zlies on Oct. 8 to open their exhibition season, it
wasn’t just another game for Sean Sweeney.
It marked his returned to the Resch Center
in Green Bay, the same place he began his
college basketball career, only this time as an
assistant coach in the pros.
“It was cool to go back and play a preseason
game at the Resch Center where we played our
games [in college],” he said. “There are a num-
ber of people I still know from when we went to
school there that are in the Milwaukee area.”
Now, those same people who watched
Sweeney as a player are watching him take to
the sidelines 100 miles down I-43 as an assistant
for their favorite pro team.
Thus far, the native of St. Paul, Minn., has
nothing but high marks for the city of Milwaukee,
and for his boss.
“Working for Jason [Kidd] has been really
good,” said Sweeney. “He’s a really good teacher,
and he helps you teach as well. You’re not just
standing and watching, you’re participating in
what’s going on, so there’s more responsibility
and accountability and in general makes for a
really fun work environment.”
Not unlike any of the other coaches,
Sweeney says he’s taking each day in stride and
just trying to help each player get better.
“The things we’ve been going on are daily
improvement, fundamentals, trying to do things
right and doing them right over and over and
over again,” he said. “But more than anything
give energy, give multiple efforts and keep trying
to get better each day. That hasn’t changed.”
Sweeney says more than anything, it’s been
enjoyable working with a receptive group of
players who come to work everyday to improve,
not unlike himself.
“I’ve really enjoyed working with all of the
guys,” he said. “There’s been a nice partnership
between the players and the coaches, and overall
there’s been a lot of really good effort, guys trying
to carry over and do things they’ve been taught or
told to do.”
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O P P E N H E I M E R W A N T S T O
S I M P L I F Y G A M E , T E L L S P L A Y E R S
‘ P L A Y T O Y O U R S T R E N G T H S ’
In case you hadn’t heard, Josh Oppenheimer is
a good shooter. Like, really good.
Just don’t remind him.
Despite his reputation as a “shot-doctor,” the
lone holdover from the Bucks coaching staff last sea-
son doesn’t want to be pigeon-holed into one area.
“I think we have a really well-rounded staff, but I
don’t think we have any ‘specialists.’ I think we have
a group of really good basketball coaches,” he said.
“I don’t want to be a specialist, I want to be a
basketball coach. I’m just trying to do anything I can
to help the development of our team, our players and
the staff as a whole.”
Like coach Prunty, Oppenheimer also has over-
seas experience, having played for seven seasons in
the Israel Premier Basketball League. For a sport
that has been a global game in recent years, he said
it certainly helps to have been through it.
“It’s an icebreaker, a way to talk about some-
thing [guys] can relate to, how they’ve seen it over in
Europe,” he said. “I think I have an idea from a Euro-
pean standpoint what they think is important, what
they view as being good, where their values stand,
stuff like that, but it’s such a worldwide game now.”
While Oppenheimer has plenty of wisdom to
impart on young players who are adjusting to life
in the NBA and the United States, such as forward
Giannis Antetokounmpo, he knows he’s not alone
in doing so.
“Our coaches are really knowledgeable and
really smart,” he said. “Coach Kidd was with Dirk [Nowitzki],
I mean, I can’t tell him anything he doesn’t know about a
great European player, and all of our coaches have been
around great European players. So it’s more just trying to
help on a day-to-day basis, and I think all our coaches are
trying to do that.”
As optimism grows throughout the fan base, Oppenheimer
stressed how important it is to remember that a lot of the players
are still learning how to win.
“I don’t think a lot of our guys have ever been in [the position
we are]. So they’re learning how to win, how to conduct them-
selves. [Coach Kidd] is trying to teach them how to win, and losing
is a part of it, but so is rebounding from losses.”
On top of learning how to win, Oppenheimer says a coach’s
biggest key with any young player is to take off any added pres-
sure they may feel placed on them coming off a disappointing
season. The best way they can all do that? Simplify the game.
“The [bulk] of our roster is under 24 years old and we want
them to be successful, we want them to feel good about them-
selves,” he said. “Right now, it’s more important they play to their
strengths. If you do what you’re good at, you’re always going to
look good. If you try to do things you’re not good at to prove to
people you can do it, that’s when you start to struggle.”
For this group of Milwaukee Bucks, Oppenheimer says
there’s no one who does a better job of managing that conﬁdence
than the team’s head coach.
“If I were a player, there’s no one I’d rather play for than
Jason Kidd because he encourages the guys, gives the guys conﬁ-
dence and puts players in a position to play to their strengths,” he
said. “I think that’s all a player wants.”
O P P E N H E I M E R W A N T S T O
S I M P L I F Y G A M E , T E L L S P L A Y E R S
‘ P L A Y T O Y O U R S T R E N G T H S ’
In case you hadn’t heard, Josh Oppenheimer is
a good shooter. Like, really good.
Just don’t remind him.
Despite his reputation as a “shot-doctor,” the
lone holdover from the Bucks coaching staff last sea-
son doesn’t want to be pigeon-holed into one area.
“I think we have a really well-rounded staff, but I
don’t think we have any ‘specialists.’ I think we have
a group of really good basketball coaches,” he said.
“I don’t want to be a specialist, I want to be a
basketball coach. I’m just trying to do anything I can
to help the development of our team, our players and
the staff as a whole.”
Like coach Prunty, Oppenheimer also has over-
seas experience, having played for seven seasons in
the Israel Premier Basketball League. For a sport
that has been a global game in recent years, he said
46 Feature.indd 52 12/4/14 6:25 PM

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