Damian Lillard, new head coach Adrian Griffin each start to carve niche with Bucks

MILWAUKEE — It’s not quite new-kid-at-school vibes but it was definitely an unfamiliarity for Damian Lillard in his opening days as a Milwaukee Buck.

His former Portland head coach, Terry Stotts, is on the staff, and when you’ve been in the league as long as Lillard has, the verbiage and calls blend in a bit.

The dirty little secret about the NBA? There are no secrets anymore, if there ever were. Everyone knows what everyone does. The scouting is sophisticated and like any other sport, it’s a copycat league.

“It’s not a lot I haven’t seen as far as basketball,” Lillard said Wednesday. “You get on the floor, you start to hear terminology, and then things get real familiar you start, you just get comfortable. Like I’m already seeing things and I’m able to tell some of the younger guys [things].”

He doesn’t see himself as “Damian Lillard,” as in his stature and résumé, which could be intimidating to younger teammates and even peers.

“I’ve just been coming in, introducing myself,” he said. “And I’m interacting with different guys so they can see, I’m not on ‘superstar time.’

“And I think as I earn the respect of my teammates and everybody else, they respect what I say after that. But if something comes up that I’ve had [experience with], or something that I’ve, that I recognize is what’s in the best interest, I’m not afraid to be the person to say it.

“I’m not a guy that is going to hold back or second-guess what I have to say because I know that what I have to say comes from a good place at all time.”

Being held out of the second day of practice is one thing, given that he wasn’t able to go into much of anything high intensity while waiting for a trade from the Portland Trail Blazers — there’s a difference between good enough shape and real basketball shape.

But also, as he says, “doing a lot of listening.”

“Usually you think you know more than you know,” Lillard said. “So this year I’m focusing on being a listener and following instructions, and hopefully, it’ll do me some good.”

He alluded to going hard all the time probably hurt him in some ways as a younger player, but now that he’s in a place where the bigger picture is very clear and planning for a nine-month season, Lillard can see the small victories in taking things gradually.

And it doesn’t hurt his approach when Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton didn’t go Tuesday, either. For Antetokounmpo and Lillard, it’s a rest day. For Middleton, the organization is definitely taking its time with him following his knee surgery over the summer.

Head coach Adrian Griffin was trying to turn the temperature down before it rose with Middleton, saying he’s on track and intimating the organization is pleased with where he is.

For Lillard, he wants to play in every preseason game, but that probably isn’t realistic. Even a probable invitation to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris isn’t necessarily top of mind, either. He’s got a gold medal from the last Games in Tokyo, but his goals are more immediate — preparing for a very long year and having time with his three kids in the offseason.

“I would definitely be interested. I don’t know if I can say right now to do something that I would absolutely do,” Lillard said. “I’ve had the experience and it’s just you know, it’s a very time-consuming thing.

“I’m tight with all my family members. So it’s just how I would feel or even if they invite me to be on a team, so definitely interested, but it's not something that I’m for sure about right now.”

In the now, the noise was loud inside the practice facility, even from a floor away and plenty of glass doors preventing outsiders from peeking inside Wednesday’s practice. The “Rocky” theme blared over the loudspeakers, and on the first day, there was a one-on-one competition — predictably, Antetokounmpo came away victorious.

There seems to be a more aggressive approach than in previous years. Not that anyone would say boredom or mundane, but Griffin’s putting a stamp on this team that will likely feel different than his predecessor, Mike Budenholzer.

With Lillard, they’ll have to be a more offensive-minded team. You don’t acquire a player like Lillard, pairing him with Antetokounmpo to make two 30-point scorers and put a muzzle on them.

The Bucks were a top-five defensive unit and trending toward the middle of the pack last season. They didn’t foul a lot and were only but so aggressive defensively. Griffin looks to change that, and add some physicality that he hopes will earn some benefit of the doubt as time progresses.

Griffin was undrafted yet carved out a niche as a tough defender, so it’s no surprise that side of the ball will have a strong emphasis from him.

“One of the messages to the team, if you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready,” Griffin said Tuesday. “We want to be physical now so when the playoffs come you don’t have to be you know, talk about this good physical that’s gonna be part of our DNA.”

Offensively, the No. 12 ranking in terms of efficiency was likely due to Middleton playing just 33 games and Jrue Holiday perhaps being overtaxed along with Antetokounmpo to compensate offensively, but even if that’s the case having Lillard makes this a completely different group.

And if Lillard has to take on more of an offensive load, he’s far more equipped to handle it than anyone Antetokounmpo has had in his career to date.

“I think it’s been really interesting to hear him say things that I’ve already got to say to him, you know, just, I don’t want him to not be himself,” Lillard said. “You know, I want him to be who he is. And don’t worry about me. Don’t worry about not allowing me to do what I got to do because I’m a thinker.”