Phoenix Suns veteran Bradley Beal feels excited about what head coach Mike Budenholzer and point guards Tyus Jones & Monte Morris will bring to the team.
(via Phoenix Suns):
Tom Leander: “You finished extremely strong last year, especially during the regular season. I went back on your last five games, you averaged 27 points, you shot 61% from the field, you hit all 13 of your final free throws in the regular season. How is Coach Bud, your new head coach, going to help continue to activate that kind of production from you?”
Beal: “He’s done it already since the day we brought him in. He literally called me and was like, ‘Brad, my mission is to get the Brad that I used to coach against in Milwaukee and in Atlanta.’ I was like, ‘I used to hate you then.’ But he was like, ‘I want to activate that guy again. I want to get your energy back on the offensive end. I know we kinda had you wear a lot of hats last year and do a lot of things out of your comfort zone.’ He wants me to get back into being an aggressive offensive-minded guy, but at the same time, I still have that mentality of being team-first and being whatever the team needs obviously is more important than I may want or what the team thinks I may want. So I want to be the best version of me, and I think we can do that obviously adding Tyus [Jones], adding Monte [Morris], bringing in some point guards. So now, Book doesn’t have to take on a handling role. I don’t have to do it. K. [Durant] doesn’t have to do it. Grayson [Allen] doesn’t have to do it. We can just be our natural selves.”
Amanda Pflugrad: “What does that mean though to know that what Coach Bud did say to you of he wants you to be the best out there and bringing that out of you?”
Beal: “It’s a confidence booster, for sure. It’s very enlightening. Obviously I’m a vet, so it’s not like I need him to like pat me on the back, but it’s very encouraging to come in and hear that. It just speaks volumes of his knowledge of the game, his vision of where he sees us, and how we can be successful. And it’s motivating. It’s definitely giving me a new spark and a new energy to come in and perform and do it consistently for 82 (games).”
