Bucks guard Malik Beasley is trying to establish himself in a different role than he’s used to, Lori Nickel of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes. The 6’4″ Beasley hasn’t been known for his defense, but he’s taking on the challenge of trying to be more physical on that end and often finds himself squared off against a top perimeter player.
“Usually I’m one of the offensive guys, but we got four (of) those guys,” Beasley said. “So I just learn how to be physical. It’s a mindset. … If you notice, I start the game usually with one or two fouls to set the tone so that in the third or fourth quarter I can get away with it.”
Beasley, 26, is averaging 9.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game in his first season in Milwaukee. He’s a career 37.9% shooter from distance and is connecting on a career-best 42.5% of his long-ball attempts this year. Beasley signed a minimum-salary contract to join the Bucks this offseason.
We have more from the Central Division:
- After Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo was ejected on Wednesday against Detroit upon receiving two technical fouls, coach Adrian Griffin said he needed to do a better job of advocating for his players, according to Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Then, on Thursday, Griffin was ejected for voicing his displeasure with a call involving Antetokounmpo. “The first technical foul was for an overt reaction to a non-call on Giannis Antetokounmpo,” official Kevin Cutler said after the game in a pool report, per Owczarski. “The second was for disrespecting an official with profanity and per rule, two technical fouls, that is an automatic ejection.“
- Damian Lillard is listed as questionable for the Bucks for Saturday’s game against the Magic, tweets The Athletic’s Eric Nehm. He’s dealing with right calf soreness, which caused him to miss Thursday’s game.
- Bulls coach Billy Donovan has historically run with nine-man rotations, but guard Ayo Dosunmu‘s play this season is forcing him to extend the rotation to 10 deep, according to The Chicago Sun-Times’ Joe Cowley. While Dosunmu’s counting stats aren’t eye-popping, Cowley points out the advanced analytics show he’s one of the most valuable players in the rotation. “I usually [play] nine guys, but because Ayo had a good training camp and has played well in this early part you try and find minutes,” Donovan said. “The unfortunate part sometimes is the guy that is in the role that he’s in there’s not going to be a lot of minutes. There’s just sometimes not enough minutes to go around. [Dosunmu] has done a really good job taking advantage of the time that he has gotten.“
- Pistons center Jalen Duren exited Friday’s matchup against the Sixers with a right ankle injury, according to the team (Twitter link). The same ankle injury has already forced the young center to miss two games this season. Head coach Monty Williams said Pistons staffers will discuss how to handle the injury moving forward, tweets Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press. “When a guy can’t finish a game, that’s something that we have to discuss,” Williams said.
Bulls should make a trade to find time for ayo. He reminds me of a young jimmy
I like Ayo. Reminds me of Jamal Crawford. Not as good offense but better D.