MarJon Beauchamp has been stellar for the Milwaukee Bucks in their preseason outings. His 18-point game on Friday against the Grizzlies definitely lived up to the hype he’s been receiving.

Milwaukee Bucks’ MarJon Beauchamp’s Incredible Start

Milwaukee probably wouldn’t have won against the Chicago Bulls in their preseason opener had it not been for Beauchamp. The second-year forward returned to the team with hopes of receiving more playing time, even with a loaded lineup that includes Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard, and even Khris Middleton who’s making his return after knee surgery.

Head coach Adrian Griffin has been playing his way through various lineups in the preseason games, seeing who works out best that aren’t named Dame or Giannis, trying to see what moving pieces are moving the best. Beauchamp checked in Friday’s game in the third quarter scoring 18 points in 18 minutes on an impressive 7-of-9 shooting, including 4-of-5 from the three. He also had two assists and a steal, playing like he was in mid-season form.

His teammate, Giannis Antetokounmpo took notice of Beauchamp’s performance and gave him some positive words of encouragement. Beauchamp said that Giannis told him he has to have an aggressive mentality: 

“Giannis just told me, you have to have that aggressive mentality every time…Especially on a good team like this…my confidence, it’s up and down. But I heard from the big dog now,” Beauchamp said. “I got to stay aggressive. I got to keep working.”

Hearing those words from his star teammate probably left him a little starstruck, but Antetokounmpo isn’t wrong. In his statements he’s given this offseason, it’s become very clear that Giannis wants a team that’s going to be successful and has their eyes on the prize. Giannis even sees Beauchamp in that picture:

“He’s definitely part of this. He’s going to be a big part of this,” said Antetokounmpo. “You could see the way he played. He basically won the game for us. He came in the fourth quarter, made plays, shot threes, he wanted it. It’s always awesome to see guys playing with a chip on their shoulder, guys just being aggressive and try to earn every single thing on the court. And that’s what I saw today and I’m happy he’s doing that.

“We need him to do that. He cannot wait for the game to come to him…In my second year in the league, I tried to go out there and try to take it. I didn’t wait for the game to come to me.

“He’s definitely a big part of this team and he needs to know this. Not because I said it, because the whole team believes it. We need him to be great. We need him to be aggressive. We need him to take shots. We needed to go out there and take a leap.”

Beauchamp can be a huge asset to the Bucks as they head into the regular season. He made strides his rookie year and kind of went quiet once the Bucks went to the playoffs. However, this seems to be a new version of Marjon Beauchamp. It wouldn’t be terrible to see him in a starting lineup at some point this season.

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