Milwaukee Bucks 2012/2013

[Outlander]

With a win today they would have a 6 game lead over Philadelphia, the number nine seed, with about half the season to go. They really need to try to avoid the 8 seed which is currently Boston so they don't play the Heat in the first round. The Bucks can certainly beat the Knicks or Pacers in the first round and then avoid the Heat in the second round as well.

[homer]

Those two home playoff games might get them in the black. Yay?

 

I am starting to lean towards keeping Jennings around; but now he will probably go into one of his shooting slumps and I will change my mind again.

 

No real reason to keep Ellis around IMO. If the goal is to make the playoffs I don't think trading Ellis really hampers that effort at all. Too bad Lamb hasn't emerged yet so he can take that SG spot. Glad to see Henson and Sanders emerging and playing well; hoping for the same eventually from Harris and Lamb.

 

I think they could win a playoff series with anyone other than Miami. I mean they're only 4 games behind the two seed right now. Having said that, I don't expect them to win but it's not like year's past where there's a huge difference in the east between the top and bottom of the playoff bracket. But that also isn't a reason to NOT blow up the team. Just another reason that Kohl probably won't.

[patrickgpe]

unlike past seasons, there is little gap between the 4 and the 7 seeds. Right now the team is playing pretty good under Boylan and are only 3 games behind the 4 seed. I think its something that is attainable. Chicago will obviously be moving up once Rose is back, but i don't see how the bucks can't pass Brooklyn, Atlanta, or Indiana.

[FVBrewerFan]

But that also isn't a reason to NOT blow up the team. Just another reason that Kohl probably won't.

 

I read and hear this all the time, and I just don't agree. "Kohl can't see the big picture," that sort of thing. I think he understands the big picture very well. If they blow up the team and start over, what will attendance be?

 

They're a winning team now, and exciting to watch yet the BC is like a morgue most games. So many 12 win seasons will it take for the franchise to go under? Plus, there's no guarantee you get that "franchise saver" guy anyhow. With all these "one and done" top draft picks, there's not many sure things anymore.

 

So I don't think blowing it up is the best way for the Bucks to go. You build around Jennings, Larry, and Henson. Then you still have guys like Sova and Dunleavy that can either help you win, or bring value back in a trade. No reason they couldn't evolve into a top 4 team in the East, they're almost there already.

[trwi7]

Fans aren't going now because they don't care about watching a 7th seed. Lose for a few years until you get your LeBron or Durant or even a Harden level player along with an Aldridge level player.

[FVBrewerFan]

Lose a few years and there may no longer be a Milwaukee Bucks. And there are for more examples of bad teams that never get a LeBron or Durant than teams who do.

 

Look no further than the last time the Bucks had the #1 overall pick. Bogut was arguably the best out there. LeBron, Duncan, Kobe...those guys are rare and there's no guarantee you get a superstar by getting the #1 overall pick. Even if you do, chances are it's going to be a very young player needing development (like uni-brow.) By the time they play like a superstar, contract is up and off to LA or NY.

 

Look, it's not easy. Just as it's not easy to build a true contender in Milwaukee for MLB. I just think there's a huge risk in blowing it up, because I honestly don't think the franchise could survive 3-4 years of being a horrible team.

[trwi7]

The Bucks have survived 20 years of being a horrible team for the most part. The way small market teams win in the NBA is sucking for a few years until they get young, talented players. That's how it always will be. If the Bucks don't want to do that, fine. Just don't expect to have people come and watch as you try to make the playoffs as an 8th seed, fail a majority of the time and when you do make it get knocked out in the first round.

[TooLiveBrew]

The Bucks have survived 20 years of being a horrible team for the most part. The way small market teams win in the NBA is sucking for a few years until they get young, talented players. That's how it always will be. If the Bucks don't want to do that, fine. Just don't expect to have people come and watch as you try to make the playoffs as an 8th seed, fail a majority of the time and when you do make it get knocked out in the first round.

You just summed up why I quit following them. There just hasn't been a real plan for so long now imo.

[RockCoCougars]

Look around the league. There are probably at least 10 teams in tank/rebuild mode. Throw the lottery in the mix, and you can tank for years without getting a number one overall... then when you get it, you could end up with a Bogut draft. I get that tanking is the in thing to do, but with so many horrible teams is it really worth it? I say no, I'd rather watch competitive basketball for the winter and maybe even win another playoff series. Do the Bucks have a legit chance at winning a title as things stand? No, but I'd rather be watching them right now than a garbage team like Washington, who have been tanking rather successfully for years, but are no better now than when they started.

[homer]

You can build a championship "team" through the draft but it's really hard. I think Detroit was the last team to win it all without a bona fide super star. The only lottery players on that team were Rash-weed (4th overall but on his third team at that point) and Rip Hamilton who was fourth. Hamilton was a very good NBA player at the time but not at the Lebron, Kobe, or Dirk level that recent NBA champs have had.

[Outlander]

Yeah the last #1 picks to win a championship with their team was Tim Duncan and David robinson so tanking and getting the first pick doesn't guarantee anything. Any team that wins the championship has to get real lucky in the draft or have lots of money to buy a championship.

[LouisEly]

You can build a championship "team" through the draft but it's really hard. I think Detroit was the last team to win it all without a bona fide super star. The only lottery players on that team were Rash-weed (4th overall but on his third team at that point) and Rip Hamilton who was fourth. Hamilton was a very good NBA player at the time but not at the Lebron, Kobe, or Dirk level that recent NBA champs have had.

 

Chauncey Billups was the #3 overall pick in 1997, and was second in scoring on that team and led them in assists. Technically Darko Milicic was a lottery pick, arguably the worst pick in NBA history considering the talent picked after him, but had no impact on the team.

 

I don't think this is the year to blow it up. Too many other bad teams, not enough talent in the upcoming draft. Jennings is only 23, Ilyasova is 25, Sanders is 24, Henson is 22, LRMAM is 26, and Ellis is 27. Udoh is 25, Harris is 20, and Lamb is 21 so even the bench guys are still developing.

[Outlander]

I've been high on this team all year because I believe they are talented and young. It's discouraging to see so many continue to rip on them and complain about a trade that happened ten years ago but it makes it easy to see why their attendance is so bad.

[milwaukeesportsfan]

I wouldn't blow anything up. They're playing winning basketball. Enjoy it. Also, Henson needs to be a bigger part of the offensive game plan. He might end up being the steal of the draft.

[homer]

You can build a championship "team" through the draft but it's really hard. I think Detroit was the last team to win it all without a bona fide super star. The only lottery players on that team were Rash-weed (4th overall but on his third team at that point) and Rip Hamilton who was fourth. Hamilton was a very good NBA player at the time but not at the Lebron, Kobe, or Dirk level that recent NBA champs have had.

 

Chauncey Billups was the #3 overall pick in 1997, and was second in scoring on that team and led them in assists. Technically Darko Milicic was a lottery pick, arguably the worst pick in NBA history considering the talent picked after him, but had no impact on the team.

 

I didn't even look Billups up. Thought he was a mid 1st round pick for sure. But Detroit was his fifth team so it's not like he was a cornerstone player or anything. And I knew about Darko but he barely played at all.

[brwrsfan]

I've been high on this team all year because I believe they are talented and young. It's discouraging to see so many continue to rip on them and complain about a trade that happened ten years ago but it makes it easy to see why their attendance is so bad.

 

The Bucks have been much better than I expected this year and on most nights are fun to watch. But I think we have to be realistic in that with the roster the way it's current assembled and the fact that no quality FA's are going to come to Milwaukee for the most part, that the best we can realistically hope for is a 6-8 seed and MAYBE one playoff series win. And thats fine and dandy, but I think most of us that have followed the Bucks for a long time want more than that. It's very tiring watching the same mediocre script season after season after season with no real plan in place.

 

Sure, guys like Henson, Harris, Lamb and to some extent Jennings can still vastly improve, but that's a lot to expect and probably unrealistic. Especially when two of those guys (albeit very young) can barely see the floor.

[fondybrewfan]

They nearly made the finals in 2001 primarily through the draft (for the most part) with Big Dog and Ray; no reason they couldn't do it again.

 

The 2013 draft class does look rather pathetic. They have already won too much this year to really have any shot of a top #3 pick anways so they might as well play for the playoffs and hope for the best. There probably isn't a big difference between drafting at #12 or #20. I guess the East is a little underwhelming this year and the Bucks would have at least a shot of beating anyone but the Heat; but I guess I still can't get myself excited about the postseason.

[homer]

They nearly made the finals in 2001 primarily through the draft (for the most part) with Big Dog and Ray; no reason they couldn't do it again.

 

The 2013 draft class does look rather pathetic. They have already won too much this year to really have any shot of a top #3 pick anways so they might as well play for the playoffs and hope for the best. There probably isn't a big difference between drafting at #12 or #20. I guess the East is a little underwhelming this year and the Bucks would have at least a shot of beating anyone but the Heat; but I guess I still can't get myself excited about the postseason.

 

 

Well they had to win the lottery to get Big Dog. I think that's the point people are trying to make is that they need a few top three or four picks.

[FVBrewerFan]

Seems to me all the negative comments made about the Bucks can be made about the Brewers. So if you really just don't like/enjoy the Bucks or the NBA that much, that's fine. But the Bucks are in the same boat as the Brewers, and have basically hade the ame level of success/failure as the Brewers over the last 20 years.

 

It's easy to say the Bucks stink and/or there's no chance they can ever make a serious run. But I appreciate the fact we actually have NBA basketball in Milwaukee. I remember the 80s Bucks and oh how the Mecca rocked. There was even energy 2 years ago in the Atlanta series. Yes, the Bucks have all kinds of hurdles to clear- mostly the same ones the Brewers have.

 

But I think Jennings is better than what he's given credit for. I would build around him, Sanders, and Henson. Mix in Sova, Dunleavy, and the Prince... that's a very solid team right there. Not even counting on Harris or Lamb, so that would be pleasant surprise. They need a bit of luck to really be acontender though, I'll grant you that.

 

Speaking of luck, they could have had Jennings, a healthy Bogut, Sanders, and Henson to build around. Heck, add a legit 2 guard and that is a contending team right there. That's how close they were, so it could certainly happen again.

[Baldkin]

Seems to me all the negative comments made about the Bucks can be made about the Brewers. So if you really just don't like/enjoy the Bucks or the NBA that much, that's fine. But the Bucks are in the same boat as the Brewers, and have basically hade the ame level of success/failure as the Brewers over the last 20 years.

 

The difference is, the Brewers are moving forward, they have a good GM, a good owner, and show some semblance of an idea of how to win in Milwaukee. The Bucks have had 1 playoff series win in 25 years, when the majority of the teams make the playoffs every year. They also traded away the single best player they've had, for a washed up 35 year old point guard.

 

The Bucks just resigned a GM who went with Monta Ellis instead of Steph Curry, decided to drop down 10 spots in the draft to get Stephen Jackson, didn't get rid of Michael Redd for expiring deals (or move his expiring deal for anything of value), traded expiring deals to get Corey Magette.

 

But I think Jennings is better than what he's given credit for.

 

It's been 4 years, he still can't run the pick-n-roll or dribble into the lane with his right hand. I don't think he deserves any credit.

[RockCoCougars]

The Bucks take a lot of heat, some warranted, some not. This is likely because a good deal of the fanbase has only seen one really good season in their lifetimes. That said, I'm finding the team pretty entertaining to watch this season, and I'd rather watch that than a bad team going through the motions in the hopes of landing that franchise player (who if they panned out by the way, would leave Milwaukee to join their friends in another market at the first possible opportunity).

 

I just don't get all the hate on the Bucks, while most are still on the Badger basketball bandwagon. Frankly, neither has any realistic shot at winning a championship. Vegas has both at about the same odds. I think that the best path this team could take is to build around some of the promising young guys, hope a couple of players fall into their laps and build a team like Detroit had at the turn of the century. I think that winning a first round series would be an outstanding and fairly realistic first step.

[LouisEly]

Indiana is in first place in the Central and had the 3rd best record in the East last year and doesn't have a top-5 or even top-8 pick on their roster - D.J. Augustin is the highest drafted player at #9 overall but was let go by Charlotte and signed as a free agent. Paul George was the #10 overall pick, David West was the #18 overall pick, Roy Hibbert the #17 overall pick, and George Hill the #26 overall pick.

 

Next year the Bucks can clear $17M of backups off their roster (Dalembert, Udrih, Prz, Daniels) without touching their starting lineup. If Ellis leaves, it's $28M that they can use to go after a stud SG and still have plenty left over to decide if they want to extend Jennings (who is only 23), and still have Sanders, Illyasova, Henson.

[homer]

Indiana is in first place in the Central and had the 3rd best record in the East last year and doesn't have a top-5 or even top-8 pick on their roster - D.J. Augustin is the highest drafted player at #9 overall but was let go by Charlotte and signed as a free agent. Paul George was the #10 overall pick, David West was the #18 overall pick, Roy Hibbert the #17 overall pick, and George Hill the #26 overall pick.

 

Next year the Bucks can clear $17M of backups off their roster (Dalembert, Udrih, Prz, Daniels) without touching their starting lineup. If Ellis leaves, it's $28M that they can use to go after a stud SG and still have plenty left over to decide if they want to extend Jennings (who is only 23), and still have Sanders, Illyasova, Henson.

 

 

Indiana has drafted perfectly and they still won't win an NBA championship. They will top out at Eastern Conf. Finals....if they're lucky (and they will be if Derrick Rose doesn't come back to be the same player he was before he got hurt).

[brwrsfan]

Indiana is in first place in the Central and had the 3rd best record in the East last year and doesn't have a top-5 or even top-8 pick on their roster - D.J. Augustin is the highest drafted player at #9 overall but was let go by Charlotte and signed as a free agent. Paul George was the #10 overall pick, David West was the #18 overall pick, Roy Hibbert the #17 overall pick, and George Hill the #26 overall pick.

 

Next year the Bucks can clear $17M of backups off their roster (Dalembert, Udrih, Prz, Daniels) without touching their starting lineup. If Ellis leaves, it's $28M that they can use to go after a stud SG and still have plenty left over to decide if they want to extend Jennings (who is only 23), and still have Sanders, Illyasova, Henson.

 

Don't forget they can amnesty Gooden at any time too. Way too much money for a guy that rarely plays. They'll also no longer have Dunleavy on the books (though I hope they bring him back - I can't believe I just wrote that). So they'll have lots of money.

 

The problem is...what stud SG is really going to want to come to Milwaukee? If he's that good, he'll have offers from other teams for the exact same amount. That's part of the problem in the NBA, you reach a point where if the player gets a max deal or close to it, the money is the same and there is nothing to entice someone to come to Milwaukee. Also, checking out the FA SG's next year...it's a pretty weak area. You can find it here. Who would you throw money at from this list?

 

http://www.hoopsworld.com/2013-nba-free-agents/

[fondybrewfan]

It is one thing to have money to spend; its quite another to actually get a legit SG to come here. Same problem as the Brewers used to have. Who was the last legitmately good FA that ever decided to come to MIL or that was even offered by MIL? Drew Gooden doesn't count.