Milwaukee Bucks 2013–2014

[fondybrewfan]

Drew just stuck with the 2nd stringers who got the team back in the game. They just ran out of gas the last 2-3 minutes

[LouisEly]

By "ran out of gas the last 2-3 minutes", fondy means "couldn't make free throws the last 10 minutes".

[fondybrewfan]

Well that too. So far this year it seems like the 2nd string is playing much better than 1st string. Our top 5 are getting killed in the 1st half and Drew has needed the backups and there energy to get back in the games.

 

Those acquisitions of Butler and Neal just look like pure genious right now. Mayo and Zaza have been pretty solid this far IMO.

[brwrsfan]

It's so weird for me watching the Bucks this year. I can't actively root against them, but I really believe they're much better off losing as many games as possible this year. So I find myself watching and my heart tells me to cheer for them, while my brain tells me not to, that with each loss, our future can maybe get better.

[FVBrewerFan]

After 3 games, it looks like you guys are getting your wish. Of course, they would never SAY they are tanking, but No Sanders or Sova at the end of any of these games? Maybe Larry you can explain away saying he can't provide offense they needed. Bu they did just pay him to be on the court way more than he has been. And Sova is certainly a better option at the end of games than most of the guys that have been out there. Add in a conspiracy theory to explain Ridnour's back spasms...something just tells me there wil alwyas be guys all year who have some sort of injury. Just enough of all of this to not look overly suspicious, but lose a ton of games. Not that they have to try too hard to do that.

[fondybrewfan]

They have also played 3 rather mediocre teams; just imagine how things will go when they start playing CHI, IND, NJ, MIA, etc. It will be a bloodbath. I am going to go with the 25-30 win range. There are enough bad teams that the Bucks should be able to win 30-40% of their games. No one on the team has looked overly impressive thus far although I have liked how Henson has played when he has actually been on the floor. Maybe things change once Knight is playing.

[LouisEly]

Again, keep in mind they replaced 11 of 15 players. They have no chemistry right now because no one is used to playing with each other. That will take two months; they will look better in January. Hopefully they can lose enough winnable games in November and December to still get into the lottery.

 

People were criticizing what Orlando got in the Howard trade, but Afflalo, Vucevic, and Harkless are looking pretty good plus two first round picks in a good draft class next year and another first round pick in 2017. I think they did alright in that trade.

[yoshii8]

I hope Ridnour, Butler, Udoh, and possibly Ersan are traded for young players and draft picks. I'd like Knight, Wolters, Mayo, Giannis, Middleton, Henson and Sanders to get the majority of the minutes. Let Zaza, Neal and Delfino do the mentoring if need be.

[JoeHova]

I hope Neal is also dumped. He's looked horrible and I don't believe a chucker like him ever makes a good mentor for young players. All he'll teach them is to shoot a lot so they can trick a team into giving them a contract because they're 'proven scorers.'

[trwi7]

Larry Sanders being investigated by Milwaukee police for a fight at a club on Saturday.

[DuWayne Steurer]

3 games in, and Sanders is getting 17 mpg. I don't even know what to say about that.

 

What everyone was worried about......"who's going to score the points?" is coming true. Pachulia leads the team at 13.0 PPG. Neal looks horrific so far.

 

I'll be surprised if this squad wins more than 25 games.

[owbc]

Bucks win. They can't even tank properly.

[fondybrewfan]

They won and Giannis didn't even get in the game. I am not sure if I liked the result or not. Mayo played pretty weel and Butler continues to be dreadful. Neal finally had a decent game. Henson is a FG % machine; 7-9 last night. He has a pretty sweet lefty hook.

 

I am starting to feel that Sanders might be turning into a problem. He was already a bit of a hot head. With his new guaranteed contract and his diminished playing time we might be sitting on a ticking time bomb. This year couldn't have started off worse for him.

[Outlander]

For the Bucks to win this year they need Neal and Mayo to be hot and last night they barely won even when that happened. Also concerned about Sanders but at least Henson gets to play.

[DuWayne Steurer]

For the Bucks to win this year they need Neal and Mayo to be hot and last night they barely won even when that happened. Also concerned about Sanders but at least Henson gets to play.

 

This is the problem. Neal and Mayo shot lights out (10 of 12 from 3-land), and they still barely beat the Cavs. I know Ersan didn't dress out, and Sanders didn't play, but when your shooters shoot the way they did, you should beat a bad team, at home, without having to sweat it out in the final seconds.

 

Still, it's nice to see Henson put up a nice line, and what's up with Wolters almost pushing a triple double???

[fondybrewfan]

If anything Wolters play should make Ridnour and/or Knight very expendable

[yoshii8]

It was upsetting to see Wolters on the bench vs. the Cavs while they made their run. It seemed so obvious that they needed a ball handler on the floor. Not sure what LD was thinking?

[FVBrewerFan]

For the Bucks to win this year they need Neal and Mayo to be hot and last night they barely won even when that happened. Also concerned about Sanders but at least Henson gets to play.

 

I know what you're saying, but cmon be fair about it. They didn't have Sanders, Sova, Knight, Ridnour, or Delfino. They can still win with scoring coming from other places, most of these guys are capable of having a big scoring game on any given night. With that short of a bench, I thought it was an impressive win, regardless of who it was against.

 

Wolters is really growing on me, he has better PG skills than I saw during summer league. He already plays pick and roll 10 times better than Jennings ever did or will.

[Outlander]

I politely disagree because I don't think they are capable of much scoring and don't have much faith offensive wise in the guys you mentioned or that Delfino sees the court much at all. I give Mayo and Neal credit for shooting well that night but they can't do it on a consistent basis so that is why they will end up with 25-30 wins. They don't have much scoring and while Ellis and Jennings were criticized a lot they at least knew how to create shots for themselves and others.

 

Edit: Just saw Delfino is done for the year, so yeah scoring will be tough and can't wait for Hammond to be fired.

[yoshii8]

At least they gave Delfino a 2 year deal w/ an option for the third year. Wow, what an incompetent franchise.

 

It's not like they didn't know he was coming off a major surgery.

[fondybrewfan]

I am curious if they are going to be able to win at least 1 of the next 4 games. Miami, Orlando, Indiana, OKC. Ouch. Orlando is probably the only winnable game and that is on the road.

[brwrsfan]

Orlando on the road, the night after playing in Miami...I'm going to go ahead and call that a loss. I think this is definitely an 0-4 stretch. Don't forget about Dallas this past Saturday as well, that's about as tough a stretch as you'll find. And I fully expect (hope) to lose them all.

[jjkoestler]

Per JS Online

Larry Sanders out 6 weeks with torn ligament in his thumb.

http://m.jsonline.com/more/sports/231503811.htm

 

Looks like this happened in the bar fight at Apartment 720. Unbelievable...

[trwi7]

If this leads the Bucks to Wiggins, Exum, Randle etc. and turns the franchise around we need to give the guy who got the bottle smashed over his head free champagne for about 25 years.

[bani1717]

If this leads the Bucks to Wiggins, Exum, Randle etc. and turns the franchise around we need to give the guy who got the bottle smashed over his head free champagne for about 25 years.

 

See, the Bucks were planning to tank all along... they knew Sanders would be involved in an incident like this, so that's why they gave him a big contract extension.