Milwaukee Bucks 2013–2014

[fondybrewfan]

I am starting to believe in this tanking business.

 

They are probably better than Orlando but it just so happened that a lot of players were "hurt" last night. I am sure these guys will be ready to go for Indiana and OKC whom we couldn't beat even with a full squad.

 

Only two teams have a worse record right now (Utah and Washington) but there a bunch of teams with only 1-3 wins. The Bucks are staring 2-7 in the face. After that they have a ton of winnable games that important guys will mysteriously be unavailable for. Detroit, Charlotte, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington.

[Outlander]

I am starting to believe in this tanking business.

After that they have a ton of winnable games that important guys will mysteriously be unavailable for.

That is where I disagree and why I am both excited and frustrated. I am looking forward to the high draft pick that they will get but am frustrated because this is an unintentional tank, the GM and others there actually thought and may actually still think this is a playoff team. This organization doesn't deserve the excuse of tanking because they are just flat out incompetent.

[GAME05]

yay, we'll luck out to get the #1, draft Wiggins, and we'll still stink.

 

Hammonds is trying to get somewhere in a boat with one oar.

[brwrsfan]

If Kohl really believes that this is a winning team and they wind up with one of the 5 worst records, Hammond has to be fired. I sure hope so at least. To me, he's clearly proven he isn't capable of handling the job. Fire him, bring in a new GM and let him make the draft pick.

[Baldkin]

If Kohl really believes that this is a winning team and they wind up with one of the 5 worst records, Hammond has to be fired. I sure hope so at least. To me, he's clearly proven he isn't capable of handling the job. Fire him, bring in a new GM and let him make the draft pick.

 

He's been under a WIN NOW edict for 5 seasons, and they have had a winning record exactly ONCE.

He GOT EXTENDED for TWO MORE YEARS last year.

Aside from that, drafting is actually the one thing Hammond has been good at.

 

I just cannot even begin to fathom the dysfunction in the Bucks front office.

[nate82]

If Kohl really believes that this is a winning team and they wind up with one of the 5 worst records, Hammond has to be fired. I sure hope so at least. To me, he's clearly proven he isn't capable of handling the job. Fire him, bring in a new GM and let him make the draft pick.

 

Firing Hammond wouldn't do anything as Kohl would just put another person in who would do exactly the same thing Hammond is doing right now. The only thing that is going to change this is if Kohl sells the team and if he does that the Bucks are moving to Seattle.

[GAME05]

or maybe Hammonds is a genius and knew that OJ and Butler would stink. the fans get some FAs to cheer for yet we get to compete for a top-3 draft pick.

[RockCoCougars]

This team is pretty much unwatchable. I'll be shocked if they don't have one of the 3 worst records in the league.

[homer]

If Kohl really believes that this is a winning team and they wind up with one of the 5 worst records, Hammond has to be fired. I sure hope so at least. To me, he's clearly proven he isn't capable of handling the job. Fire him, bring in a new GM and let him make the draft pick.

 

Kohl needs to sell the team. I mean I'm grateful he wants to keep the team in Milwaukee and turned down the Jordan group back in the day to ensure the team would stay here but he's just an awful owner. Hopefully the arena deal gets done with limited taxpayer money and Kohl can sell to a local buyer group.

[patrickgpe]

or maybe Hammonds is a genius and knew that OJ and Butler would stink. the fans get some FAs to cheer for yet we get to compete for a top-3 draft pick.

that is what is dumb about what Hammond did. He signed a bunch of average veterans to multi-year deals. If they were tanking they would have signed players to 1 year deals to get the pick.

[yoshii8]

A few fans created a website that talks about the Bucks history and the path they would like the team to take to keep the Bucks. I think it's definitely worth checking out, its http://www.saveourbucks.com

[Baldkin]

Giannis with his 3rd DNP, CD in 10 games tonight.

 

Getting the Gamel treatment.

[fondybrewfan]

... while they continue to suck.

 

It would be one thing if they were winning; its quite another when they are terrible and still playing no upside veterans over their hot shot draft pick that they have hyped up since draft day.

[brwrsfan]

I under stand bringing Giannis along slowly, but there is simply no justification for him not getting at least 5-10 minutes of action in every game.

 

The Bucks are currently 2-8, second worst record in the NBA and they have just been flat out terrible lately. Simply no reason to not allow the young guys to play, aside from the Hammond mandate that we're trying to win.

[bani1717]

At this point, I literally want the Bucks to do whatever increases their chances of losing each game. It is very clear that they won't amount to much if anything this year, and I think that getting Wiggins or Parker will do significantly more for the Bucks' chances at success than anything else at this point (and that includes things like developing the younger guys on this year's team).

 

I read through the entire saveourbucks.com website linked above, and for the most part I agree with what they said on there. They have all sorts of statistics to back up why the Bucks really need a top-5 pick and why this year is the year to have a top pick. Not to mention that anything short of drafting a cream-of-the-crop talent is likely to result in the Bucks relocating in the not-so-distant future, because without a drastic turnaround there is almost no way a new arena gets built.

 

Their focus toward tanking is moreso that the young guys should get a decent amount of playing time and the record will take care of itself; I am more directly in support of tanking, and if that means playing the young guys or not then so be it. I believe that a guy like Wiggins or Parker is far more likely to have a big impact on this franchise than Sanders, Henson, or Giannis.

[Outlander]

I would rather they play the young guys because they are going to lose either way so might as well try to develop a couple of guys along the way. Now if I thought Hammond had a plan and was playing the veterans in order to pump up their value and perhaps get another draft pick I would be willing to wait to play the younger guys until after the trade deadline. However, Hammond doesn't really appear to have a plan except try to get the #8 seed, which he has no chance of accomplishing.

[fondybrewfan]

Hammond should already be calling teams if they have an interest inany of the veterns. Mayo, Ersan, and Neal would seem to have some appeal but it isn't likely the Bucks would get a 1st round pick for any of them either.

 

Mayo and Zaza have played OK so far; the signing of Neal and trade of Butler already seem terrible 10 games in.

[Dmiles23]

The issue with the Bucks this year is there are so many bad teams in the east, it's going to be difficult for them to "tank." Kohl has said repeatedly that they aren't going to be tanking. Right now they are 2-10 and just got blown out by the Bobcats. But you know they are looking at the standings and saying "Now that we have Ridnour, Knight, and Ersan back we should be able to pick up some games here. We're only 2.5 games out of that 7 seed!"

 

The other issue with so many teams being so bad and looking to tank, that leaves fewer teams looking to acquire players for the stretch run. If the Bucks do decide to trade some of their players (Butler, Ersan, Neal), they probably won't get what they are looking to get because 15 tanking teams are trying to sell their players to about 10-12 teams looking to buy. I can see Kohl saying "That's all we can get for Butler? He's a Racine native and is worth more to this team than that! No trade!"

 

And as you can tell, I think Hammond is just a pawn. I think Kohl is running this team (into the ground).

[RockCoCougars]

Injured guys returning or not, this team is still going to be brutal. From what I've seen so far, this is the worst Bucks team that I can remember. They cannot score the ball, just brutal to watch. I really don't think that there is one team in the East with less talent than the Bucks, and the only team in the league that looks comparable/worse to this point is Utah. We are going to see first hand how tanking works... and if Hammond put this team together actually thinking it had a chance to compete, I don't want him anywhere close to the rebuild process.

[AJOHNSON104]

The problem with this team is that they are a team made up of all "good" players. If healthy, and if they play well together, they can win some games and compete most nights. That is why many picked them to win 30-40 games and be in the running for a 7-8 seed. The problem is that they don't have any go-to or "very good" players, let alone any All-star or superstar players. The way the NBA is played and officiated these days, you need 2-3 all star or better players to actually have a chance in the playoffs. Nearly every one of the Bucks 15 guys would get picked up by another team, so they belong in the NBA, but unless their young guys really develop fast (Middleton, Knight, Wolters, Giannis, Henson) their old guys get younger (Zaza, Butler, Neal) or their middle players start playing like all-stars (Sanders, Ersan) they'll win about 20 games. Many of these guys will be here next year because they generally seem to be good guys and are solid backup and roll players.

[fondybrewfan]

They just got crushed at home by the freaking Bobcats and are now 2-10. I just hope they don't go out and win by 6 of 8 and get Hammond actually believing again that they could sneak into the playoffs. This team is bad and it was asking way to much to integrate so many new players under a new coach.

 

I think they are good enough that they won't have the most ping pong balls but they should have a realistic shot at the top spot. Even without the top pick you have to feel pretty good about who will be there at 1-5. Wiggins, Parker, Randle, and Smart all look like the real deal and then you add in the guy from Australia that everyone seems to love. If they get in the Top #5 they should get a really really good player. I would prefer Wiggins, Parker, or Randle so please get a Top #3 pick.

[LouisEly]

Again, this is a team that replaced 11 of 15 players, and two of the four not replaced have missed significant time with injury. Several other projected starters have missed considerable time with injury making it even harder to develop team chemistry. It will take a while for them to learn to play with each other, thus why they look terrible.

 

That being said, hopefully they can lose enough games during these first two months of the season to get in the lottery and accumulate as many ping pong balls as possible.

[jjkoestler]

65-34 at the half vs the Pistons. This team is awful. Welcome to Milwaukee Mr. Wiggins or Parker.

[bucks2281]

This is really good. Best possible scenario, actually. Things need to get so incredibly bad early, as to not tempt Kohl into making some stupid move to make a run at the 8 seed.

[brwrsfan]

The thing that's really, really sad, is that as bad as the Bucks have been (2-11, only Utah worse at 2-14), is that the Bucks are only 3 games back of the 8 seed in the East (granted, there are 7 teams in between them) and only 4.5 games back of the 4 seed.

 

The NBA and specifically the Eastern Conference, is loaded with just some really bad, bad teams this year. And as we all know, the Bucks have historically been stupid enough to push all in to get the 8 seed, regardless of what it means for the future. I can only hope they continue to get destroyed that the hole becomes impossible large, but I don't see that happening.