Thursday, July 1, 2010

2010-2011 Milwaukee Bucks: 2nd Round of the Playoffs Bound

Here are my thoughts on John Hammond and the moves he's made (so far) to favorite professional sports team ever. First off, my depth chart:

PG: Jennings
SG: Salmons, Douglas-Roberts
SF: Mbah A Moute, Maggette, Delfino
PF: Ilyaova, Sanders, Gallon
C: Bogut, Gooden

****note****
They will pick up another PG soon.
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So, you may have noticed Michael Redd is not listed. That's because he'll be gone soon enough. A lot of people say the Bucks lack shooters, and yes that's true. But jump shooting teams won't win a championship. Maggette adds a serious top tier take it to the hoop threat. No longer will we as fans see in the box score that the opponent reached the line 25 times and the Bucks only 10 times. Although it seems Maggette will come off the bench now that Salmons resigned, the Bucks will have a serious scorer as a sixth man. If they need to score, simply adjust the lineup by adding Maggette in at SF and put Mbah a Moute on the bench.

The Bucks got longer and faster. That's just a fact. Sanders can run the floor with Jennings and Salmons, so expect a little more fast break offense this coming season.

If Bogut heals properly and manages to stay healthy, we have a legitimate 1st and 2nd center (Bogut and Gooden) unlike the Bucks have had since I can remember. Gooden is a tough dude. Yeah, he's not the biggest man, and yeah, he sported the worst hair cut ever with that stupid patch on the back of his head. But, he's not gonna let anyone push him around in the low post. Remember the playoffs last season when Kurt Thomas was just too slow to man up with Horford? That won't be a problem anymore. No more counting on someone who should be sitting back in a lawn chair playing Croquet.

Douglas-Roberts is a young player. I think he's 25 or 26. He's not the best shooter in the game, but like Maggette, he's super athletic and takes in to the hole. Not much unlike Stackhouse used to be in his prime. Both CDR and Maggette have been criticized for work ethic, locker room attitude, and defensive skills. Keep in mind, they came from horrible teams. Golden State doesn't play defense, period. The Nets were just plain awful. Now that they are in Milwaukee playing under Coach Skiles who is not afraid to sit a player for lack of effort (ie: Andrew Bogut and Brandon Jennings last season) I really don't think they will be liabilities defensively all season. It's plain and simple, play defense in Milwaukee or don't play at all. These guys are great additions. With them and our core group of young, developing players (Ilyasova, Mbah a Moute, and Jennings mainly) I honestly believe the Bucks will be anywhere from a 2 seed to a 5 seed. Most likely a 3 or 4 though. That means home court advantage in the playoffs and an advancement to the 2nd round for the first time since 2001. That's right, FEAR THE DEER! :D

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