For the first time in a couple of years, the Bucks are relevant in January. It's not a joke anymore when you use the word Bucks and playoffs in the same sentence. The changes John Hammond has made have paid off. Scott Skiles has done here - up to this point - what he did in Phoenix and Chicago. Take what he was given and improve on it.
Two years ago at this time, we were all waiting for Senator Herb Kohl to end the Terry Stotts experiment. Last year at this time we were waiting for the Senator to fire Larry Krystkowiak because we could see he just was not a good NBA coach. We wanted someone with a track record. Someone who could get the most out of the players he had considering the cap situation. Skiles was the right guy, as was Hammond.
This year, Bucks fans aren't waiting for the other shoe to drop. There is actually a little bit of buzz surrounding this basketball team. Buzz that there hasn't been in a long time, maybe since George Karl was here. The crowds may not show it yet, but if the Bucks keep winning, tickets will be harder to come by than they are right now.
The Bucks started off the season with a hard schedule in November and survived. There really isn't a reason to think they can't survive a January schedule that is jam packed with eighteen games and three sets of back to backs. The teams on the schedule (outside of Atlanta) aren't as fierce as the ones the Bucks played earlier in the season.
The point here is the Bucks have a chance to solidify their playoff position in the Eastern Conference and maybe even move up in the standings (after all, it is the East). The one thing they have shown this year is that they beat the teams they are better than, and this month features teams they are better than in Washington, Minnesota, Sacramento, the Clippers and Indiana (three of the teams who have already changed their coaches this season).
If they are going to solidify their playoff position they should to everything they can to get that done. The NBA trading deadline is February 19th, and there have been rumblings that the Bucks are looking to make a deal or two. Word around the league is that there are very few if any untouchables, including Michael Redd. Names like Charlie Villanueva are said to be on the table. The Bucks are said to have interest in any number of players, including Milwaukee's own Carl Landry, now with the Houston Rockets.
The question is should they buy or sell. Buy pieces to help with a playoff run or sell pieces like Redd to give them more flexibility as far as the cap is concerned. The feeling here is that the Bucks should be buyers.
It doesn't seem as if the Bucks need all that much. They are solid in the backcourt with Luke Ridnour and Ramon Sessions at the point. Redd is one of the league's better shooting guards. Richard Jefferson has been everything he's been advertised to be at the three spot. Andrew Bogut's point production may be down from last year, but his defense and rebounding have been what they always were, and you had to figure with Jefferson coming in someone's numbers were going to drop.
The problem spot has been the power forward position. Villanueva is an offensive player who either doesn't have interest in playing on the defensive end of the floor, or simply lacks the ability to do so. There are nights when he plays thirty-five minutes a game and nights when you barely see him. He is obviously not Skiles' favorite.
On the other hand there is rookie Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. The second round pick has been more than just your average rookie. He's averaging more than eight points and six rebounds a game. He plays the kind of style that Skiles likes and rewards with playing time.
But, can Mbah a Moute do it alone at the power forward spot? At some point you figure he is going to hit the rookie wall. NBA rookies almost always do, and the Bucks need to be prepared for that. Mbah a Moute played a lot of games for a UCLA team that routinely found itself in The Final Four, but 82 games compared to forty is a completely different animal.
The Bucks should get him some help. it doesn't have to be someone who has a flashy offensive game because the Bucks have enough offensive players. They need another Mbah a Moute, and if they have to deal Villanueva to get that player than so be it.
The perfect guy might just be Landry. He's 6-7, 245 pounds (Mbah a Moute is 6-8, 230). He averages just over twenty minutes per game. He puts up the same kind of numbers that Mbah a Moute does. Would you rather have forty-eight minutes of that kind of players as opposed to the twenty-six minutes you're getting per game from Mbah a Moute? Of course you would.
Landry is also from Milwaukee, and he has the kind of attitude Milwaukee fans like to see in a player. Landry is a hard nosed, blue collar kind of player. Combine that with the fact he's from here, and maybe fans start to fill the Bradley Center more than they've been doing.
And, the sooner you make the deal, the sooner you start reaping the benefits. The Suns made the Shaq trade in February of last year and weren't able to fit him in to what they were trying to do. As opposed to the Lakers trade for Pau Gasol, which came earlier in the season, and is generally regarded as being the reason the Lakers made the NBA Finals last June.
This is not to say that Landry is the missing piece for a title run. But he may be the difference between a playoff spot and another lottery season. And, after years of lottery seasons, it would be nice to play meaningful basketball in April.
Buy or sell? Buy, and buy soon.
Two years ago at this time, we were all waiting for Senator Herb Kohl to end the Terry Stotts experiment. Last year at this time we were waiting for the Senator to fire Larry Krystkowiak because we could see he just was not a good NBA coach. We wanted someone with a track record. Someone who could get the most out of the players he had considering the cap situation. Skiles was the right guy, as was Hammond.
This year, Bucks fans aren't waiting for the other shoe to drop. There is actually a little bit of buzz surrounding this basketball team. Buzz that there hasn't been in a long time, maybe since George Karl was here. The crowds may not show it yet, but if the Bucks keep winning, tickets will be harder to come by than they are right now.
The Bucks started off the season with a hard schedule in November and survived. There really isn't a reason to think they can't survive a January schedule that is jam packed with eighteen games and three sets of back to backs. The teams on the schedule (outside of Atlanta) aren't as fierce as the ones the Bucks played earlier in the season.
The point here is the Bucks have a chance to solidify their playoff position in the Eastern Conference and maybe even move up in the standings (after all, it is the East). The one thing they have shown this year is that they beat the teams they are better than, and this month features teams they are better than in Washington, Minnesota, Sacramento, the Clippers and Indiana (three of the teams who have already changed their coaches this season).
If they are going to solidify their playoff position they should to everything they can to get that done. The NBA trading deadline is February 19th, and there have been rumblings that the Bucks are looking to make a deal or two. Word around the league is that there are very few if any untouchables, including Michael Redd. Names like Charlie Villanueva are said to be on the table. The Bucks are said to have interest in any number of players, including Milwaukee's own Carl Landry, now with the Houston Rockets.
The question is should they buy or sell. Buy pieces to help with a playoff run or sell pieces like Redd to give them more flexibility as far as the cap is concerned. The feeling here is that the Bucks should be buyers.
It doesn't seem as if the Bucks need all that much. They are solid in the backcourt with Luke Ridnour and Ramon Sessions at the point. Redd is one of the league's better shooting guards. Richard Jefferson has been everything he's been advertised to be at the three spot. Andrew Bogut's point production may be down from last year, but his defense and rebounding have been what they always were, and you had to figure with Jefferson coming in someone's numbers were going to drop.
The problem spot has been the power forward position. Villanueva is an offensive player who either doesn't have interest in playing on the defensive end of the floor, or simply lacks the ability to do so. There are nights when he plays thirty-five minutes a game and nights when you barely see him. He is obviously not Skiles' favorite.
On the other hand there is rookie Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. The second round pick has been more than just your average rookie. He's averaging more than eight points and six rebounds a game. He plays the kind of style that Skiles likes and rewards with playing time.
But, can Mbah a Moute do it alone at the power forward spot? At some point you figure he is going to hit the rookie wall. NBA rookies almost always do, and the Bucks need to be prepared for that. Mbah a Moute played a lot of games for a UCLA team that routinely found itself in The Final Four, but 82 games compared to forty is a completely different animal.
The Bucks should get him some help. it doesn't have to be someone who has a flashy offensive game because the Bucks have enough offensive players. They need another Mbah a Moute, and if they have to deal Villanueva to get that player than so be it.
The perfect guy might just be Landry. He's 6-7, 245 pounds (Mbah a Moute is 6-8, 230). He averages just over twenty minutes per game. He puts up the same kind of numbers that Mbah a Moute does. Would you rather have forty-eight minutes of that kind of players as opposed to the twenty-six minutes you're getting per game from Mbah a Moute? Of course you would.
Landry is also from Milwaukee, and he has the kind of attitude Milwaukee fans like to see in a player. Landry is a hard nosed, blue collar kind of player. Combine that with the fact he's from here, and maybe fans start to fill the Bradley Center more than they've been doing.
And, the sooner you make the deal, the sooner you start reaping the benefits. The Suns made the Shaq trade in February of last year and weren't able to fit him in to what they were trying to do. As opposed to the Lakers trade for Pau Gasol, which came earlier in the season, and is generally regarded as being the reason the Lakers made the NBA Finals last June.
This is not to say that Landry is the missing piece for a title run. But he may be the difference between a playoff spot and another lottery season. And, after years of lottery seasons, it would be nice to play meaningful basketball in April.
Buy or sell? Buy, and buy soon.
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