Of all of the sports I care about, pro basketball is at or near the bottom. That said, the Bucks have a way of managing to draw me in almost every year, for at least a week or two. It's about that time.
I've watched them once so far (against the Bulls) and they looked OK, but I've heard good things, and they currently sit at 4-2. (By the way, most other teams in the NBA have played 9 games, and the Bucks have only played 6? What the hell is that?) I thought it would take them like a month to win 4 games. I'm pretty sure that Bill Simmons picked them to win 16 games all year.
So, are they actually good? Is Brandon Jennings actually a star? (He matched Carmelo Anthony last night, point for point.) Will a good PG make Andrew Bogut into someone who may actually be worthy of #1 pick status? Do they actually have a talented supporting cast in Mbah a Moute (defensive stopper), Ilyasova (athletic big man who can drain a 3 and grab a board), and Warrick (I don't know, but he always shows up in the stat line)?
Will Redd blend in when he returns, making them even better? Should I learn who Carlos Delfino is?
Or are they just going to go to shit like they seem to do every year?
7 hours ago
5 comments:
Jennings looks solid, but this squad will crash and burn real quick. You can't make an NBA team with Redd as a centerpiece and Gadzuric as a... piece.
the bucks are better than they have been. that said, it's important to remember that skiles' strength as a coach has traditionally been eliciting effort from his teams. this often makes them get off to "surprisingly" strong starts for the first month or two, only to fade later in the season.
another thing about last night's game, is that the nuggets are in the midst of one of the most brutal stretches of nba schedule i've ever seen:
1) 6 straight road games
2) 9 total days
3) all back-to-backs
and this game was the 6th of those 6 games and the butt end of a back to back.
i watch the nuggets a lot and they look tired as hell (really, they have since the miami game)
And I suppose the Bucks, in their 6th game overall, were fresh as daisies. The NBA does some weird scheduling.
I'm skeptical because of the Skiles factor, and even if they're better I certainly don't expect them to jump up and challenge the best teams in the conference, but a playoff appearance would be a nice surprise.
And it would be nice to back into a superstar for once, if Jennings happens to be one. We've had the #1 pick twice in my lifetime and come away with Big Dog and Bogut. (Though we should have drafted Chris Paul in that draft.) If our timing was better we could have had Shaq or Lebron or Iverson or Duncan or Howard or Rose. But no.
At least we didn't get Olowokandi though.
Like you, I watch very little NBA basketball, but happened to be stuck watching them against the Warriors tonight, and Jennings looks like a bona fide superstar in the making. 55 points in 3 quarters (he was scoreless in the 1st quarter) and hit two HUGE shots down the stretch. The rest of the team looked like shit tonight, and Jennings carried that team on his back for the entire 2nd half. He was simply spectacular. He'll have me coming back to watch him play. Most riveting performance by a Bucks player that I can remember.
Yeah, Jennings was amazing last against GS. He scored 55 points and seemed UNselfish while doing so. He could be a legit superstar.
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