30 Teams In 30 Days: Milwaukee Bucks

[CelticBalla32]

For those unfamiliar, basically what I'm doing is making decent-sized team previews, one per day in alphabetical order. Today's featured team is the Milwaukee Bucks.

Teaser:

One of the things that I believe will hold the Bucks back from making a significant jump is their interior weakness. Andrew Bogut is highly skilled, but the rest of Milwaukee’s interior cast is rather soft. Even then, you could say that Bogut lacks consistent aggression. Charlie Villanueva is more of a perimeter big and a combo forward than a power forward, and at times, he is a large defensive liability. Off the bench, you’ve got a cast of mediocre [at best] reserves in Malik Allen, Francisco Elson, and the most erratic of them all, Dan Gadzuric.

Unless Bogut develops a legitimate mean streak out of nowhere, which probably isn’t realistic to expect, the team is going to continue depress inside. Scott Skiles can preach toughness, but coaching emphasis becomes moot without on-court production in that respective area. The Bucks are perhaps a banger away from being a playoff threat.

Read the Full Article Here

Tomorrow: Minnesota Timberwolves


Previous Entries:

30 Teams In 30 Days: Atlanta Hawks
30 Teams In 30 Days: Boston Celtics
30 Teams In 30 Days: Charlotte Bobcats
30 Teams In 30 Days: Chicago Bulls
30 Teams In 30 Days: Cleveland Cavaliers
30 Teams In 30 Days: Dallas Mavericks
30 Teams In 30 Days: Denver Nuggets
30 Teams In 30 Days: Detroit Pistons
30 Teams In 30 Days: Golden State Warriors
30 Teams In 30 Days: Houston Rockets
30 Teams In 30 Days: Indiana Pacers
30 Teams In 30 Days: Los Angeles Clippers
30 Teams In 30 Days: Los Angeles Lakers
30 Teams In 30 Days: Memphis Grizzlies
30 Teams In 30 Days: Miami Heat

Since I missed a day, I'll be doing two in one day again pretty soon.

[cordobes]

I find this Bucks team very intriguing. I'm curious to see how well they'll do this season. I tend to believe they will struggle, but my respect for Skiles goes to the point that, assuming this roster buy his preaches, I can see them making a run in the playoffs. And all those question marks about the individuals you stress on your article - Bogut, Sessions/Ridnour, Villanueva, the veterans on the bench. I don't know if one should expect minimal improvement, no improvement at all, major improvement, major regression.

I'm also very curious to see how the Joe Alexander education goes. I'm not as optimistic as you are. He is one of the rawest players I've ever seen playing pro-basketball, and that includes some guys from semi-pro european leagues. He crosses his legs when sliding, his handling is downright terrible, he's always off-balance when shooting... Will work ethic, athleticism and good coaching be enough to make up for such a disturbing lack of fundamentals? Good team to monitor during the season, I, for one, will be doing that.