I'm a very dedicated bucks fan. What I mean by that is I use to live in Oshkosh, WI and make it to several games a year and almost every playoff game. Now living in upper wisconsin because of school I didnt have those opportunities. I was forced to pay a extreme amount of money just to get NBA ticket and see the games. Now like most of you I was very excited about our potential going into the season. Below I'm going to evaluate what I feel our problems are. Micheal Redd: Great player with a pure shot that is hard to defend. The problem is I think he sometimes tries to do too much and forces shots. If you look at the series against the pistons. I saw too many times were Redd wouldn't pass the ball to open shoots specifically in Game 5 to Maurice Willaims, this got me upset seeing Maurice Williams always shoots at a high percentage. He also lacks that explosiveness that we need on our team. Dont get me wrong Michael Redd is a great player and I dont want ot see him going anywhere, but we need a franchise player like Garnett or someone who can single handly take a game over and not just rely on his outside shot. Jamal Magloire: Where do I start. I was very excited when we go him, but that enthousism quickly went away. I think he hurts our team more then anything. If you watched the playoffs like I did, he is slow getting up and down the court and cant even make a bunny shot most the time. What happend to this guy who was an All-Star just 2 years ago? He constantly tries to force his body inside and put in a short hook shot, the problem is he shoots like 20% in the paint. I feel Dan Gadzurich should have got more playing time. Dont you guys miss the day like last year where he would fly down court and get alley-oops thrown to him. Terry Stots finally put him in for the first time of the series lastnight during the loss when it was already a blow out and he scored 13 points or something in less then a quarter. I think he should be our stater and get more time. After all we paid him a decent amoun tof money to keep him around lets use him!!!!! T.J. Ford: A very fast player who is very skilled but lacks two important key things. Size and outside shoooting ability. I have a problem with having a starting point guard who isn't defended outside, this causes double teams on multiple players. I think he needs to play alot dont get me wrong because he makes alot of plays happen, but like I said earlier I'm a big Maurice willaims fan and I feel he should get more time. He can shoot the day lights out, which spreads out the defense. Bobby Simmons: I was very excited that we signed him on the off season after being the NBA most improved player. All I can say is what happend to him? We forked out alot of money and now we're stuck with him. He was virtually invisible the whole playoff series. Andrew Bogout: For a rookie I couldn't be happier with his performance. He has played very well. The only thing I think he needs to do is get more aggresive on the offenseive side and start shooting the mid-range shot that he is capable of making. Also lets be fair he was guarding Rasheed Wallace who is unreal! Last but not least I want to talk about our Head Coach Terry Stots: I'm really not pleased with him as our head coach. He never had a good solid coachign background or record. I was very dissapointed when we let Terry Porter go last year. We had way less talent and still almost made the playoffs. We spent alot of money and beefed up our roster and he still got us aou the same amount of wins this year. After not using Gadzurich at all who I think would have been a better match up again the pistons. Not palying Maurice Willaims much except for Game 3 when he did great, and not utilizing Charlie Bell at all in Game 5 after playing great in all games, I have nothing good to say about this guy. I just hope to god they get rid of him as well as Jamal Magliore in the offseason, and make a good effort on getting unhappy Kevin Garnett!!!!!! With that said please feel free to comment on my remarks and how you agree/disagree with them.
Weclome to the site, man I was just about to start a season-recap type of thread, and you beat me to it. That's great minds thinking alike if you ask me So, we made the playoffs a year after the bottom fell out; our big free agent played mostly well, our young guys matured some, and we improved, I'd say, in all aspects. However, the Magloire trade proved an unecessary move by Larry Harris. Terry Stotts proved a bad hire as coach. And despite the fact that we should feel happy about improving by 11 wins and making a playoff appearance, most Bucks fans I've talked to have a bit of a sour taste in their mouths. Let me say something very fundamental here: in Wisconsin, we're tough fans, who expect a hell of a lot from our teams. The Packers are 12 time world champs, the most storied franchise in pro sports. The Badgers have been prominent in football, basketball and hockey in the last decade. We don't accept mediocrity; maybe we're a bit spoiled. So when we see a team that's talented (which the Bucks certainly are) struggle, or even not live up to its potential, we aren't happy. I don't think I'm out of bounds in saying that despite the strides the Bucks made this year, they should have done more. This team was six games above .500 in the first two months or so of the NBA season; it finished 40-42. That's not acceptable. We limped into the playoffs, and got our asses handed to us by, admittedly, a great team. Again, simply not acceptable. Now, obviously changes need to and will be made. But instead of throwing money around and making unecessary trades, we need to take a more calculated approach to this off season. What are the Bucks' biggest needs? A true, rugged, consistent 4 (because Bogut is NOT a 4, Terry), and an athletic, disruptive wing defender. Who is available to dangle in hopes of acquiring such players? Jamaal Magloire - a valuable commodity in a league that does not feature all that many double/double guys at the 5 spot - a handful of solid young guards, a veteran 4 who would make a terrific reserve for a contender. Do we have enough to get done what needs to be done? Yes, we do. In closing, I'm happy that the Bucks made strides; 11 more wins is definitely something to be proud of. Bogut has the look of a player who can be one of the top 5 centers in the game; he showed toughness, athleticism, GREAT playmaking ability and smarts, even though he was consistently overlooked in the offensive game plan. Other than when he was hurt, Simmons was a solid sidekick for Redd, and will continue to get better (he does have some things to work on though, for sure), and our three headed point guard made solid strides. However, there is a lot of work to do, and this team needs to do the things it must to take yet another step forward. That means getting a defensive stopper, a legit 38-40 minute a night 4, and a NEW COACH who will MAKE the team play defense. Larry Harris proved that he can make moves, and Senator Kohl proved that his pocketbook is ample and open. They'll need to do it again, though, if this team is to grow into a real contender in the East. I have faith they can do it, and they must. This team has a ton of potential; now we need to realize it and do the things that it takes to be an elite franchise.
