<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">ST. FRANCIS -- When Toni Kukoc was queried about the Milwaukee Bucks' offense last season, he didn't suppress his feelings. In an interview with Superkosarka, a Croatian publication, Kukoc said the Bucks' offense was simply one-dimensional. "Bucks offense is Michael Redd and then Michael Redd and then some more Michael Redd,'' said Kukoc, who became a free agent over the summer and remains unsigned. "That is the biggest problem for Bucks in general. "Redd is good, but not that good. He is not good enough to have this kind of freedom that he has in Bucks. He is still young and can become a good leader, but right now he is still not there. But he has 90 million (dollar) contract and it looks like that is most important.'' And what did Redd think of Kukoc's comments? "Wow,'' Redd said. Redd will be the first to admit the Bucks' offense was geared around him last season, simply because there weren't many scoring optinos among his fellow starters. Point guard T.J. Ford was an ineffective scorer, especially from the outside. Small forward Bobby Simmons was plagued by ankle injuries and never got untracked. Then power forward Andrew Bogut was a rookie and too often played tentatively. And center Jamaal Magloire was a complete non-factor. Just how much did the Bucks rely on Redd to shoulder the scoring load last season? In 80 games, he took 1,516 shots from the field. That was almost double the number of attempts taken by Simmons, who had the second-most shots with 808. Ford was third with 789. Redd wound up averaging 19 shots a game, which was the 10th highest in the league. Yet, it would be unfair to classify him as a gunner. Kobe Bryant of the Lakers, for example, shot the ball 27.2 times a game. And Philadelphia's Allen Iverson fired up 25.3 shots a game. Redd, one of the NBA's purest shooters, isn't opposed to shooting the ball. But he's convinced he'll be shooting it less this season, thanks to several changes in the lineup. Redd thinks power forward Charlie Villanueva, acquired during the off-season for Ford, will give the Bucks' another scoring option. Ditto for Mo Williams, who is likely to replace Fod in the starting lineup. And Redd contends Bogut will be much more productive offensively in his second pro season. "I don't think it was that bad last season,'' Redd said, referring to Kukoc's comments. "But I understand what he was saying, though. But this year, I think we got a world of talent. Mo is a scorer. Charlie Villanueva is a scorer. Andrew stepped up his game (for Australia) in the World Championships. Bobby can score. "So I think my scoring may dip this season, because we got a lot of scorers now. But I don't care how many shots I take or points I score as long as we win. The bottom line is winning. That's all I care about.''</div> Source
