Drew Gooden appreciation thread

[LUKE23]

Yeah, I think we need a bigger, versatile wing. I'm fine developing Sanders/Udoh as our centers, I'd actually rather have a low usage guy there if he's not talented offensively. But if we're rolling out Jennings/Ellis/2012 pick-I'll go Ross here/Ilyasova/Udoh, with the primary bench guys being Udrih, Dunleavy, Harris, Moute, Gooden next season, I'm on board to watch it shake out. This Gooden starting and playing 36+ minutes while we give up layup after layup needs to stop though.

[blkout]

Would happily put Moute/Ersan out there. They'd cover Gooden's (near career low) rebounding, it'd open up more shots for someone who actually deserves them in Ersan and we'd still have someone who plays inside because Moute can't shoot. Would be exponentially better defensively too.

[Sherman Douglas]

I don't hate Drew Gooden and never have. He has a role on this team. Yes he is a mental midget, yes he is a defensive black hole. But he can score and rebound, he's not useless.

The problem is, HE'S STARTING. That's a reason to hate John Hammond, not Drew Gooden.

[Sky High]

I think Drew is surprised he's been getting all this PT. I think he knows he wouldn't be starting at C on any other team in the league. He doesn't like playing defense and he knows that he doesn't really have to. Drew's just doing Drew. He's nearing the end of his career and has been given the green light. He's just going out there, shooting constantly, and having fun.

That's pretty much the bottom line. It's a strange situation, and somehow, it's working out for us. For now....this can't last forever. Sooner or later we need to plug in a legit center. I used to hate Drew Gooden's game with a passion. I emotionally distraught for weeks after seeing the contract we gave him. I wanted nothing to do with him. He was literally the last player I would ever want on the Bucks....but honestly, he's been a pleasant surprise this year. Gooden would be such a solid backup PF. He should be our sixth man.

The rest of this season is going to be interesting. A run and gun team without a legit center. High-powered offense, below average defense. This team has been flipped on it's head. We are nothing like what we used to be. Change can be good.

[WiscSports1]

I just can't believe that Skiles can't teach Gooden a lick of help defense. Offensively, he's helping us out and pushing tempo, but his lack of any help defense drives me nuts.

[blkout]

He puts in effort he just doesn't know where he's supposed to be or what he's doing. It's scary that after 650 games he can't grasp basic defense concepts but in his defense at least it's not due to laziness. Errors by omission not commission.

[FAH1223]

He's become a stretch PF for us. Weird.