Where has my excitement gone?

[europa]

I like the fact this team has some young players with potential such as Sessions and Alexander.

FYI Europa, it's been determined that Joe Alexander has no potential. He never accomplished anything until he had a nice vertical in Orlando.

Thanks fam. This is the type of important info I need to be given since I've been gone for awhile. This helps me get up to speed on the ForumMindset.

[LUKE23]

Yeah, I don't see why Alexander's potential is more limited than anyone else. Just because he's a junior in college? He's been playing basketball only since he was 16, IMO his learning curve is steeper than anyone else the same age as him and just as high as guys that are 19 years old.

Good overall post europa. Needed amongst the doom and gloom.

[MickeyDavis]

Don't start dissing Ralph Malph.

[europa]

Yeah, I don't see why Alexander's potential is more limited than anyone else. Just because he's a junior in college? He's been playing basketball only since he was 16, IMO his learning curve is steeper than anyone else the same age as him and just as high as guys that are 19 years old.

Good overall post europa. Needed amongst the doom and gloom.

Thanks. I think a lot of people really underestimated just how difficult this job was going to be for Hammond. The Bucks have been putrid the past two seasons. They were one of the worst teams in the league. The roster composition was awful, they had bad contracts everywhere and they had some serious locker room issues. You just don't turn a team that bad with all of those problems into something golden overnight. What the Celtics did last year is not a model to follow because it's extremely rare that a terrible team can get an elite player still playing at a high level for next to nothing because one team's GM is good friends with the other team's GM. That was a fluke.

What Hammond had to do was strip away the crap that has been hurting this team and start building a team. I think he has started to do that. The emphasis is clearly on team which I believe is the first step toward improvement. If the players buy into this approach then good things will happen. And once you've established a foundation for how you want to play then you can start adding more and more quality talent to the mix. That's how the process works and I think Hammond understands that.

Like I said, I don't know how good this team will be. But my hope is that it plays the game a certain way. That's what I want to see and if that happens, that will be 180 degrees removed from the previous two seasons and I believe good things will happen. And that's where it has to begin in my opinion.

[LUKE23]

I think the problem is that some fans want an all or nothing approach, and that is very hard to do. We didn't have the talent to do what the Celtics did, and we have too many bigger contracts to conduct an all out firesale and rebuild, as well as financial aspects to look at when even thinking about doing a full rebuild.

The one thing I have liked about Hammond is that he's decisive. He doesn't play games. He came right in and fired LK/hired Skiles within five days of the regular season being over. He identified Mo/Simmons/Yi as the top 3 players that were hurting overall team chemistry and he got one of the top SF's in the game along with a PG, while not as talented as Mo, will hopefully create an atmosphere where the team is willing to share the ball. He stuck with the guy he wanted in the draft in JA, even after acquiring RJ. Whether any of this works out? We shall see, but Hammond didn't waver at all, he knows what he wants to do and I'm going to give him that chance.

[europa]

I believe the PG position will be better this season than the past two. I think there is more depth and that will result in stronger overall play. I'm not a huge Ridnour fan. I don't think he's all that talented. However, I do think he will bring a mindset to the court that will be 180 degrees removed from the one the previous starter had. It's clear that's what Hammond and Skiles identified early on as being a significant problem that had to be changed. That mindset should result in better team chemistry and it has the potential to result in more team success. I still believe Sessions is the most talented PG on the team but it's clear Skiles and Hammond want him to earn a role and I think that's the right way to go. Put the pressure on him to improve his game. If he does that, I think this team could be even better because a good PG can do so many things to help a team win.

To use football vernacular, I think this will be a point guard by committee situation. It's entirely possible the sum will be greater than the individual parts.

[REDDzone]

My excitement for the season is high. My expectations for Buck success is much lower.

With that said, it wouldn't be all that hard to increase my excitement about the Bucks chances. If Richard Jefferson could go to his previous mindset before his horrible season last season, I would start to get excited. If either Ridnour or Sessions could defend the PG position even in an average manner this season, I'd get excited. And if we have someone step up off the bench for offense, I'd be excited (whether this mean someone we signed like Lue, or bringing CV off the bench, we need scoring in the second unit).

Its fairly subjective how likely these three things are, but IMO are the biggest factors to success next year.

[paulpressey25]

"I'm so glad Potsie's back here in Milwaukee ! Aren't you Howard?"

[L&H_05]

Well, I can't say I share your same sentiments... I'm extremely excited for the upcoming season, and don't have this problem..

It's always been like this for me though... I just love NBA basketball, and always have.. In fact, this is my favorite time of the year anyways.. I love the fall, love baseball playoffs and the NFL, and can't wait for the season to start...

Who knows, maybe the Bucks surprise some people this year ??? With Arenas out and the Hawks regressing a bit, I don't see why the Bucks can't compete for a spot ??

[El Duderino]

I can't say i'm excited for this season, but i am at least fairly curious.

My only real reason for being curious was the hiring of Skiles, if we had another inexperienced nobody coach, i wouldn't even be curious about the upcoming season. While i'd rather have seen the Buck strip down and try to rebuild like the Sonics are, if they won't do that, then i at least want to watch a more veteran team that isn't as soft as Rosie O'Donnell's flabby belly.

If we had a young roster full of mostly rookies and second year kids, i could accept the growing pains of terrible defense and somewhat soft play. Watching the soft Bucks teams though the last few years was nauseating because they were both low on upside and low on effort.

For the first time in awhile, when our new head coach says we will play tougher and be better defensively, i actually believe him. I don't have much hope that the current plan for building the roster will bring the Bucks a legit contender in say the next three year, but at least for me, it will be refreshing if the team isn't marshmallow soft. I understand all head coaches need talent to win, but whenever Skiles is interviewed, he impresses me greatly and i'm very glad he's our coach. I think he's good enough to get our starting 5 to where we could be very competitive, to bad the bench looks so miserable.

Lastly, i'm simply glad for now that the roster is much different. Maybe by the All-Star game the team will be crappy and i'll be bored to where i rarely watch, at least though to start the year, i'm glad to see many new faces. If say a starting 5 of Mo/Redd/Mason/CV/Bogut was what we tipped with this year, i think i'd have stopped watching by game two.

[MilBucksBackOnTop06]

This is the first year in a very very long time that I don't have any excitement for this upcoming Bucks season and I was wondering if I was the only one? The RJ trade should have been enough to get me excited, but I think there is so many things wrong with this team that getting a "star" at the later stages of his prime does nothing for this franchise.

Even last year I was excited. Maybe it was because of the unknown in Yi. Maybe it was the bull we were told by Coach K. Maybe it was me believing that Redd actually was going to change.

This year while I know Skiles is a better coach than K, the stuff being said is the same. I know Redd won't change, in my opinion Alexander was a stupid pick and will be out of the NBA in 4 years, and while One of Redd, Mo, or both had to be dealt, I also know that Ridnour is not going to help this team the way some believe he will.

Yup, I"m a pessimist with this team, but am I the only one?

I understand. I won't spend any extra money for season tickets with this team listening to Coach Skiles objectives this year.

I will focus on Marquette and UWM basketball and some High school games if I can go to one without getting shot at....

Scott Skiles is focused on getting this team with half a new roster in order to 'be competitive every night' first. I am sick of that snit. I am not trying to hear that.

If that is the case then they should have kept Yi Jianlian and moved Michael Redd and completely rebuilded the frickin team from the bottom up then! Why get Jefferson and draft Joe Alexander and then move Mo then?

[vlietinho]

I guess the excitement starts slowly over the next couple of weeks. At least for me

[rilamann]

I feel re-born & re-freshed as a Bucks fan going into this season and its been a few years since i've been this hyped,probably not since the 2005'06 season have I been this hyped about the Bucks.

I think the Bucks have a real shot to get back into the playoff this season but just as important I think for the first time in a few years we are going be able to watch a well coached team that will play hard and play to win on a nightly bases.

[AussieBuck]

I'm excited about the season, although I'm bummed that we can't really trade Redd now that we got no scoring back from the Mo trade. Or defence. Sigh.

[BuckFan25226]

Well, I can't say I share your same sentiments... I'm extremely excited for the upcoming season, and don't have this problem..

It's always been like this for me though... I just love NBA basketball, and always have.. In fact, this is my favorite time of the year anyways.. I love the fall, love baseball playoffs and the NFL, and can't wait for the season to start...

Who knows, maybe the Bucks surprise some people this year ??? With Arenas out and the Hawks regressing a bit, I don't see why the Bucks can't compete for a spot ??

I agree 100%. This is easily the most exciting time of the year for me. As you said, the NBA is about to get underway, MLB postseason, and the NFL. And when it comes to the Bucks, no matter how bad or good I think they'll be, I can't help but get excited.

[Buck You]

I'm very excited. Basketball is my favorite sport and I'm just ready to watch all the teams play and see how all the new players play. Of course I'm excited for this team too, but I'm not expecting something amazing. I mean, I expect the playoffs with this roster, but that's certainly not a huge accomplishment in the NBA. Especially if we're a 7th or 8th spot team again. Well, after the last two years, it probably would be huge. Hopefully this team takes the next step and gets about 45-47 wins and gets a 5th, 6th spot in the playoffs so we actually have a shot to advance.

[fam3381]

If I didn't get excited every year then I don't think I'd have last so long on RealGM Besides, it's basketball. We all love basketball, right?

It seems every year I end up mostly hoping for a .500 season, so my expectations are never sky-high. This team has obvious holes depth-wise and our best players aren't elite talents, but they're good enough talent-wise and in the coaching department to be a solid team if we get a bit lucky.

There's really very little talent-wise that separates the bottom of the East playoff teams, so as always it'll come down to chemistry, injuries, and coaching. Aside from Philly I'm not sure any team in the 5-12 range has dramatically improved.

[chrbal]

The first year of a rebuild plan is always hard to take. Because you're going into a season knowing that you are going to lose at least 50 games.

Jefferson is a huge upgrade at SF, easily the best one since Robinson and quite possibly a better fit.

Give Alexander at least a couple seasons before hes given up on (original poster).

They chagned the PG situation, and cleared up a lot of the problems (old coaching staff).