Hey Bucks fans, how's Hammond doing?

[ReasonablySober]

The emergence of Luc has cured much of my ill will. I still hate some of his moves, but....actually, no buts. I just really hate some of his moves.

[Nowak008]

I think everyone pretty much nailed it on the head except for one major head scratcher. Why extend Bogut? Bogut isn't drastically overpaid, but there was apsolutely no reason not to wait until next off season.

[trwi7]

but there was apsolutely no reason not to wait until next off season.

That's ludacrisp.

[old skool]

Hammond's Bucks are no better than last season's Bucks at this early point.

Last year, the Bucks were well over .500 after a winning streak that included impressive victories over the Raptors, Cavs, Lakers and Mavs. The Bucks looked great, with a new rookie PF that held great potential and a new, tough-minded coach.

That team finished 26-56.

This year the Bucks don't look like they will be able to start off as well as that Bucks team. I don't blame Hammond for a slower start, but I am not ready to hail him as a great success, either.

I think that if Larry Harris had hired Scott sKiles and staff to coach last year's Bucks, they would have done much better than 26-56. It remains to be seen if Hammond has the ability to assemble a combination of players and coaches that will succeed in the long run. Check back.

oLd sKool

[coolhandluke121]

Hammond's done a lot of smart things, and the team is going to be better off for a few years. Even if the Alexander pick turns out to be a total dud, you can't judge Hammond too harshly because of that. Hindsight is 20/20. There was plenty of reason to believe JA could be a good player at the time and those bad lottery picks can happen to any gm.

But there's one thing that everyone's taking for granted. Hammond is getting most of the major details right and has slowly but surely improved the team by adding the right pieces and maneuvering with everything he has to work with, and he hasn't made impulsive decisions or tried to do everything at once, but there's a bigger picture here. The question is, was Hammond right to try to tinker with the team and get them to the playoffs, or is the ceiling so limited that his moves will only result in a few forgettable first-round exits followed by several more seasons of what we've seen lately from the Bucks? It's a legitimate question and time will tell - I'm still thinking a full-out rebuild could have resulted in more total wins over the next 7-8 wins, and maybe even an eventual run at a championship depending on their luck in the lottery.

[MilBucksBackOnTop06]

He will be fully judged when he makes up his mind on Redd and get two more pieces that this team needs after Skiles sets the personality of this franchise with his players play.

The team looks better without Redd last night and when he is on the bench. But you do need a scorer and another banger. Teams will figure us out and match our fervor in the second half and then that is when THE TALENT FACTOR will override the surprise factor.

Every new regime has a honeymoon period...and gets by with smoke and mirrors and newness. We will see how far that get you in our teams progression and whether GM Hammmond has learned anything about timing in trades like Joe Dumars does and just showed us three days ago.

If he has sense enough to know when to get rid of a guy like Billups, surely Hammond will know when to make a move on Redd I would think one way or another? There is a reason why some teams win and some do not.

The Alexander pick was the wrong pick. Not a bad pick this early, just the wrong one. But that was made up by the Luc Richard one. So that is a wash. The Mo trade I did not like, but that was made up by the RJ24 deal. The Elson, Allen, Croshere pickups where...horrid as well. I would rather go with youth then that...

I have to resign to the fact that we will never get Artest or Stoudamire the two players I would die if we somehow got for him...so I will move on to others to target. Skiles was an absolutely boon to get and I said get him the minute the Bulls were dumb enough to let him go...and keep Paxson. He was the problem there...not Skiles.

I don't like what Ridnour has done or brings but I will get over it. If I see him get his money taken and ripped off again I am gonna scream. And he is no better then Mo on defense. Hell, we should have got Billups!

The Mo Williams trade and Desmond Mason deal was a mistake. Damon Jones and Griffin were let go so basically it was Mo and DMase for Ridnour!? C'mon now. You could have got both Mo and Desmond to buy into what they are doing now!

Can you imagine DMase and Luc MBah Moute both off our bench defensively! Yikes! This is a knee jerk assessement after one week and is too early to make a definitive judgement, but the main thing I wanted coming in was Redd gone and keep everybody else!

Just the exact opposite has happened and the longer you keep him the lower his value coming back will be. Now he is injury prone. Dumars knows timing....Hammond does not. He struck at the right time...we diddly dally.

Grade: B- Skiles had him with an A+ alone, like CC got Melvin an A+. But the Mo deal moved that down as well as the Alexander pick after the RJeff trade...

I can think of atleast 5 players I would have taken over Alexander in hindsight if he is not playing for a team like ours'. Face it, a 8th pick should be in your rotation if a second rounder is playing 30 minutes!

[paul]

Drafting Mbah a Moute, hiring Skiles and trading for Jefferson...

A+ grade as a GM thus far.

+1

[MilBucksBackOnTop06]

Looking back, I would have drafted Brooke Lopez of the Nets or Jason Thompson of the Kings and just kept brought in Ersan Ilyasova to fill the spot that they are using Joe Alexander for!

You look around the league and every team who drafted a guy is playing them in a league that is on a youth surge. Yes it is too early, but you can't keep making lottery mistakes.

Detriot rebounded from not taking Melo AS THEY SHOULD HAVE and going with Milicic by making great trades and free agent pickups and then hitting on Tayshaun Prince.

But they were not afraid to move Stackhouse, Grant Hill, and a host of others either...and bring in potential dark clouds in Rasheed Wallace to put them over the top.

But hey, Hammond is the Bucks GM and I am a "RealGM"......poster. So who is the 'real expert?'

[bigzy]

You have to believe if Hammonds and Skiles can improve 10 games over last year and win 36 games that that would be a terrific feat!!!! You really can't expect more than that in one year.....can you???

[bigzy]

You have to believe if Hammonds and Skiles can improve 10 games over last year and win 36 games that that would be a terrific feat!!!! You really can't expect more than that in one year.....can you???

[midranger]

Ask the Celtics.

[LUKE23]

The fact that we underachieved last year given our roster, we upgraded big tiime at coach and small forward, I said in the offseason that Skiles/RJ was a 10 win improvement (I know the statistics won't back me up, but that was my prediction). Anything over that will require better chemistry, improvement from other players, etc.

But I think for this team I'd put 36 at the low end of the range, with the high end of the range around 44. Hence my season prediction of 40-42 overall record.

[bigzy]

I find it amusing that the expectations are so low for this team, why should they not at least be expected to reach the 40 wins of 2 years ago? Bogut is 2 years older, RJ is better than Reuben Patterson..... I am not sure I agree with some who say Ridnour and Sessions are better than Mo and TJ were at the point but most on here seem to believe that. Redd is still Redd and CV at the 4 is as good as Bogt was at the 4 as a rookie.Why are the expectations so low ???

[LUKE23]

Simple. Because the Bucks have won 54 games in the last two seasons combined and the fans need to see it to believe it.

[midranger]

Simple. Because the Bucks have won 54 games in the last two seasons combined and the fans need to see it to believe it.

That's where I'm at. Too many teases in recent years. I hope the effort we've seen thus far isn't a similar mirage.

[Newz]

I predicted 35 wins and I will stay there. If we get 35 wins and the team plays as hard as they have been playing then I as a fan will be pleased.

I think with another year of the core group of guys being together here that they will develop chemistry together. Adding in perhaps a free agent or another promsing young talent or two and I think we can become a team who consistently makes the playoffs.

[Rockmaninoff]

B+

I didn't like the Bogut Extension or the Alexander Pick. At the time, I felt the same way about the Ridnour Trade, but have since grown to appreciate it.

I asked for a Jefferson for Yi/Simmons Trade, and got it. I wanted a potential Defensive Player of the Year, and got that with the Luc Richard Mbah a Moute Pick. And, I wanted a proven coach who would be given autonomy, and I got that in the Skiles Hire.

So far, so good. I'd say the next step is moving Gadzuric's Contract for cap reasons without giving up any of our top 7-8 players. After that, it comes down to building a nice bench through the draft and free agency.

[europa]

You have to believe if Hammonds and Skiles can improve 10 games over last year and win 36 games that that would be a terrific feat!!!! You really can't expect more than that in one year.....can you???

Bitterness is so unbecoming, bigzy.

[bigzy]

Europa I am glad you caught the sarcasm, but you must admit there is some irony it how things have played out. I am not picking on Skiles because I do think he will do a terrific job in Milwaukee.

[bigkurty]

Bigzy, what sporting goods company do you work for again out of curiosity?