The Milwauke Bucks, one of the great Mysteries of the league

[SacKingZZZ]

A not so talented team with a true system and chemistry in place will beat a far more talented team with no system or chemistry in place, bottom line.

[The Shiv]

2 words: Luke Ridnour.

[MilBucksBackOnTop06]

Is their a worst team on paper than the Bucks?

Jennings/Ridnour
Bell/Salmons
Delfino/Stackhouse
MBah a Moute/ Ilyasova
Andrew Boguts/ Kurt Thomas


John Salmon is probably their 2nd best player already. And he was what..... the 4th best guy on the Bulls?

I don't get in the habit of heaping undue praise on players or teams if they don't deserve it, even if they are 'my team.'
I tell it like it is...because when of if this team ever gets good no one will talk more smack then me if we are really good like we were in 2001. We (Bucks) are not there yet I don't care what crazed fans say...
I am as honest a Bucks fan you will ever get in here...and don't pull punches and drink the kool-aid most of them get and don't really care what people think because I know I know the game...and yes they have the worse collection of players in the league but are winning because of Bogut and then Brandon Jennings play.
Skiles credit is only minimal. It is the improvement of Bogut and no Redd that has helped this team more and it could have gotten a lot better at the deadline like Houston if we had a GM with a pair and who was innovative in making the right deals...
Two games under .500 in the weak ass East to this point is NOT GOOD nor Coach of the Year worthy at all!!! I am amazed at how many of you think that is a good year? It is not.
It is nowhere like Scott Brook's OKC, or Lionel Hollins and Memphis both who outcoach Skiles under the bus!

[paul]

I feel like a few of the Bucks fans have gone a bit overboard defensive in this thread, but we are a minority I guess

Skiles has done a hell of a job to get this team to play defense, Bogut is having an outstanding season and isn't getting anywhere near the recognition he deserves, Jennings has had some really hot games and has been backed up brilliantly by Ridnour when he's been down and we have a bunch of good role players. That's it really, sometimes it's that simple I guess.

The GM John Hammond cops a ton of crap on the Bucks board, but he's given Skiles EXACTLY what he wants (in the absence of a star of course) and that is a bunch of guys who hustle like crazy and bust their asses to do what the coach wants.

There have been other factors for sure but Bogut's play and Skiles coaching has probably carried the team to 85% of it's wins so far.

[WEFFPIM]

For those on the GB that aren't familiar with the Bucks board, MBBOT is our resident crazy person. Just laugh and slowly walk away

[blkout]

I KNOW WHERE I AM!!!!??!?!

[Guy986]

It's just odd to talk that much about a player from another team. You were even making excuses when he was playing well though, so its very obvious you have zero objectivity on the matter. Is he playing like crap right now? Yes. Does he have a ton of potential? Yes. Has he already shown a ton this year? Yes.

I'll come clean. All this attention i've showered on Jennings is due to a sig bet i made with a Bucks fan.

After watching both Jennings and Evans play for a few games, i said that Evans is going to win the ROY hands down. This guy thinks its the funniest thing in the world. Keep in mind that Jennings was still shooting in the 40s and leading all rookies in scoring at this point. I said that by all star break, Jennings FG% would drop under 40%. He called me an idiot.

A few weeks and a dozen of 3/14 games later, i won the bet. I felt like a prophet. It fueled my inner hatred, clouded my judgement, made me evil and cynical...... something like that.

But you know how good it feels to be right? yea....

[paul]

By the way for those not thinking the Bucks are overachieving at all Bill Simmons predicted they'd win 19 games on the season. Yep, total. Most of the 'experts' had them as either 14th or 15th in the East too.

[bogut6]

By the way for those not thinking the Bucks are overachieving at all Bill Simmons predicted they'd win 19 games on the season. Yep, total. Most of the 'experts' had them as either 14th or 15th in the East too.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

btw who stole my fridge and left shoe?

[OhMyBosh]

Teams don't take them as seriously as they should. Why would they? On paper they don't look dangerous at all, especially with such a young PG getting so much burn.

Bogut is underrated and hardly ever mentioned. I think some of that is because he's not exactly a "nice" person. But he can definitely play. Jennings is not the most efficient player, but he's very difficult to contain because he's so quick and he's able to get to where he wants on the court. He's a much better play-maker than his stats suggest. They also have one of the best coaches in the league this year. I didn't think they'd be as bad as most "experts" suggested (mainly because I really liked Jennings since his HS days), but I didn't think they'd be competing for a playoffs spot so soon.

[Chris435]

if only Jennings could shoot above 40%...

[DanoMac]

Is their a worst team on paper than the Bucks?

Jennings/Ridnour
Bell/Salmons
Delfino/Stackhouse
MBah a Moute/ Ilyasova
Andrew Boguts/ Kurt Thomas


John Salmon is probably their 2nd best player already. And he was what..... the 4th best guy on the Bulls?

I don't get in the habit of heaping undue praise on players or teams if they don't deserve it, even if they are 'my team.'
I tell it like it is...because when of if this team ever gets good no one will talk more smack then me if we are really good like we were in 2001. We (Bucks) are not there yet I don't care what crazed fans say...
I am as honest a Bucks fan you will ever get in here...and don't pull punches and drink the kool-aid most of them get and don't really care what people think because I know I know the game...and yes they have the worse collection of players in the league but are winning because of Bogut and then Brandon Jennings play.
Skiles credit is only minimal. It is the improvement of Bogut and no Redd that has helped this team more and it could have gotten a lot better at the deadline like Houston if we had a GM with a pair and who was innovative in making the right deals...
Two games under .500 in the weak ass East to this point is NOT GOOD nor Coach of the Year worthy at all!!! I am amazed at how many of you think that is a good year? It is not.
It is nowhere like Scott Brook's OKC, or Lionel Hollins and Memphis both who outcoach Skiles under the bus!

I thought you announced that you were an OKC/Memphis fan now?

Like WEFFPIM said, all of us on the Bucks board wish we could all meet and interview MBBOT, because we probably wouldn't have a better experience in our lifetime. This is the same MBBOT that made a frantic post,swearing and going ****, because the Bucks traded Jodie Meeks.

[AussieBuck]

He's the Bucks Board Player Of The Game leader board.
POTG
Bogut 14
Jennings 5
Ersan 4
Redd 1
Delfino 1
LRMAM 1

As you can see Redd managed to get the votes in one win but we only won 6 of the 18 games he played. We'd be where Toronto are at right now if he did his knee before the season. Jennings catches a lot of heat for his shooting but his PG play has improved as his shooting has disappeared. Ridnour would've been the better option for December but otherwise Jennings has been OK. Plus we had to play Ridnour at SG for a while anyway.

[AussieBuck]

On the subject of defense we are better than we look because we have guys like Ersan and Delfino who are great at rotating on D and helping, they don't get much rep for that though as they aren't great man defenders. Plus Bogut is as good as anyone in the league at help D but for some reason everyone seems to remember him for his second season in the league when he blocked shots at a David Lee level.

[redred9]

i'm only a part-time Bucks fan because of my Bogut fandom, but I admit I honestly thought they were tanking for John Wall this year after the off season they had. It is shocking to see them in the playoff race so late. When I watch the games and look at the score, I am baffled how this bunch of misfits seem to scrape out wins.

They hustle, they defend, they throw the ball into Bogut, they pray for Jennings' off balance shots to go, they win ugly. And honestly, full credit to them. I wish the Raptors players played that hard night in and out (though obviously it's getting sunnier in T-dot).

If the Bucks can somehow get that 3rd star, it could be the Big Dog-era repeating itself again- but no idea how they plan to do this.

Houston & Milwaukee- teams that play their asses off.

[Mamba Venom]

The Bucks are the new scrappy Bulls of the last few years!

[FireStreetlifeNow]

Bogut is underrated and hardly ever mentioned. I think some of that is because he's not exactly a "nice" person. But he can definitely play.

Perhaps some of the comments he's made might have rubbed some of the stars in the league the wrong way, but I consider him the nicest player in the league as he bought my wife, myself and 98 other Bucks fans lower level season tickets to every game this year. He's underrated because he plays in Milwaukee and should have got the all star bid over Daivd Lee and possibly Horford.

if only Jennings could shoot above 40%...

I would agree here, my patience with him is a bit thin. The other day he shot 1-13, luckily they won the game thanks to Salmons. I still think he can be a decent player in the long run but he needs to shoot better, finish around the rim and learn to keep his man in front of him on defense,

[AussieBuck]

That old Bulls team was a who's-who of kick ass defenders plus Ben Gordon. They were the best D in the league IIRC. To call them a scrappy team would be selling them short IMO.

[sdeezy]

That old Bulls team was a who's-who of kick ass defenders plus Ben Gordon. They were the best D in the league IIRC. To call them a scrappy team would be selling them short IMO.

Thats what Skiles does..he will make his guys play defense if it kills him. Yes those Bulls were damn good defensively but make no mistake..they were the scrappiest team in the league. They beat teams by just outworking them. Eventually, Skiles teams tend to tune him out. He's a very good coach but i think he gets overbearing at some point

[HE Pennypacker]

Sloan already has Coach of the Year locked up. Book it, write it down and post it on your fridge.