Detroit vs. Milwaukee Comparison

[Piston Boris]

I visited the Bucks forum and saw they were talking smack about Detroit.

I like Hammond and the team he's assembling, but the fans don't seem to be gracious types. IMHO, they're venting frustration over being beaten for years and like fans of many newly successful teams, tend to get full of themselves.

They're saying Detroit is garbage and Milwaukee will be the new Pistons.

I decided to compare the rosters and did a quick thumbnail sketch.

Thoughts anyone?

MILWAUKEE DEPTH CHART

Center: Andrew Bogut/Drew Gooden/Larry Sanders*/Tiny Gallon*
Power Forward: Ersan Ilyasova/Luc Mbah a Moute/Jon Brockman
Small Forward: Corey Maggette/Carlos Delfino/Chris Douglas-Roberts
Shooting Guard: John Salmons/Michael Redd/Darington Hobson*
Point Guard: Brandon Jennings/Keyon Dooling/Earl Boykins

DETROIT DEPTH CHART

Center: Ben Wallace/Greg Monroe*/Jason Maxiell
Power Forward: Charlie Villanueva/Jonas Jerebko/Austin Daye/Chris Wilcox
Small Forward: Tayshaun Prince/Tracy McGrady/DaJuan Summers
Shooting Guard: Richard Hamilton/Ben Gordon/Terrico White*
Point Guard: Rodney Stuckey/Will Bynum

* Rookie

5. Center: Advantage Milwaukee.

Bogut (injury prone) and Gooden are solid, if not elite. Ben Wallace is remarkably durable, but a shadow of himself. Monroe will have to go through a period of adjusting to the NBA. Maxiell is undersized. Will his play in the second half of last season carry over?

4. Power Forward: Advantage Detroit.

Villanueva and Jerebko are more productive than Ilyasova and Mbah a Moute.

3. Small Forward: Advantage Detroit.

Magette is a star scorer. Delfino and Douglas-Roberts are solid reserves. Prince and T-Mac can more than cancel these three out.

2. Shooting Guard: Advantage Detroit.

Salmons and Redd (when healthy) are good players. Hamilton and Gordon are better pound for pound.

1. Point Guard: Advantage Detroit.

Jennings is a Nate Archibald-type PG with solid playmaking instincts and excels in transition. He’s still raw as a shooter, turnover prone, and needs to add bulk. Dooling is a solid sixth man. Stuckey needs to work on his distribution, finish better, and improve his shooting range and efficiency. But he is big, hits his free throws, and can defend and rebound at his position well. Bynum is fast, a solid scorer, gets his teammates involved, and has a good head for steals. He’s an excellent backup pg.

[Spider156]

We actually have the advantage in the center position. It showed last year and will show again. The only reason they argue is because of injuries and chemistry. If we weren't injured last season, our team would have better chemistry and would be better than the Bucks. I can't imagine Bogut and Wallace is the difference of 4 playoff spots. But, it's true that they're the new Pistons.

[Navas]

It's Milwaukee, anything gets them excited easily. If you've visited the place you'd understand.

And I think Bogut's good, but he always seems to be injured.

[ComboGuardCity]

The Bucks are still a better team because of our lack of balance and solid roles for each player.

[Spider156]

The Bucks are still a better team because of our lack of balance and solid roles for each player.

this is true but we beat them last year without some starters. Also, Salmons is the one that beats us not the Bucks. Same thing happened in Chicago when he was there.

[Liqourish]

It's Milwaukee, anything gets them excited easily. If you've visited the place you'd understand.

And I think Bogut's good, but he always seems to be injured.

+1 Seriously, don't feed the Bucks fans....

[princeofpalace]

Bucks fans have long been delusional. No need to get upset.

These fans think that Jennings is better than Rose when he wasn't even better than Stuck last season. Bucks are in the same situation as Detroit, locked into mediocrity but with lesser players at the 1, 2, 3, spot.

Stuckey/Bynum > Jennings/Dooling
Rip/Gordon > Salmons/Redd
Prince/TMac> Maggette/Delfino
Jonas/CV/Monroe = Gooden/Ersan/Mbah Moute
Wallace/Maxiel< Bogut/Brockman

Honestly Ive been a big advocate of tanking for a draft pick because I don't want to stay in Bucks position of locked into mediocrity but since it looks like Dumars isn't making moves a healthy Detroit team will probably be in playoff contention right alongside the Bucks

[b-diddy]

bucks will have 15 more wins than the pistons. maybe more. i dont think you guys are accepting reality here...

[RustInPeace]

The Bucks won't win any more than 10 more games than us.

[colors]

Bucks have one major thing that separates them from us and makes them relatively competitive : a good center, Bogut.

For the rest their last season was a bit miraculous, even in the weak Eastern Conference. They sure have a good attitude, a loud home crowd that pushes them to fight hard, and I think they're doing a smart thing betting on half-good half-mediocre players like Salmons or now Maggette, coz those guys aren't dreaming to play in big teams and can really flourish in a medium team. But their overall talent is very limited, Jennings is a major chucker... they're not going anywhere.

IMO we have more talent, but we don't have their balance or their collective cohesion, and more importantly, we don't have Bogut. Well we'll see what Monroe can become.

[RTM]

Milwaukee will be better than us this year. There's no doubt about that.

But their fans on here are way over hyping that team, and completely dismissing us when no one's really sure what we have.

[Master Shake]

Milwaukee as of right now is the better team, but the difference isn't 15 games better. However, Milwaukee fans HATE the Pistons for all of the epic beatdowns they received the last decade and things like the Sheed taunts in the playoffs. So Bucks fans will always hate, and they will always have some funny things to say regarding John Hammond, and Brandon Jennings.

That being said, I don't see Milwaukee being much better for long, they are a team that is poised to have a couple good years, but then will fall apart after 2-3 years of potential 50 win seasons, because none of their best players have put it together for very long. Brandon Jennings is a nice young point guard, but HIGHLY overrated, Jennings makes Stuckey look like an efficient monster. Bogut is good, but he's never been a top big man in this league, has injury problems, and struggles with inconsistency.

I'd compare this Milwaukee team to those Memphis teams of 2005 2006ish. Won 45 games, good teams, had some good players, but just never could make the step to contender because of the flaws. Milwaukee struck gold last year and everything went right for them, the track records of players on that team like Magette and Salmons says that the success won't be sustained.

Rest assured, we'll be beating them regularly again, just not for a little bit.

[Piston Boris]

Milwaukee as of right now is the better team, but the difference isn't 15 games better. However, Milwaukee fans HATE the Pistons for all of the epic beatdowns they received the last decade and things like the Sheed taunts in the playoffs. So Bucks fans will always hate, and they will always have some funny things to say regarding John Hammond, and Brandon Jennings....

Nice summary.

I had doubts about the longevity of their current roster.

The Bucks fans struck me as jumping the gun in assuming that Hammond would build up a stable young core with upswing that would have a run of 3+ years.

The current Piston roster is unbalanced, but it has young players at all positions and Dumars isn't done making moves.

I'm really interested in seeing what Monroe provides as a rookie.

[epheisey]

Milwaukee was 19 games better than us last season. For one time, I am going to have to somewhat agree with B-Diddy. There is the potential for the Bucks to be 10-15 games better than us. I would guess they will be close to the same record as last season, 46-50 wins. That would mean the Pistons would be around 31-40 wins. Unfortunately, I'm seeing the reality of that type of a season for the Pistons.

[Piston Boris]

Milwaukee was 19 games better than us last season. For one time, I am going to have to somewhat agree with B-Diddy. There is the potential for the Bucks to be 10-15 games better than us. I would guess they will be close to the same record as last season, 46-50 wins. That would mean the Pistons would be around 31-40 wins. Unfortunately, I'm seeing the reality of that type of a season for the Pistons.

We don't know exactly what we have with this current Piston roster yet. Assuming no moves are made, the Pistons are capable of winning 40+ games this year, though.

Dumars also hasn't closed up shop on making deals. This is somewhat like 04 when he was working to upgrade the frontcourt and eventually orchestrated the 3 team deal for Rasheed Wallace.

Situations with teams constantly change and trade possibilities always arise.

In January 2010, no one expected Denver to be preparing to trade Carmelo Anthony in August 2010. Now there's speculation that Denver will move Billups' expensive contract, too.

A good fit for Detroit will come.

[aad]

Milwaukee was 19 games better than us last season. For one time, I am going to have to somewhat agree with B-Diddy. There is the potential for the Bucks to be 10-15 games better than us. I would guess they will be close to the same record as last season, 46-50 wins. That would mean the Pistons would be around 31-40 wins. Unfortunately, I'm seeing the reality of that type of a season for the Pistons.

But did you take in accont how many games was missed by pistons players?

[Piston Boris]

Milwaukee was 19 games better than us last season. For one time, I am going to have to somewhat agree with B-Diddy. There is the potential for the Bucks to be 10-15 games better than us. I would guess they will be close to the same record as last season, 46-50 wins. That would mean the Pistons would be around 31-40 wins. Unfortunately, I'm seeing the reality of that type of a season for the Pistons.

But did you take in accont how many games was missed by pistons players?

It's amazing how so many people overlook Detroit's injuries last year.

[Navas]

Milwaukee was 19 games better than us last season. For one time, I am going to have to somewhat agree with B-Diddy. There is the potential for the Bucks to be 10-15 games better than us. I would guess they will be close to the same record as last season, 46-50 wins. That would mean the Pistons would be around 31-40 wins. Unfortunately, I'm seeing the reality of that type of a season for the Pistons.

But did you take in accont how many games was missed by pistons players?

It's amazing how so many people overlook Detroit's injuries last year.

Yeah, FFS we were playing Jerebko at guard at one point last year. At freaking guard.

[Piston Boris]

Yeah, FFS we were playing Jerebko at guard at one point last year. At freaking guard.

He was actually decent during his stint. I believe he was a point guard as a kid before his growth spurt kicked in.

It's nice to know that he can be a point forward.

[SAKURABA216]

I would trade Stuckey for Jennings in a heartbeat