The Bratwurst – Milwaukee Bucks Blog

Is that they are boring.

And I mean that in a good way.

Last year I had so much to write about. The team was such a colossal mess that it was really fun to come up with all sorts of things. The coaching was awful. The team had some of the worst on-court chemistry imaginable. Larry Harris had collected some of the worst contracts imaginable. It was a complete train wreck. It was painful to watch. And so much fun to write about.

This year, it’s a lot harder.

Some of that is me. Last year I had one child and was a stay-at-home dad. This year I have two children and a job as well. So I don’t have as much time to think about interesting things to say, but there isn’t that much going on to complain about, make fun of, or point out as unexpected.

This year the Bucks have won every game they should have and lost every one they should have. Now, compared to last year that is a huge improvement. I’m sure that with Larry Krystkowiak at the helm they would have found a way to lose on November 5th against Washington and on Saturday night at Charlotte, and probably would have managed to lose to the 7-man Knick crew on Friday (considering that the Bucks blew 17-point third quarter leads to the Knicks twice last year).

To build their 7-8 record they have beaten 6 bad teams and it is debatable just how good San Antonio is right now without Manu Ginobli and Tony Parker (according to me and to IPM: not good at all). They have lost to 7 good teams, plus Chicago on opening night, which was a justifiable loss in my book. Going 1-3 in the at Boston – Phoenix – at Cleveland – San Antonio stretch? Justifiable. Looking awful in Denver and Utah without Redd or Villanueva? No big deal — those two high-altitude teams have the biggest home court advantage in the league.

This team is a heck of a lot better this year than it was last year. The chemistry is better, the defense is better, the coaching is better, the expectations are more realistic. You know, once they get Michael Redd back then they will add the scoring they have been lacking. Maybe this team will be capable of playing .500 ball all year with one hot 10-of-13 win streak in there, and that will propel them to 47 wins and a 6 seed. It’s nice to know that you can go to the Bradley Center and know that you will either see the Bucks play a competitive game against a good team or soundly beat a bad one.

But they sure aren’t as much fun to write about.

Meanwhile, I’ve updated my IPM rankings and Team Power Rankings, which are available at these links and always on the links on the right hand side of the page.

A couple of other random, general NBA thoughts:

I’m not surprised the Thunder fired PJ Carliesimo on Saturday. I watched most of the Friday night Thunder-Hornets game and thought that the Thunder looked like the worst NBA team I have ever seen. There was no semblance of a team concept on either end of the floor. I don’t think there was a single interior defensive rotation all night — I couldn’t believe how many open layups and uncontested follow up baskets the Hornets got. Meanwhile, I think I saw Kevin Durant touch the ball no more than three times in the entire time I watched. You can justify being awful if the cornerstone of your franchise is active in the game, but he was just floating along out there. Add to that the game was on ESPN and was against the Hornets — a team that many people in Oklahoma City most likely identify with more closely than the Thunder given the way the team wound up in OKC — and I can imagine that the Thunder owners were just embarrassed by Friday night’s performance. They suck, and with all of the shenanigans involved in stealing the team from Seattle, I’m glad.

Greg Oden is dominant. Yes, that’s right. After his career got off to a problematic start with the sprained foot in his first game, Oden has managed to average a 0.927 IPM in 19.5 minutes per game. Basically, his per-minute performance has him as the 8th best center in the game and within shouting distance of 5th best. As expected, Oden has been a rebounding machine (over 15 per 40 minutes) and shot-blocking threat (about 4 per 40 minutes) while he has shot 51% from the floor and has not turned it over much (zero turnovers in three of the five games where he has played over 16 minutes). Basically, he hasn’t hurt his team on offense (taking care of the ball and not shooting poorly) while stepping on to the floor as one of the best per-minute rebounders in the league. He might not start all season because of his health issues, but he could be the most important player in the league who averages less than 30 minutes per game this year.

The Knicks appear to know what they are doing (shudder). It hurts me to say it, but the Knicks made two great trades last week. Not only did they dump enough long-term salary to make a run at LeBron James in two years, but I think they actually improved themselves right now. Jamal Crawford may have been their leading scorer, but his game is so full of holes it’s pathetic. He scores and that’s it — no defense, no conscience about taking bad shots, nothing that helps you win. I once read a quote from Crawford where he said he always played in the Rucker Park tournament in the summer because “that’s where you work on your game.” That’s Crawford’s idea of how to play basketball? Streetball?

Meanwhile, the subtraction of black-hole Zach Randolph should help as well. Randolph puts up great scoring and rebounding numbers but is one of the laziest defenders around and screws up any sort of offensive flow with his need to get the ball in “his” spots on the floor to be effective.

The Knicks won’t be able to get a rebound any longer but by adding Al Harrington and Cuttino Mobely will actually be able to run Mike D’Antoni’s offense properly.

Now, will they actually sign LeBron James in two years … you know, I don’t think so. The whole LeBron pursuit thing has been so played up and will only be a bigger and bigger story over the next two years. I can’t help but feel that LeBron will risk so much bad press should he switch teams (and assuming that Cleveland remains highly competitive) that his marketing people will tell him that his image as an endorser could suffer. So much is made of how much “more money” he can make playing in New York, but if the consumer’s image of him becomes that of a disloyal, spotlight-hungry slut the potential losses would be huge. I’m not saying that Nike would drop him, but there is nothing to say that the endorsement rewards would be as large as one might think. Backlashes can be funny things.