The Bratwurst - Milwaukee Bucks Blog

That’s not hyperbole.

In Monday’s “ho hum, another road blowout to a good team … lets make it by 45 this time” exercise in futility, Bell saw his role increase to that of starting point guard. This is the reward for an 8 game stretch in which he has played 176 minutes and shot 5-39 (.128).

Bell is now shooting .267 this year, and has managed to play 594 minutes. He is on pace to play over 1600 minutes for the season, and should his shooting not improve dramatically it will be the worst performance in the near-60 year history of the league.

Since the NBA was founded, only ten times has a player seen over 1000 minutes and failed to shoot 30%. The worst of those was Red Holzman in 1951-52 — and he shot .280. 6 of those performances were before the shot clock was even implemented in 1954. Bell has been worse than all of them.

Only two recent seasons have been close to as bad as Bell — Bobby Hurley shot .283 in 1995-96 and Nikoloz Tskitishvili shot .293 in 2002-03. But both of them have some sort of excuse for their performances. Hurley’s game was nothing like it had been before his car accident, and it was just amazing that he was alive and living a normal life, much less playing in the NBA. Denver was trying to force-feed the 19 year old Tskitishvili minutes to see if they had, indeed, made a mistake by drafting him over Amare Stoudemire. Bell has no such excuse.

If you only look at players who played over 500 minutes in a season then three other times a player has shot .267 or worse — all of them before the shot clock era.

It’s absolutely incredible. It’s simply pathetic. But what is Krystowiak supposed to do? He didn’t put this roster together! Between dead weight Bell, Gadzuric, Simmons, Mason (who gets an excused absence) and Storey (who Krystkowiak doesn’t seem to feel is fit to see the court), that accounts for 38% of the roster and 37% of the Bucks’ salaries. Why would Larry Harris have not even bothered to sign a #3 point guard? While it was beyond the realm of possibility that Bell would be as bad as he has, isn’t it likely that at some point you would need a fifth guard on the team?

I guess that despite letting Lynn Greer go, there was no reason to sign Dee Brown for the minimum. He’s only the starting point guard and second leading scorer for Galatasaray Cafe Crown, who at 12-2 is running away with the Turkish League.

How can this team get any better? The problem is that Harris has created a roster so chock full of long contracts that except for Yi, Bogut and Voskuhl’s expiring contract, nobody would have any reasonable trade value. Sure, you might get some interest in Villanueva, and you could come up with all sorts of idiotic trades for Michael Redd (stuff like Redd for Larry Hughes), and if a title contender like San Antonio or Phoenix lost Parker or Nash for the year maybe they would want Mo. But there is zero chance that you will ever get rid of Gadzuric, Bell or Simmons without taking back something even worse. So making a trade is pretty much out of the question.

So what do you do for band-aids, now that Simmons is getting worse by the game and that Bell is trying to rewrite the NBA record book for futility?

1: Call up Ramon Sessions. You really have no choice at this point. You need a backup point guard in the worst way, and since Bell is officially worthless and you need Ivey to back up both guard spots, there are minutes available for Sessions. He cannot be worse than Bell.

2: Sign Ruben Patterson. He had a non-guaranteed, veterans minimum deal with the Clippers, so you have to think he’d be available for the same deal to the Bucks. He’d step right in as the starting small forward and even though he can’t possibly be as good as he was last year he’d still be better than Simmons and probably Mason as well. To make room for Patterson somebody — David Noel or Awvee Storey — would have to be cut. Storey would probably be the man for the chop, since Noel is injured and thus probably can’t be cut anyway. Besides, with Patterson’s and Storey’s track records of violent practice incidents, you might not want them on the same team.

3: Start Charlie Villanueva at small forward. Once again, you don’t have a choice. The problem with this team is not the top five players — Bogut, Redd, Yi, Williams, Villanueva. It’s the guys behind them. You cannot be competetive while Simmons and Bell are getting big minutes and sucking the life out of the team. You have got to get your best players on the floor as much as possible, matchups and “we are going to be a defense-and-hustle-team” be dammed. Besides, while the final stats may look like Villanueva played poorly against Detroit, that’s not really true; in the first half he shot 3-5 and had 2 offensive rebounds, and the Bucks were only outscored by 4 with him in. Then he didn’t get back into the game until the end of the third quarter. Why not?

This season is not lost yet. The problem is not the headline guys — it’s the guys behind them. Harris has to get busy making up for his mistakes in player contracts and Krystowiak has to start thinking more critically and originally to maximize this rosters’ strengths.

Or we can all just sit back and enjoy watching Charlie Bell continue to shoot himself into the record books.

I’ve been getting emails left and right asking me how I felt about the Bucks chances this year. In fact, someone even stopped me at a keg party last weekend and wanted to know what I thought. The fact that drunk people are asking about the Bucks I think is a good sign that people care about this team and that they honestly are confused about this team (because drunk people generally know everything). Instead of answering those individually I thought I would break it down on here player-by-player.

Let me say something before I start. Lots of people want to say they were terrible for all of last year. Not true, without Bobby Simmons ever playing a game, they were struggled out the gate and then put it together until Michael Redd got hurt on that meaningless dunk. Everything went downhill from there.

Charlie Bell: I’m glad he’s back, we didn’t really have anyone to replace him. I don’t think he’s as great as a defender as everyone says he is, but he’s definitely solid on offense in small doses. He provides a welcome punch off the bench to spell Redd or Mo. His contract is too long, but that’s what happens with restricted free agency. He’s going to produce worse numbers than he did last year, but play a more important role off the bench. Don’t look to see the Bucks use that three-guard lineup much anymore with the return of Bobby Simmons, a healthy Charlie V, and the addition of Yi.

Andrew Bogut: He’s been getting knocked a lot for not contributing enough in terms of numbers, but I don’t think he’s been asked to do a lot. The team was pretty good when he got here. If he was an Atlanta Hawk his numbers would be a lot better right now. That said, I think he improved last year without Jamaal Magloire taking up space. He took the summer off for the first time in a long-time and I hope that will help ease the problem of him looking so tired running up and down the floor late in the season. I think he’s building a hunger for winning and I think he’s going to be a better rebounder and defender this year, but I don’t expect to see huge improvements.

Dan Gadzuric: Most dissappointing player. He hasn’t really gotten any better. He still looks nervous out there with his out of control style. Apparently he doesn’t have any trade value because of his huge contract. At one time looked like he had a huge upside, now he just looks lost on the end of the bench. Could be a great cheer leader in close games. Worst signing of Larry Harris’s tenure.

Royal Ivey: I don’t expect him to play a lot. Upside, he gets some garbage minutes and shows some promise. At least he’s cheap. Downside? He plays a lot because someone is hurt.

Yi Jianlian: Upside? He’s good. Downside? He’s bad. No one really knows what to expect, but I would imagine he’ll look better than he did in those summer league games because he won’t be getting double-teamed and will be surrounded by better players.

Desmond Mason: Understanding the fact that a Ruben Patterson implosion would have been much more likely with a reduced playing time role with the addition of Yi and return of Simmons, I think it was a good move to swap him for D-Mase. I see Desmond being brought off the bench to stop 2’s and 3’s that Redd and Simmons are having trouble containing. Expect to see him score a lot in up-tempo, transition games and put up nothing for numbers in half-court offense games. I consider him a fair swap for Patterson, whose numbers only looked so good because there wasn’t anyone else around to put anything up because of injuries. As long as he brings energy and hustle I’ll be happy.

David Noel: Wouldn’t be shocked to see him spending time in the NBDL putting up good numbers as long as everyone else is healthy. He showed flashes of brilliance last year, but looked lost at other times. I think he’s a diamond in the rough find, that’s going to take another year to get polished.

Michael Redd: Lots of points, lots and lots of points. He needs to improve on his desire and making that desire wear off on teammates, but I don’t think he is far from that.

Michael Ruffin: He’s on the team purely for rebounding. Brett thinks he’s pretty terrible on offense, so my money is on Samaki Walker getting more playing time.

Ramon Sessions: They would be wise to put him in the D-League and let him develop, people from Nevada have been emailing me all summer telling me of his potential and if they’re even 50% right about what they say I think he could develop. You hopefully won’t see him on the court for the Bucks a whole lot this year (which means we have a healthy team).

Bobby Simmons: The most misunderstood of all Bucks players to put on a jersey in recent years. At the start of the 2005-2006 campaign, he was attacking the basket, the team was winning close games, he was playing good defense, and he looked worth every penny. Then he got some weird foot/ankle/joint injury, nagged him, he quit attacking the basket, and the Bucks quit winning close games. That problem led him to having surgery and missing all of last year. If he were to count as an off-season pickup, he’s easily the best one we’ve got and is going to have the biggest impact of any player that didn’t wear a jersey last year. I fully expect him to earn his keep this year, unlike everyone else in Milwaukee.

Awvee Storey: I don’t expect him to play a whole lot since I see D-Mase stealing any minutes that would be his. He gets the award for “Player Most Likely To Be Released When Herb Kohl Gets Mad”. As long as he doesn’t punch Yi in the face and cause an international incident, I’ll be happy.

Charlie Villanueva: He better still have that huge chip on his shoulder that he supposedly had at the start of last year. He seemed to drift all too often last year, most likely due to his nagging injury. When he’s playing the 4 (and I don’t know where he’ll line up with Yi on the court quite yet), he better find himself closer to the basket unless we’re spacing for Bogut to go 1-on-1 or isolating for someone to drive. Jury is still out on him, but if I had to make the TJ Ford trade again I would still do it.

Jake Voskuhl: I don’t know a whole lot about his game, but I dearly hope he has some drive to rebound because we’re going to need it. He’ll get more minutes than Gadzuric, I have no doubt. In fact, I think his signing signifies the end of any faith in Danny G getting better. Look for him to get key minutes in games when Bogut gets in early foul trouble. I don’t think anyone is looking for him to score, and that’s a good thing.

Samaki Walker: He’ll be better than Michael Ruffin, but they’ll both spend their fair share of time on the inactive list. Injury insurance as far as I can tell, better than Jared Reiner last year.

Maurice (Mo) Williams: I think he’ll be better this year than he was last. Everyone keeps talking about him and using the term “All Star”, either that he is or isn’t, but that’s irrelevant as far as I’m concerned. All Star numbers aren’t needed from Mo. Solid, consistent production, fewer turnovers, and a drop in forced shots are what will make him worth his money. He might not make as many stupid mistakes now that he’s not pushing things in a contract year, but he might not play as hard on defense either, which would be hard to swallow for an already bad Bucks defense

Earl Boykins: Isn’t on the team anymore, but a lot of magazines and online articles are missing this fact so I thought you might want to know the truth. Brian Skinner isn’t a Buck anymore either.

Larry Krystkowiak: He’s a huge improvement over Terry Stotts, who never should have been the head coach. Larry got into an actual fight with Shaq, Terry Stotts probably wouldn’t fight the ball boy. I’m not advocating tall men throwing down, but I think it speaks volume about the intensity of the two. Terry Stotts wasn’t to blame for last year’s failure, but might as well fix the steering wheel while the car is in the shop.

Larry Harris: I think he’s done a pretty good job building the team. He’s eliminated all of his mistakes other than Dan Gadzuric. Jamaal Magloire? Gone. Steve Blake? Gone. Earl Boykins? Gone. Yi’s play will going to be the make or break point in his time with the team, but there wasn’t anyone I really would have drafted ahead of him. To his credit he managed the Yi stalemate, talked down Charlie Bell, and made Desmond Mason like him again, and kept Ruben Patterson out of any trouble. I think he would have looked pretty smart last year had everyone stayed healthy, and I think he made a lot of moves this year that should help improve the team. I still think the team needs a bruiser down-low to push the team into true contention. My only complaint is that he seems to spend too much time tinkering with small roster moves for players who might never play a minute, but I guess you have to do something to keep busy.

I would pleased if they made it into second round of the playoffs. I would say they’re playing to expectations if they exited after winning a few games in the first round of the playoffs. If they don’t make the playoffs or are more than a game away from getting that 8th seed? I would say they’re underachieving.

Health is obviously the greatest concern for this team, as last year proved. If Bogut develops into a great post player, I think they’re instantly a contender in the East. If he doesn’t they’re probably stuck in the same mediocrity they’ve endured for the past couple of years.

NOTE: Brett probably thinks something completely different, and he uses numbers to back up his claims. Don’t trust solely what I say.

I’m not sure what the trade all entails that is being rumored between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Golden State Warriors, but it doesn’t seem like it would really help the Bucks become a contender.  Swapping Jason Richardson and the Warriors pick for the 6th pick doesn’t really gain the Bucks anything, they have plenty of players in Richardson’s position.  What the Bucks could use is another big man.

Brian Skinner’s production is only going to fall (he’s aging) and Dan Gadzuric certainly isn’t getting any better.  The addition/return of Bobby Simmons will help with rebounding, but man the Bucks could use another big body in the post.  Jason Richardson is not that.

If the Bucks could unload Gadzuric in this deal, pick up another big man to replace him (at a much cheaper price), get Richardson, and the 18th pick.  I think there you might have something.

What big men are out there to sign?  If you get Richardson do you still resign Patterson and Bell?

This is all situational of course and dependent upon Chinese standout Yi still being there when the 6th pick comes up.

I don’t even want to talk about how the Bucks collapsed in the fourth quarter against both Washington and Cleveland.

I don’t even want to talk about Lebron James was held to only eight points.

I don’t even want to talk about it looked like the Bucks were quickly going to become one of the hottest teams in the Eastern Conference.

I don’t event want to to think about Michael Redd is out for four-to-six weeks.

I don’t even want to think about Charlie Villanueva is struggling through his own injuries.

I don’t even want to think about how Mo Williams was playing well and is now out two-to-three weeks.

I don’t even want to talk about how the Bucks are currently down four starters from their starting lineup from the beginning of the year.

I don’t even want to talk about how I have tickets to the Bucks vs Raptors game tonigt, which was supposed to be a game where Michael Redd and company stomped on T.J. Ford and his new team.

I want to talk about Andrew Bogut.  He has to put the team on his shoulders now and drop in a 30-point game or two.  Teams are going to have an easier time locking down Charlie and Ruben, not Andrew.

Steve Blake, you need to step up.

Terry Stotts is staying with what has brought him success and is keeping Michael Redd and Brian Skinner in the starting forward spots, while running Charlie Bell at shooting guard.

I think this is an excellent choice, albeit a no-brainer.  Charlie Villanueva has yet to find his touch after coming back from his injury. 

Ruben Patterson has been absolutely excellent off of the bench and is one of those short burst, high energy players that isn’t exactly suited for starting and playing the entire first quarter.  He’s a game changer when he comes off the bench.

As evidence of my previous point, in the Cleveland game last week the Bucks were out of the game in the 3rd quarter.  Down by well over 10, but did Ruben quit?  No.  His tenacity on the offensive boards helped change the game and give the Bucks a chance come the fourth quarter.  He did this all without Andrew Bogut and Michael Redd on the court.

Ruben Patterson may be one of the best non-starters in the NBA.

The winning streak has been snapped at 6, but the home winning streak is still alive.

They came roaring back against the Cavaliers tonight thanks in large part due to the persistent hustle of Ruben Patterson, but ultimately couldn’t close out the game.  Redd definitely wasn’t shooting well tonight.

Should be interesting to see how the Bucks manage to control Gilbert Arenas tomorrow night.

It was nice to be able to finally watch a Bucks game on television and see the deer close out a game against the Sonics.

Mad love to Ruben Patterson, I’ve been high on his defense since we got him and he delivered big again tonight.  It would be nice if everyone else would pick up their effort.

The Bucks have been terrible in crunch time this year.  I have a few thoughts as to why.

• Terry Stotts never makes any line-up changes to interject fresh legs in the final minutes unless he has to because of foul trouble.  If your team ain’t scoring Terry you need to change something. 
• Mo Williams always plays regardless of the situation.  Steve Blake needs to play when the team is ahead, he has the right mentality for playing with the lead.  He is a pass first player that is well-suited to look for Bogut and Redd in crunch time.  He can’t score like Williams, but I have more faith in him as a decision-maker.
• Michael Redd dribbles way too much.  They need to develop crunch time plays, not crunch time time 1-on-5 situations like happened tonight vs the Pacers.  Both on-the-ball picks should be happening for Redd and off-the-ball picks by Andrew Bogut so that he can role to the basket.  This is not street basketball and Michael Redd is not Kobe Bryant.  Terry Stotts needs to teach and preach X’s and O’s.
• Ruben Patterson often doesn’t play in the final minutes in favor of Charlie Bell.  If the Bucks are winning Patterson should be on the floor.  He is the Original Gangsta and plays like a mad man on defense.  It should be made clear to him that on offense he only shoots if it is a dunk and that on defense he is needed on the court so that he can assault the opposing players with his  Jermaine-O’Neil-jacking-the-fan-on-the-court type anger.  It is far too often that players get easy layups on the Bucks late in games.
• No one should score against the Bucks on an easy layup.  You do not get to dunk or lay the ball in against the Bucks.  This is the NBA.  You will to get fouled and you will get fouled hard.  This is how good teams control the tempo late in games.  Fear.  Right now it’s a cake walk, and it’s sickening.
• Dan Gadzuric should never touch the ball on offense in a close game.  Come to think of it, why isn’t Brian Skinner on the court?
• Ersan does not in any circumstance belong on the court late in a close game.  In the event that he would need to come into the game a random fan shall be selected from the crowd to take his place.  He does not have pressure experience in the NBA yet and this isn’t the time for him to learn it.  He needs a good 1,000 minutes of regular season experience before I would even consider putting him in late in games.

In summary when the Bucks are winning they need Steve Blake and Ruben Patterson.  They also need to tighten up the defense and foul people hard if they try to lay the ball in.  They either dunk it over Andrew Bogut’s head or settle for jump shots.  Bucks defenders need to develop the “Over My Dead Body” mentality in the final minutes of a close game, because right now they are a pathetic basketball team in the closing minutes.

The Milwaukee Bucks rolled over the Denver Nuggets last Saturday after a terrible showing on their Texas roadtrip, they were led by 28 points from Michael Redd and 19 from Ruben Patterson.

Point of concern? Charlie Villanueva has yet to light up on opposing power forward. Plays haven’t been called for him yet (they haven’t been called for anyone really) and he has had foul trouble problems off and on. He’ll get plays called for him and will learn to avoid foul trouble, so I’m not concerned, yet. He will have to step his game up big-time though when the regular season starts.

Point of joy? Steve Blake has looked good so far. Ruben Patterson has been able to score, which should pressure Bobby Simmons to play better once he comes back.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had the best game recap I was able to find.

Mke Bucks Diary takes a look at which Bucks are clutch.

It’s most important to note that Steve Blake is clutch, Mo Williams is not. Mo had the advantage of making two huge shots last year, but he choked numerous other times. Steve Blake should be playing in crunch time.

If the Bucks are losing the lineup should look like this in the clutch… Bogut, Villanueva, Simmons, Redd, and Blake. Simmons gets the nod based on his ability to shoot from outside and help spread the floor, Patterson can’t do that. Blake is the better decision maker over Williams, plus Williams shoots too much in the clutch.

If the Bucks are winning the lineup should look like this in the clutch… Bogut, Villanueva, Patterson, Redd, and Blake. Patterson can’t dribble in the clutch, so it is essential he never touches the ball in this case. He’s in there just to play defense. Depending on how the season goes, it may not be a bad idea at some point to do offense-defense subs of Redd and Simmons, moving Patterson to the SG spot (defending the likes of Kobe, Paul Piece, etc) when the Bucks are playing D. Redd needs to be on the floor when we have the ball though because of his ability to shoot free throws, spread defenses, and make open shots.