[Moon RiverParticipant]

Some info on locker room confrontation between Sanders and Ellis as well as some updated Bucks head coaching info.

Does McMillan or Samson get any of you Bucks fans excited?

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/blog/ken-berger/22224316/sources-bucks-monta-ellis-larry-sanders-almost-came-to-blows-after-loss-to-heat

[zcnumerounoParticipant]

I’d say you just gotta take the best coach available. Im saying this as a Bucks fan, but who would want to coach in Milwaukee? It’s a small market, you’d have two incredibly overrated guards who don’t mesh at all, very little team chemistry, have to endure brutal winters, and the Bucks may be relocated. That limits a lot of coaching possibilities. I’d say the best coach the Bucks can get is Stan Van Gundy or Sampson. He coached in Wisconsin already (for the Wisconsin Badgers), and he might be able to bring in some nice players. Sampson was an assistant for the Bucks and coached at Indiana, so he is familiar with the brutal winters. Sampson was a really good recruiter and Indiana, so who knows, maybe he can get some quality players to play for the Bucks. The Bucks are a project, and they need to scrap and start over. They need a coach that realizes that and can be patient.

[MilwaukeeBucks5Participant]

I’ve been a Bucks fan my whole life, born and raised in Milwaukee. I’m extremely glad this scuffle news came out because i hope it means the end of Ellis in Milwaukee (Hopefully Jennings too). With the coach for whatever reason I really am hoping they bring in Sam Cassell. He loved it here and still has a house here I believe. I think he would be A) Entertaining and B) players would like to and play hard for him. Sampsons a douche, he was mean to all the fans when he was here as an assistant.

[MilwaukeeBucks5Participant]

I’ve been a Bucks fan my whole life, born and raised in Milwaukee. I’m extremely glad this scuffle news came out because i hope it means the end of Ellis in Milwaukee (Hopefully Jennings too). With the coach for whatever reason I really am hoping they bring in Sam Cassell. He loved it here and still has a house here I believe. I think he would be A) Entertaining and B) players would like to and play hard for him. Sampsons a douche, he was mean to all the fans when he was here as an assistant.

[zcnumerounoParticipant]

I’d say you just gotta take the best coach available. Im saying this as a Bucks fan, but who would want to coach in Milwaukee? It’s a small market, you’d have two incredibly overrated guards who don’t mesh at all, very little team chemistry, have to endure brutal winters, and the Bucks may be relocated. That limits a lot of coaching possibilities. I’d say the best coach the Bucks can get is Stan Van Gundy or Sampson. He coached in Wisconsin already (for the Wisconsin Badgers), and he might be able to bring in some nice players. Sampson was an assistant for the Bucks and coached at Indiana, so he is familiar with the brutal winters. Sampson was a really good recruiter and Indiana, so who knows, maybe he can get some quality players to play for the Bucks. The Bucks are a project, and they need to scrap and start over. They need a coach that realizes that and can be patient.

[BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipant]

It would be a great time to trade Larry Sanders. He piled up a bunch of empty blocks while being a terrible help defender. I would hope to ride the nonsense about him having “a breakout year in his first season as a regular starter and was a top contender for defensive player of the year and most-improved player honors” into a lottery pick. The Bucks were 29th in opponent’s points in the paint, and that completely negates the team being 2nd in blocked shots and Sanders being second in blocks per game.

The positive for Milwaukee is that this really is a buyer’s market for coaches. Nate McMillan and Stan Van Gundy are good coaches. It isn’t McMillan’s fault Felton got fat and he didn’t get along with Jamal Crawford. Portland went from overachievers to mediocre when the team stopped wanting to play defense for him, but there is no arguing that he can get a willing team to perform. The biggest knock against Sampson is the NCAA violations, which don’t matter in the NBA. He was on Skiles’ staff so there is familiarity, and if he was already interviewed then the relationship between him and Hammond must not have been that bad.

[BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipant]

It would be a great time to trade Larry Sanders. He piled up a bunch of empty blocks while being a terrible help defender. I would hope to ride the nonsense about him having “a breakout year in his first season as a regular starter and was a top contender for defensive player of the year and most-improved player honors” into a lottery pick. The Bucks were 29th in opponent’s points in the paint, and that completely negates the team being 2nd in blocked shots and Sanders being second in blocks per game.

The positive for Milwaukee is that this really is a buyer’s market for coaches. Nate McMillan and Stan Van Gundy are good coaches. It isn’t McMillan’s fault Felton got fat and he didn’t get along with Jamal Crawford. Portland went from overachievers to mediocre when the team stopped wanting to play defense for him, but there is no arguing that he can get a willing team to perform. The biggest knock against Sampson is the NCAA violations, which don’t matter in the NBA. He was on Skiles’ staff so there is familiarity, and if he was already interviewed then the relationship between him and Hammond must not have been that bad.

[jhbm24Participant]

Btph is right. Trade sanders while his value is high, trade both Ellis and Jennings, sell the team to Seattle and start over..

[jhbm24Participant]

Btph is right. Trade sanders while his value is high, trade both Ellis and Jennings, sell the team to Seattle and start over..

[KHAM83Participant]

I don’t think I saw a single Bucks game this year, but I follow box scores of the league almost daily. Im shocked to see posters say Sanders were overrated, and I do know stats can be misleading. Looks like it was a bad decision to give upon Harris. Henson came on strong, stat-wise, towards the end of the season. Who currently on this team would you want the Bucks to keep and build around? Henson seems legit, Jennings is very young, is Illyasova worth his contract???

[BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipant]

Sanders is just the kind of empty numbers that come with being around the rim for 30 minutes a night. What is really disappointing with him is that he flashes offensive ability, but three years into his career and there is still no consistency to it. Guys who get their points off assisted dunks and layups aren’t special. Guys who get blocked shots because teams are scoring in the paint a ton aren’t special. Move him to a team that doesn’t realize it.

They moved Harris to get Redick, and if Milwaukee keeps Redick it will be something they can live with. Harris cannot defend like Mbah a Moute, and cannot shoot well enough to be a successful 3. Orlando played him at the 4 because Davis was down and Nicholson wasn’t guarding anybody either. With that lineup, what is the harm in having a small power forward in a lost year. The reality is that he wasn’t going to beat out Ilyasova at the 4, and also they committed to Ilyasova to be there. Until he got sick and had the wrist injury, there was not a person alive who would not have agreed.

Henson got some big minutes when Ilyasova missed time at the end of the season, but they were basically B-team games. He is a maddening player who mixes athletic flash with remarkable lack of coordination and sense in an almost JaVale-esque way. This is a guy who ran out of his shoes and fell over while driving to the hoop, missed a free throw wide right, had passes go through his hands on a regular basis, and still intrigues because of the flashes. He is almost a duplicate of Larry Sanders almost down to the rookie season body, Sanders might have been a bit thicker.

Jennings is a restricted free agent, which means he either takes an extension, has an offer get matched, or engineers a sign-and-trade. One way or another, he is still an asset. Monta might not opt out. The options for big money free agents will be better in 2014 than 2013, so it would not surprise me if he opts in for another year. I tend to believe that they will re-sign Redick and let Dunleavy go, but they are sitting in a spot where they might be able to get Dario Saric. Given where he is at this point, it might be asking a bit much to ask him to step into that point forward role off the bench right away, but it would look like a fit with long-term upside.

Big picture, they do need a real center with some offensive game. There is absolutely no reason for a team to have Larry Sanders, John Henson, Ekpe Udoh, Samuel Dalembert, and Joel Przybilla. It is duplication of some ability and great limitations. The problem is this isn’t a draft where I like the centers. I would be more inclined to take a second round flier on Jaiteh, Musli, Walter Tavares, or Norvel Pelle (knowing all but Pelle would not be stateside next season and that Pelle would basically be living in Fort Wayne) than gamble on guys with almost just as much risk in the first round (Len, Adams, Gobert, Nogueira). They could then look to address the long-term future of the position down the road when the options might be better. I will concede that Olynyk would be interesting because of his abilities offensively, but even if he measures out at 6′ 11″ and 260 lbs. he will need time to learn defensively. He would probably have to be a backup for a while if the Bucks were to try to compete for the playoffs, but he is the safest of the bunch because of his size and skill level. Zeller has the skills to be a long-time guy in the league, but does not have the base strength to be a real center. In a division with Drummond, Hibbert, Varejao, and Noah, I need a center to either have the size and strength to hold off Drummond and Hibbert from getting to where they want to go, the athleticism and focus to keep Varejao and Noah from outworking them, or ideally both. Plus, because of his lack of strength, a team like the Bucks can throw out Henson at the 5 to guard him, which really negates his value. The great value of real centers and real big men is forcing teams without centers and real big men to adjust. If Zeller cannot force another team to put out a real center, then he does not hold that elevated level of value. Still, moving Sanders now can help elevate the overall talent level by seeing if a center-starved team does something silly. Putting together a double of Burke/Kabongo and Saric/Karasev/Muhammad would be worth it.

[BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipant]

Sanders is just the kind of empty numbers that come with being around the rim for 30 minutes a night. What is really disappointing with him is that he flashes offensive ability, but three years into his career and there is still no consistency to it. Guys who get their points off assisted dunks and layups aren’t special. Guys who get blocked shots because teams are scoring in the paint a ton aren’t special. Move him to a team that doesn’t realize it.

They moved Harris to get Redick, and if Milwaukee keeps Redick it will be something they can live with. Harris cannot defend like Mbah a Moute, and cannot shoot well enough to be a successful 3. Orlando played him at the 4 because Davis was down and Nicholson wasn’t guarding anybody either. With that lineup, what is the harm in having a small power forward in a lost year. The reality is that he wasn’t going to beat out Ilyasova at the 4, and also they committed to Ilyasova to be there. Until he got sick and had the wrist injury, there was not a person alive who would not have agreed.

Henson got some big minutes when Ilyasova missed time at the end of the season, but they were basically B-team games. He is a maddening player who mixes athletic flash with remarkable lack of coordination and sense in an almost JaVale-esque way. This is a guy who ran out of his shoes and fell over while driving to the hoop, missed a free throw wide right, had passes go through his hands on a regular basis, and still intrigues because of the flashes. He is almost a duplicate of Larry Sanders almost down to the rookie season body, Sanders might have been a bit thicker.

Jennings is a restricted free agent, which means he either takes an extension, has an offer get matched, or engineers a sign-and-trade. One way or another, he is still an asset. Monta might not opt out. The options for big money free agents will be better in 2014 than 2013, so it would not surprise me if he opts in for another year. I tend to believe that they will re-sign Redick and let Dunleavy go, but they are sitting in a spot where they might be able to get Dario Saric. Given where he is at this point, it might be asking a bit much to ask him to step into that point forward role off the bench right away, but it would look like a fit with long-term upside.

Big picture, they do need a real center with some offensive game. There is absolutely no reason for a team to have Larry Sanders, John Henson, Ekpe Udoh, Samuel Dalembert, and Joel Przybilla. It is duplication of some ability and great limitations. The problem is this isn’t a draft where I like the centers. I would be more inclined to take a second round flier on Jaiteh, Musli, Walter Tavares, or Norvel Pelle (knowing all but Pelle would not be stateside next season and that Pelle would basically be living in Fort Wayne) than gamble on guys with almost just as much risk in the first round (Len, Adams, Gobert, Nogueira). They could then look to address the long-term future of the position down the road when the options might be better. I will concede that Olynyk would be interesting because of his abilities offensively, but even if he measures out at 6′ 11″ and 260 lbs. he will need time to learn defensively. He would probably have to be a backup for a while if the Bucks were to try to compete for the playoffs, but he is the safest of the bunch because of his size and skill level. Zeller has the skills to be a long-time guy in the league, but does not have the base strength to be a real center. In a division with Drummond, Hibbert, Varejao, and Noah, I need a center to either have the size and strength to hold off Drummond and Hibbert from getting to where they want to go, the athleticism and focus to keep Varejao and Noah from outworking them, or ideally both. Plus, because of his lack of strength, a team like the Bucks can throw out Henson at the 5 to guard him, which really negates his value. The great value of real centers and real big men is forcing teams without centers and real big men to adjust. If Zeller cannot force another team to put out a real center, then he does not hold that elevated level of value. Still, moving Sanders now can help elevate the overall talent level by seeing if a center-starved team does something silly. Putting together a double of Burke/Kabongo and Saric/Karasev/Muhammad would be worth it.

[KHAM83Participant]

I don’t think I saw a single Bucks game this year, but I follow box scores of the league almost daily. Im shocked to see posters say Sanders were overrated, and I do know stats can be misleading. Looks like it was a bad decision to give upon Harris. Henson came on strong, stat-wise, towards the end of the season. Who currently on this team would you want the Bucks to keep and build around? Henson seems legit, Jennings is very young, is Illyasova worth his contract???

[Author]

Posts