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I could care less about bleacher report.

Statistics matter, they don't tell the whole story but they do matter A LOT, and ignoring them when ranking players is just stupid.

check out the stats among nba pgs for yourself

http://insider.espn....s/_/position/pg

Look at the TS% and PER as well as all of the other categories and try telling me he is a top ten pg.

 

He's clearly not an all star and I don't understand why it is even being discussed. O yea because its the NBA and Yao Ming was an annual all-star. Its a popularity contest.

 

So far in his career Brandon has been a starter since day 1 but hasn't improved his game or adjusted his style all that much since his rookie year. The lack of progress is the only explanation for the Bucks not extending him before the October deadline. He's definitely not getting any cheaper as time goes on.

 

Brandon needs to be denied recognition so that he is motivated to make changes to his approach and style of play that will allow him to be a real all-star. All of this popularity so early in his career (the 55 point game) has stunted his growth as a player.

 

Fan voting will never affect a Milwaukee Bucks player so it's not really a popularity contest. Coaches gave the love to Holiday but I dont think Holiday deserved it. I dont think Jennings did either, I thought it was criminal that the Nets didnt get a single All Star and that Brook Lopez got snubbed. Holiday leads the league in turnovers and plays on a team that is 8 games below 500 and is also 7-19 since December 1st. I dont think that is worthy of being an All Star.

We have a forum now.

 

I have no idea what I'm doing, but I did get an e-mail from a guy one time that told me we should have a forum for Bucksketball. So here's that. 

 

My goal is to have another place for conversation. To have another place where it'll be easier for the people who really make this site hum, you guys, to engage and discuss things like games or trades in a more real time fashion. In time, I'd like to be able to integrate comments on posts and comments in the forums, but for now, I'm not really sure how to do anything along those lines.

 

Also, if I may be candid for a moment, a lot of people e-mail me and ask if they can write for the site. If ever there was a good way to get noticed for being a really smart, eloquent fan, it's in a forum. Historically, forums have gotten a sometimes accurate and sometimes inaccurate reputation as spiteful places where cliques develop and reasonable conversation goes to die. I don't want that to happen. I want this to be a place where a whole bunch of people write really compelling things about the Bucks in little spurts. I'm not saying I'm going to come through here pulling people out to write for the site, but if ever you wanted to show that you have a good handle on both the English language and the Bucks, I'm hoping this forum would be a good place to display that. 

 

Think of this thing as in Beta right now. There will be changes being made on a frequent basis I hope and if it gets off the rails, I hold it within my right to terminate this experiment. Let's all remember and constantly keep in mind that we're here together to talk about a thing we all enjoy on one level or another.

 

Be good to each other.

 

- Jeremy

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Eakin lists Paul Kariya and Wayne Gretzky as childhood
heroes and said he definitely spent plenty of time on the outdoor rinks in Winnipeg working on his
scoring skills. So he鈥檇 like to try to push those numbers up.
Eakin鈥檚 run with Kootenay in 2010-11 gave just a glimpse
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only to see the NHL prove more challenging. Keane put up 83 points in 67 games
with Moose Jaw
in 1985-86 before settling in to a pace that was closer to 30 points a season
in the NHL.
The thing about Keane was he brought a great deal more
than just points. Not only did he log 220 playoff games (12th in NHL history),
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Manitoba Moose. He played for the love of the game, an attribute that seems
fairly strong in Eakin.
[quote]I met him at the AHL Skills Competition when I was 15,
and he treated me really well, so I was impressed with him,[/quote] Eakin said of a
chance encounter he had with Keane, [quote]He was a great player, so it鈥檚 pretty cool
if people are comparing me to him.[/quote]
Follow Mike Heika on Twitter at
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It was a good game by Jennings, especially the part where he only shot 12 times. Hopefully that continues. The number of assists was impressive but this was more the result of an abundance of easy assist opportunities rather than Brandon expertly carving up the defense. He had some nice finds of a cutting Moute, gave the ball up to Dunleavy and Redick coming around screens, kicked out to Ersan more than usual, and had a few impressive penetration dishes to Larry. But it was one game and it was against the Raptors. Fingers crossed it continues against better competition. If this team has to choose between Jennings and Ellis in the offseason I firmly believe they should choose Ellis. While he is a bit older he is considerably more athletic than Brandon and is either better or slightly better in every aspect of the game except 3 pt shooting. Ellis may be the quickest player in the league and his athleticism allows him to do some things that no one else on the Bucks can do, such as what he did in the sequence on his overtime assist to Larry. That kind of thing can work against even the best defense, if he can continue to play less-selfishly as he has the past 4 games he will be very valuable. Either way a battle for assists between Ellis and Jennings would be the greatest thing that could happen to the Bucks this season.

Monta has been playing his best ball in part because of the impact Redick has had on the team. Any time we spread the floor with the Monta/Redick/Dunleavy/Ilyasova/Sanders lineup, Monta has played arguably his best basketball of the season. Without Redick, he wouldn't be doing this right now, because nobody else can spread the floor at the two guard like he can. 

 

And yes, but Redick was also in the starting lineup and had to play against the other team's best on a consistent basis, whereas Tobias comes off the bench and is more often than not playing against the other team's second unit. 

Man I should have been watching this forum yesterday instead of RealGM. Seems like this would have been more entertaining, but probably less informative lol

No way ... less informative? We know it all...just ask us!

Thumbs up for right now.

 

It sucks that we had to give up Tobias, who at the very least looked like a great offensive talent. His defense was pretty awful, and his court vision needed improvement, but at 20 years old, that may very well change over time. But the unfortunate truth is that the Bucks didn't have time to wait to see if he'd pan out and be a star. They needed immediate results.

 

Lamb and Udrih were pretty expendable in the end. I had hopes for Lamb, but his season has been decidedly unimpressive, and injuries have derailed him for a good portion of the year. I liked Udrih a lot as well, but he wasn't happy with his minutes in Milwaukee. 

 

Ishmael Smith isn't anyone really worth mentioning. He makes less than a million a year and is signed for this year and the next, with a team option in the 2014/15 season. He is 24 years old though, and might see at least some burn from Boylan, if nothing else to see if he has anything to offer the team. 

 

I remember Gustavo Ayon being pretty solid with the Hornets during the latter half of the season last year. But he is another PF on a team with too many power forwards as it is, but is in the last year of his contract. He does have a team option for next year, though.

 

And finally, JJ Redick. Two things to take into consideration about this trade:
 

1. Hammond said that he would only make this trade if Redick would re-sign with them after this season. So chances are, we have Redick locked up for at least the next few years. 

 

2. While Ellis is definitely going to continue being the starter for this season, it puts some doubt on his long term status with the team. He does have a player option next year, but most reports indicate he won't accept it, and even if he does, he would still be a nice expiring contract that we could trade away if need be. 

 

Anyways, Redick puts the Bucks into better position to be a playoff team this year. He's an excellent shooter who can spread the floor as well as anyone in the league (I am SO excited for a Jennings/Redick/Dunleavy/Ilyasova/Sanders lineup!). He's improved tremendously on defense since he entered the league as well. Certainly not a lock-down defender, but he can hold his own. He's also a great passer, very unselfish with the ball.

 

The important thing to remember with this deal is that, while we did trade away a player (Harris) who may have been a guy of the future, we need some success NOW. We're the least valuable team in the NBA right now in terms of earnings. Fans simply aren't excited about the Bucks, and haven't had a whole lot of reason to be apart from the 2009-10 "Fear the Deer" team. 

 

Even just making the playoffs would raise interest. If we can get a win or two against Miami, Indiana or New York in the process? Even better. Just something to generate excitement and interest in the Bucks again. Redick gives us a better chance at that. 

 

Obviously it would have been amazing to get Smith as well, but it is what it is. And if he's truly excited at the notion of playing with Jennings/Ellis, then Milwaukee can offer him as much as pretty much any other team in the bidding for him in the offseason.

On the flip side, you tend to turn a blind eye to the mistakes Jennings makes. And while Jennings was fantastic the last two games, he's been far from great most of the season. If he can keep playing like this though, he'll have my vote of confidence. But the consistency has to be there. Anyways, it's rough losing twice in a row, much less to the same team by five total points. The team collapsed in the fourth quarter tonight and just couldn't make up the deficit.

If the trades mentioned today go down, we'd be looking at something like this:

 

PG: Jennings/Udrih

SG: Redick/Lamb

SF: Smith/Dunleavy/Harris

PF: Ilyasova/Smith

C: Sanders/Dalembert/Udoh

 

Though this is just with the players actually mentioned in trades. 

 

I would be very happy if the Bucks came out of the deadline looking like this. 

The Bucks are apparently looking for him to re-sign before going forward with this deal, so that protects us at least in that way. Though I fail to see how he'd hurt our team or hurt to be in the rotation. He's an unselfish guy who likes to move the ball around, and he'd easily be the best or second best shooter on the team along with Dunleavy. Not to mention we'd finally have a two guard who can actually play defense. 

It's a tough loss, but the worst loss of the season? Nah. Denver is a very, VERY good team, as they demonstrated against Chicago tonight and by their record since the start of 2013 (15-3). And they're an especially dangerous team at home. 

 

The fact that we were able to lead by so much at any point is a small victory in itself.

 

The worst loss so far this season... probably the ass-kicking we got in New Orleans earlier this year. That was just embarrassing.

You are right but then we get back to the same problem. It's tough to space the floor when you have guys who are not floor spacers. When the Beno, Jennings, Dunleavy combination is on the court they do a great job of moving the ball and spacing the floor because they all have to be respected for their outside shot. Other than Ersan there is no1 else in the rotation where a defender needs to be concerned about their man hitting from outside. The Bucks also do a terrible job of utilizing the corner three which is the most important shot on the court.

Yea I agree, depending on who is in the lineup creating opportunities through ball movement is easier said than done, but I still think we can do a much better job of it if the guys bringing the ball up the court give more effort. Ersan's numbers have been much better since Boylan took over and I think his revival has just as much to do with Ellis and Jennings making a concerted effort to get him the ball (under Boylans direction) as it does with improved play on Ersans behalf. Like most players on the roster Ersan is an opportunist scorer, he has limited capability to create his own shot, but if we can manage to set him up for 15 shots a game, our odds of scoring points are going to be better than if Ellis is taking 15 shots given his typical shot selection this season.

 

The shot distribution should take a slight shift in favor of guys not named BJEllis, but in order for this to happen BJEllis need to actively facilitate scoring opportunities for a group teammates who aren't capable of creating their own shot. Its no simple task but thats what good pgs do - make their teammates look better than they are. I don't think it would make us contenders or anything, but teams who work well together and move the ball a lot are definitely more fun to watch. And obviously If Harris or Dunleavy  started instead of LRMAM, and Udrih instead of Ellis, it would go a long way to help things flow better offensively.

I didn't get to watch the game... again (DARN JOB!!). 

 

Sanders has been amazing, and Ellis made some great plays in the fourth quarter, along with Dunleavy and Jennings, to finish off the Suns. You'd hope for more than a four point win against a very poor Suns team, but any win in Phoenix is cause for celebration for the Bucks.

It may not be an NBA team, but these guys in the D-League are still mighty good. Just making the adjustment to new town, new team, new coach....Lamb might make significant improvement once he catches his breath. Now HE has to realize he's an asset and make the best of this situation.

Good to hear he got enough play time to attempt 14 shots. Obviously, the Bucks think he has the talent to come back to
the team or they would have simply cut him loose.

Thanks for the information and I'll be looking forward to your updates.

Go Lamb! Go Ants?

I wasnt being starry eyed and optimistic I was just saying what their gameplan should have been. Execution last night was terrible.
 
I have no idea why Monta and Dunleavy spent majority of time guarding Bryant, when LRMAM was on Kobe, Kobe was struggling to score he bricked a few shots and airmailed one, speaking of LRMAM there is no excuse for Mbah a Moute offensively last night, he should have had a field day on offense with 6'1" 38 year old Steve Nash guarding him, that was downright embarrassing. I know that his midrange/3 point game is weak, but he's a capable post scorer and if you are being guarded by a guy who's 7 inches shorter and 60 pounds lighter you need to take advantage of that. If Monta makes his free throws, Mbah a Moute demands the ball in the post I think the Bucks could have definitely won that game, they most likely wont have the luxury of Gasol being out when they play LA at home later on so they missed their shot this season.

Yeah...I agree. All the other rotations seemed to make some sense dealing with the match ups, but I was surprised that
LRMBM was not stuck to Kobe like glue. Maybe? because he is used to a defensive role (never mind offense) in these
types of games he's just not used to "creating offense" for himself. If he's standing there wide open and someone
throws him the ball, he'll take the shot. Just seemed a funny match against Nash. It obviously worked for the
Lakers to put Kobe on BJ and Nash on LRMBM.

Tough game tonight, the second of the four game road trip. The last time we beat the Lakers in Los Angeles, was when we had Earl Boykins at point guard and Jennings was out with a broken foot. 

 

On paper, we have several things in our favor: the Lakers biggest problem is dealing with speedy point guards, so Jennings should have his work cut out for him. Ellis may or may not be so favorable with Kobe being used as the primary defender (and if Jennings is killing Nash, we may see Kobe guard him at some point as well). 

 

The front court is going to be interesting, especially with Pau out. Dwight will be a problem, and I won't be surprised if we see Dalembert guard him in stretches tonight, since Dwight has problems scoring on guys bigger than him. 

 

Apart from being an average road team, I still feel confident we can come away with the win tonight. The Lakers aren't a major threat from three, our biggest weakness in terms of defense, so as long as we don't allow easy penetration to the basket and don't foul, the game could definitely be in our favor.

Speaking of the Larry Sanders and the PnR another thing I noticed about him is his lack of communication he lets his guards get hung out to dry, Ellis got crushed by a screen at one point during the game yesterday and that should never happen, that's one of my biggest pet peeves on the basketball court. Ekpe does a great job playing help defense on pick and roll and I dont recall seeing him ever let one of his guards get hung out to dry like that. That's part of the reason why I think Kyle Lowry had little success because Ekpe jumped on the switch out to bail out Udrih and Jennings and on occassion Ellis giving them time to recover. Larry just waits in the lane for people to drive at him.

yes i completely agree with everything you said, i mentioned udoh for his offense. he plays extremely selfish he gets the ball and just awkwardly dribbles back and forth and throws up and awkward looking shot, his rebounding has been very bad as well but you are right about his defense. but i think that larry will develop that defense over the course of the season, he seems to be a player who dramatically improves from game to game.

15 seconds in the third, Monta Ellis brings the ball past the halfcourt line, waits until 3 seconds are left on the clock, then proceeds to barrel into the lane and heave up a  contested shot......only this time he gets stuffed and looks like a fool.

 

Ive seen enough of this end of quarter routine from Monta. He does it every time he gets a chance and with very little success.

 

1 Basketball is a TEAM game, how about trying to create a play involving your teammates before there are only 2 seconds left on the clock wtf

2 Youre not Kobe or Lebron, Youre not nearly tall enough to create a good shot of your own when everybody knows what is coming!

 

Sorry had to vent, but this kind of play is just egotistic and totally against what team ball and playing to win is all about. We need execution, not flashiness.