Oct
16
The Bucks Played Its First Game 39 Years Ago Today & Are Hoping to Issue in the New Era of Yi
Thirty nine years ago today, the Milwaukee Bucks played its first game in franchise history, losing to its I-94 neighbors, the Chicago Bulls. With this date in NBA history in mind, the Bucks provide a great forum to begin Hoops 4 the Soul’s 2007-2008 season previews.
New Coach, New Attitude: After failing to make the playoffs under Terry Stotts last season, Milwaukee went in a new yet familiar direction, hiring former Bucks player Larry Krystowiak as Head Coach. Regarded by some as a young coach on the rise, Krystowiak is striving to make the Bucks a team that hangs its hat on its defense; an interesting proposition to say the least as Milwaukee conjures images of its gunslinging star Michael Redd.
For the Bucks to reach the playoffs out of the tough Central Division and an improved Eastern Conference, the team will have to subscribe to Krystowiak’s hard-nosed defense philosophy. In all honesty, Milwaukee is not as talented as the Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons or Chicago Bulls in its division, and must outwork teams on the defensive end of the court.
While the Bucks have streaky scorers in Redd and Maurice Williams who can go off in bunches, these two players will ultimately need to set the table in terms of accepting the defensive challenge posed by Krystowiak. If these two players don’t buy in, the Bucks will be just another team that can score but not stop anybody.
All eyes will be on rookie forward Yi Jianlian: Milwaukee General Manager Larry Harris stunned everybody on draft night when he took the 6’11’ Chinese forward, who was hoping to play in a larger market. After some initial wavering from Yi’s camp, Jianlian arrived in Milwaukee a couple of weeks ago. Yi began his time in Milwaukee by refusing to answer any questions about his age. Jianlian turns 20 on October 27th.
Physically, Yi is an impressive specimen with a body that is flexible enough to go out on the perimeter yet strong enough to bang down low. Mentally, Yi has many questions at this point of his young career. Will he be able to survive the grind of an 82-game season? Will he be able to compete against the much more athletic and physical player that is the NBA athlete? How long will his learning curve be in the league? Will he take a full year to adjust to the NBA game like the player he is compared to, Dallas Mavericks superstar Dirk Nowitzki? Or will the lightbulb go on earlier for Yi?
Thus far in the preseason, Yi has been uneven, which can be expected for most of his rookie season. Yi was dunked on by a guy who never played an NBA regular season game (Thomas Gardner of the Chicago Bulls) and then blocked on a fast break by a seasoned player with college experience (Joakim Noah) before fouling out during his first preseason game. Jianlian then bounced back with a better performance in his second preseason game, notching 12 points and only 4 fouls against the Utah Jazz. In his first start last night, Yi had 13 points and eight turnovers in a rematch against the Jazz.
All in all, Yi will be one of the bigger rookies to watch this season. What will the Bucks get out of him this year? The entire NBA is eagerly anticipating this question.
An Inside Presence? It’s time for third year players Andrew Bogut and Charlie Villaneuva to step up their games if the Bucks have any realistic hopes of a playoff appearance. The first pick of the 2005 NBA Draft, Bogut has averaged a modest 10.5 points per game in his first two seasons. He will need to get his scoring up to around 16 points a game this year while continuing to being a threat with his low-post passing skills. Milwaukee also needs to get Bogut the ball more as he has the talent to do much more than what’s he shown in two decent seasons. In Bogut’s defense, he has become lost in the Milwaukee offense at times during his first two seasons.
After enjoying a surprise rookie season in which he averaged 13.0 games with the Toronto Raptors, Villaneuva was not fully assimilated in the Bucks offense last season after being acquired in a trade sending T.J. Ford north of the border. While he still averaged 11.9 points per game last season, Villaneuva saw his shots go down. Villaneuva obviously is a jump shooter more than a low post scorer but he will need to be more conscious of taking his game down low this season.
Besides these two players, the Bucks have veteran backups in Dan Gadzuric, Michael Ruffin and Jake Vokskul, all of whom offer a lot of hustle but really nothing else; thus putting more pressure on Bogut.
Deep on the Wings: Not knowing what to expect out of Yi and needing more from Bogut and Villaneuva, the Bucks strength obviously lies on the perimeter, beginning with Redd. The Bucks have a very intriguing competition playing out at the small forward spot with Bobby Simmons and Desmond Mason, a former Buck and fan favorite who returns to the Brew City after spending the last couple of seasons with the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. Milwaukee also retained starting point guard Maurice Williams and backup Charlie Bell (at his dismay). The Miami Heat pushed hard for both players this offseason, but the Bucks ponied up to keep Williams, a scoring point guard, and Bell, an offensive and defensive spark plug off the bench. If one thing is clear about the Bucks, they have some very capable perimeter players whom will need to be the team’s rock night-in and night-out.
The Season Will Be a Success if:
• Redd helps set the tone early not only offensively but defensively;
• Yi takes about half of a season to develop and then becomes a solid contributor at year’s end, providing a glimpse of things to come in the future;
• Bogut is used more consistently down low and boosts his scoring;
• The team takes on the tough-minded personality of Krystowiak, kind of like what the Bulls became with Scott Skiles; and
• Milwaukee sneaks into the playoffs as a seventh or eighth seed.
Prediction: The Bucks will boost their win total by 8 games games (from 28 to 36) but fall short of the playoffs, ultimately finishing in the range of ninth to eleventh place in the East. Milwaukee certainly has the talent with Redd, but the East has improved so much. While the Bucks made some nice moves this offseason, none of them were good enough to propel Milwaukee into what will be a more formidable Eastern Conference playoffs. With that said, the future is looking brighter for the Bucks.
by: Chris Maynard, chris@hoops4thesoul.com
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Thirty nine years ago today, the Milwaukee Bucks played its first game in franchise history, losing to its I-94 neighbors, the Chicago Bulls. With this date in NBA history in mind, the Bucks provide a great forum to begin Hoops 4 the Soul’s 2007-2008 season previews.
