Monday Notes: Vegas opener, more Bogut, Redd interview, new arena talk

by Frank Madden on Jul 13, 2008 10:55 PM CDT in Daily Notes Comment 0 comments

Check out a video interview of Michael Redd talking Olympics and Bucks (above).
We recap the Bucks' summer league opener, including a (much) less-than-stellar debut for Joe Alexander. DraftExpress' complete coverage takes a closer look at Ramon Sessions and Joe Alexander.
Andrew Bogut talks to WSSP's Gary & Cliff. Among the highlights: Bogut prefers "Man in the Mirror" to T-Pain and he was "shocked" by the Yi trade. He say he had no inkling a deal could go down until he read about it on HoopsHype.
Dave Berri takes a look at The Bogut Economy. The Wages of Wins professor as always takes a novel approach, but the conceit of the article--the implied worth of other players assuming Bogut gets $72.5 million for continuing his 07/08 level of production--ignores the fact that Bogut will only earn $72.5 million if he does improve his production.
Martin Greenberg at the JS has an interesting look at how Seattle's Sonic-less future should affect Milwaukee's approach to the Bucks' arena issues.
NBA Commissioner David Stern has given Milwaukee a temporary pass, but the limits of the Bradley Center should not be a back burner issue. Creative community efforts and Milwaukee’s leadership combining private, charitable and public concerns must seek a solution to the Bradley Center’s future. Our country’s current financial and credit crisis and the discussion of eliminating the use of tax-exempt bonds for financing sports facilities will make the challenge for Milwaukee even greater. A solution for the Bradley Center needs to be discussed now rather than waiting for what happened in Seattle to unravel here.
David Stern told Don Walker in May that "for a period of time, this arena will do." While we can breathe a sigh of relief that the commissioner is playing nice for now, you wonder if that will simply encourage the kind of civic complacency that doomed Seattle. There's no question that the Bucks today would face an uphill battle in building a taxpayer-financed arena, especially given the team's consistent struggles since the 2001 playoff run. Sen. Herb Kohl is also in something of a catch-22 since he's in a poor position to ask for public funding, yet also is committed to keeping the Bucks in Milwaukee. And despite the fact that Miller Park has been a major reason for the Brewers' march back to relevance, I'd bet many people would still use the cost overruns and construction delays there as an excuse to pass on helping build a new Bucks' arena.

Which is a shame because there's certainly potential for greatly improving the downtown as an entertainment area if a larger sports/entertainment complex was built. For now the dialogue about what needs to happen seems very limited, though at least Michael Hunt keeps trying to bring it up. Is it politically feasible? That's another question which might have some very frustrating answers in the short term. Overall, a new Bucks arena, even if funded partly by tax dollars, would certainly seem like less of a handout if it could be spun as an investment in keeping not just the Bucks relevant, but the city itself.
The Bratwurst chimes in on Bogut's extension and the Bucks' power forward vacuum.
Mark Schwarz has an interesting look at fraternization between referees and players/coaches.