Worried About Hammond

The Bucks were in a bad position a year ago and it hasn’t improved much—the big difference is we now have a coach who gets the most out of his roster. Still, it’s tough to judge Hammond and his staff based on one year given how long it often takes for decisions to really have their full effect.

I think the biggest problem is that the Bucks’ legacy of crappiness through most of this decade and the arena issues mean that ownership and management don’t think they have the latitude to just dump contracts and start over. The average hardcore fan is fine with that because we view things more in the big picture…we’re not going to stop following the team because they decide to rebuild. But I think there’s distinct pressure in the organization to be competitive, even if that means overpaying for it and running the risk of compromising future competitiveness. It sucks, but I also feel like it’s a copout to act like there aren’t legitimate reasons for that strategy.

Right now the only obvious failure on Hammond’s part was drafting Alexander. I don’t think JA’s a lost cause, but any realist would go back and take Brook Lopez, Jason Thompson, Anthony Randolph and a bunch of others ahead of him. Hopefully he uses that as motivation and comes back next year vastly improved, but right now you have to mark it down as a bad pick.

Not getting rid of RJ and/or Ridnour for expiring deals could be the second big mistake of Hammond’s regime if it prevents them from bringing back Sessions. Alternatively they would be in a much better spot if they had gotten Joe Smith (expiring) rather than Ridnour in the Mo deal. But we’re not there yet and I’ll hold off until that happens.

As you can tell from that cap post the other day, they’re in a tough spot. Part of that was a bit unforeseeable—in October no one was expecting the tax to tank obviously. For the moment a lot of it will come down to the draft (Do they end up with a PG? And if so, is there any chance Sessions is back?) and stuff like whether Elson/Allen opt out. Fingers crossed.

Seems like with no quantifiable data to make sensible judgements, I waver daily. One day, Hammond is going to restore glory to the franchise. The next, I spend way too much time at RealGM and Hammond’s a jibbering fool. Essentially I believe he’s middle of the road, he won’t save the team single handedly, but he’s not going to give Dan Gadzuric a six year extension either. At least I am supremely confident that Skiles was the best coach for our team. Things are shaping up, I just don’t know what to do with my free time now that the season’s done and the draft is years away.

I like the job that Hammond has done … I think there’s a lot of promise there from the Skiles appointment … and in how defense + rebounding became the backbone of the team. I think the next steps the club has to take are far easier than the one’s that were just accomplished. Ergo, I’m very pleased with all that.

However, I definitely think he’s just getting his feet wet, that’s he’s feeling out the job. He isn’t the total package yet, he’s still learning in some areas .. but that’s okay, he’s a first time GM, he can learn on the job.

Hammond also appears to be a short term, win-now, type of GM. I don’t necessarily mean an all-veteran type of approach, but someone who focuses on the immediate season first and foremost and then looks for development off of that season. The idea of losing a bit more today, in order to create a better tomorrow … I think that’s a foreign concept for him.