Hammonds knows what he is doing!!!

He is clearly building a sturdy house.  This new roster is chock full of real, actual NBA players.  No more roster with 25 to 35 percent consisting of liability players/horrible contracts.  This year coach Skiles will actually have a fully loaded clip to take into battle.  He did an admirable job last year with some very old rickety parts(see Jerry Stackhouse and Kurt Thomas) and some sad, overmatched ones.(see Dan Gadzuric and Charlie Bell)  Not too mention almost pulling out a 7 game playoff series without his biggest gun, injured Andrew Bogut.

Good news for Skiles is that his roster has been reloaded.  The dead weight has been removed for the most part.  When he looks over his shoulder at the end of the 1st quarter he will have certainly have more buttons to push.  I would project his bench to include 6'11" rookie PF/C Larry Sanders, 6'9" SF/PF Ersan Ilysova, 6'6" SF Corey Magette, 6'7" SG/SF Chris Douglas-Roberts, 6'8" SF/PF Luc Ricard Mboute, and rookies 6'7" PG/SG  Darington Hobson, 6'10" PF/C Tiny Gallon.  Obviously a few of these parts could change with 6'6" SG/SF Carlos Delfino coming off the pine instead of being in the starting five.  Anyway you slice things up, this version of the Bucks is built to be succesful over the long haul of an 82 game season. 

A starting five of PG Brandon Jennings, SG John Salmons, SF Carlos Delfino, PF Drew Gooden, and C Andrew Bogut is about as solid as a rock.  In fact Skiles biggest problem might be getting everyone on the roster to buy into the big picture.  Some guys are not going to get the amount of minutes every night that they want.  Somehow I think Skiles will get them all on the same page and if anyone pouts or complains they will be on a bus out of town. 

This roster basically contains 9 players who were 10 point plus guys last season.(CDR at 9.8)  That kind of balanced scoring will be hard to beat over the long haul of an 82 game season.  Bogut or Jennings shots aren't falling, no problem just lean on Magette,Ilysova,Delfino,Gooden,Sanders etc.  This team really struggled last year when the top guys had off nights, things should be much better this year.  They should get to the line at a much higher rate with Jennings in his second year and the addition of Magette and Douglass-Roberts. 

This roster is set to build on the strong defensive effort a year ago. Bogut is the clear anchor in the middle finishing last year second only to Dwight Howard in blocked shots.  The addition of Sanders should really help Bogut and the team in protecting the paint.  Sanders brings the length that no other Buck player posesses.  They could form a dynamic shot blocking duo and at least the Bucks defense won't be so easy to drive on when Bogut leaves the game.  In addition Mboute, Ilysova, and Salmons are all plus type defenders who give max effort.  Jennings also was turning into a solid defender by the end of the year.  I don't buy the stuff about Magette being a softy on defense. Don Nelson had him guarding PF's most of the time.  Magette can at least be average in Skiles system guarding SG's or SF's. He has the athletic ability and strength to compete with almost anyone.  Delfino is also decent defensively most nights.  If things gel together like last year, this team will have the ability to put the clamps on other teams.

Not to put the pressure on, but the clear indicator on how good this team can be will have to be the game of Jennings.  If Jennings can take another step forward and steer this talented roster in the right direction their is no ceiling to how far the Bucks could go!  He is the one guy that simply can't be replaced and must stay healthy.

I have been a longtime Bucks fan and like others I have had to suffer through a horrible decade.  Often it seemed like no one was steering the ship or just didn't know how to drive.  I hope the city of Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin really comes out and embraces this Bucks team.(I've been telling all my friends/family to get on the bandwagon)  They are a team that we the fans can finally be proud of, no more lazy or half hearted efforts on either end of the court.(which was often the normal)  No more selfish, get my numbers guys.  Skiles and Hammonds have changed the entire culture of this hoops franchise.  I think that the 2010-2011 season can be a special one for the Bucks!  I haven't felt this kind of interest and excitement about the Bucks since back in 2000-2001 playoff run.