FanPost

On Ersan... a rant and an early season report

Ersan_medium

via cdn.fansided.com

...I love Ersan Ilyasova...on a good team. But on a bad rebuilding one, his flaws are very apparent. His D is really just borderline flopping taking charges and being tall, his O is catch-and-shoot but we don't have a real PG outside of Wolters and an aging Ridnour (read "a stiff"). I get the floor-stretching/space issues he alleviates but man is he brittle, both mentally and physically (srsly those ankles are perma-broke) and is overly prone to bouts of no confidence. A 13 pt average is a good season for him, and we pay him 8mil a year? I'd love to see them flip him to a (would be) contender for youth. I mean can you see how limited he is now and not realize he'll be even more limited as he ages. His stock is close to as high as it'll ever be. Sell! Plus, I'd totally root for him as a member of a contending team (like say the Houston Rockets?).

Also, while I'm not high on Brandon Knight (mainly for not being a PG), when you look at what he does well it's clear he's a SG/bench-level PG, has value and would be better at the 2 or off the bench. Nate Wolters may not have a high ceiling, but I do think he's a far better orchestrator than Knight. He can see beyond his first move, which is where Knight struggles. I can see Knight thinking, that's a bad sign for a PG which is funny b/c when you hear him talk you think "I like him, he's cerebral." Problem is, a PG needs more instinct and intuition at that spot, he needs to feel it like a squirrel feels trees. I like that he really seems to be trying... an A for effort I guess.

When Wolters is in the game, the offense flows much better and seems to calm down a bit. Wolters is more athletic than he's given credit for; his speed is deceptive and he can find his spots and his jumper is finally coming around. Couple that with fantastic ball control and protection and a solid if unspectacular passing game and a superlative work-ethic, I think he'll be a player in the league for a long time (for whatever reason, he reminds me of Jeff Hornacek in a PG sort of way, maybe b/c I see his success coming from skill and preparation).

Mayo?...I could take it or leave it, sandwich tastes fine with avocado...trade him, you won't even notice.

Neal? ...nah, I prefer to stand, but sometimes you got to go under to get over. He's like a microwave, sometimes you need it fast and don't care what it tastes like; like Applebees, a restaurant but not a REAL restaurant, but hey, sometimes you must opt for convenience.

Epke Udoh? I call him Uh-oh. How can you be that tall and average such a pathetic amount of rebounds, blocks and whatnot that big guys are supposed to get if only because of the accident of being born that way? I can't even see the D people claim he plays to as a strength. Not only that he looks bad at being bad; I just look somewhere else when he's on the court. The only time I'd play him is on the Trade Machine as filler for a deal with real NBA players.

Speaking of Trade Machine filler. Zaza Pachulia. That's how you say it in Georgia. mmm... sweet Georgia peaches...

Miroslav Raduljica? Is a killer-for-hire in his homeland, dude looks like the guy you get to do stuff, unpleasant stuff (perfect for this rebuild!)... I think it's the back hair growing into the head hair that makes me say this... but seriously, I love how immovable he is (people bounce off of him). He might be a piece for our future (if we have one). He could be our Pachulia of the future. On another note, I sorta feel like Hammond found him on the South Side and is only telling us he's from Europe to assuage our fear that he's just some rando who looks like is tall enough that he could play ball.

Giannis? Starter by the end of the year. 35mins/game, what could go wrong? (if you have an answer to this question see this or this)

Khris Middleton? man I love that he's such a surprise that even Giannis Antetokounmpo can't say his name right. Makes me wonder if announcers calling NBA games in Greek mess up "American" names as bad as Giannis' has been butchered. Question: If your job is talking and you can't get a word right that you have say often, how good are you at the basics of your profession? I learned how to say Antetokounmpo in 10 minutes, maybe I should start a class or something... Back to Khris, what's up with the 'h' in the first name? I get the 'K' part (your family does things differnt) but the fact that there's this 'h' in there is outright wierdness, just like how decent Middleton's game actually is. I could see him being our future Ersan, we lose a couple of inches (and charges), but he looks like what I always wanted Ersan to be on D.

Larry SANDERS? Seriously, I don't know. I don't care about the fight. I saw the ice-skatingfight video online (man I don't envy investigators) and I couldn't tell much other than he clearly should not have worn only his socks to a barfight, the dance floor gets slippery when wet. For those of you who haven't made poor alcohol-related decisions in your 20's, I suggest you move back to Wisconsin, go to Water St, Milwaukee St, the North Side or Walker's Point and investigate how the youth spend their evenings. Granted he ought to know better, but it looked a bit like he got jumped. Larry gets the benefit of my doubt. It's not like he was in a jacuzzi with high-school girls (which btw won't keep you out of the Packers hall of fame) or took steroids and lied about them (which btw, won't get you fired by the Brewers.) Hell, if Lamar Odom can smoke crack and sleep with prostitutes and still be handed opportunities while still in rehab and if Rob Ford can still be Mayor of Toronto, then yes!, Larry Sanders definitely deserves another few chances. If we do get rid of him, I'm 85% sure his story will be a lot like Zach Randolph's (who'd Portland trade him for again?).

John Henson? I actually don't have any questions myself, but one for you who doubt the inherent power of the tube and are always 'weighting' their arguments. I have a guess who's who game...

Player A is 7'2" 225lbs right-handed center and Player B is 6'11" 220lbs and a lefty; both have incredible hook shots...

okay, Player B is obviously Henson but Player A is Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Henson will be fine just as tubey as he wants to be and in today's NBA can absolutely play C. That hook shot and his bright future as a part of the "Core" that saved Milwaukee basketball (yes, I'm from the future, and its a panglossian place) is an irony that I yearn to see.

Carlos Delfino? ...oh Carlos. Be happy you're missing this, I know I am. Knowing the Bucks, if he'd been healthy (never a guarantee even in a "good" year) you know Giannis'd never have played this year. Yep, Christmas in Argentina must come early.

I think that's everybody... (my sin of omission is also a hope)

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