FanPost

Miroslav Raduljica: Milwaukee's forgotten man

When most people look at the Bucks, they see a .18 winning percentage, a seven footer who likes bar fights and the team most likely be taken over and moved to Seattle. However I would argue that this Milwaukee team is the best worst team in the NBA in recent years, and can be signficantly improved with what they have, into an 8 seed caliber team (what the Bucks should be).

The subject of my first post on Brew Hoop is Miroslav Raduljica, one of the biggest examples of how badly the Bucks roster is being misused. At the moment, Larry Drew basically doesn't have a clue what he wants. He's changed the starting five more times than you can be Flaciid for Embiid - after starting the season with Butler and Mayo, he's gone with Ridnour and Middleton for the last several games. I actually don't think he even knows what's best.

This is a team that needs direction. We've got a few three point shooters, one of whom is about to leave, a few defensive big men who block stuff (unfortunately probably not people trying to move the franchise to Seattle) and the Greek Freak. We're all over the place. But out of all the players who have started, not one is a legit inside scorer.

Oh hello, Miroslav. Look, he's not Al Jefferson. He doesn't have what I call 'left for dead' post moves. But he's Serbian, he's got tattoos, he's seven foot, and if I gave any basketball fan that description, they would probably think of Nikola Pekovic (even though he's Montenegrin).

If you look at all the bigs from Eastern Europe who have played in the NBA (Sabonis, Pekovic, Gortat, Krstic, Valanciunas), they all had/have pretty good offensive games. I don't think that's a coincidence. It's the way they're taught to play in Eastern Europe, where on the average night you're doing battle with 7'1+ guy.

I'm not saying Raduljica is even going to be as good as Pekovic. Pek is the most physically scary guy in the league, and the master of the tip in. Raduljica does have a post offense skillset though, something no other big on the Bucks has. Sanders? No. Henson? No. Pachulia? Not really. Ilyasova? Not unless it's midrange or a 3 pointer.

If you play Miroslav 30+ mins per game, I reckon you'll see a return of 15+ points, so long as OJ Mayo doesn't bomb threes in from all over the place (Miroslav is averaging 5PPG in 10MPG). You don't win without a good offensive big. You just don't. Miami? Chris Bosh. Indiana? David West and now Roy Hibbert. Golden State? David Lee. Portland? Lamarcus. Clippers? Griffin. And the list can go on and on.

The Bucks are losing - we can't really do any worse. So move over Larry Drew, this should be our starting lineup.

PG: Knight

SG: OJ Mayo or Giannis

SF: Butler or Ilyasova

PF: Sanders or Henson

C: Raduljica (backup Pachulia when healthy)

So let's go over my lineup. Knight for obvious reasons. At SG and SF, you've now got options and depth with Ilyasova not at PF. At PF, a great defensive big, Sanders or Henson. At C, a good offensive big, with a decent offensive big at backup.

Tell me that isn't better than what we've got at the moment.

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