Wednesday Bucks Notes

by Frank Madden on Apr 2, 2008 12:38 AM CDT in Daily Notes Comment 0 comments

Check out our recap of last night's wild 119-115 win over the Knicks.
Isiah Thomas is still denying that he wanted to trade Zach Randolph. I can see the frustration the Knicks might have over the Bucks' very public discussion of this, but it's downright comical listening to Thomas try to put lipstick on this pig:

"I liked everything he did for us this year; I liked the attitude he brought to the team," Thomas said. "He never was a problem for us. He wears a suit and tie now.

"I've said this before, I have great respect for the senator, and maybe there were some internal discussions that took place that we as a Knicks organization were not privvy to. I think if he (Kohl) had a chance to meet Zach and talk to Zach, he probably would come away with a different impression, just as we have."
Yahoo is reporting that Donnie Walsh will officially join the Knicks today.
Gery Woelfel mentioned on the WSSP post-game show last night that the Bucks' next GM candidate might be Maurizio Gherardini, the Raptors' VP and assistant GM. Gherardini is best known for turning Italian club Benetton into a European power before taking a job as Bryan Colangelo's right-hand man in Toronto. He's a pretty fascinating guy who has long been expected to someday be the first European GM of an NBA team. With Suns' number two David Griffin having interviewed on Monday, Gherardini would be the second Colangelo disciple to interview, so it looks like Senator Kohl might be learning something about what it takes to run a winning basketball team.
The Sports Bubbler has a ton of interviews from the Bucks' 40th anniversary team celebration. Great stuff.
Bucks Diary chimes in on the latest GM talk.

For many of us who grew up in Wisconsin, there was a time in the 80s when the only sports team we had to be proud of in this state was the Milwaukee Bucks. Look at the situation we are now in. Every single sports team -- college and professional -- has bypassed the Bucks, and it makes me sad and a little angry. The Packers, the Brewers, Badgers hoops, Badgers football, Marquette hoops... they're all looking up... and the Bucks are in shambles
The Bratwurst takes a look at the possible repercussions of a Bogut extension. I'm not expecting the cap to fall anytime soon--attendance is down 3% this year, but TV ratings are up, ticket prices never go down, and the league has excellent growth prospects outside North America--but Brett's point is still a good one: the Bucks may very need to shed salary to avoid scraping up against the luxury tax threshold in 09/10. This is why the Bucks will be desperate for Yi Jianlian and whoever they pick this year to become key contributors. They need cheap players to play major roles because they have too many high-priced guys who either don't contribute at all (Simmons, Gadzuric) or who don't put up good numbers but can't seem to win games (Redd, Williams).
82games has quarter-by-quarter player stats. This might shock you, but the Bucks' guards don't shoot the ball as well in the fourth quarter.
Another thing we love about Kevin Love: perimeter shooting. Ridiculous.