Woelfel: Minnesota linked to Sessions
Oh brother, here we go again. I'm tempted to ignore Ramon Sessions altogether until he's actually holding up a jersey with a GM somewhere (not likely John Hammond), but I can't help myself...there's just too little else to focus on. Gery Woelfel is now reporting that Sessions could sign with Minnesota, which just got the "I don't like you like that" treatment from Ricky Rubio. And though Jonny Flynn would appear to be the clear PG of the foreseeable future, the Wolves have essentially zero depth at point (do Chucky Atkins and Bobby Brown count?) and could use Sessions as insurance in case Flynn isn't quite ready for prime time--especially given that Sessions can likely be had on the cheap at this point.
Which is the same reason I'd like to see the Bucks figure out a way to keep Sessions as insurance against Brandon Jennings not developing as expected. Sadly, I don't see that happening. As noted in the comments below, the Wolves only have about $3.7 million of their MLE left, but that's probably a big enough starting salary to prevent the Bucks from matching. If the Bucks do match, they'd have to clear about $2.1 million to get back under the tax. Certainly not impossible, but at this point it seems unlikely (for not particularly compelling reasons IMO) that the Bucks would go out of their way to accommodate Sessions on the roster.
Charles Gardner spoke to Andrew Bogut about his back, which the Bucks have been taking no chances with.
"I'm going to really amp up my work load this week," Bogut said. "Hopefully next week I can start some light contact and then hopefully be ready."We'll start getting the pad out and getting hit, getting used to all that kind of stuff. I probably could do contact straight away, but it's very pointless. It's more a matter of waking your body up to those hits I haven't had for five or six months."
You can take the slowness of Bogut's rehab a couple ways. On the one hand the Bucks have every incentive to go slowly and methodically with Bogut, who is the closest thing the Bucks have to franchise player right now and is entering the first year of his five year, $60 million contract. With camp still a month away, there's not much benefit to having Bogut taking chances with contact. Of course, practicing free throws would be a different story. Still, you also can't help but be a bit wary of how this might impact Bogut going forward. All the talk has been about it not being a chronic thing, but...well, excuse me for being a bit paranoid. I am a Bucks fan afterall.
National Media: Bucks won't be any good
Whether it's the ESPN cognoscenti or SI's Chris Mannix, you can safely say that expectations are low for the 09/10 Bucks. Then again, that's kind of the norm, isn't it? This is what happens when you're a consistently substandard team from a small market with no superstar, a bunch of young players who played in Europe last year, and your two best players are coming off major injuries. Personally, I don't mind it as a fan since it makes it a lot easier to surprise people--and who doesn't enjoy that? Btw, I like rationalizing.
Eurobasket: Ukic leads Croatia to Efes Pilsen title
I've been somewhat dismissive of Roko Ukic since he was acquired a couple weeks ago, but he certainly wins brownie points for his MVP performance at the Efes Pilsen World Cup in Turkey.
Gardner: Peterson offers opinion on Ilyasova
Gardner caught up with assistant coach Bill Peterson to get his read on Ilyasova:
"He’s kind of a gritty, blue-collar type player. He’s pretty good defensively. He really rebounds his area well; he doesn’t rebound a tremendous amount outside his area. He has big, strong hands, and he’s really a good shooter. He’s confident shooting the ball from the perimeter, and he works on it."He’s got a little nastiness to him, and I like that."
BUCKS.com: 70 games on FS Wisconsin
Sadly, 12 games will be skipped. HD broadcasts will be named later.