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Kennedy: What's Wrong in Milwaukee?
With the Bucks falling short of expectations thus far, it's not that unreasonable to suspect that something may be amiss in the locker room. It could be that we're just stalling time until we can admit that maybe this team just isn't that good, although you could argue that team chemistry is a key factor in what makes a team "good" in the first place. Alex Kennedy at HoopsWorld certainly seems to back up this reasoning:
But some of his recent actions may be causing him to fall out of favor with his teammates. While sidelined recently with back spasms, the Bucks wanted their center to travel with the team and complete his workouts on the road. But Bogut insisted on staying home and the team granted his request, a decision that rubbed some players the wrong way.
Yikes. And that's not all, apparently according to a "source," some players aren't happy in Milwaukee and if it was their choice they wouldn't be playing there right now. Obviously the credibility of said source comes into question, but what if these are true? The Bucks no longer have Kurt Thomas to beat the crap out of players anymore, or even Jerry Stackhouse. If last year's team was truly built on chemistry, can Skiles and co. continue to build on it if the team has very sub-par chemistry?
Read on...
Twitter / Gery Woelfel: When Carlos Delfino plays ...
When Carlos Delfino plays again - and nobody knows when - he`ll wear a protective helmet. Says he still gets headaches.
Question mark? With CDR wearing goggles and all other miscellaneous injury problems, we're slowly becoming a sports-related medical experiment. How exactly is this going to work? I have never seen a player wear a helmet in the NBA, but then again I don't recall anybody having serious concussion issues recently. This seems like a slow depletion of luck, and every day we're getting worse and worse news. I would hope a helmet would not affect his play, but I wouldn't bet on anything thus far. And who even knows if he'll be back any time soon, if not for the rest of the year? This is certainly a break from the optimism of before.
BBR Rankings: Schedule-Adjusted Offensive and Defensive Ratings
Basketball Reference uses a schedule-adjusted system to determine their power rankings here. Not surprisingly, the Bucks are last in offense, while they fare better defensively where they rank 5th. Bear in mind that these were before the Miami game, meaning our defense probably either went up or stayed the same and our offense continued to plummet towards nothingness.
"It's a hell of a defensive lineup,'' Bogut said. "Larry is still learning; his on-the-ball defense is improving. But his help defense is great and so is mine.
"So you can have two guys down there (on the block) who can rebound and block shots. Hopefully, we'll play some more minutes together.''
Fascinating to hear Bogut speak in this sort of manner about Larry. I wouldn't expect someone like him to be so upfront about a rookie. Personally, I think Sanders has all the potential in the world, but I'm more concerned that he just doesn't reach it. I don't expect him to be a great player, but I think he can become a decent one.
The Business Journal: Heat game not so hot
Read about how the Bucks aren't exactly the biggest draw in town. Just the news you need to cheer you up. Hooray, money!
Bucksketball: Luc Mbah a Moute isn't working out as the Bucks small forward
Good write up by Jeremy Schmidt over at Bucksketball about the Bucks SF conundrum. Specifically, how Luc Richard hasn't helped the offensive cause for the Bucks. (Can we agree that it may be time to perhaps start Maggette?)