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The Bucks' hiring of Larry Drew as their new head coach on Friday capped off a busy day at the Cousins Center that also saw highly touted point guard prospects Dennis Schröder (DX #15, Ford #15) and Shane Larkin (DX #23, Ford #18) strut their stuff in front of the Bucks' brass.
Fox Sports Wisconsin's Andrew Gruman writes that Germany's Schröder could be a good fit for the Bucks at #15:
"Dennis is a very good defensive player," [Billy] McKinney said. "I think that's one of the things he's going to get better at. He has good point guard skills, as well. He has a good all-around game.
"He's 19-years-old right now. He has a tremendous chance to grow as a player, but in stature, as well. Physically, he's going to get stronger as he competes with grown men now."
A point guard with size who plays on both ends of the court? How...refreshing. Also notable from Friday's post-workout chatter was McKinney's reassertion that the Bucks were focusing on guards and wings heading into the draft, which both makes logical sense (Ish Smith is the only guard currently under contract for next season) and flies against the Bucks' supposed "draft for talent, trade for need" mantra.
While the 19-year-old Schröder had been on scouts radar for some time, it was his play at this spring's Nike Hoops Summit that solidified his credentials as a sure-fire first-rounder and potential lottery pick. Here's Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress on his play during the Hoops Summit:
Featuring terrific ball-handling skills, a lightning quick first step, excellent speed in the open floor, and a penchant for getting teammates involved, Schroeder did an outstanding job in both transition and in the half-court, getting to virtually wherever he wanted on the floor. He executed his team's offense effectively, doing a good job of pushing the ball inside when needed, and finding teammates constantly spotting up on the perimeter or cutting to the rim for a layup after blowing past his man.
The current chatter is that Schröder could be gone as early as #13 to Dallas or #14 to Utah, both of whom need long-term solutions at the point. But Dallas is also reportedly shopping their pick in order to clear more cap space, so any team looking to nab Schröder may be well served to give Donnie Nelson and the Mavs a buzz.
As for Larkin, his lack of length (5'11.5" in shoes, 5'10.75" wingspan) makes it likely that he'll be available when the Bucks' select in he middle of the first round. But there's no denying his improvement as a sophomore at Miami, where his scoring and P&R playmaking helped lead the Hurricanes to a school-best 29 wins last season. Much of what Larkin lacks in stature he makes up for with both explosion and skill: his 44" vertical helped him finish well at the rim (62%) and he's also a capable marksman (40.6% threes), numbers that enabled him to score rather efficiently (58.7% true shooting) despite getting to the line only rarely (3.1 fta in 36 mpg). His draft stock has been rising sine his impressive combine showing, and he's reportedly now only working out for teams in the 13-23 range of the first round.
Hit up Bucks.com for more from Friday, which also featured Tim Hardaway Jr., Phil Pressey (son of former Bucks star Paul) and Murray St. sleeper point guard Isaiah Canaan.
More bits and pieces from the weekend:
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Bucksketball: Draft workout day two
Eric Buenning with much more from Friday's workout. -
JS: Lester Conner says Bucks fans will like Larry Drew's style
Former Buck and Hawks assistant Lester Conner is expected to join Larry Drew's incoming staff in Milwaukee, and he offered Charles Gardner a sneak peek at what to expect from Mlwaukee's new head man."When we had Marvin Williams, Joe Johnson, Josh Smith and Al Horford, we would do a lot of switching on defense," Conner said. "But as our team started to evolve, we had to speed up the game. We wanted to push the ball up the floor and there was not a lot of isolation stuff.
"The people in Milwaukee will like his style of play. He will play to his players' strength. When we lost Marvin and lost Joe, we had to play faster, get some three-point shooters out there and spread the floor. His style is not boring."
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SB Nation: Mocking what the teams should do
Jonathan Tjarks offers his take on what each team in the first round should be doing. He's got the Bucks nabbing 19-year-old Russian small forward Sergey Karasev.
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Behind the Buck Pass: More Atlanta perspective on Larry Drew
K.L. Chouinard takes a look at how Drew's time in Atlanta may translate to Milwaukee.