No, we aren't bucking around...
Quick, what's the biggest story in the NBA right now?
The Detroit Pistons? Amazing start, but not quite the right answer.
Shaq and Kobe? Please, that train is old.
If you guessed "the Milwaukee Bucks," you'd be absolutely correct.
It's too early to say definitively that the Bucks will make the playoffs, but they're the best story in the league this year.
Why is that the case?
It's called the "something to prove" factor, and it's affected literally everyone on the team. Andrew Bogut, for one, heard all summer that he was overrated, that he wasn't worthy of being the number one pick, and that he would be a flop in the NBA. And he's proven to be a competent starting center in the league, something that the Bucks were hoping for but weren't necessarily expecting to start out with.
Credit T.J. Ford for coming back from a career-threatening, life-changing neck injury. We had almost forgetten he existed, and certainly didn't think he would be as good as he was when he took Texas to the Final Four. (T.J. Ford, by the way, is the reason that Texas got so much cred in the polls this year- people pegged Daniel Gibson as T.J. Ford, when maybe he's not there yet.) Also, credit Michael Redd, who had been lambasted by the media for not being worth the huge contract he signed at the start of the year. He wasn't a great shooter coming out of college, so he wasn't drafted high. When he learned how to shoot well, he wasn't consistent in the other facets of the game to suit others. So they criticized him some more. Well, scorers don't grow on trees, and Redd's 25 ppg should shut up a lot of people.
While we're at it, we should credit Mo Williams and Bobby Simmons, both second round picks, for sharing the scoring load, and we should take a look at the impact that Jamaal Magloire makes not only for rebounding and defense, but on Bogut as well.
Deceptively, the Bucks acquired plenty of depth this summer, and they've distanced themselves from the other "pathetics" in the NBA, who don't have any idea how to compete with the big-spending teams in the league. That's why the team with the number one pick is 15-10, and that's why they're the best story in the NBA.
The Detroit Pistons? Amazing start, but not quite the right answer.
Shaq and Kobe? Please, that train is old.
If you guessed "the Milwaukee Bucks," you'd be absolutely correct.
It's too early to say definitively that the Bucks will make the playoffs, but they're the best story in the league this year.
Why is that the case?
It's called the "something to prove" factor, and it's affected literally everyone on the team. Andrew Bogut, for one, heard all summer that he was overrated, that he wasn't worthy of being the number one pick, and that he would be a flop in the NBA. And he's proven to be a competent starting center in the league, something that the Bucks were hoping for but weren't necessarily expecting to start out with.
Credit T.J. Ford for coming back from a career-threatening, life-changing neck injury. We had almost forgetten he existed, and certainly didn't think he would be as good as he was when he took Texas to the Final Four. (T.J. Ford, by the way, is the reason that Texas got so much cred in the polls this year- people pegged Daniel Gibson as T.J. Ford, when maybe he's not there yet.) Also, credit Michael Redd, who had been lambasted by the media for not being worth the huge contract he signed at the start of the year. He wasn't a great shooter coming out of college, so he wasn't drafted high. When he learned how to shoot well, he wasn't consistent in the other facets of the game to suit others. So they criticized him some more. Well, scorers don't grow on trees, and Redd's 25 ppg should shut up a lot of people.
While we're at it, we should credit Mo Williams and Bobby Simmons, both second round picks, for sharing the scoring load, and we should take a look at the impact that Jamaal Magloire makes not only for rebounding and defense, but on Bogut as well.
Deceptively, the Bucks acquired plenty of depth this summer, and they've distanced themselves from the other "pathetics" in the NBA, who don't have any idea how to compete with the big-spending teams in the league. That's why the team with the number one pick is 15-10, and that's why they're the best story in the NBA.
posted by mike at 9:32 PM
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