Turkey and Argentina both entered the final day of group play undefeated and atop their respective divisions, but only Turkey could say the same after the games were over. The host Turks won their fifth straight game despite resting Ersan Ilyasova and three other starters, dismantling the Yi Jianlian-less Chinese 87-40 in Ankara. Carlos Delfino and his Argentine mates weren't as lucky in their final group game, losing by a narrow 84-82 margin to Serbia (4-1), which claimed the Group A title on the tiebreaker.  After the jump we review the Bucks' performances in the tournament thus far and look ahead to what awaits them in the elimination rounds.

Ersan Ilyasova: 4 games, 29.8 mpg, 16.5 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 0.8 apg, 0.8 to, 1 stl, 0.5 bpg, .477/.600/.750

Ilyasova's final group game came in Turkey's 79-77 win over Puerto Rico on Wednesday, struggling from the field (5/15 fg) but still managing a tidy 13 points and 13 rebounds. And while Hedo Turkoglu has struggled to find his shot (9.8 ppg on 32% shooting), Ersan has flourished under the spotlight of playing in front of Turkey's basketball-crazy home fans. He's been deadly from three point range (12/20) while giving his usual terrific effort on the boards, giving him a clear claim to the title of Turkey's most indispensable player thus far. 

Still, from a developmental standpoint we're also not seeing a brand new Ersan. He looks perhaps a bit thicker than he was at the end of last season, but that's not surprising given it can be difficult for many guys to keep weight on through 82 games plus the playoffs. He's still not the kind of guy who can consistently take anyone off the dribble, and when he has put it on the floor it usually ends in something off-balance from mid-range (though he's also drawn a few fouls that way) rather than a strong take to the cup. And he still looks as bad as ever in the post, preferring to shoot tough fadeaways rather than trying to back his man down or make an actual move. Fortunately he mostly knows his limitations, splitting his time between drifting around the perimeter looking for three pointers and crashing the boards when a shot goes up.

I don't see Ersan being a huge upside guy in the NBA, so to me the key issue is consistency. --at his peak I think he's probably no more than a very nice 14-16 ppg, 8-9 rpg guy--but he could be an exceptional rotation player or even solid starter if he was a bit more consistent offensively and held his ground a bit better on defense. Heck, he's already a very solid 6th or 7th man, so it's not like he needs to grow by leaps and bounds to become a worthwhile NBA player. He's been fairly consistent so far in this tournament, but generally speaking Ersan's been a very good international player for a few years now, dating back to his time at the European junior championships in 2006.  

The Turkish team next plays France (3-2) on Sunday, which should match Ersan up against Boris Diaw a fair bit. Turkey has the benefit of being on the opposite side of the bracket as the US, and would face the winner of Slovenia/New Zealand in the quarters. However, they're likely to face either Greece, Spain or Serbia in the semis should they get that far. Overall I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see them reach the finals given the home crowd and strong play we've seen from them thus far, though we'll also need to see more from Hedo. 

Carlos Delfino: 5 g, 35.6 min, 17.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 3.2 apg, 2.2 stl, 0.4 blk, 1.6 to 

Delfino is five years older than Ilyasova, but I think there's a similar story in terms of consistency. At 28, Delfino largely is who he is at this point: a streaky shooter who can do a bit of everything at the 2/3. That makes him an ideal complementary player in the NBA, but he's been asked to do more for an Argentina squad missing Manu Ginobili, Andres Nocioni and (for much of the tournament) Fabricio Oberto. He's been a capable deputy to the nearly-unstoppable Luis Scola so far, but he's so reliant on his jump shot that you never know exactly what you're going to get from him offensively. 

He's handled it a bit more than usual given Argentina's lack of pure playmaking PG, and he's generally been unselfish and good at knowing when and where to get Scola the ball, even if it's not always reflected in his assist totals. He really hasn't caught fire from three in any of his games, shooting 33% or worse in each one, but it's probably just a matter of time given he's proven to be a very solid shooter from the longer NBA three point line.

Argentina next faces their nemeses from Brazil (3-2) on Tuesday, so both teams will have time recharge their batteries after the hectic group schedule. Should Argentina win, they would get the winner of China/Lithuania (almost certainly the Lithuanians) in the quarters and would have to go through the US in the semis. 

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FIBA: Ilyasova's 26 leads Turkey past Greece
Favorites take note: the home team looks for real. Turkey seized control of Group C by dispatching their Greek rivals 76-65, moving them to 3-0 with a couple of very winnable games against Puerto Rico and China left. Ersan Ilyasova picked a good time to catch fire, making all six of his three point attempts on his way to a game-high 26 points and five boards in 31 minutes. He wasted no time getting started, cutting across the lane for a layup on the first Turkish possession, and shortly thereafter raining a high-arcing three from the corner for his first triple. All told he had 12 in the first quarter and added another three and a long deuce midway through the second, giving him 17 of Turkey's first 32 points. And though he's not asked to do much in Turkey's zone-heavy defense, he also added a big block that got the fans even more into it in the second quarter.

Still, give the Greeks credit. They hung tough and were within two at the half despite poor shooting and a rowdy home crowd in Ankara (every Greece possession was greeted with a shower of whistles). But after starting the third on the bench, Ilyasova came on to bury two more threes near the end of the period to extend the Turkish lead to 65-51 and put a fork into the Greek comeback. The crowd was into it, Ersan was into it--really fun to watch. 

JS: Bucks stay optimistic about Bogut's recovery
There's been plenty of anxiety over Andrew Bogut's rehab of late, but Charles Gardner writes that John Hammond and the Bucks are staying optimistic for now.

"Our hope and anticipation is that Andrew will be ready to go when the season begins. The great thing about going through this process with Andrew is he's proven to us as an organization and to our fans, that his effort, energy and toughness will never be questioned."

Bogut is due back in Milwaukee on Tuesday, at which point the Bucks can take a closer look at the most important elbow in Milwaukee. I'll hold off getting worried or excited until we know more.

USATODAY.com: Bucks could ascend in the East 
Your standard "these guys could be really good!" type offseason piece. Not that I'm complaining.

Bucher: Why are NBA owners spending so much?
Ric Bucher offers up a great read on a topic we've been wondering about all summer.

"They handed out those contracts because they know there will be a lockout," said one agent whose client was part of the summer's free agent pool party. "It makes the owners look like good guys, but they're counting on not paying a good chunk of that money next season."

The seeming certainty of a lockout--or at the very least major changes to the CBA--may also help explain the Bucks' willingness to spend this summer. Though we've been talking for a couple years about all the cap space the Bucks would have in 2011, it's potentially irrelevant if the owners shut things down or if the cap is brought down significantly with a new CBA. So how valuable is that cap space if you can't spend it until 2012...or not at all? Given the momentum generated in 2010, it's tough to fault the Bucks for looking to spend more now--even if means less money to hypothetically spend next summer.

Dime: Getting to know Turk Nowitzki (h/t Speedy)
Ersan talks Turkey, coming back to the Bucks, and his all-star ambitions. Not so sure about that last one...

FanPosts: Brandon being...Brandon?
Oh, Brandon.

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Today we're pleased to bring you a special feature from Dan Sinclair, writer of the excellent Where 55 Happens. You may also recognize Dan from a number of great FanPosts he's written here at Brew Hoop, and you can follow him on Twitter @dan_sinclair.  

The Nuggets have apparently given up hope of retaining Carmelo Anthony and are now looking to see what kind of deals can be made. As such, a couple teams have been scrambling to put together packages in hopes of landing the star forward. For now, the Nets, Kings, and Timberwolves have been identified as the most likely partners in a deal for Carmelo.

This is perhaps an unfortunate revelation to some Bucks fans. Glancing around some blogs and Twitter, there seemed to be a significant amount of interest in acquiring the All-Star. For most, the thought was that even one year of service from Carmelo would push the Bucks up to the same level with some of the other "elite" teams in the East.  So should we hold out hope that Hammond can assemble a package and grab Carmelo away from the Mile High City? It's a tougher question than I originally thought. A closer look after the jump.

Denver has indicated that, should Carmelo depart for a land with thicker air, they want young players and draft picks in exchange. The Bucks' had a number of draft picks (albeit mostly second-rounders) they could have included, but turned most of those into players this past offseason. As for young talent, there just isn't much to be traded. Since both teams are over the salary cap, the 125% rule applies, meaning salary dollars need to match up closely. This essentially requires that the Bucks include Michael Redd's expiring contract in the offer, meaning that asset will be unavailable around the trade deadline when it's value might be highest. So what kind of package could Milwaukee offer?

• Redd's EC/Ilyasova/1st-round pick for Carmelo Anthony - Essentially swapping Ersan for Carmelo and taking ourselves out of next year's draft. Not too bad, right?

Unfortunately, Denver is more likely to go after:

• Redd's EC/Sanders/1st-round pick for Carmelo Anthony - Giving up this year's promising first-round pick on a rookie scale contract for likely 1 year of Melo, plus no first-rounder next year. Not as great, huh?

And those are just the cheap options! If you were Denver's GM, would you be content with those deals? Wouldn't you want a whole slew of players and picks for your future-ex-franchise-player? In addition, it's important to remember that Milwaukee is very unlikely to resign Carmelo, so the risk of going all-in this season is worth considering.

But ignoring the logistics of the whole deal, should Milwaukee even be interested in Carmelo? Would bringing him aboard make the Bucks that much better? Consider what Melo brings to the court: High scoring, decent offensive rebounding, and lots of free-throws. I would contend that the Bucks already addressed their glaring free-throw disparity with the acquisition of Corey Maggette, even if he doesn't start. Were the Bucks to acquire Carmelo, it would severely temper the benefits of picking up Maggette. That's not to say a SF rotation of Carmelo-Maggette doesn't make me salivate, but is it worth giving up significant pieces?

What's more, there isn't any guarantee Melo would replicate these numbers in Milwaukee. Assuming a coach's system has some impact on a player's performance, I doubt he could reach those scoring numbers in the low-tempo offensive system Scott Skiles has in place. According to Synergy Sports, 19.5% of Denver's plays last year were isolation plays, compared to just 10.7% for Milwaukee. 36.5% of Melo's plays alone were isolation plays, and when you consider he scored on 45.7% of these plays, it seems like much of Carmelo's utility lies in just giving him the ball and letting him go to work.

John Salmons played a similar style for the Bucks last year (31.5% isolation plays), but this makes more sense when taken in the context of his mid-season acquisition. The Bucks desperately needed perimeter scoring and Salmons quickly became a top option on offense. Couple this inherent dependence on his scoring with a relatively small sample size and it's easier to explain that high percentage.

Of course, claiming that Melo would fit in Milwaukee simply because John Salmons did ignores the nature of the "zero-sum game" we're dealing with. Milwaukee traded for Salmons because he could be counted on to carry the brunt of the scoring load. If Melo steps in to do the same thing, we're now stepping on the feet of two of our biggest offseason acquisitions.

Still, we can't deny that raw talent has a lot to do with success in the NBA, and Melo is undoubtedly a talented player. His per-game and per-min stats show the kind of production he is capable of, and you don't make 2nd-team All-NBA without helping your team win lots of games. The issue is how efficiently he produces those numbers. We can gauge Melo's efficiency by looking at his USG and ORtg, which measure the percentage of his team's total possessions he used and how many points he scored per 100 possessions, respectively. Melo's 33.4 USG was third highest in the league last year, behind only LeBron and Dwyane Wade. His ORtg was 110, which is good, certainly, but not elite (meanwhile, John Salmons had a 116 ORtg in Milwaukee while playing, as described earlier, a similar style). Lots of players can surpass an ORtg of 110 while using a much smaller chunk of team possessions, although these players typically shoot and make more 3s than Carmelo. His career 3FG% of .308 is enough to justify maybe one or two 3s a game, but not much more. What really holds him back is the poor shot selection he often exhibits. According to Hoopdata.com, Melo attempted 7.4 shots per 40 minutes in the 16-23 foot radius from the basket, definitely the least efficient area on the floor to be shooting from.

Sound familiar? Jennings attempted over 4 shots per 40 minutes from this distance last year and made only 34% of them. Put the ball on the floor, man! Break some ankles! Take it to the hoop! Basketball!

What if Skiles was able to reign him in, though? The potential payoff could be huge. If Carmelo could scale back his USG, maybe Skiles and the rest of the team could similarly adjust to make it work. The graph below shows the effect such a change could have on Carmelo's game:

This "skill curve," adapted from Dean Oliver's book Basketball on Paper, shows how Anthony's ORtg tends to increase as he uses fewer of his team's possessions. Melo's eFG% shows a similar correlation. This is a common phenomenon for many NBA stars. It reflects the value of taking good shots and running crisp plays. What it means is that Melo could be a very effective player in Milwaukee (or anywhere, for that matter) if he adjusts his game. This adjustment would hopefully come in the form of fewer long 2-pt attempts, which would likely translate into more passing and a higher AST rate. See? Everybody wins!

Unfortunately, such an adjustment might have to be beaten into him with one of Tiny Gallon's shoes. Carmelo's career low in season USG was 28.5% in his rookie season, and he has topped 30% in the past 5 seasons. Even surrounded by legitimate offensive threats (Bogut, Salmons, hopefully Jennings!), that's just not his game. It's not as though he was the only scorer in Denver for all those years, either.

So it' a risk-reward consideration, one dependant on a number of factors:

1. Do the Bucks have the assets to put together a package for Carmelo that eclipses anything another team might offer?
2. Is there a spot for Melo in the Bucks rotation that wouldn't render some other offseason moves wasted?
3. Could the style of play Melo brings down from the mountains be reconciled with Milwaukee's game plan?
4. If he does fit in, is his production enough to justify mortgaging future seasons for a greater chance of success this year?

Carmelo is an exciting. talented player, and I'd venture to say that he'd bring tremendous improvement to almost any team he signed with. But the way I look at this Bucks squad, I just don't think there's enough room.

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Five games, five wins for Carlos Delfino and Ersan Ilyasova. Despite getting all they could handle from the underdog Angolans, Delfino and his Argentine teammates turned it on late to dispatch the African champs 91-70 earlier today, moving to a perfect 3-0 and pole position in Group A. They hung on to edge the Bogut-less Australians on Sunday by a 74-72 margin, and despite the perfect record they're still in search of their first comprehensive victory.  But hey, you might as well be winning while you're rounding into form, right?

Meanwhile, the Turkish hosts had today off after their 65-56 win over Russia on Sunday. On Tuesday they face Greece, Group C's other undefeated team, before finishing the group stage against Puerto Rico (Wednesday) and China (Thursday).  Follow the jump for some recaps of the past couple days' action.

Monday: Argentina 91, Angola 70 / Box Score 

Delfino: 34 min, 8/12 fg, 2/6 threes, 4/4 ft, 5 reb, 4 ast, 4 stl, 2 to

Sunday: Argentina 74, Australia 72 / Box Score
Delfino: 28 min, 3/11 fg, 0/6 threes, 6 rebs, 4 ast, 3 to

As Bucks fans, we know Carlitos can put up big numbers when he's got his shot working--the problem is consistency. In contrast to his 27-point outing on Saturday, Delfino started the Australia game playing more off the ball, at times parking in the corner much like he does with the Bucks. In general Carlitos seemed less involved with the offense, and he never found his rhythm either--witness the 0/6 line from deep.  Fortunately, the Argentines have this Scola fellow, who picked up the slack and then some with a dominating 31 points on 19 shots.

It looked like it might be a similar story on Monday, as Delfino missed his first two threes and Scola was again carrying the world's #1 ranked squad. Scola scored 17 of Argentina's 23 first quarter points, showing off his full arsenal of interior hooks, pump fakes, and bank shots.  But Delfino had a nice "slow but steady" type of game, scoring nine in the first half and then getting going a bit more in the third. First a hesitation move and reverse layup, then an open three, and a stop-and-go 18-footer with a defender in his grill from the left side. And when he wasn't shooting he knew who to give the ball to, time and again locating Scola in good positions. 

Despite all the points from the Big Two, Argentina surprisingly couldn't shake the Angolans--just two days after the Africans were annihilated 94-44 by Serbia (they bounced back to handle Jordan by 15 on Sunday, but still). Argentina opened up a 15-point edge in the third but like over the weekend had troubles putting away their lesser opponents. The African champions fought back to within five, and only in the fourth did Argentina's superior quality finally shine through.

Delfino looked a bit more energized on defense in the second half, and he effectively put the game away with a pair of steals and open court finishes through contact. His pair of three point plays as well as another steal that led to a Hernan Jasen dunk highlighted an 18-0 run to put the game away.  

Sunday: Turkey 65, Russia 56 / Box Score
Ilyasova: 32 min, 3/7 fg, 1/2 threes, 3/4 ft, 10 reb, 1 to, 1 stl

Turkey's 17-7 second quarter ended up the difference, but overall it was still a pretty entertaining game.  Plenty of physical play up front, and an equal amount of long range bombing (both teams 9/25) to keep the fans entertained.

As for Ersan, he had one of those awkward "rejected by the rim" type plays in the early going, but got back on track quickly with a short banker between two defenders and a quick catch-and-shoot triple from the wing in transition. He was leading both teams with 10 points and five boards by halftime, but missed his only attempts from the field in the second half and settled for a solid 10/10 double-double.

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Carlos Delfino and Ersan Ilyasova will both be looking to stay unbeaten on day two of FIBA World Championships group play. Turkey and Argentina were both winners yesterday--Turkey in much more convincing fashion--with the two Bucks playing starring roles for their respective squads. Delfino scored a game-high 27 on 18 shots while adding eight rebounds without a turnover or foul, while Ilyasova piled up a tidy 17 points and eight boards in just 21 minutes.

Turkey vs. Russia, 1 pm CT, ESPN3

Turkey dismantled an overmatched Cote d'Ivoire yesterday, with Ersan doing most of his damage in the first and (stat-padding) fourth quarters. They get a stiffer test today against Russia, which handled a solid Puerto Rican team 75-66 on day one. Russia is without Andrei Kirilenko, but former first round pick and NBA flameout Sergei Monya scored 16 while guard Anton Ponkrashov had one of the more unconventional double-doubles you'll find. He missed five threes without a make, didn't attempt a two pointer, and made all 10 of his free throws to go with 11 assists.

Argentina vs. Australia, 1:30 pm CT, ESPN3

Alas, Andrew Bogut's absence means we're denied a matchup of current Bucks, though the Boomers did manage to squeak out a nervous 76-75 win over Jordan yesterday. Big men Aleks Maric (23 pts, 9 rebs) and David Andersen (22 pts, 9 rebs) compensated rather nicely for Bogut's absence, though they'll need more from guys like Patty Mills and Brad Newley to slay the Argentine giants. I recall Scola dominating the Aussies in previous international matchups, so it will be interesting to watch whether the Australians can find an answer for him this time around.

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Turkey and Argentina came away winners on the first day of group play at the FIBA World Championships, with their respective Bucks playing starring roles.  

Turkey 86, Cote d'Ivoire 47 /  Box Score
Ersan Ilyasova: 21 min, 4/8 fg, 3/4 threes, 6/8 ft, 8 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk, 1 stl, 3 pf, 1 to

This looked like a laugher from the opening tip, as Turkey jumped out to a 14-0 lead before the Ivorians managed to claw their way back into the game a bit in the second quarter. The African team looked completely unprepared for Turkey's pressuring defense, turning it over 21 times and shooting just 28%. Overall, Turkey's balanced attack was just too much and by halftime they were cruising 40-22.

Wearing a clear mask to guard his busted nose, Ersan started the game with a fast break slam before sinking an open triple a minute later. It was for the most part typical Ersan, as he spent most of his time setting screens and looking to get open on the perimeter before crashing the offensive boards once a shot went up. Defensively he wasn't challenged much as Turkey alternated between full-court pressure, zone, and man-to-man defense, but his usual hustling style was still evident.  He ended up diving on the floor a few times as well, showing little concern for the busted beak he picked up last weekend. Same old Ersan.

Physically, Ersan had spoken of trying to bulk up at the end of the regular season, and he looked in good shape but not overly bulky either. He also tried to get things going to the hoop on a handful of occasions, helping earn himself eight free throw attempts, but he missed all three of his two point shots after that early dunk and nobody will confuse him for a point forward anytime soon. Ersan added a couple of late threes with the game in hand to finish with 17 points and eight boards in just 21 minutes.  He was still playing in the final minute when I switched over to the Argentina game, which I found a bit surprising given the hectic group schedule. Fortunately he didn't play much in the middle periods, though I was still surprised he only totaled 21 minutes.

Argentina 78, Germany 74 / Box Score
Carlos Delfino: 38 min, 7/18 fg, 3/9 threes, 10/13 ft, 8 rebs, 2 ast, 0 to, 1 stl, 1 blk, 0 pf

The first half was a back-and-forth affair before Argentina went on a 14-0 run to lead by as many as 14 in third, including an 11-point edge heading into the final quarter. But the Germans kept fighting back and both teams were sloppy in the closing minutes. Young German big man Tibor Pleiss got the better of Argentina's veteran big men in the early going, but Luis Scola's influence grew as the game went on. 

Delfino and backcourt mate Pablo Prigioni shared ballhandling duties for much of the game, though it was Delfino and Scola who not surprisingly were Argentina's bread-and-butter time and again. We're used to seeing Delfino casually launch threes from well beyond the NBA three point line, and it doesn't seem like Carlos is alterring his approach too much with the shorter international line. He scored 10 in the first half and added another 11 in the third as Argentina made their run, relying mostly on his jumper. He also had a couple of opportunistic buckets off turnovers, but he mostly tried to keep things simple as Argentina looked to play their deliberate, half-court game.

Obviously Delfino's not a true point, but he played within himself while embracing the challenge of leading Argentina in Manu Ginobili's absence. It's different from his role as a complementary player with the Bucks, but it's encouraging to see him rise to the challenge in his country's colors. Though his jumper stopped falling a bit late, Carlitos neither turned the ball over nor committed a single foul. He also attacked the hoop to draw fouls twice in the waning minutes, first off a cut and then off a drive, while adding 3/4 freebies in the final 10 seconds to seal the game.     

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It's a big opening day of group play at the FIBA World Championships in Turkey, with Carlos Delfino's Argentina and Ersan Ilyasova's Turkey both kicking things off this afternoon. We'll make this our double-barrel game thread for the day, starting with Turkey at 1 pm CT.

Turkey vs. Cote d'Ivoire, 1 pm CT, ESPN3

The hosts get things started at 1 pm CT against Cote d'Ivoire, a few hours after Greece opened Group C play with an 89-81 win over Yi Jianlian (26 pts/14 rebs) and China. Ersan Ilyasova took part in training yesterday after missing two games last weekend with a broken nose suffered against Lebanon. I haven't seen official confirmation that Ilyasova will be a go today, but let's hope it's nothing that a mask can't compensate for. Memo Okur is missing, but he'll be joined by Hedo Turkoglu and 24-year-old Omer Asik, the 36th overall pick in 2008 who signed this summer with the Bulls. Asik's Turkish league stats don't jump off the page, but I was particularly impressed by his combination of size (6'11"), skill and mobility last summer at the EuroBasket. 
 
Getting an easy win against the Ivorians would be a big boost for Turkey, whose group schedule includes five games in six days against the likes of Russia (Sunday), Greece (Tuesday), Puerto Rico (Wednesday), and China (Thursday). Four of the six teams advance out of the group stage, with the Ivorians looking like the clear doormats at this point.

Argentina vs. Germany, 1:30 pm CT, ESPN3

As you probably know by now, the perennial South American favorites are without Manu Ginobili, but this past week also brought news that Andres Nocioni will miss the tournament due to an ankle injury. Palomba outlined the worries around losing Nocioni in the comments yesterday:

With him out, Argentina’s possibilities for winning a medal have dramatically decreased, not only because of his absence–Argentina played very well without him during preparatory games--but because of the low quality, age or inexperience of back up players. 

Still, our guy Carlitos has been excellent in the lead-up to the tourney and will still have Luis Scola inside to lead on. Argentina continues its Group A schedule on Sunday against Australia (76-75 winners over Jordan this morning) and after that they've got Angola (Monday), Jordan (Wednesday) and Serbia (Thursday). Unfortunately, Serbia should have Nenad Krstic back by the time Argentina faces them in the final game of group play. FIBA suspended Krstic for three games after his pathetic chair-throwing display against Greece last week. Palomba's starting five:

PG. Pablo Prigioni. Real Madrid, Spain
SG. Carlos Delfino. Future NBA East best team 
SF. Hernán Jasen. Estudiantes, Spain
PF. Luis Scola. Houston Rockets
C . Fabricio Oberto. Free Agent.

Germany is without Dirk Nowitzki and pseudo-German Chris Kaman, but they've got a couple of interesting young big men in Tibor Pleiss and Robin Benzing. The Nets selected Pleiss with the first pick of the second round in June while Benzing withdrew from the draft at the last moment. 

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Brandon's still ballin'

Slam: Brandon to Wall at the Boost Mobile Elite 24
Brandon Jennings, John Wall and Tyreke Evans were among the notable names playing late night pickup at the Boost Mobile high school all-star game...with predictably awesome results. 

JS: Delfino, Ilyasova ready for Worlds
The JS reports (albeit second hand) that Ersan Ilyasova did in fact break his nose last weekend against Lebanon, though there's no suggestion that he'll be missing this weekend's opening games for Turkey. For John Hammond, it's all part of the double-edged sword of your players representing their countries.

"What could Ersan be doing any better than this to improve his overall skill set?" Hammond said. "But there is a factor with him, with a young player like Ersan and the pressure on the Turkish national team as the host team for the world championships. There can be a fatigue factor."

Things get started on Saturday with Turkey playing Cote D'Ivoire at 1 pm central while Argentina opens against Germany a half hour later. At least that's what my time zone math tells me (Istanbul is eight ours ahead of Milwaukee). Both teams play again exactly 24 hours later, Turkey against Russia and Argentina vs. the Bogut-less Aussies, with all games broadcast live on ESPN3.com. Time for some game threads, people.

Amico: Sampson considering move to Chicago?
Via Sam Amico:

Just learned current Bucks asst Kelvin Sampson is 3rd guy in running for Bulls asst job, along with Terry Porter, Eric Musselman.

Jim Boylan has been Scott Skiles' top assistant since they were in Chicago, so presumably Sampson is looking at more money should he get the offer of becoming Tom Thibodeau's top deputy with the Bulls. 

Complex Mag: Brandon Jennings Talks “Black Ice” Signature Shoe
Jennings' interview with Complex Magazine (h/t Nick Monroe) is mostly about his new shoe, but there's also a little bit about basketball. On what he's been working on this summer:

I think it’s just been consistency. Being a consistent shooter, I’ve been working on my legs a lot more, so that’s been getting me through. When game 50 comes, I want to be able to keep on finishing and lasting through the last 30 games. So, I’ve put a lot into my leg strength and conditioning this offseason.

Wyn Douglas: NBA roster flow charts
You may know Wyn as the proprietor of the best T'Wolves site on the interwebs (SBN, woot), but he's also the man behind these sweet flow charts showing the evolution of every NBA roster.

ESPN: Bucks 13th in NBA
John Hollinger and Chris Broussard are ranking the NBA 1-30.

Bucksketball: Will new acquisitions improve Bucks' finishing?
Good read from Jeremy on how the Bucks' summer should help them around the cup. On a related note, my favorite Corey Maggette stat: he averaged 12.8 free throw attempts per 48 minutes last year, while the Bucks as a team averaged 20.4. 

Courtside Analyst: Bucks' glory years
I had a good time reading up on the Bucks of the '70s for the SBN Wisconsin HOF nominations, but Ty has taken it to another level with a series of great analysis posts.  

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More photos » Rich Pedroncelli - AP

Gooden and Brockman give the Bucks two more rebounders up front

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Both the Bucks and Bulls got noticeable help on the boards this summer, which got me wondering how the Bucks' rebounding may help or hinder their goal of improving on the 46-win 09/10 season. For starters, it's worth clarifying the Bucks' performance on the glass a year ago. While they were a decidedly mediocre 17th in both raw rebounding differential (+.16 rpg) and total rebound rate (the Bucks grabbed 50.2% of all available rebounds), those numbers obscure the very different stories that took place on the offensive and defensive ends. Offensively, the Bucks grabbed 26.2% of their own misses, good for just 18th in the league. Combine the Bucks' inability to get second chances with a general inability to make shots (25th in eFG% and 26th in TS%) and you have a nice little recipe for ineffective offense (23rd in the league). 

Should we be really worried? Everyone agrees rebounding is important, so you'd guess that offensive rebounding would be a good indicator of team success. There's a reason it's one of Dean Oliver's famous "four factors," right? But looking at last season's stats suggest offensive rebounds may not be as important as you'd think. Exhibit A: by far the two best offensive rebounding teams in the league were Memphis (31.3%) and Detroit (30.3%)--teams that missed the playoffs and won just 40 and 27 games, respectively. Meanwhile, the Cavs, Magic, Celtics and Mavs were all among the ten worst teams in the league at collecting their own misses.  What's also interesting is that for all those extra possessions they generated, the Grizzlies and Pistons weren't even decently efficient offensive teams--Memphis ranked 17th in offensive efficiency while the Pistons were 22nd. 

In contrast, the top ten teams in defensive rebound rate (often expressed as opponent offensive rebound rate) were all playoff teams. Orlando (77.4%) edged Cleveland (77.2%) for the top spot, with the Bucks checking in an impressive third (76.4%). It's also no coincidence that the top ten in DRR closely mirror the top ten in overall defensive efficiency. Give the other team less chances to shoot and they'll score less.  Rocket science, eh?

As we harped on a fair bit last season, the Bucks were excellent in terms of limiting opportunities (4th in opponent turnover rate, 3rd in defensive rebounding) but less impressive stopping opponents when they did get chances. The Bucks had the second worst opponent free throw rate in the league and were a good-but-not-great eighth in eFG% allowed. Still, it's hard to argue with the end result: the Bucks ranked second in defensive efficiency, and their work on the defensive glass was a huge reason why they were so difficult to score on.

Defense first

Overall, the lack of correlation between offensive and defensive rebounding shouldn't be too surprising given the Bucks' defensive orientation. Do you think Scott Skiles (or any defensive-minded coach) wants his guys relentlessly crashing the offensive glass, or do you think he wants them getting back on defense?  So even though offensive and defensive rebound rate are symmetrical in terms of their theoretical value, I'd guess that in practicality there's higher correlation between winning and defensive rebound rate than offensive rebound rate (if anyone has seen corroborating/refuting evidence, let me know). That also squares with the commonly-held belief that great defense is more important than great offense. And no, I have no long-term data to prove that, but I'll run with it anyway.

The defense-first philosophy is also reflected in most of the Bucks' individual numbers. Among PGs, Brandon Jennings was 12th in defensive rebound rate and 25th in offensive rebound rate. Carlos Delfino was 6th in DRR and 52nd in ORR--spotting up in the corners for threes clearly doesn't help your rebounding either. Ersan Ilyasova was 16th among PFs in DRR and 33rd in ORR. And among centers, Andrew Bogut was 9th in DRR and 26th in ORR.  

The major exception was Luc Mbah a Moute, who led all small forwards in ORR but was just 25th in DRR. But that's less surprising when you consider that a) Luc's a garbageman on offense who often has little responsibility but to scrounge around in the paint for loose balls and b) he generally draws tough assignments on defense.  Either he's guarding the opponent's best wing player or he's battling with a PF who's bigger than him, neither of which lend themselves to getting a ton of defensive boards. But what's especially fascinating is how much better the Bucks were on the glass with Luc in the game. Despite often playing as an undersized four, Mbah a Moute had by far the best on/off rebounding differential on the club--the Bucks grabbed over 3% more offensive rebounds and 2.9% more defensive boards with him on the court vs. off. That's pretty amazing given that Ilyasova is a better rebounder at PF and Delfino isn't too much worse at SF.  So it's not like Luc was competing for minutes with terrible rebounders who made him look good. Does Luc's defense make his teammates better defensive rebounders? Quite possibly.

Looking ahead to 2011

So will the Bucks be better on the offensive or defensive glass in 10/11?  At the very least they shouldn't be worse, and they obviously have some room to improve on the offensive glass. But much of it will come down to how Skiles distributes his minutes and whether Bogut is around to anchor the middle.

The first thing to consider is whether the new faces are better or worse than the guys they replace. In the backcourt, Keyon Dooling is a shockingly terrible rebounder for a guy with good size for his position, but Ridnour was also below average last season. Corey Maggette has always been a good rebounding SF, though his numbers the past two seasons may have been inflated by playing as a smallball PF.  He's also not bad on the offensive glass considering he's usually the guy launching the initial shot.  Chris Douglas-Roberts was a poor rebounder on both ends last year, but Jerry Stackhouse was just as bad. 

Up front, Drew Gooden was marginally better than both Kurt Thomas and Dan Gadzuric a year ago and particularly good on the offensive boards. Among PFs, Gooden was 8th in ORR and 25th in DRR, ranking 11th in total rebound rate. Those numbers are clearly better than either Ilyasova or Mbah a Moute, so unless Gooden's forced to fill in for Bogut for a long period, the Bucks should be better on the boards no matter where they end up playing him. I'm not sure if he can actually defend centers, but at least he's shown he can rebound like one.

Jon Brockman might be the big x-factor, since it's not clear how exactly the Bucks will use him.  Is he an undersized four or a really undersized five?  Will he get 15-20 mpg every night or will he be a fringe guy?  The one thing we know is that he'll rebound.  Last year he led the league in ORR (18.2%) and was fifth in overall rebound rate (18.7%), though it will be interesting to see if he maintains that level on the offensive glass in a more defensive-oriented system.  Given that the guards are usually the ones responsible for defending against leak-outs, I would guess guys like Brockman and Gooden don't see their numbers affected too drastically. And in case you're curious, Brockman's on/off effect was downright absurd last year.  Though the Kings were actually worse on the defensive boards by 3%, their ORR ballooned by 12% when Brockman played.

Lastly there's Larry Sanders, who was an above-average rebounder on both ends in college.  After watching him in Vegas, I'm not sure he'll immediately be a good NBA rebounder simply because he seemed to struggle holding position against NBA bigs. He also showed a preference for floating around the perimeter on offense rather than mixing it up underneath, so that might also limit his impact on the offensive glass. He's also active and hard-working, so he should be fine once he adds a few pounds to his long frame, but for now I'm hesitant to expect big rebounding numbers off the bat.   

The other issue is distribution of playing time. The Bucks were a good defensive rebounding team in large part because they worked hard and had good rebounders at virtually every position. With the exception of Salmons, Ridnour, and Warrick, virtually all of the Bucks' regulars held their own on the defensive glass. Their best chance of improving on the offensive glass is if Brockman gets more time, though having Gooden in the rotation should also help. Still, it may not be worth improving on the offensive boards if it comes at a cost on the other end. And while the Bucks will no doubt be looking to improve offensively this year, the most obvious routes will be relying on Maggette and Salmons (for a full season) to draw more fouls and score more efficiently.

There's room to improve on offense--and the offensive boards--but at the end of the day we shouldn't kid ourselves. Every Scott Skiles team will be based on defense, and to maintain their high standards they'll also have to maintain their excellent work on the defensive glass. Fortunately they have the roster to do it and then some--now they just need to stay healthy.

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Two stars of the upcoming FIBA World Championships?

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Sporting News: Bogut working back from gruesome injury
Sean Deveney caught up with John Hammond for his reaction to the continued worries over Andrew Bogut's elbow, and as you'd expect he's not offering any guarantees.

"We are certainly hopeful that he would be ready [for the first game]," Hammond said. "But it’s something that we are not going to rush. We want to make sure Andrew is healthy in March and April, and for years to come."

I'll let you decide whether the line about not rushing is really code for "he's probably not going to be ready," though I also imagine it's been a while since a Bucks doctor actually looked at Bogut's elbow.

Another likely indicator of the front office's expectations will be what they do with their last roster spot. Make no mistake, it's weird that the Bucks had three second round picks and not one of them has signed an NBA contract, which suggests that they have some concerns about the injured Darington Hobson and raw-as-heck Tiny Gallon (Jerome Jordan signed to play in Europe in case you were curious). It also leaves open the possibility that they could yet sign a veteran big man, which would seem to send an obvious message that they're worried Bogut might be unavailable at the start the season. 

FIBA: Delfino's 30 leads Argentina past Ersan-less Turkey
Carlos Delfino appears to be peaking at the right time--at least for his country. Carlitos continued his hot stretch of late with 30 points (8/17 fg, 4/9 threes, 10/13 ft) and eight boards in a 93-89 OT win over Turkey in Ankara. As expected, Ersan Ilyasova was held out of the game following a blow to the nose on Friday night, and I haven't seen word on. Here's Palomba's assessment of your tournament MVP:

Do you remember his first half against Atlanta in playoffs game 6? Well, he`s playing continuously at that level, taking key shots a different moments of the game, and in a similar role (if memory doesn´t fail me, Carlitos played like a sort of alternative guard, being very active, handling the ball a lot, because Salmons and Jennings was so heavily defended). Everyone is very happy down here with him and excitement is growing about our possibilities. Will see what happens. For sure he will be guarded more aggressively when the Cup starts.

Great to hear, but hopefully he saves some of this for November.

CBS Sports: Are the Bucks legit?
Matt Moore ponders the eternal question. Among the interesting tidbits:

They were also sixth in three-point defense. What this means is that the two most efficient areas on the floor, the Bucks were exceptional at. Their only real area of problems, defensively? 10-15 Feet, where they were dead last in field goal percentage allowed.

Where 55 Happens: Examining What Worked
A couple weeks ago Dan Sinclair posted a great retrospective on the Bucks' "signature" road win in Denver, and this week he takes his magnifying glass to another memorable night from the 09/10 season--the road win in Sacramento 24 hours earlier. 

Bucksketball: Chemistry could be an issue
Jeremy addresses what many of us have wondered: has the Bucks' busy offseason endangered the locker room mojo that served them so well a year ago? To me the biggest question isn't about who the Bucks added so much as who they lost. Re-read the Bucks' post-season media quotes and you see a lot of talk about Jerry Stackhouse and Kurt Thomas being among the leaders in the locker room. Obviously the Bucks knew that when they let both guys walk, but there's no guarantee the dynamic will be replicated.

Rarely do you players gripes as long as their team is winning games.  But if the Bucks underachieve early this season, there’s going to be a lot of people upset and that often leads to finger pointing, selfishness and problems.

Maggette's the most obvious question mark, though as Jeremy notes he didn't complain when Nellie brought him off the bench for a crappy Warrior team a year ago. In general I have to think age matters when considering a player's psyche and ego. Maggette's now 30 years old and probably doesn't harbor the same delusions of grandeur as he did when he bristled at coming off Mike Dunleavy's bench in L.A. He's been pretty clear since the trade that he considers himself a starter but will do whatever the coach asks of him, so hopefully that translates to "100% effort off the bench" and not "crappy attitude."

CD-R is another guy Jeremy mentions, and I can see the concerns there as well. Ironically, he's in the opposite position of Maggette--young, unproven, and needing to show something ahead of free agency next summer. And that's a double-edged sword, since it's a fine line between hungry and selfish (and also a fine line between stupid and clever). But I think CD-R is also smart enough to know his attitude is under the microscope after last season, and at the end of the day it's pretty easy to trade or cut a guy with an expiring, minimum-level deal. If he doesn't fit in, he'll be gone.

CBS Boards: Quantifing chemistry using advanced stats
Speaking of chemistry, I stumbled upon this interesting piece posted over at the CBS Sports message boards. Be sure to read the introduction for the methodology that was used (nerds, unite!), but here's the high-level summary:

The unit with the best chemistry was, unsuprisingly to me, the Milwaukee Bucks with Jennings, Bell, Delfino, Ilyasova, and Bogut. This would indcate a fact I feel is true, that this Milwaukee 5, and Milwaukee as a whole by proxy, played better than the sum of their parts.

Hollinger: Bucks rank 12th in all-time franchise rankings
All these Wisconsin HOF nominations has had me on a bit of an NBA history kick, so I thought it was interesting to browse through John Hollinger's all-time franchise rankings (posted back in June).  So John, how about them Bucks?

Most teams' histories are defined by peaks and valleys. For the Milwaukee Bucks, it's defined as an almost-immediate peak followed by a steady, unrelenting descent, one that may ultimately result in relocation.

Yeeeesh. Alright, I get the first part, but that last part was just...mean. 

Ball Don't Lie: Maggette #11 among SFs
Corey Maggette checks in at #11 on Kelly Dwyer's small forward list, which is kind of ironic given he played the majority of his minutes as a power forward last year. And speaking of PFs, Drew Gooden is nowhere to be found in KD's list of top 30 PFs...  

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USA Today: Bogut shrugs at injury and focuses on new season
It seems like stories on Andrew Bogut's elbow took on a life of their own last week, with follow-up stories in the US media suggesting that Bogut could miss the first month of the season. He didn't exactly say that, but I suppose if you want to read between the lines hard enough you can interpret it any way you want. The bottom line is that Bogut's not a doctor and he just seems frustrated that he's still not back to 100%. Fortunately he still has time to get his arm back in order, and hopefully he'll get there by the season opener on October 27.      

"My goal is making it to training camp. I'm still working out now. I'm in shape," Bogut said. "I'm just trying to get the last couple degrees in my elbow (to straighten it). It's getting better every day, but sometimes, no matter how much you rehab it, it goes on its own."

Long story short: until we hear otherwise, I'll just be thinking happy thoughts. Fingers crossed, knock on wood, etc.

FIBA: Ilyasova scores 19 against Lebanon
Host Turkey kicked off action in the four-team Efes Pilsen World Cup on Saturday, defeating Lebanon behind 19 points, four boards and two assists from Ersan Ilyasova. The Turks then breezed by Canada 84-53 on Sunday, though Ilyasova didn't play thanks to a blow to the face he suffered against Lebanon. Per my trusty Google Chrome translation, Ersan's nose was checked out and he's being held out of the final two games of the tournament as a precaution (h/t Palomba).  You might recall Ersan wearing a mask early last season, so we might see him in a mask during the World Championships. If it were anything serious, expect the usual chorus of "we shouldn't let our guys play for their countries" comments, though I'm not sure how this could end up being too big of a deal.  

Before his big outing on Friday, Ilyasova had been struggling somewhat to find a role ahead of the World Championships (h/t Speedy), so missing time just a week before the tournament probably doesn't help. Turkey finishes the tournament on Monday against Carlos Delfino's Argentinian squad.

FIBA: Delfino leads Argentina past Brazil, Canada and Lebanon
Speaking of Delfino, his 23 points led Argentina past arch-rivals Brazil 77-73 last Tuesday before heading to Turkey this past weekend, where he kept it going with 26 points and seven boards in a 79-64 win over Canada on Saturday. Argentina won again on Sunday, though Delfino had a relatively quiet night with 9/7/2 in an 89-82 win over Lebanon.  As usual, Palomba and the gang is tracking the action over in the FanPosts.

JS: Boykins likes young Bucks
Earl Boykins is happy to be here, which is about what you'd expect to hear from a 34-year-old guy latching on as a third-string PG.

"From playing against them, I knew even if they lost a game, they were playing hard enough to win. And I wanted to be part of a team with a legitimate chance to make a deep run in the playoffs."

BDL: Bucks backcourt middle-of-the-pack
If you missed Kelly Dwyer's series on positional rankings, hit 'em up.  Thus far he's got Brandon Jennings 15th among PGs, John Salmons 15th among SGs, and Carlo Delfino 28th among SFs.

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A month back we asked you to vote for the top ten Bucks of all time. Per your voting, the first five nominees were Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (94% of ballots), Oscar Robertson (90%), Sidney Moncrief (88%), Ray Allen (86%) and Glenn Robinson (61%). Since I've been lagging way behind on these nominations, we're going to knock out the second half of the top ten today, lightning round-style. Our Bucks nominees will be eligible for the forthcoming SBN Wisconsin Hall of Fame ballot that will also include nominees from Brew Crew Ball, Acme Packing Company, Bucky's 5th Quarter and Anonymous Eagle.

Our top five raised some interesting questions. Oscar over Sidney Moncrief?  Ray Allen and the Big Dog over Marques Johnson? Clearly, historical context and what you did outside of Milwaukee impact modern perceptions of a player's impact. For instance, Allen and Robinson certainly benefited from being the leading scorers on the most recent Bucks team to win 50 games, but Robertson's association with the mythical '71 team and exploits before he came to Milwaukee no doubt explain why he nearly nabbed the #1 spot. 

The rest of our top ten will probably spur some additional debate, and it also underscores that a player's legacy isn't limited to his exploits in shorts and high-tops. Fortunately, some of the Bucks' best players have also been some of Milwaukee's best citizens, a fact that's also reflected in the retired jerseys hanging from the BC's rafters. Read on after the jump and debate away in the comments.

6. Jon McGlocklin (Included on 53% of ballots)
No matter when you started following the Bucks, you know Jonny Mac. Acquired by the Bucks in the 1968 expansion draft after three seasons with Cincinnati and San Diego, the sweet-shooting McGlocklin blossomed in the Bucks' debut season, averaging nearly 20 ppg and earning a 1969 all-star berth. McGlocklin embraced the role of complementary scorer with the arrival of Lew Alcindor and Oscar Robertson, scoring nearly 16 ppg for the 1971 championship team. Even as a guard, Jonny Mac finished in the top ten in fg% four straight seasons and retired eighth in Bucks history in win shares (43.3), fourth in games played (595), and seventh in ft% (.860).

But for all his exploits on the court, McGlocklin has meant even more to the state of Wisconsin off it. Upon retiring in 1976, he announced with former Bucks announcer Eddie Doucette the founding of the MACC Fund, which has to date raised $36 million for childhood cancer research. And as we all know, McGlocklin remains a fixture in the Bucks' broadcast booth, having spent over three decades calling games on TV.   

7. Bob Lanier (53%)
The first overall pick in 1970 draft and a seven-time all-star with the Pistons, the 31-year old Lanier arrived midway through the 79/80 season. Standing nearly seven feet with size 22 shoes, he teamed with Marques Johnson, Junior Bridgeman and Sidney Moncrief to help the Bucks win division titles in all five of his season in Milwaukee, including two trips to the East Finals and an all-star appearance in 1982.

However, Lanier's time in Milwaukee was beset by knee and other injuries that limited him to 28 mpg or less in each of his final five seasons. That makes him a stretch to be ranked ahead of the other guys in our top ten voting, but don't shoot the messenger. While the injuries prevented him from matching the incredible raw numbers from his days in Detroit, Lanier remained an effective big man and ranks fourth overall in Bucks history in win shares per 48 minutes (.164). Despite the injuries, Lanier finished his career with career averages of 20.1 ppg and 10.1 rpg, and his number 16 was retired by both the Bucks and Pistons. 

Lanier has remained heavily involved with the NBA since his retirement, having led the league's Stay in School program and served as Special Assistant to the Commissioner. Also, I was buds with his son Robert in elementary school.  You can guess which of us was the better basketball player.    

8. Terry Cummings (49%)
I was pleasantly surprised to see Cummings finish in the top ten in voting despite a largely overlooked career in Milwaukee. The 1983 rookie of the year with the Clippers, Cummings came to Milwaukee before the 84/85 season in a deal that sent Marques Johnson and Junior Bridgeman out West. TC averaged 19.4 ppg and 7.8 rpg in six seasons, earning a pair of all-star honors in the process.

But those numbers are also a bit deceptive given they include the 94/95 season, when Cummings returned as a veteran rotation player in Glenn Robinson's first season. Between 1984 and 1989, Cummings averaged 21.7 ppg and 8.3 rpg, helping the Bucks to five playoff appearances including a trip to the East Finals in 1986. 

9. Marques Johnson (47%)
How did Johnson end up this low?  It's a good question, and I can only assume it has mostly to do with the fact that he arrived shortly after Kareem and was overshadowed in the '80s by Sidney Moncrief. Still, just look at the numbers and you can make a great case for Johnson being one of Milwaukee's top four or five players of all time.

Following an All-American career at UCLA, the 6'7" Johnson was an immediate impact impact player in the NBA, dropping 19.5 ppg and 10.6 rpg as a rookie, and upping those figures to 24.0 ppg and 12.4 rpg in nine playoff games. He earned his first of five all-star berths as a sophomore, earning all-NBA first team honors while scoring a team-high 25.6 ppg--only Michael Redd (26.7 ppg in 06/07) has had a more explosive scoring season over the past 32 years in Milwaukee. Johnson would earn second team all-NBA the following two seasons and help the Bucks win four straight division titles, including a 60-win season and two straight trips to the East Finals.

Traded for Cummings in 1984, Johnson finished his career all over the Bucks' all-time leaderboard. Fourth in points per game (21.0), third in rebounds (3,923), second in PER (21.2), fourth in fg% (.530), sixth in points (10,980), and third in both win shares (71.1) and win shares per 48 minutes (0.187). Aside from Kareem and perhaps Moncrief, you can match those numbers against anyone else in Bucks history, which also makes his #8 jersey (now being worn by Larry Sanders) the most glaring omission from the Bucks' retired numbers.

A neck injury forced the 30-year-old Johnson to retire just after three seasons with his hometown Clippers, but he remained in the spotlight. In addition to a brief comeback with the Warriors three years later, Johnson stayed in front of the camera with a series of acting roles (most notably in White Men Can't Jump) and working as a TV analyst.  

10. Junior Bridgeman (40%)
Many will be surprised to see Ulysses "Junior" Bridgeman round out the top ten ahead of names like Bobby Dandridge (35%) and Paul Pressey (27%), but few can argue with his long-term impact both on and off the court. A month after the Lakers drafted him eighth overall in the 1975 NBA draft, the 6'5" swingman was sent to Milwaukee as part of the blockbuster deal for Kareem. Welcome to Milwaukee, eh? Despite the awkward circumstances of his arrival, Junior played nine seasons in Milwaukee before heading to the Clippers along with Johnson in the Cummings trade, and would return two years later to play his final season in Milwaukee.

Bridgeman made his name as super sub that helped the Bucks win six division titles and twice reach the East Finals. He remains the franchise leader in games played (711) while ranking seventh in points (9,892) and tenth in win shares (41.1). Despite that, Bridgeman's accomplishments as an entrepreneur and philanthropist are perhaps even more impressive. As president and owner of Bridgeman Foods, he operates over 161 Wendy's and 121 Chili's restaurants across the country, servers as a director of the PGA of America, and has been honored countless times for his charity work. 

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A couple weeks ago we asked you to vote for the top ten Bucks of all time. The first three nominees were Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, Sidney Moncrief, and Ray Allen with each of our nominations eligible for the forthcoming SBN Wisconsin Hall of Fame ballot that will also include nominees from Brew Crew Ball, Acme Packing Company, Bucky's 5th Quarter and Anonymous Eagle.

Let me start with an admission: I've been looking forward to this one.

Not because I think Glenn Robinson was the best Buck ever...don't worry, I'm still rational.  No, to be honest he probably wasn't even the best Buck of his era. And it's not because the Big Dog was particularly, smooth, stylish, eloquent or efficient. 

But the simple fact is that I grew up a Glenn Robinson guy.  And if you followed basketball as a kid, you probably had someone like that. 

It started in 1992, when my dad made the generous (if not well-timed) decision to get Bucks season tickets. In other words, I became a Bucks fan pretty much as the franchise bottomed out. And as an 11-year-old kid excited about basketball, I was really looking to latch onto a player who could be the Bucks' long-lost superstar.

And on an early summer day in 1994, I thought I had maybe found one. That day I watched the draft lottery at halftime of whatever playoff game was being shown, and sure enough, my Bucks came up #1.  I excitedly ran out onto our deck and yelled at my dad, who was busy working in the garden. Everybody knew what winning the lottery meant.  

"We're getting the Big Dog!"   

It seems strange to think that it's been nearly a decade since Glenn last wore a Bucks jersey, and even stranger to think that many current Bucks fans are too young to remember him (these realizations are an unfortunate reminder of me getting old).

Robinson's game was itself a bit of a throwback. He was at his most impressive from mid-range, where he was equally adept at scoring from turnarounds out of the post or catching and firing off screens. His trademark delivery--casually bringing the ball from the left side of his forehead--was less reliable from deep (34%), even with his first three seasons coming while the NBA had shorted the three point line. And while Robinson wasn't an athletic freak, he still threw down his share of highlight reel dunks. 

Positionally, he wasn't a pure wing player and often struggled handling the ball on the perimeter, which helps explain why turnovers were the only thing he ever led the league in (nearly four per game as a rookie). But he also didn't have prototypical size to be a power forward, the position where he excelled in college. I'm not sure I'd go so far as to call him a tweener, but slightly bigger hands and a couple more inches of length on his 235-240 pound frame could have done wonders. 

And then there was his defense. Again, his physical profile hurt, as he lacked the footspeed to track most SFs but was too small for most bigs. He also played with other poor defenders, which didn't help. And I think part of it was also just the way he looked on the court. He had a trudging sort of run that always made him look...tired. I'm not saying he was a good defender, but let's just say he was not the kind of guy who would get the benefit of the doubt either. 

Looking back, the Bucks probably made a mistake in selecting Robinson ahead of both Jason Kidd and Grant Hill. OK, they definitely did. But you wouldn't have argued with the Bucks' decision if you saw Robinson make a mockery of the Big Ten in his two years at Purdue. Dropping 30 ppg and 10 rpg in a major conference? That's just silly. The only question seemed to be how much it would cost to sign the Purdue star, with rumors rampant that the Big Dog might be the first rookie to crack the $100 million threshold. Thankfully he didn't, and I can still picture the Journal headline on the day he signed: 10 years, $68 million.

Robinson led all first year players in scoring (21.9 ppg), yet hardly registered in the rookie of the year debate that saw Kidd and Hill end up sharing the award. The young tandem of Robinson and second year PF Vin Baker helped the Bucks win 14 more games than the previous season, but at 34-48 the Bucks were still caught in the NBA's no-man's land. 

Worse yet, the improvement that most expected the following season never arrived. Instead, the Bucks were nine wins worse than in Robinson's rookie year, and the Big Dog's game took a step sideways. Robinson upped his assists to nearly four per game, but he dipped to 20.2 ppg despite playing nearly 40 mpg, and his scoring efficiency remained middling: .534 TS% after .538 his rookie year.

Of course, no one at the time even knew what true shooting percentage was, but our pre-occupation with scoring didn't offer any delusions of superstardom either. Though not all of us chose to believe it yet, the truth was that Robinson was a very good but not quite great NBA scorer. And while Glenn's rebound rate was always quite good for a small forward, we couldn't help but wonder what happened to the double-digit rebounding PF from Purdue. In hindsight, it's the same thing that happened to Michael Beasley and Carmelo Anthony--they got to the NBA and simply weren't big enough anymore.

The silver lining to the dismal 95/96 season was a high lottery pick in the following draft, which the Bucks put to good use by trading down a spot for Ray Allen. With Celtics retread Chris Ford now the head coach, the Bucks made modest improvements to 33-49 thanks to the addition of Allen to the already potent forward combo of Baker (21.0 ppg, 10.3 rpg) and Big Dog (21.1 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 3.1 apg). 

The following season looked like it could represent a turning point. Robinson bumped his scoring up to 23.4 ppg and the Bucks were clawing their way back to respectability, splitting the first 58 games evenly at 29-29. But Robinson missed the season's final two months through injury and the big scoring numbers were also a bit of an illusion (not that my high school self knew it at the time). Robinson was second in the league in minutes per game (41.0!), too 20 shots per game, his TS% fell to an even more mediocre .522, and his win shares/48 remained similarly unimpressive (.065). 

It was obvious by his fifth season that Big Dog was never going to be the franchise player we hoped for, but the additions of Allen and later Sam Cassell finally provided the supporting cast needed to be competitive. George Karl's first season saw the Bucks finish above .500 for the first time since 90/91, though both Robinson and Allen saw their minutes and raw stats dip a bit in the process. Still, after nearly a decade of futility, Milwaukee had finally found a recipe for winning games.

The Bucks needed one more year of fine-tuning and first round playoff learning, but it paid off in 00/01. They won 52 games as Robinson was an all-star for the second straight year and set new career-highs in rebounding (10.6% RR), PER (20.1), and win shares (6.7) while slightly edging Allen for the team scoring lead (22.0 ppg). Even so, Robinson ranked just third on the team in both win shares and PER, while his TS% was once again a mediocre 52.5%. Then again, those efficiency metrics weren't even around at the time, which makes you wonder how differently he would be perceived in today's age of advanced stats. 

Even so, I'm not sure Robinson was fully appreciated during his time in Milwaukee. Like Andrew Bogut, he struggled with the burden of being a #1 overall pick, made all the more difficult given Hill and Kidd's success. He never quite lived up to the stratospheric expectations set by his stunning college career, and he was never as polished or eloquent as Allen off the court. So it wasn't surprising when he became something of a scapegoat following the disastrous 01/02 season, dealt to Atlanta for Toni Kukoc and the '03 pick which became T.J. Ford. 

It was strangely cathartic as well. Robinson's departure seemed to allow many fans to sit back and appreciate what he was, rather than merely grumbling about what he wasn't. The ovations he got in his returns to Milwaukee, both as a player and as a member of the Bucks' 40th anniversary team, seemed to say it all. And watching Robinson win a title with San Antonio in 2005--even as a fringe rotation player--made me smile ear to ear. It wasn't how I hoped to see him win a title, but I was happy he was able to leave with a ring and on his own terms.

No, the Big Dog did not turn out to be the superstar I had hoped for in the summer of 1994. And he also wasn't a charismatic sneaker salesman or floor general. But for eight years he was good enough to become the Bucks' second all-time leading scorer, a two-time all-star and one of the catalysts of the best Bucks team of the past twenty years. As a Glenn Robinson guy, that's good enough for me.

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Note: this video contains a replay of his gruesome fall

Every preseason prediction is built on assumptions, and the biggest one for the Bucks is pretty obvious.

"If Andrew Bogut is healthy..."

It's now been over four months since the injury that shall not be watched (warning: it's spliced into the clip above), but we're still wondering how reasonable that caveat will be. Early summer reports were fairly optimistic (or at least not pessimistic) about Bogut's recovery, with the Bucks suggesting that they expected Bogut to be ready for opening night on October 27.  But Bogut's been making the press rounds in Australia this week offering a slightly less optimistic tone. Time to panic? 

It's tough to say. Bogut did two interviews this week, and he certainly seems frustrated by the slow progress of his elbow. Still, there's also a while yet before the games count, and hopefully his self-diagnosis is rooted more in frustration than educated long-term prognosis.

At RealGM you can read his full comments from the Aussie show "Thursday Night Live," though the basic summary is that he tried shooting while in Europe but had a fluid build-up in his elbow. And no, he still doesn't know if he'll be ready for the season opener. That uncertainty is echoed in the clip above, a transcript of which I typed out below (because I care). On the progress of the elbow:

It's getting there...it's still a slow process.  I was in Europe for about a month and the temperature there helped my elbow a little better than it did here because it's so cold. It's on its last legs, I think it's doing fine, my wrist.

But my elbow's still giving me some trouble, just extending it.  It's one of those things where I'm rehabbing every day but it's up to God, up to the healing powers of myself to see when it gets better.

Given how severe the injury looked, it's not that surprising to hear Bogut isn't fully healed, but the main thing is obviously his long term health. The assumption has been that he would at least be ready for opening night, but that does seem to now be a question mark:  

I still don't know yet, but I'd like to say yes...[we're] a month and a half out. But it's one of those injuries with the elbow where I could wake up tomorrow and I could all of a sudden have two or three more degrees in it, or I could wake up in a month time and it could be the same. So it's frustrating to do rehab every day and not see immediate results, but that's just the injury that I have.

Have the Bucks perhaps been withholding information on the severity of the injury? Tough to say, but it's probably telling that over the course of the summer they let Kurt Thomas walk and dumped Dan Gadzuric without adding a single true center to replace them (OK, not too difficult in the case of Gadz).

Overall, the Bucks are more versatile and deep up front, but they remain a bit undersized at the center position. Yes, Gooden has regularly played in the middle the past few seasons, but all indications are that he's much better at PF. And while Larry Sanders and Jon Brockman should also be able to play some center depending on matchups, you'd prefer to avoid playing them against big, bruising pivots with some semblance of a post game. Translation: I don't think the Bucks' offseason additions have been factoring in a prolonged absence from Bogut.  More likely they were simply addressing the obvious lack of depth at power forward, which also gave them added flexibility at center. But if Bogut isn't available on opening night, there's no clear plan for who would fill in.

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More photos » Alex Brandon - AP

Boykins gave Jennings late-game problems in Washington last season.

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Charles Gardner of the JS reports the Bucks are closing in on a one year deal that would bring Earl Boykins back to Milwaukee as a third point guard behind Brandon Jennings and recent signing Keyon Dooling. At 34, Boykins' best days as a bench sparkplug are behind him, but it's also not like he'll be getting any minutes while Jennings and Dooling are upright. The Bucks are out of cap space and have already used their MLE on Drew Gooden and BAE on Dooling, so they can't offer Boykins more than the minimum ($1.352 million for 10+ year vets). 

As we mentioned a couple weeks ago, the Bucks have carried at least three point guards on the opening night roster in each season of the Hammond/Skiles era, so broadly speaking it's not surprising to see them add some depth in the backcourt. That said, the Bucks now have 14 players under contract without having signed either of their second round picks, leaving just one spot for either Darington Hobson or Tiny Gallon. 

Gallon would appear the likely odd man out, and his agent Marc Cornstein told Gery Woelfel this week that they're "exploring all possibilities," including Europe. That would now be an ideal scenario for the Bucks, who haven't shown any interest in coddling rookies but would probably prefer to keep the 19-year-old's rights while he develops on someone else's dime. The alternative is trying to quickly trade Gallon's rights for a future pick or letting him walk entirely, which would be a serious waste considering they only drafted him two months ago.  Then again, somebody at Bucks HQ must still have some love for Tiny--he's currently on the front page of Bucks.com posing with Larry Sanders in a picture from the rookie photo shoot.  

Hobson hasn't exactly given the Bucks much to go on either, missing summer league due to a groin strain. It's also a bit curious that Gallon would be at the rookie shoot while Hobson was absent [update: it's apparently the NBA who picks the photo shoot attendees], but you'd think the Bucks will have a bit more patience with the former New Mexico star considering he was their first pick in the second round (37th). Meanwhile, Gallon was taken 47th (the Bucks also passed on him with the 44th pick) and looked out of shape and a bit overwhelmed in Vegas. Hobson was probably the third string PG by default up until now, but clearly the Bucks weren't comfortable with that scenario. Makes sense--just because a 6'7" guy has PG skills on offense doesn't mean you want him defending the position.

Then again, patience isn't something the Bucks have shown much of when it comes to draft picks, though it hasn't come back to hurt them as of yet. A year ago, John Hammond made Joe Alexander the highest drafted player ever to have his first option year declined, and Jodie Meeks was flipped after half a season for the Sixers' 2010 second rounder (which they used to draft Hobson). Much of it can be attributed to high standards and a willingness on the front office's part to admit mistakes--both very good things.

Still, they can't claim ignorance with Gallon. Any scout with a pair of eyes can see he's had weight problems and transient focus on the court, but he's still a kid with the potential to be a quality NBA player. Even if Gallon is the hoops equivalent of a way-out-of-the-money call option right now, he still has value. And while signing Boykins may be the more rational short-term move, it's also not something worth getting excited over.

As for Boykins, he's one of the game's more interesting players. At 5'5" he's always had a remarkable knack for creating his own shot against players significantly bigger than him, which he did quite well for the Bucks fans in the second half of the lost 06/07. Though his assist rates aren't terrible, he's mostly a guy looking for his own shot, which wasn't a good thing last year when he posted a Jennings-esque 49.8% true shooting percentage. Still, third string PGs are by definition guys you don't want on the court, and hopefully the Bucks won't need him with any regularity.  As for his contract, Woelfel just tweeted that his deal is fully guaranteed, though it's worth noting that the league office will pay for about $500k of his $1.352 million salary. To assure that teams don't shy away from signing older veterans to minimum-level deals, the NBA pays the difference between 3+ year veteran mins and the minimum for two-year vets ($854k this year). He'll still count the full amount against the cap, but the Bucks will pay him the same amount that they're paying Luc Mbah a Moute. Presuming the Bucks do sign Hobson to a two-year minimum deal, the cap situation would look like this.

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A couple weeks ago we asked you to vote for the top ten Bucks of all time. The first three nominees were Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, and Sidney Moncrief with each of our nominations eligible for the forthcoming SBN Wisconsin Hall of Fame ballot that will also include nominees from Brew Crew Ball, Acme Packing Company, Bucky's 5th Quarter and Anonymous Eagle.

Hey, it's somebody I actually saw play!

You can't argue too much with the first three nominees in our continuing series--though I'd have personally put Sir Sid ahead of Oscar simply on account of his contributions for the Bucks. Beyond that it gets a bit dicier, but the people have spoken. Named on 86% of our ballots, Walter Ray Allen checks in at the #4 spot in our tally of all-time Bucks.

After nearly seven seasons and 494 games in Milwaukee, Allen only ranks ninth in Bucks history in total points (9,681) but sixth in career scoring average (19.6 ppg), fifth in true shooting percentage (57.1%), fifth in PER (19.3), sixth in win shares, and first in three pointers (1,051). Ironically, he now trails Michael Redd in most of those categories--but it's no secret which of the two guys evokes more fond feelings in MIlwaukee.

So was Allen really that good or has his success since leaving Milwaukee perhaps colored our perception of his days in Milwaukee?  It's probably a bit of both, but Allen's legacy also shows the importance of winning with class and style. 

It's not to say it was always easy for the former UConn All-American. I still remember being somewhat disappointed when I heard the Bucks were trading the rights to their fourth overall pick Stephon Marbury for Allen (the fifth overall pick) and a future first, but I guess that goes to show I wasn't the shrewdest talent evaluator back when I was 15. Allen started all but one game as a rookie and by his second season had established himself as one of the game's best young guards (19.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 4.3 apg). Still, the Bucks were going nowhere in the win department, winning 33 and 36 games in Allen's first two seasons.

Enter George Karl. The former Sonics coach made an instant impact in the lockout-shortened 98/99 season, establishing a more balanced attack that saw Allen and fellow scoring ace Glenn Robinson play fewer minutes and score fewer point but do so more efficiently. Allen's scoring averaged dropped (17.1 ppg in 34.4 mpg vs. 19.5 ppg in 40.1 mpg the previous year) but his TS% (.564), PER (18.9) and win shares (.148/48 min) all saw a healthy boost. Most importantly, the Bucks had their first winning season (28-22) since 90/91, which made their 3-0 first round loss to Reggie Miller's Pacers a bit more palatable.

The following season saw modest progress on the court, though Allen reached new personal heights. Playing alongside Sam Cassell, Ray-Ray earned his first of three consecutive all-star berths while leading the Bucks with 22.5 ppg on 57.0% true shooting. And though the Pacers again dispatched the 42-40 Bucks in the first round, Milwaukee provided more than token resistance this time around, taking the Pacers to a pivotal fifth game that they lost by a single point.

With a year of playing experience together, the Big Three-led Bucks came into their own in 2000/2001. Allen and Big Dog each averaged 22.0 ppg and were named All-Stars for the second consecutive season, while Cassell pumped in 18.2 ppg and nearly eight assists per game to lead the Bucks to 52 wins and their only division title in the past 24 years.

I also remember the BC being so different that year as compared to the lean years of the previous decade. I was a sophomore in college and made it back from the East Coast to see about five games during the school year, thankfully including the East Finals, and the sense of expectation and confidence was just noticeably different, even among the fans. There was an expectation that we were going to see great things, not in a spoiled kind of way, but in an excited, anticipatory kind of way. I honestly hadn't felt something similar until I made it back for games three and four of the Hawks series last season.     

Allen also posted a career-high 22.9 PER, a stellar .610 TS%, and finished third in the league in win shares (13.7), further elevating his game in the Bucks' memorable playoff run with 25.1 ppg and 6.0 apg on .477/.479/.919 shooting. And Allen was never better than in game six of the East Finals against Philly. With the Bucks facing elimination after a heart-breaking game five loss in Philly, Allen scored 25 in the first half and finished with 41 points (including nine threes) to electrify the BC. If you wanted to find the climax of Allen's career in Milwaukee, this was it.  

Unfortunately, we all know the 2001 run was not the beginning of big things as we hoped. And given the mediocrity that preceded and followed it, the '01 squad now seems like a bizarre but completely fantastic aberration.  Their combination of explosive scorers and blue collar big men made them fun, endearing and likably flawed all at the same time. In retrospect it seems kind of obvious that a nucleus of Ray, Big Dog and Cassell wasn't built for the long haul, but it was infinitely better than we had gotten used to seeing.  

So it was hard to imagine that two years later Allen, Robinson and Cassell would all be gone. In 01/02 the mojo of the previous spring seemed to initially carry over, as the Bucks raced to a 9-1 start with new face Anthony Mason anchoring the front line. The Big Three continued to light up scoreboards, each averaging 20+ ppg, but down the stretch the team simply wilted. Milwaukee lost 16 of its final 22 games and was infamously (and fittingly) destroyed in the must-win season finale in Detroit.  In the span of a month, the Bucks went from fighting for home court in the playoffs to sitting at home watching them on TV.  The writing was on the wall, and Robinson was the first to go the following August.

Surprisingly, Allen would last just 46 games longer than Big Dog. Puttering along at a game over .500, Karl would help engineer a move to acquire his former quarterback in Seattle, Gary Payton, in return shipping the Bucks' brightest star to the Northwest. The emergence of Redd no doubt hastened Allen's departure, but a first round loss to the Nets and Payton's departure as a free agent left the Bucks with rather little to show for their gamble.

Allen was still only 27 at the time of the trade, and though the younger Redd wasted little time in replacing him as the team's scoring machine, there's always been a justifiable sense of frustration with how Allen was lost. The fact that he continued to excel after leaving Milwaukee is no doubt a big part of it, and it's probably not worth trying to explain that Redd's inability to match Allen's win totals has also had something to do with coaches and general talent level. Instead, Allen continued to excel as the go-to-guy in Seattle for four seasons before finally winning his title as a member of the (new) Big Three in Boston. And with Allen having already cracked 20,000 points, the Hall of Fame seems an obvious destination once he tires of launching that sweet, effortless jumper.  

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JS: Bucks' Jennings makes most of off-season
We all knew a guy like Brandon wasn't going to have a quiet summer of just going to the gym, but the good news is that he's doing some of that, too. He's a bit coy about it in Jim Paschke's latest report (above), but he was a bit less evasive last week with the JS. 

"Right now I'm seeing a couple shooting coaches so I can be consistent throughout the year," Jennings said. "I've been able to talk to veterans like Gary Payton, and he said, 'Last year you had that great jump and toward the end you sort of slowed down because you had no legs.'

"He said, 'Make sure you work on your legs a lot this summer, and get to the basket more and get to the free throw line. He said, 'There's no reason you should score four or two points a game, ever, with your quickness.' "

Not sure how I feel about Brandon consorting with a Milwaukee-hater like Payton, but you can't argue with the advice. Jennings' start was as hot as his finish was cold, and 37% shooting isn't going to earn him a spot among the NBA's elite point guards. At the very least, more offensive weapons will hopefully mean Brandon taking fewer bad shots--namely those fading 20-footers. 

I should also mention that I grew up in Mequon across the road from Homestead High, so it's cool seeing Jennings holding his local camp at my old alma mater. And the fact that Ludacris paid a visit?  Well, that's just hilarious. Back in elementary school I went to Hoop Camp at HHS a few times and thought it was a big deal when Fred Roberts once paid us a visit. Times change.

FanPosts: International warmups continue
Finding box scores and recaps of the warmups for this month's FIBA World Championships has been a pain, but at least we have Palomba to keep us posted on Carlos Delfino (who dropped 16/9/6 in a losing effort against Spain today). There's another good recap over at RealGM.

We also know Ersan Ilyasova scored 24 for Turkey in another loss to Serbia last Wednesday, but he scored just 11 combined in losses this weekend to Croatia and Lithuania this weekend. Not the kind of positive mojo the Turks are looking for as they prepare to host the WCs later this month. 

SportsBank.Net: Bucks schedule is no walk in the park
Jake McCormick takes his magnifying glass to the Bucks' schedule. Dan Sinclair has another great read on the same topic in the FanPosts. 

Although it’s ideal that the Bucks will be playing more home than away games in the February and March push to the playoffs, a brief game-by-game glance at the schedule reveals a brutal 20 games between December and January that could very easily make or break the 2010-11 Milwaukee Bucks.

FanPosts: Best NBA GMs
Speedingtime put together a great post looking at some of the league's best GMs. As I mentioned in the comments, I think John Hammond has a good chance to cement his place among the league's elite if this summer's signings pay off. He's shown over the past two years that he could clean up a bad roster and put a winner on the court in spite of financial limitations, but now we'll see what happens when he has a chance to actually spend some money. Another thing worth noting: with all the money being thrown around this summer, Sam Presti and Daryl Morey were fairly quiet--well, aside from the three year, $15 million deal Morey gave Brad Miller's corpse.  

OnMilwaukee: Herb Kohl's Superb Milk House
For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of living in Wisconsin, here's a bit of Dairy State 101 (h/t Nick Monroe).

Anton says Kohl started the milk house because he wanted to celebrate the fair and Wisconsin's dairy tradition. Every year, Kohl spends time working in the milk house, serving and talking to customers. He likes to joke with kids that there are special cows in the back that produce the strawberry milk or the root beer milk.

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A couple weeks ago we asked you to vote for the top ten Bucks of all time. The first two nominees were Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson, with each of our nominations eligible for the forthcoming SBN Wisconsin Hall of Fame ballot that will also include nominees from Brew Crew Ball, Acme Packing Company, Bucky's 5th Quarter and Anonymous Eagle.

Even the most casual Bucks fan could have probably guessed that the names Kareem and Oscar would lead the way in our vote of all-time Bucks. And considering both guys are Hall of Famers and among the greatest players in NBA history, no one will begrudge them that, especially given that they also spearheaded the 1971 Bucks' championship season. 

But what about Sidney Moncrief? Though his name has never had the NBA currency of Kareem and Oscar, Sir Sid was arguably every bit as important to the great Bucks teams of the '80s as Kareem and Oscar were to the Bucks of the '70s. 

After an All-American career at Arkansas, Moncrief was selected fifth overall by the Bucks in the 1979 draft. But transitioning to the NBA meant having to earn minutes for an up-and-coming Bucks squad led by fourth year coach Don Nelson. He averaged a modest 8.5 ppg in 20 mpg as a rookie in 79/80, but was a productive rotation player (15.9 PER, .150 win share/48) for a Bucks squad that improved by 11 wins. Moncrief's arrival not coincidentally marked the first of seven straight Midwest Division titles for the Bucks, and his second season saw his stature grow as the Bucks won 60 games before falling in seven games to the 62-win Sixers in the East semis.

Moncrief truly blossomed in his third season, leading the Bucks in scoring (19.8 ppg), rebounding (6.7 rpg) and assists (4.8 apg) while spearheading the NBA's most efficient defense to a 55 win season (yes, Nelly's teams were built on defense back in the day) . Moncrief earned his first all-star berth and was named to the All-NBA and All-Defensive second teams, but again the Bucks lost to Philly in the East semis.  It was the third straight season that the Bucks earned a first round bye, but also the third in a row that they failed to win a series.

The Bucks dropped to 51 wins in 82/83, but they still cruised to another Midwest title and finally snapped their playoff jinx with a 4-0 sweep of the 56-win Celtics in the East semis. The eventual champion Sixers ousted them for the third straight season in the East Finals, but by then Moncrief had solidified his status as one of the league's brightest stars.

He posted a team-high 22.5 ppg on exceptional 60.1% true shooting, a byproduct of his unique but highly efficient style. Despite lacking three point range (he made more than 10 threes in a season just three times and topped out at 33 in 1985), Moncrief used his toughness and athleticism to bully opposing guards off the dribble and even in the post, shooting 50.2% for his career with an outstanding 59.1% true shooting mark (28th in NBA history). He earned a second straight trip to the all-star game as well as first-team All-NBA (the last Buck to do so) and All-Defensive team selections. And in a fitting testament to his relentless abilities on the defensive end, he received the first ever NBA Defensive Player of the Year award.

Moncrief continued to excel in 83/84, again leading the Bucks in scoring (20.9 ppg) while ranking second in rebounds (6.7 rpg) and assists (4.5 apg). The Bucks won 50 games and defeated the Hawks and Nets in the first two rounds of the playoffs, but again fell short in the East Finals, this time in five games against the championship-winning Celtics. Moncrief was again an all-star and second team All-NBA pick, collecting a second straight DPOY for his mantle. To this day he remains the only guard to win the award multiple times and one of just three players under 6'5" to earn the honor (Gary Payton and Alvin Robertson being the others).   

Moncrief continued to stuff the box score the following two seasons, but the Bucks' inability to translate regular season wins into a Finals appearance would also continue. The arrival of young PF Terry Cummings (23.6 ppg/9.1 rpg) provided a much-needed scoring complement in the post, while third year SF Paul Pressey's development into a do-it-all point forward (16.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 6.8 apg) complemented Moncrief's all-around game in the backcourt (21.7 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 5.2 apg). Nelson rode his new triumvirate to 59 wins and the NBA's second best defense, beginning the playoffs with a 3-1 series win over the Chicago Bulls and rookie Michael Jordan in the first round of the playoffs. Moncrief was even better in the postseason with 23 ppg on 56% shooting, but the Sixers yet again sent the Bucks home early in the playoffs with a 4-0 sweep in the East semis.

The 85/86 season would be Moncrief's last in good health, and with predictable results. Moncrief led the Bucks in scoring (20.2 ppg on 60.4% true shooting), finished among the NBA's top five in win shares for the fifth straight season (11.7), and tallied his usual laundry list of honors: a fifth straight all-star game, All-Defensive first team, and second team All-NBA. The Bucks won 57 games and swept the Nets in the first round before exacting revenge on the rival Sixers with a seven game series win that sent them to the East Finals. Sadly, the 67-win Celtics were waiting for them, sweeping Milwaukee in four games en route to another Boston title.

Knee troubles cost Sid half of the following season, and he would never be quite the same following the injury. Though still a productive rotation player, Moncrief missed 26 and 20 games the following two seasons and saw his minutes and productivity drop from its all-star heights. He retired as a Buck at just 31, ranking among the Bucks' all-time leaders in scoring (2nd), assists (2nd), rebounds (4th), and free throws (1st). After a season on the sidelines he grew restless and returned for one forgettable season as a reserve in Atlanta, but Moncrief will forever be remembered as a Buck. 

Beloved in Milwaukee and at home in Arkansas, Sir Sid also carved out a successful business career before returning to basketball as an assistant with Nellie in Dallas in 2000. He's since followed Nelson to Golden State as the Warriors' shooting coach, but nowhere is he as appreciated as back home in Arkansas. 

The Arkansas Democrat called him "the most beloved athlete in the history of Arkansas [who had] done more for race relations in this state than anyone in the past 20 years."

After Moncrief left the NBA, people in Little Rock started bouncing around his name as a possible gubernatorial candidate. An articulate and intelligent businessman and an immensely popular personality, he seemed a natural for politics. Bill Clinton, then governor of Arkansas, once joked in the Los Angeles Times, "The only comfort I can take in having the smallest governor's salary in the nation is that it might stop Sidney Moncrief from running against me."

Despite all the wins and personal accolades, Moncrief seems destined to remain one of the under-appreciated stars in the game's history. The first and most obvious issue was his longevity. Sir Sid's career was unfortunately struck down by chronic knee problems before he hit 30, and it wasn't until his third season that he blossomed into an all-around star. The Bucks' small-market status as perennial Eastern Conference bridesmaids also didn't help his longer term legacy, which is a shame given how incredibly successful Moncrief and the Bucks were on the court. Indeed, only the Lakers and Celtics won more games in the '80s than the Bucks.

Lastly, Moncrief's raw statistics never quite captured his true impact, a fact that has not surprisingly made it harder for fans who never saw him play to appreciate his contributions. Defensively, Moncrief never blocked even 40 shots in a season and never came close to averaging two steals per game--not exactly the kind of numbers we're used to seeing from the defensive player of the year. Offensively, he was exceptionally efficient, but not quite the flashy volume scorer glorified in shoe commercials. But what may have limited his legacy to casual fans in New York or L.A. only endeared him to his fans in Wisconsin.  

"I remember we reflected the city itself," he said. "We worked hard and it's the type of city that when you played for the Bucks, you felt like you were playing for the city. They knew that when we hit this basketball court, Coach Nelson had us ready to perform at our maximum."

They also knew that Philadelphia and Boston were better teams than us when they did beat us. But they never ever turned their back on our ball club. I sensed that every year for the fans was a new opportunity for us not to disappoint them.

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Check out Rilamann's terrific four-part mix on the 09/10 Bucks

We've hit the dead zone of the NBA calendar, but despair not: the schedule is out and we're now "just" 78 days away from games that actually matter.  OK, so that still seems like a long time, but we'll make it. I promise.

As usual, the Bucks will start the season on the road, kicking things off with a 7 pm game in New Orleans on Wednesday, October 27. They get a day off before heading to Minnesota for a Friday night game, followed 24 hours later by the traditional Saturday night home opener, this time against the Bobs. Not the toughest start to the season on paper.  Head over to Bucks.com for some more scheduling notes as well as ticket options, and read on for some more analysis of the schedule.  

Home/Road. The Bucks only have two months with more games at home than on the road: February (7 home/5 road) and March (10/5). Eyeballing the schedule, it looks like they should be OK as long as they survive December and the early part of January, a stretch that features six road games out West and eight of nine home games against 2010 playoff teams.

Going national. The Bucks have eight nationally televised games, four each on ESPN and NBATV. So yeah, I guess we can't complain quite so much about the programming geeks in Bristol and Secaucus disrespecting Milwaukee. Best of all, some of the games are actually winnable, too. Road games in Boston (11/3, 3/13) and Miami (4/6) will be tough, but home tilts against Golden State (55 points, part deux?), Orlando, Denver, Chicago and Boston (again) will put the BC crowd front and center.    

Back-to-back. The bad news is that the Bucks will play a league-high 23 back-to-backs, their most in 16 years. However, only 11 of those are of the road/road variety, which is actually the second-lowest total in the league. All told the Bucks' schedule is one of extremes. They have 22 games on one day of rest (lowest in the league), 19 games with two days (the most), and five games with 3+ days (second fewest).

For reference, the Bucks had 22 back-to-backs last year and 21 in 08/09, though it seemed like more since a whopping eight of them came in the first month of the season. The good news is that the Bucks excelled on the second night of back-to-backs a year ago, winning 14 of 22 games. That came in spite of Andrew Bogut performing significantly better when rested (though curiously his free throw shooting was best with no rest). 

Less is more? The Bucks face each Eastern foe twice at home and twice on the road, with the exception of Boston (1 home game), Charlotte (1 road), New Jersey (1 road), and Washington (1 home). Seems like a fair mix of good and bad, though Milwaukee will get just one chance to see John Wall.

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More photos » Rebecca Blackwell - AP

Luc Mbah a Moute hasn't forgotten his roots

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Ball in Europe: Serbia tops Turkey
Ersan Ilyasova came off the bench to score 12 along with six boards in Turkey's 83-70 home loss to Serbia. But fear not--the FIBA World Championship hosts still have a couple weeks before the games count. Turkey opens the WC preliminary round against Cote d'Ivoire on August 28, followed by Russia 24 hours later.

El Litoral: Puerto Rico spoils Carlitos' homecoming
Meanwhile, Palomba's still doing a much better job of covering Carlos Delfino than I am. Playing in his hometown of Santa Fe, Carlitos scored a game-high 22 points but Puerto Rico surprised Argentina 96-89 in another World Championships warmup. Argentina plays three games in three days to start the World Championship, facing off against Germany on August 28, the Bogut-less Australians on the 29th, and Angola on August 30. 

JS: Mbah a Moute hooping in Senegal
Luc Mbah a Moute was the first African player to graduate from Basketball Without Borders to the NBA, and he's once again giving back as part of an NBA contingent in Senegal this week. Kelvin Sampson is also taking part.

"Luc was one of these kids, and when he was talking to them you could see the kids' eyes light up," Sampson said. "He was speaking in French and he said, 'I was one of you. Dare to dream.' "

FanShots: Bucks home opener vs. Bobcats on October 30?
The NBA schedule officially comes out on Tuesday, but the eagle-eyed Speedingtime found a Ticketmaster page which appeared to give away the Bucks schedule a day early. Assuming it's right (and it would seem like a lot of work just to mislead people), the Bucks will open up their home slate against the Bobs October 30th.  We'll know for sure quite soon.

ESPN: Forecasting the East
ESPN polled 93 of their hoops contributors and the results are neither insulting nor hype-tastic from a Milwaukee perspective. And after all that, they've got the Bucks standing pat: 6th in the East with 46 wins.

The East seems to have six sure playoff teams, and for the first time in years, Milwaukee is a member of that echelon. Our panel remains in a prove-it-to-me posture regarding whether the Bucks can crack the East's upper crust, but if Brandon Jennings progresses and Andrew Bogut's arm is OK, the pieces are in place.

On the surface it might seem silly to predict the same number of wins from a team that clearly upgraded its talent base, but I can understand the sentiment. Aside from Bogut's late-season injury, a lot went right for the Bucks last year--feels funny to say it, doesn't it?  Great chemistry, young players coming into their own, and particularly good health at the point were all things to be thankful for. So while fifty wins is a realistic target in 10/11, there's no way I'm taking it for granted. Besides, we had too much fun as underdogs, didn't we?

HoopsWorld: Central Predictions
Joel Brigham sees the Bulls coming out Central kings, but don't accuse him of sleeping on the Bucks.

Somehow, this team turned itself into one of the most stacked rosters in the conference, yet hardly anybody is talking about them. They might not have the star power of Chicago, but overall this very well could be a more talented roster from player one through player twelve. Regardless of who wins the division, Milwaukee is likely to be the sleeper very few people talk about heading into the year. There will be a lot of attention on Chicago and Miami and Orlando, but this Bucks team could be the group that rounds out the top four for the 2011 postseason.

I'll ignore the fact that Redd is mentioned as though he might be part of the rotation... 

Bucksketball: Can small market teams compete
Jeremy asks a question that's kinda-sorta relevant to all of us.

SI.com: Bucks offseason gets a C+
It won't take long to figure out who Britt Robson's picking to win the Central. While he gave the Bulls an A, the Bucks were actually ranked second with a C+. So yeah, Britt's not a big fan of what's going down in Cleveland, Indy and Detroit. Not too surprisingly, his Bucks skepticism centers mostly on the additions of Corey Maggette and Drew Gooden:

On paper, Gooden's five-year, $32 million deal looks decent: He has averaged 11.9 points and 7.9 rebounds in 28 minutes during his eight-year career. And with Bogut recovering from his horrific elbow and wrist injuries, Gooden is decent insurance. But a closer look shows he's not efficient on offense: He's shot better than 50 percent just once in a season -- not good for someone who is known for his offensive rebounding. And his defense is suspect: Both the Mavs and Clippers were at least five points better defensively per 100 possessions when Gooden sat compared to when he played last season.

I'm not going to bend over backwards defending Gooden--his resume is solid but it's got some major holes. Hopefully Skiles gets him to play to his strengths, but he's going to have a hard time earning his contract.

But what I would dispute is the notion that the Bulls' offseason haul was a "mission accomplished." While the Bulls did well, there's a monstrous difference between what they got and what they were hoping for on July 1. Nabbing Boozer was the least they could do considering they had tons of cap space, a big market, and existing talent on the roster.  

NBA.com: Fear the Deer
Sekou Smith offers the counterpoint to Robson.

Bucks fans have a right to demand their team receive its due as one of the league’s up and coming outfits. They were better than the Bulls at the end of last season, playing without Bogut down the stretch and in the playoffs.

Why shouldn’t they be included in the conversation of the most promising young teams in the league?

Shhhhh....

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