2010-11 NBA Blogosphere Previews: Milwaukee Bucks
Posted by Neil Paine on October 15, 2010
Welcome to our 2010-11 NBA Blogosphere Previews, in which we contact the finest team bloggers on the web and ask them to contribute their thoughts on the squad they cover. What follows is their take, along with the team's depth chart (courtesy of ESPN.com), projected 2011 stats via our Simple Projection System, and polls where you get to have your say. Enjoy!
Milwaukee Bucks
Coach: Scott Skiles
2010 Summary:
Record: 46-36, Finished 2nd in NBA Central Division
Pythagorean W-L: 46-36 (14th of 30)
SRS: 1.38 (14th of 30) ▪ Pace Factor: 91.7 (19th of 30)
Offensive Rating: 104.9 (23rd of 30) ▪ Defensive Rating: 103.1 (2nd of 30)
2011 Depth Chart (with 2010-11 projected per-36 minute stats ... yellow = newcomer)
| Pos | Player | Age | PTS | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | FG% | 3PM | 3P% | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PG | Brandon Jennings | 21 | 17.5 | 4.1 | 6.3 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 2.6 | 0.388 | 1.9 | 0.386 | 0.821 |
| PG | Keyon Dooling | 30 | 13.5 | 2.6 | 4.6 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 2.0 | 0.423 | 1.7 | 0.390 | 0.804 |
| PG | Earl Boykins | 34 | 13.9 | 2.8 | 5.2 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 2.3 | 0.421 | 0.7 | 0.318 | 0.844 |
| SG | John Salmons | 31 | 16.1 | 3.8 | 2.9 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 0.451 | 1.4 | 0.387 | 0.825 |
| SG | Chris Douglas-Roberts | 24 | 13.9 | 4.2 | 2.2 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 0.456 | 0.3 | 0.283 | 0.841 |
| SG | Michael Redd | 31 | 18.9 | 3.9 | 2.9 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 0.420 | 1.7 | 0.345 | 0.783 |
| SF | Corey Maggette | 31 | 22.7 | 6.3 | 2.7 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 2.8 | 0.492 | 0.4 | 0.293 | 0.827 |
| SF | Carlos Delfino | 28 | 13.2 | 6.3 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 0.411 | 2.1 | 0.369 | 0.773 |
| SF | Darington Hobson | 23 | ||||||||||
| PF | Drew Gooden | 29 | 15.7 | 10.5 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 2.2 | 0.470 | 0.1 | 0.235 | 0.840 |
| PF | Luc Mbah a Moute | 24 | 9.7 | 8.0 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 0.479 | 0.1 | 0.337 | 0.722 |
| PF | Ersan Ilyasova | 23 | 16.2 | 9.7 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 0.454 | 1.5 | 0.346 | 0.727 |
| PF | Jon Brockman | 23 | 9.7 | 10.8 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 0.519 | 0.2 | 0.362 | 0.641 |
| PF | Larry Sanders | 22 | ||||||||||
| C | Andrew Bogut | 26 | 16.6 | 11.1 | 2.2 | 0.7 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 0.527 | 0.0 | 0.283 | 0.624 |
| C | Brian Skinner | 34 | 10.0 | 8.2 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 0.442 | 0.2 | 0.345 | 0.664 |
2010-11 Blogger Outlook by Dan Sinclair, where55happens.wordpress.com & BrewHoop
What a difference a year makes. One season removed from Last-Place-In-The-East predictions, the Bucks enter this season with high expectations and high hopes.
All eyes will quickly be on Brandon Jennings, and there are sure to be lots of concerned Wisconsinites if his shooting doesn’t rapidly improve one year after posting an abysmal 37.1 FG%. Still, he showed an excellent ability to run the team and should improve in 2010.
Milwaukee will again rely on a tough defense that ranked 3rd in DRB% and 4th in opponent TOV% last year. In addition, Milwaukee figures to boast one of the top bench rotations in the NBA. Assuming incumbent Carlos Delfino retains his starting position, the Bucks have a strong 6th Man of the Year candidate in Corey Maggette, an efficient scorer who should help them rectify their atrocious free-throw disparity (-6.6 FT/Gm differential). But will that be enough to improve an offense that only mustered 1.049 points per possession last year?
Perhaps most importantly, will Andrew Bogut return to his “shoulda-been-an-All-Star” form following his serious elbow injury? If the Bucks can improve their shot selection and get quality contributions from newcomers like Drew Gooden and Chris Douglas-Roberts along with another strong performance from re-signee John Salmons, this could be a team to watch.
Poll Time
October 15th, 2010 at 8:18 am
Unfortunately, Bogut's hand is causing him pretty severe pain after practice and games. They're going to have to limit his minutes. I really though the Bucks could get 50+ wins. But without Bogut playing full time most of the first half of the season, it's not going to happen. There's a lot of rotation to be figured out with Salmons, Delfino, M'bah a Mute, and Maggette. Ilyasova and Gooden should do a decent job backing up for Bogut, but neither are the low post offensive threat he is.
Still, they were almost better than the Hawks last year, and with Jennings one year older and wise, and Bogut (hopefully) playing all season, and Maggette raising their FTA/G from horrid to reasonable, they'll definitely surpass the Hawks this year. Maybe not record wise, but if they meet in the playoffs, the Bucks will spank them.
October 15th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
Unfortunately for Milwaukee, even if everything goes perfect for them this season, they are probably not going to be able to advance in the playoffs. Barring serious injury to one of these teams, they are definitely not beating Orlando, Boston, or Miami. If they can get a 4/5 seed they'll have to beat Chicago or Atlanta. Atlanta is a maybe. I don't like the matchups against Chicago at all.
October 15th, 2010 at 3:50 pm
I dunno, Boozer will be too hurt to play by then. And Rose will be playing with a sprained ankle. I'll give 'em a shot against the Bulls.