Did you know the 2007-2008 Milwaukee Bucks finished up the season by going 4-21 down the stretch? Me either. Nothing dulls the memory of a 26-56 season like summertime in Milwaukee. The Brewers are on pace to draw 3,000,000 fans, the city is beautiful, and for three months a year the weather is perfect. Some thoughts on the Bucks' off-season:
-As brewhoop has stated, Hammonds and Skiles are on the same page concerning both personnel and philosophy, and they share a vision of the team they want to build and how they plan to win. A strong, talented front-office with a plan for success and the confidence and experience to pull it off were prerequisites for turning this thing around, and Hammonds and crew have it in spades. The change in culture around the Bradley Center is going to do wonders for this franchise, and probably all without blowing up the team and getting pennies on the dollar for our underachieving talent.
-I am reversing course on the need to move Mo Williams. I felt at the end of the season that he needed to go, not because of a perceived need for a pass-first PG or his ole-style defense (which leaves much to be desired), but because of his reputed conflict with Bogut, which was one of the team's many chemistry problems.
Now though, with a new coaching staff and GM, the additions of RJ, Joe Alexander, and Luc Richard, and the recent resigning of Bogut, things have changed. Bogut's new contract officially solidifies the shift in his locker-room status from 'Possibly Underachieving 1st Overall Draft Pick' to 'Pillar of the Franchise Moving Forward'. He now makes more than Mo Williams, and is pretty much on par with Michael Redd, and I promise you players notice things like that.
In addition, the culture of the locker-room itself shifted dramatically with the trade/draft: Yi was a hard working kid who will probably go on to be an all-star caliber player, but as a non-english speaking nba rookie playing limited minutes, I am willing to speculate that he was one of the quieter guys on the team and not somebody really influencing the locker-room atmosphere. Beyond that, his role as a starter (seen by some as a non-basketball decision made in a deal between Kohl and the Chinese) only served to send the sensitive Charlie V into a disillusioned tailspin.
Our other loss this off-season, Bobby Simmons, spent the season sulking about his role and his mintues, had to play under the pressure of fans who saw him as underachieving on his contract (rightly so), and by most accounts was unhappy being in Milwaukee. He was probably not a fun dude to be around after most games.
Contrast those two locker-room chemistry negatives (Yi is a negative only by virtue of his inability to be much of a positive due to being in over his head and a rookie) with the new additions: a defensive minded, team first all-star whose game complements Michael Redd's; a young, insanely driven kid whose whole life revolves around getting better at basketball, and who as a rookie will gladly do all the small, thankless things on the court that make the difference between winning and losing; and a young man from Cameroon who was the first UCLA player in 34 years to start in 3 straight Final Fours and who prides himself on his defense.
These are team-first, hard working guys with winning pedigrees who will buy into Skiles' system and help carry the fresh air from the newly refurbished front office down into the locker-room and out onto the court.
The final piece to the New-TeamOrientated-MoWilliams-Puzzle is actually Mo himself, via John Hammonds. For all the sports radio talk that Mo and Redd can't function in the same backcourt, it will be John Hammond's endorsement of Mo that probably seals the deal and makes this team work. Letting Mo know that he's an important part of this team moving forward, encouraging him to be a playmaker (for himself as well as the rest of the guys), and letting the other guys on the team know Mo's job isn't just to pass them the ball will go a long way toward getting Mo to buy into the team and, oddly enough, play better team ball.
So in summary: Bogut's contract gives him the clout to be Mo's equal amongst the players, the new guys will be a breath of fresh air in a locker-room that needed a change of attitude, and John Hammond's endorsement will soothe Mo's ego and prevent the sort of insecurity that led to Charlie V's early season unraveling.
None of which helps Mo guard bigger PG's, but chemistry goes a long way and if he can mesh all of his other talents into the team it is hard to picture a better starting backcourt in the East (I am assuming Redd will buy into Skiles' 48-minutes-of-defense philosophy and finally improve the weakest part of his game).
-Here's to making new friends:
