Take it either way… WHOA are the Bucks (39-32) for being in 5th position in the East, which even though they haven’t been guaranteed a playoff birth yet, if all goes well they’ll be in the playoffs at the end of the season. Or Whoa are the Bucks for losing to the 76ers and the Heat, last night, after a big win against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday. Damn, even in 5th position we’re still looking for some consistency. The Bucks are the clear divide in the Eastern Conference between the good and the bad. At this point all of the good have won 40+ games (Cleveland, Orlando, Boston and Atlanta). The bad, playoff bound as they maybe, have won between 39 and 35 games. The Bucks are in a position that they haven’t been in since 2001.  Even with injuries, the Bucks have to maintain composure by pulling off the necessary games, the games against opponents like Philadelphia with a weaker record.  In the last 11 games, the Bucks play Philadelphia, LA Clippers, New Jersey and Chicago, needing no losses during any of those games.  If the Bucks pull off wins against Boston, Memphis and Atlanta, then they will be going into the playoffs to most likely face the Hawks again with a lot of momentum and excitement. In the last 10 games, the Bucks are 7-3 with 2 of those losses coming Philadelphia who are 26-47 and the Clippers who the Bucks should ever lose to. With all of that said and actually doned, the Bucks could be going into the playoffs a little beastie. Hopefully with Andrew Bogut’s back getting a little rest, the Bucks will be close to full force come playoffs, thanks to Scottie Skiles coaching moves.

The Bucks summer league squad did a pretty damn good job on showcasing what they can do well and what they need to work on for the season as the team finished up 4-1 in the Las Vegas NBA Summer League. Joe Alexander had an impressive 5 games, showing that is already improving from last season. Against Sacramento, Alexander finished up with 24 points in what some considered to be a breakout game. Rookie guard Jodie Meeks finished with 29 points in the last game against the Toronto Raptors, his last 2 coming in a pressure situation with 15 seconds left. Young Money aka Brandon Jennings proved that he was at least ready to play with the young talent of the NBA by directing his team as a pass first point guard. Even though Young Money consistantly dropped double digits in the points column, he put the ball on the floor and made plays for his teammates. Scott Skiles and the rest of the Bucks coaching staff has enough film to evaluate on the Bucks’ young players to get the ready for the upcoming ’09-’10 season.

Yesterday’s NBA Draft went more or less as expected. Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin went #1. UCONN’s Hasheem Thabeet went #2. Some hoopers slipped a few spots in the draft costing them millions. Tyler Hansborough is on the Pacers where he’s going to pan out like Christian Laettner. Blah, blah, blah.
Here’s a look at the first 10 picks:
1. – Los Angeles Clippers – Blake Griffin
2. – Memphis Grizzlies – Hasheem Thabeet
3. – Oklahoma City Thunder – James Harden
4. – Sacramento Kings – Tyreke Evans
5. – Minnesota Timberwolves – Ricky Rubio
6. – Minnesota Timberwolves – Jonny Flynn
7. – Golden State Warriors – Stephen Curry
8. – New York Knicks – Jordan Hill
9. – Toronto Raptors – DeMar DeRozan
10 – Milwaukee Bucks – Brandon Jennings
It’s really whatever for the other 31 teams in the NBA, but it’s major for the Bucks. The last great satisfying draft pick the Bucks have had in recent history was T.J. Ford, whom we proceeded to trade after 2 seasons. The Bucks went big by selecting 19 year old Brandon Jennings, originally out of Compton, CA. The 6’1″ 169lbs point guard forgone attending Arizona partly because of SAT scores to play ball overseas in Italy for a nice chunk of change. In 17 minutes in 27 Italian League games, Jennings averaged 5.5 points, 1.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists. Those aren’t super ballish numbers, but coming out Oak Hill Academy, Jennings averaged 35.5 points, 6.8 assists and 3.2 steals making him the most highly taughted recruit coming out in ’08. Jennings was #1 on everyone’s list as best player in the nation. With David Stern’s “one and done” NBA ruling on kids forgoing college to jump directly to the league, Jennings was in a situation of waiting for the D-League or going overseas, catching an Under Armour contract and get paid over a milli, a milli, a milli, a milli… Not really a tough decision when you look at it though.
When Kobe Bryant came into the league at 18 back in 96, he averaged 15.5 minutes per game in 70 games in 7.6 points per game. Bryant did this coming out of Lower Marion HS in Pennsylvania where he averaged 30.8 points, 12 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 4 steals and 3.5 blocks per game as a senior in high school. Jennings who will be better known as “Young Money” from here on out didn’t put up Kobe numbers coming out of school, but has polished up his overall hooping skills from European experiences. Young Money has great ball handling skills and exciting passing skills. Young Money’s decision making with the ball is going to be crucial playing at the highest level. Young Money can drop dimes from anywhere on the court (who’s going to convert them is the question?). At 6’1″ Young Money ain’t Kobe’s height, but he’s got Shawn Kemp springs with the ability to posterize cats like Phoenix Sun’s guard Kevin Johnson did to 7’0″ Hakeem Olajuwon in game four of the ’95 playoffs. Young Money can bounce. Is Young Money the answer though? Many have compared Young Money to the Georgetown/Philadelphia 76ers Allen Iverson. We all have yet to see though. What we have seen at the Bradley Center was Young Money’s gumby high top fade with steps at last years McDonald’s All American game. Young Money’s got style, even the UA shoes look nice.

It’s going to be a long hot ass summer in Milwaukee, welcome Young Money!

Photo Credit: Steve Boyle / www.steveboylephoto.com

The Bucks may not have started the home season off with a victory (who can ever remember to way back then?), but then sure as heck did finish it off with a 98 – 80 victory over the Orlando Magic.  Richard Jefferson lead all scorers with 24 points going 9 – 17 from the field and 5 – 8 from behind the 3 point line.  Raymond Sessions finished with 19 points thanks in part to him going 11-12 from the free throw line.  Charlie Villanueva and Joe Alexander both finished in double digits for points.  As a team the Bucks shot  44% from the field and 38% from behind the arch.  The Bucks had a major 2nd quarter outscoring the Magic 32 – 19 points.  This win brought the teams season record to 34-47.  Yea, just about 6.5 away from behind .500!  With Dwight Howard on the bench due to a sore left knee, the Bucks were able to pick up W and hopefully some momentum as they head to the 35 – 46 Indiana Pacers for the final game of the season.  Both teams are playing for a paycheck, so this maybe interesting.

Next game: @ Indiana Pacers, 7:05 pm – FSN

April 3, 2009
And it was only just last week that the Milwaukee Bucks were still in contention for the the final Eastern Conference playoff spot. Now at 32 – 45, 4 games behind the 8th seeded Chicago Bulls, the Bucks might have a better shot of playing for a lottery pick or finishing close to .500 as possible. The Bucks are an amazing 30 game behind the #1 seeded team in the East, the Cleveland Cavs (61 – 14). With a winning record at home, 20-17, it’s on the road once again the Bucks have had their downfall, at just winning 42.8% on the road. In the last 10 games, the Buckas have only won 2-8 and are on a 2 game losing streak.
All though it is a long shot, the Bucks would have to win out the rest of the season, including against Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic, plus hope that Indiana, Charlotte and Chicago all lose at least 2 games. The Pacers are playing the San Antonio Spurs plus the Bucks final game so there is a high prob it might come down to the last game. The Bulls will have the Philadelphia 76ers and their final game against the Charlotte Bobcats, which if Charlotte wins will work out for the Bucks and probably be the clincher for them to make the final spot into the playoffs. However, the Bobcats do still have a couple of hard teams to beat, but if they only catch on win it has to be against the Bulls.
The end to the 08-09 season maybe just as exciting as last year for the Brewers, who knows? Either way it would hurt supporting the Bucks all the way.