Hosts: Sonny, Rich, Kevin and Ryan

In this episode, we toured the NBA’s Central Division and broke down each team’s shot at the postseason. The Detroit Pistons bring back their core for another run at glory, but will they still have enough to hold off the Cavs? The Cleveland Cavaliers have a new point guard, but much of the same problems: No help for King James. We also talked about the young, promising teams in Chicago, Indiana and Milwaukee.

 

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Of course, for every winner of the 2008 NBA Draft, there has to be corresponding losers. And there are certainly some losers when it comes to this edition of the NBA’s annual selection meeting.

New York Knicks: I’d be crazy not to start here with the Knicks’ selection of Danilo Gallinari. There is absolutely no doubt that this pick was influenced by Mike D’Antoni’s playing days in Italy with Gallinari’s father. D’Antoni clearly needed a stud PG at this spot with Stephon Marbury having no future in New York. Eric Gordon, D.J. Augustin or Jerryd Bayless would’ve all been good picks. Hell, even Brook Lopez would’ve been a better pick. Even if Gallinari pans out decently, it will take at least two or three years before he starts showing his worth. By then, who knows if D’Antoni is still around?

Milwaukee Bucks: So exactly what is the plan here, short-term and long-term? They just traded Bobby Simmons and Yi Jianlian, who possesses a game that management loves enough to trade him after just one season, for Richard Jefferson. The same RJ that has a huge contract that has three years left on it. And then they follow it up by drafting Joe Alexander, except Alexander plays at the same spot that RJ does, and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. Being a UCLA alum and having seen Mbah a Moute in action many times, I love his defensive tenacity and nose for the ball, but I really don’t see where he’s going to fit in unless he plays as an undersized backup PF. Then there are the rumors about the Bucks no longer wanting Michael Redd, except that he has a long-term contract that pays him like a franchise player when he really isn’t close to being one. If there’s a plan in Milwaukee, I’d like to see it.

Sacramento Kings: When I heard Jason Thompson’s name called, I, and I’m sure a LOT of Kings fans, were saying, “Who???” The Kings are screaming for a PG with Beno Udrih being an unrestricted free agent and most likely going to get some stupidly huge contract that he doesn’t deserve. They definitely got shafted when Bayless got taken one pick before, but that doesn’t absolve management of picking a guy that was rated to go in the lower half of the 1^st round. And not just that, but they drafted Spencer Hawes the year before! Their second round picks of Sean Singletary and Patrick Ewing Jr. probably won’t make much of an impact, if any at all. This team overachieved last season with a roster that’s not particularly talented, and it’s going to be hard to sustain that kind of success without getting some talent in the draft. Taking Anthony Randolph here would’ve made more sense with his huge upside. For a fanbase that desperately needed some excitement, this did nothing but deflate them.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Kevin McHale made the right pick. Al Jefferson and O.J. Mayo was the perfect inside-outside combo for the Wolves for years to come. Then he remembered who he was, and had to screw it up. The post-draft eight-player trade sent Mayo, Marko Jaric, Antoine Walker and Greg Buckner to the Wolves for Kevin Love, Mike Miller, Brian Cardinal and Jason Collins. Why McHale made this deal, I have no idea. It doesn’t make the Wolves championship contenders. Love and Jefferson are both PFs, but someone’s going to have to play C and neither are defensive studs. It definitely doesn’t put butts in the seats. The locals probably would’ve been excited to see Mayo in action, but I doubt anyone’s going to rush out to see Love. They’re probably going to end up winning more games with these players when the they should blow a few years and stock up on talent. Then again, McHale runs the show here so he’d probably make another boneheaded move.

The Milwaukee Bucks made Yi Jianlian, the seven foot tall center from China their first selection in the 2007 draft with the sixth overall pick. The Bucks either didn’t realize, or simply didn’t care, that Yi doesn’t want to play for them, leaving the Bucks in a really, really bad situation. Yi had stated before the draft that he wanted to play in a city that had a heavy Asian influence, and that is something that Milwaukee certainly doesn’t possess.

The city of Milwaukee has a reported Chinese population of only about 1,200 in a city of more than 600,000. That really doesn’t equate to a large Asian influence, and thus gave everyone reason to believe that Yi wouldn’t want to play there. Turns out that’s exactly true, so now the Bucks are sitting with a pick who doesn’t want to play for them and certainly at a disadvantage in any attempts to trade him. I still don’t understand why Yi insists on playing in a city that has a large Asian population, in case he wasn’t aware of it, a seven foot tall person is going to stand out regardless of where he is, he won’t be able to just blend in with the crowd. Also, with all of the technological advances that have been made, it isn’t as if the people in Milwaukee are unaware of what an Asian person is.

As it stands now, it looks as if this situation is going to get very messy. The owner of the Bucks has requested a meeting with Yi, and if for some reason he denies that opportunity, you can be pretty sure that a contract won’t be worked out. Right now if I were a Bucks fan I would be very worried. Even if Yi agrees to a contract, we still don’t know how good he really is, and if he doesn’t agree to a contract then your team basically wasted the sixth overall pick, certainly a disappointment.

I assumed that having two good, young players in your frontcourt meant you wouldn’t be teabagged on the glass all night. Tell that to the Milwaukee Bucks. Their double overtime loss to the Hornets might just seem like a game involving two mediocre teams. For the most part, that’s what it was. But the Hornets grabbed 71 rebounds in that game, a mere 22 more than the Bucks. I think I know what coach Terry Stotts will be emphasizing in today’s practice.

To dominate the rebounds this much, you’d think the Bucks shot about 12%. They didn’t, they shot 42%. But the Hornets themselves shot a horrid 37%, giving them chances to grab a lot of offensive rebounds, 31 to be exact. Here’s a breakdown of the ownage.

Tyson Chandler: 11 points, 22 rebounds (9 offensive)

David West: 21 points, 19 rebounds (9 offensive)

Desmond Mason: 24 points, 7 rebounds (6 offensive)

Listen Andrew Bogut, I don’t know how they play in Australia but in the NBA, you usually have to jump to get boards. Considering a kangaroo probably has better hops than you, it might be wise to try and box out. I know the Hornets are the 4th best rebounding team in the league but at least try. It’s pretty damn embarrassing.

Over the next month until opening night on October 31, I?ll be previewing one NBA team a day. Starting in the Eastern Conference, I?ll be starting with my lowest ranked team and continuing to the best, then switching conferences. Enjoy.
New Look Bucks May Struggle in NBA’s Toughest Division

The Milwaukee Bucks have a few things going for them. First, they have one of the league’s premier scorers in Michael Redd, who scored over 25 points a game last season. Second, they have a potent frontcourt in Andrew Bogut and Charlie Villanueva. The Bucks also have a new look, ditching the purple for red and reverting to the color scheme of old Bucks squads. Unfortunately, that may not be enough for another playoff appearance playing in one of the NBA’s toughest divisions.

Overview

Milwaukee rewarded their star Michael Redd’s loyalty by giving him a six year, $91 million contract a season ago. Redd, who passed up (why) playing for his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers and Lebron James, set a career high in points and lead the Bucks to the postseason, albeit with a losing record of 40-42. He’s joined in the backcourt by Maurice Williams, who assumes the starting point guard job fulltime after T.J. Ford was traded. The Bucks frontcourt is probably its strength, with 2nd year players Andrew Bogut and Charlie Villanueva. Bobby Simmons will start at small forward and from my NBA 2k7 experiences, he’s one of the best three players to ever play in the NBA. The depth of the Bucks may be their downfall this season. The nucleus for Milwaukee is solid but a playoff berth probably hinges on whether or not the bench can produce consistently. Read the rest of this entry »