Milwaukee Bucks: Can the Bucks Make Some Noise This Season?

 After losing to the Los Angeles Clippers last night, the Milwaukee Bucks fell to 0-5 on the road in this 2011-12 NBA season.

The Bucks have been dealing with injury issues as they did not have Mike Dunleavy Jr. (groin), Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (knee), Beno Udrih (shoulder) and are still without center Andrew Bogut who has appeared in only four games this season due to personal reasons (family issues), although a timetable for his return has not been set.

The Bucks without Bogut in the lineup have been going with Ersan Ilyasova and Drew Gooden in the frontcourt. Brandon Jennings, Carlos Delfino and Stephen Jackson are the other three players that round out the starting lineup. Furthermore, the Bucks lost forward Jon Brockman to an eye injury in the loss last night possibly further depleting their depth in the frontcourt meaning that Larry Sanders will be seeing more minutes.

Jackson and Jennings struggled shooting from the field, but are the main source of offense when Bogut is out and that is not a good thing especially given how the schedule is setup. The Bucks also have a roster that consists of veteran role players and a mix of younger players with their core group of players.

Rookies Tobias Harris, Jon Leuer, and Darington Hobson (drafted by Milwaukee in 2010 and missed the season due to an injury for the season) may be able to sneak some minutes as the season goes on which is a good thing for the three of them.

Veterans Stephen Jackson, Andrew Bogut and Drew Gooden could be limited in terms of the number of minutes that they play in order to save them for a possible playoff berth.  

Overall, the Bucks have a roster that may not be best suited for the short-term. They could use this shortened NBA season to really evaluate their current roster and decide if they would want to make any changes around the trade deadline or wait until the summer to make wholesale changes.

Adding experienced players in their prime would be one way to help the Bucks move further in the playoffs along with a healthy Andrew Bogut and Brandon Jennings.