Three Reasons Why the Bucks Will Make Some Noise Come Playoff Time
A couple of years ago, the title of my article would probably be laughed at. The mere mention of the Bucks and playoffs in the same sentence was thought to be either a joke or a one way ticket to a mental house.
Under Scott Skiles, the Bucks have turned their whole franchise around, and now everyone has positive expectations for the upcoming season. What could have triggered all this new success?
Well, that's why I'm writing this article. The Bucks went all in this summer in the hopes of having postseason success this season. The owner, who rarely spends, decided that it was the right time for the organization to acquire pieces who could help the team win now rather than in the future.
I believe most of the owners should think long and hard about winning now rather than just building for the future. Some teams have no choice, but what you see now is organizations trying to follow this old-age method in order to achieve success. The method, and it's still used by many GM's, is to draft a superstar and build young pieces around that player.
In a perfect world, every GM would build their team that way, but it's not realistic. Drafting contributors is hard enough, let alone drafting a superstar who will lead your team to a championship. There's only so many Kobe's, Wade's, LeBron's in the draft and if you happen to find one then that's great, but it doesn't occur as frequently as you think.
The Bucks drafted Bogut with the first overall pick, and while he didn't live up to expectations at first, he has improved to the point where I view him as a top five center in this league. Drafting Jennings also proved to be risky, but he's lived up to the expectations of a top 10 pick.
Bogut won't be a superstar in this league, but he's one of those players that are pretty much untradeable. Jennings might become a superstar, and I only say this because he's so young, but I just can't see him eventually turning into a player like Chris Paul/Deron Williams. That wasn't a knock on Jennings because I still think he'll be an All-Sta,r but I think we can all agree that he'll probably never be mentioned in the 'best player in the league discussions like Kobe/LeBron/Wade.
The Bucks will not have a superstar on their team next season or in the near future, but they'll still make a lot of noise in a now loaded Eastern conference.
A Healthy Andrew Bogut
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Bogut experienced a horrific injury that sidelined him for all of last year's postseason run. It was a unfortunate injury for Bogut and a Buck's team who desperately missed the seven footer's presence in the paint.
Bogut is a fantastic help defender and a decent man-to-man defender. He's a great shot blocker and a menace in the paint. His offensive game has improved, but scoring isn't really his strongest attribute. He contributes everywhere on the floor, and any Buck fan will tell you that they missed the big fella in the playoffs last season.
Atlanta struggled with the Bucks despite the absence of Bogut but prevailed in a tough seven game series with the conclusion obviously favoring the Hawks. I believe with a healthy Bogut, that Bucks team would have easily dispatched a very confused Atlanta Hawks team in five or six games.
Orlando would have probably sent them packing anyway, but the Bucks would be a tough out unlike the pitiful performance Atlanta put up. Bogut would have been able to slow down Dwight Howard and that helps, but Orlando was on a roll before they faced Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals. Nothing would have stopped the Magic at that time, but nevertheless, if the Bucks moved on to the semifinals, they would have gained valuable experience.
Gaining as much experience as you can is the best approach to having postseason success. Now, with a healthy Bogut, I expect the Bucks to finish as a top five seed in the East.
Depth
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The Bucks went on a shopping spree this offseason. They acquired a very underrated player in Drew Gooden to play PF, though they slightly overpaid for his services. They lost Kurt Thomas to the Bulls, but drafted a very talented prospect in Larry Sanders out of VCU. He's a fantastic defender and hustler (perfect Scott Skiles player) and should earn enough minutes to have a very productive rookie season. Sanders is still raw, but he has crazy potential. He should fit in well with this Bucks team.
Their biggest offseason move was the acquisition of the vastly overpaid Corey Maggette. Even though Maggette has a horrible contract, he isn't a horrible player. The guy can take it to the rack unconsciously and get you points from the free throw line. The Bucks' lethargic offense struggled mightily last yea,r but they shouldn't have that problem with Maggette on the team this season.
The loss of Ridnour hurts, but the Bucks still have plenty of players ready to step up. The Bucks don't have a superstar or even an All-Star, but they do have depth. They have a good bench unit, and their depth is up their with the elite teams.
Defense Is on the Mind
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This Bucks team is led by a coach who thinks defense first. Before Skiles was their head coach, the Bucks were a middling defensive team and seemed more known for their offense. That all changed when Skiles became the head coach.
Skiles didn't tolerate nonsense from his players, and he brought that philosophy with him. He got this Bucks team to play defense as a team. Beside Bogut, there isn't any star defensive players on this team, yet Skiles turned a bunch of average individual defenders into a top notch defensive unit.
In the playoffs, the game slows down, and that favors defensive minded units. That's why good defensive teams have had so much success in the playoffs (Boston, Lakers last season, Spurs of old). As long as this Bucks team continues to think defense first, they'll have a much longer postseason run and might even pull off an upset, who knows?
