Like to thank Mr. Cheer or Die with a great prank on the Viking fans yesterday. Check out what I helped him accomplish with those rubes. He posted that the Vikes were going to draft the NFL version of the Sidd Finch SI classic.
A special link to SBG today. His weekly column on Pepper! where he has 10 questions/50 words with fellow bloggers has a special guest today as he went down to FL for some Spring games and the SOB actually got Derek Jeter to play! Go check him out.
Today's topic brings us to the NBA, and more specifically, the Milwaukee Bucks. This is a team that was a 10 foot Glenn Robinson jumper from the NBA Finals just a few years ago and is now one of the worst in the league. What the hell happened? The Bucks have essentially lived and died with FA and neglecting to improve themselves via the draft for the last 4 years. Let's take a look at who they picked in the last 4 years and who they lost out on. I'm going to only mention who was available that the Bucks lost out on at their time of the draft.
2004 - No picks, 1st round lost per Anthony Mason fiasco and 2nd rd for Zaca Pachula (he was a nice pickup). Too soon to see if any picks are panning out outside of the top players.
2003 - 1st round: TJ Ford (nice player, too bad about injury), 2nd round: Szynon Szenczyk from Poland who has no chance of ever playing here. Missed out on: Keith Bogans
2002 - 1st round: Marcus Haslip, 2nd round: Ronald Murray and Dan Gadzuric. I like Dan as he is certainly growing into a nice player, however the Bucks missed out on Tayshawn Prince and Carlos Boozer.
2001 - No first round pick, traded it to Houston for Joel Przybilla (beyond stupid), 2nd round: Andre Hutson, no longer with team and not sure if even in the NBA anymore. Missed out on Tony Parker, Trenton Hassell (great defensive player) and Gilbert Arenas.
Clearly the Bucks talent scouting needs some serious help as they have struck out far too often in the draft. The one time they hit gold in recent memory was Michael Redd in the 2nd round in 2000. Other 2 notable draft blunders was trading Danny Fortson in 1997 and the infamous Dirk Nowitzki for "Tractor" Taylor in 1998. I'm putting this out there now, I want the Bucks to have a new owner, and now. Something needs to change with the franchise, and a complete overhaul seems to be in order. The one bonafide All-Star, Michael Redd, is probably going to leave this sorry franchise for a winning Cleveland team (he and James are going to be an awesome sight to see). I remember the days of Moncrief, Pierce, Cummings and the never-ending rotation of 7 foot-3 point shooting centers (Mokeski, Brewer, etc). That team was enjoyable, and I daresay, lovable. There is nothing lovable or enjoyable about this bunch. Let's hope the Bucks catch a break with the ping-pong balls come draft day.
2 comments:
Actually, they shouldn't have given up on Joel so quickly. He's having a monster year with Portland, and if he stays healthy, will sign a huge deal in a year or two.
I'd hardly call 6 pts and 7.5 rbs/game monster numbers. Granted, that is in 23min/game, but he was not worth a first round pick. Gadzuric is a better player after 2 seasons than Joel is after 5 and has a whole lot more upside.
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