With March here, usually I am talking college basketball. And I will be soon. Our annual March Madness basketball tournament is right around the corner. But this week, this column has a special March guest, the Milwaukee Bucks.
The past three seasons have seen the Bucks well out of playoff contention when the calendar turned to March. Usually by this point, Michael Redd is out for the season, there are a bunch of young players leading the green machine out against teams with superior talent and their highlights usually don’t even make SportsCenter.
So what has changed this season? Well, come to think of it nothing. Redd is out for the year. There are a bunch of young guys that we don’t know much about playing big minutes and ESPN still thinks Bucks refers to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But somehow, this team is winning. Today the Bucks won their season-high sixth in a row to improve to 30-28 and pull a game and a half ahead of Miami and Charlotte who are currently tied for the 8th and final playoff spot in the East. They are only a game behind Chicago for 6th in the East. And even though the competition stiffens in March, 10 of their 15 games are at home. Not that they would mind playing on the road. The Bucks have won six in a row away from the Bradley Center.
Probably the biggest reasons this team is contending for its first playoff appearance since 2006 include: Andrew Bogut is finally emerging as a star in this league. Taken #1 overall in the 2005 draft, Bogut has struggled with injuries and a weak supporting cast as well as underachieving. This year, he has turned things around and is considered to be one of the top three centers in the Eastern Conference. Another reason is the acquisition of John Salmons from Chicago. He is not exactly a superstar in this league but is a consistent scorer who is picking up the slack lost when Redd went out for the year. Then you add in the level of play form the young guys starting with sensation Brandon Jennings. Jennings is still trying to figure out how he can present the biggest impact in the NBA but he has high potential and doesn’t play like a rookie.
Let’s not forget coach Scott Skiles. He has found a way to move parts around and keep this team in games nearly every night. And lately, the Bucks aren’t just winning, but they are showing flashes of offensive explosiveness and defensive brilliance.
Many would say this team would be better suited missing the playoffs again and playing the lottery again to get another piece in the puzzle. But a playoff appearance would be wonderful for this young group. And quite honestly, this team needs to go out and get an older impact player with their cap room instead of drafting another promising rookie. Maybe Dwayne Wade was watching this team from the bench the other day thinking that he would love to return to Milwaukee where he enjoyed college success and help take this young Bucks team to the next level.
That may be a pipe dream, but one can only hope that this is the beginning of something good.
For more from Eric Songer, visit www.songerstudio.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment