Bucks Struggle Early On

The Milwaukee Bucks were a pick by nearly all of us to be a shoe-in for the playoffs. After a surprising run to the number six seed a season ago and a 7-game series with the favored Atlanta Hawks, it seemed like a no brainer that the Deer would return to post season again this year.

It’s early, but it’s not looking too good so far.

After a come from behind victory over the lowly Indiana Pacers, the Bucks are 2-4. This includes a horrific loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, a team that will struggle to win 15 games this year, a pounding at home at the hands of the Portland Trail Blazers and a disappointing season opener at New Orleans. Arguably, their best game came in an overtime loss at Boston last Wednesday.

So why, the struggles early on. A lot has been placed on the injuries to John Salmons and Andrew Bogut which prevented the two stars from playing most (or in Salmons’ case all) of the preseason. Chris Douglas -Roberts is still trying to get back after missing preseason as well. A little has been placed on new role players trying to learn Scott Skiles’ intense defensive schemes.

I think these are both accurate assessments to the early season problems. But then it hit me that as nice as some of these off-season acquisitions looked, there is a very terrifying link to all these new players. The new guys are Drew Gooden, Corey Maggette, Keyon Dooling, John Brockman and Chris Douglas-Roberts. Where did these five guys play last year? Gooden was with the Los Angeles Clippers. Maggette was at Golden State. Brockman belonged to Sacramento. And both Dooling and Douglas-Roberts were playing with the New Jersey Nets. The theme? All four of these teams were horrible last year. They all lacked a sense of team. They all, for the exception of Sacramento, underachieved. Talent was abundant, but the players never learned how to make the most of that talent.

Now, here they all are playing with the Milwaukee Bucks, a team that does not have a true all star. Andrew Bogut has had one good season. Brandon Jennings, at this point, simply has potential. And John Salmons is streaky and not a guy you can count on all season long. So now we throw into the mix five guys who are not used to the team concept. They are used to looking out for themselves and putting up individual stats with only a mild concern on how the team does. Add into the mix that they are in Milwaukee, a small market that has struggled mightily the past two decades to be relevant. The combination of all these factors is not good.

Here is the one things I see that this team has going for them early on. The coach is Scott Skiles. I am convinced that Skiles is one of the best coaches in the NBA. He has a way of making something with nothing and a lot with something. Right now he has something. So we’ll see if he can work his magic. And once we get through our preseason which is basically the first two to four weeks of the season, maybe this team can start winning again and be a factor in the East.

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