Also, Josh Smith seems to be more of the same for
the Bucks: talent without leadership or discipline.
I doubt very much that he’s the answer for all that
money!

Hope people can understand that one can love the
Bucks while being disillusioned with their current
makeup.

I was watching some recent Orlando games to see JJ Redick and Redick’s last really good game was against Portland. That also was Ayon’s best game of the season and this was his line from that game:

32 min 8-14 .571 0-0 .000 0-3 FT .000 11 reb 6 ast, 1 blk 1 stl 5 PFs 1 TO 16 points (his 2nd double-double this season)

Now if Skiles was his coach, he would have been taken out of the game much earlier because of a blind behind the back pass that was successful and lite up his teammates.

This guy may actually be more than just a throw-in next season becasue 3 of our big men are gone and Ayon actually reminds me of a poor man’s Bogut, except he has the ability to stay healthy. He also can’t make a FT!

The guy has the typical international knowledge of the game, but the announcers did state his basketball IQ was extremely good. That comment however was made after the behind the back pass, so take it for what it’s worth.

The guy did however display great hands and passing ability for a big man; thus, the poor man’s Bogut statement. Although, I’m sure most will see him more as a young Zaza, more than Bogut.

With Dalembert, Przybilla gone next season and the possible amnesty of Gooden, we will likely have Udoh, Ayon and hopefully a 15 lb heavier Henson as our back up bigs next season.

Obviously the Bucks attempted to trade Udoh in the Smith deal, so there’s no telling if he’s in the Bucks future. Ayon has the bulk and size to backup Sanders, with Henson backing up Ersan. He doesn’t have Udoh’s ability to block shots however, so he may just end up being on the team as injury potection.

I will say that his above stat line did come against a tired Portland team that was playing back to back. Ayon was also playing PF, instead of center, but he did play some center in a couple of the more recent games I watched.

BTW, this was JJ Redick’s line from that same Portland game:

29 min 9-13 .692 2-4 3pt .500 2-2 1.000 FT 1 Reb 5 Ast 0 Blk 1 Stl 22 points

Hopefully we see plenty of this out of JJ, especially on those nights when neither Ellis or Jennings can hit a shot. Everybody knew that Ellis and Jennings were very similar, but the Bucks needed to get rid of Bogut, while they still could find a taker.

I will say that Ellis is a much more willing passer than I anticipated, so hopefully he’s passing plenty to JJ. Nothing frustrates me more than watching a 21-point lead, against a team like Cleveland, when virtually nobody made a shot for 8-minutes. With that in mind, let’s hope that all 3 (Jennings/Ellis/Redick) are never off on the same night!

Afterall, that was the very reason for this trade.

I envy them. Instead we’re stuck following a team with the attitude of “Let’s trade talented young players we should be building around to make sure we make the playoffs this year. Win a series? No, not gonna happen, just make the playoffs and it’ll all be worth it!”.

*thinking about becoming a Magic fan*

Smith could want to play rumplestiltskin it really doesn’t matter. Money and winning are going to be the determining factors when he picks a team in the summer, not whether Monta Ellis is on the squad. I dont think smith casually saying he would like to play with Ellis really means that he will only play with the bucks if they have Ellis. Smith ain’t a GM and he doesn’t have the clout of a Dwayne Wade to choose who is going to be his teammate.