(We’re not quite done with Ray Allen just yet. We announced him as our top Milwaukee Bucks player of the past 20 years on Tuesday. Today, Josh Hilgendorf has his own take on Ray Allen. And we have more Ray Allen lined up for later this week. – JS)
Choosing the top 20 Bucks’ players of the past 20 years was a pretty tough task. Choosing the best? Not so much. Ray Allen was the clear choice and nobody else was even close. It was his addition that turned things around for Milwaukee. Allen came to town and all of a sudden the Bucks started winning. The team went from a .305 winning percentage the year before his arrival to a .634 winning percentage in only his fifth season.
Of course, Allen was about more than just wins and losses. He had that picture perfect jump shot. He unleashed his fair share of fierce dunks. Above all, Allen gave the Bucks a player to counter the superstars of the NBA. No game exemplified this better than Ray’s epic duel with Allen Iverson in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Although Iverson outscored Allen 46-41, Milwaukee came out on top in that game.
The media attention, however brief and small it was, Allen brought to the Bucks should also not be discounted. In addition to what he did on the court, he also co-starred in the ridiculously awesome He Got Game alongside Denzel Washington. Outside of Shaq and MJ, how many NBA players can you say played a major role in a widely released movie?
Along with all of the good, Allen is also connected to one of my lowest points as a Bucks fan.
Read more…
(We’re counting down the best 20 Bucks since 1991 over the next few weeks. It’s something to do with the lockout sucking the life out of NBA fans. We continue with number 8. Tim Thomas. Thomas is that rare player who perennially underachieved, but got better in the playoffs. In the sense that he didn’t care much for the regular season, but showed off his versatility, effort and swagger in the playoffs, Thomas is truly my worst nightmare. He’s everything everyone who has ever criticized the NBA is talking about. But in another sense, Thomas fondly reminds me of what once was.
I still remember him rubbing George Karl’s head, the Notorious T.I.M. headline on the day he signed his big deal and all those three-pointers he hit that one January day in 2001. In this era, those were the best of times to be a Bucks fan and he played a big part in that. I also remember being thrilled when he was traded. A mixed bag that Tim Thomas is. – Jeremy)
When you say Tim Thomas, the first image that pops in my head is the classic two-headband look he sported for several games as a member of the Bucks. It isn’t the integral role Thomas played as sixth man during Milwaukee’s run to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2001 or his failure to live up to his full potential. Nope, I remember Thomas best as the guy that wore two headbands in a criss-cross pattern during actual NBA competition.
For a guy I remember best for the accessories he wore, Thomas had a solid career in Milwaukee. He arrived via trade from Philadelphia along with Scott Williams for Tyrone Hill and Jerald Honeycutt in March of 1999. After coming off the bench for the first few games following the trade, George Karl inserted Thomas into the starting lineup to finish out the season. Karl was rewarded for his decision, as Thomas connected on a career-best 49.5%^ of his shots and displayed the versatile game that made him the 7th overall pick of the 1997 draft.
It seemed like Thomas could be that rare late 90’s NBA draft pick that actually could live up to his potential. Oh were we fooled.
Read more…
(We’re counting down the best 20 Bucks since 1991 over the next few weeks. It’s something to do with the lockout sucking the life out of NBA fans. We continue with number 11. Brandon Jennings. Yes, things are about to get all kinds of recent over here. Finally. No more languishing through the dregs of the early 90’s. You’re going to remember everyone from here on out. Hopefully. – Jeremy)
If you haven’t noticed, there has been a lot of negativity in our countdown so far. And for good reason, the Bucks simply haven’t had very many talented players in the past 20 years. And with a lack of talent came a lack of wins. The Bucks won 672 games and lost a whopping 916 since the 1991-92 season, good for a 42.3 percent winning percentage. Taking those numbers into account, you can understand how rough it was to come up with these rankings.
Along with the negativity, all of the players on this list so far outside of Luc Richard Mbah a Moute are no longer with the team. Their tenures with the Bucks are over and their legacies are set. They all had some hand in at least a few of those 916 losses. While Brandon Jennings did too, he is still a Buck. There is still a hope that he will rise past this ranking. Hope is a word you don’t often hear around this team. One thing Jennings has done since entering the league is to give Milwaukee just that. Finally the fans had a brash competitor to get behind. There was something to cheer about again.
Read more…
(We’re counting down the best 20 Bucks since 1991 over the next few weeks. It’s something to do with the lockout sucking the life out of NBA fans. We continue with number 15. Charlie Villanueva. Often frustrating but occasionally scintillating, Villanueva was an easy scapegoat on poorly constructed teams. But he had some nice moments. – Jeremy)
During the 2005-06 season, the Milwaukee Bucks won 40 games. The team would not best that total again until the 09-10 campaign when they won 46. The three seasons in between featured win totals of 28, 26 and 34 games. Those three down years constituted the Charlie Villanueva era.
Villanueva was acquired during the summer of 2006 to serve as a complement to fellow second year player Andrew Bogut. CV was supposed to stretch defenses with a potent outside shot and team with Bogut to form one of the better passing front courts in the NBA . That was the plan at least. Unfortunately, the best laid plans of Larry Harris and Herb Kohl often went awry.
As was the case with most moves made my Harris, I was initially overjoyed when I found out Villanueva was coming to the Bucks for TJ Ford. In fact, I can vividly recall enthusiastically giving my buddy a few too many high fives after getting a text message alerting me of the news. We had just graduated high school and were visiting some friendly girls from a neighboring town. I began the night with hopes of drinking a few pops and maybe swapping some spit. I ended the night with a black eye and the knowledge to always check on the availability of said friendly girls before saying or doing certain things frowned upon in Sunday School.
As it turned out, my forgettable night proved to be the perfect parallel to Villanueva’s career as a Buck.
Read more…
(We’re counting down the best 20 Bucks since 1991 over the next few weeks. It’s something to do with the lockout sucking the life out of NBA fans. We continue with number 18. TJ Ford, the only Bucks player I’ve ever owned the replica jersey of. – Jeremy)
About midway through the 2003-04 NBA season, TJ Ford was exhibiting massive potential. For a 20-year-old rookie fresh from his sophomore season at Texas, dishing 6.5 assists per game was no small feat. Combine the assists with exceptional quickness and a bevy of accolades from his last season in Austin, and Ford had the potential to be the Bucks starting point guard for the next decade.
However, potential can be dangerous. It seems no word gets thrown around more in today’s NBA. Teams spend high draft picks on international players or college freshmen because they have the potential to be the next big thing. Teams trade established players for guys that haven’t proved much, but have the potential to be great.
Unfortunately, for every player that lives up to the hype, there are seemingly 100 that never rise past mediocrity. Some players lack the killer instinct. Others never had the skill in the first place. Then there are those unfortunate ones bitten by the injury bug.
Read more…
