Good Times, Remembered
Friday, July 30th, 2010I’ll have something new up on Monday, sorry for the mini-hiatus, but it’s July, you know how it is. Until then, watch this and smile again. I do every time.
Bucks sign Keyon Dooling
Monday, July 19th, 2010The Milwaukee Bucks have signed Keyon Dooling to a two-year-deal to backup Brandon Jennings.
After the departure of Luke Ridnour, backup point guard was the last hole on a roster that’s become incredibly deep this off-season. Heading into his 11th season, the 6-foot-3, 195 pound Dooling brings a different dimension to the point guard spot with size the Bucks did not have last season.
Despite the size advantage Dooling has over Ridnour, he’ll be stepping into some pretty big shoes. Ridnour surprised everyone with by far the best season of his career last year, posting a 17.7 PER while dropping jaws with a shooting percentage line of .478/.381/.909. Of course, that merely boosted Ridnour’s career numbers to .424/.347/.864, so it may be difficult for him to replicate last year’s stellar efforts. And without those shooting percentages, Ridnour becomes considerably less valuable. While he led the Bucks in assist percentage last season and generally showed tons of toughness, his size limits him to having success guarding point guards only.
Dooling likely won’t be able to match what Ridnour did offensively last season, but it stands to reason that he can give the Bucks nearly exactly what Ridnour would give them in a typical Luke Ridnour season. Dooling has a career true shooting percentage of .516 and a career effective field goal percentage of .464. Nearly identical are Ridnour’s career numbers of .512 and .463 respectively.
Essentially, the only area in which one could expect Ridnour to easily outshine Dooling next season is free-throw shooting. Ridnour’s career percentage from the line is .864, while Dooling lags slightly behind at .798. Ridnour helped seal a number of games down the line last season, but with a season of work under Jennings belt and the full season additions of John Salmons and Corey Maggette, it seems safe to say Ridnour wouldn’t be needed at the end of games as much. (more…)
Bucks acquire Brockman
Monday, July 19th, 2010The Bucks have acquired Sacramento Kings power forward Jon Brockman in a sign-and-trade for Darnell Jackson and a future second-round pick according to Adrian Wojnarowski. Milwaukee’s power forward situation gets no less complicated, as Brockman is better than Jackson, but not a significant upgrade over any of the remaining Bucks forwards. This likely leaves Tiny Gallon world’s away from immediate playing time next season, as the thing he does better than anything else is rebounding, Brockman’s greatest strength.
1. Drew Gooden
2. Ersan Ilyasova
3. Larry Sanders
4. Jon Brockman
5. Tiny Gallon
And I haven’t even mentioned Luc Richard Mbah a Moute.
So where does that leave Milwaukee? With a team heavy on power forwards that can play some five and a lot of four, moderately deep at the two and three and as shallow as can be at the point guard position. Milwaukee still seems like they’ll need to add a pure point guard or a combo guard behind Brandon Jennings. Luther Head’s name has been mentioned, but other fits may include Travis Diener, Anthony Johnson or Keyon Dooling. The influx of talent and youth at the four over the past month leads one to believe another move may be coming, but it’s hard to imagine the Bucks giving up on any of the young players they have at the power forward position solely to acquire a backup point guard.
If Milwaukee were to deal one of their assets at the four, I’d think they’d be more inclined to get someone who can put in minutes at the one and the two in return. Preferably a player who can defend both point guards and shooting guards and shoot the three.
The addition of Brockman still seems like it is the collecting of an asset, as Brockman was an intriguing rebounder and hustle player last season.
How intriguing?
Nice.
The Kelvin Sampson Influence
Monday, July 19th, 2010At some point this season, Larry Sanders and Tiny Gallon are going to look like they were put on this Earth to play basketball in the NBA. Times will be good. At some point this season, they’ll be glued to the bench, saddled with foul trouble or fighting inconsistency. Times will be bad. Even the very best rookie seasons are a mixed bag.
For assistant coach Kelvin Sampson, it’s keeping them on an even keel that’s most important.
“Rookie years are tough for these guys,” said Coach Sampson. “At some point they’re going to to go through a tough patch. With the kids here, it’s making sure they handle success and failure in the same vein. Don’t get too high, don’t get too low. Understand work is the answer to most of your problems.”
The development of young players is a crucial ingredient in the success of any NBA team and Milwaukee has one of the best in the business on their staff in Sampson. Within the last week, Gallon has Tweeted about the immediate positive influence Sampson has had on him. Gallon’s words should come as no surprise as repeatedly last season Brandon Jennings was quick to note how helpful Coach Sampson was in helping him develop. Keeping Jennings on an even keel during a roller coaster rookie season was a focus for Sampson.
“That was a big thing with Brandon,” he said. “The night he scored 55, I remember he was texting me later that night, and one of the things I said to him was don’t allow a 55-point night on a night in November define who you are. That’s part of being able to handle success.” (more…)
Bucks lose fourth straight summer league game to Heat
Saturday, July 17th, 2010The ugly streak that’s been referred to as Bucks summer league basketball this week continued with another loss Friday evening, this time at the hands of the Miami Heat 78-58. A new point guard in Sun Yue was in the house, but he could do little to make up for the struggles for the rest of the team.
Yue’s debut with Milwaukee came quickly in the first quarter and he did not disappoint. Yue showed off sweet court awareness with a number of nice passes and converted on a difficult spin-move-and-one jumper. After his strong start to the game, Yue had little impact and dealt with some turnover issues. Yue’s 6-foot-7 size seems like it could be a help on defense, but his lack of foot speed made it difficult for him to stay in front of Miami’s guards.
Milwaukee turned the ball over a whopping 29 times in this one, with eight of those coming from Tiny Gallon. We’re a little early in Tiny’s career for him to be a reliable post up option, and he showed that time after time on Friday, barreling into defenders for offensive fouls and getting stripped in double teams numerous times. Gallon has an okay looking midrange jumper and can step out and hit a three here and there, but he’s got a ways to go before Milwaukee will be able to dump it inside to him to get two with much consistency. Gallon did rebound the ball well once again, grabbing nine boards and he does it in a pleasing way. Gallon grabs rebounds with two hands and holds the ball high. With his monsterous paws, it’s rare he loses a rebound in traffic.
Larry Sanders struggled from the field again, shooting 5-14, but he blocked a summer league personal best five shots and grabbed eight rebounds. Sanders motor and athleticism are the kinds of skills that will translate from summer league to the regular season, not true of all skills on display in summer. The form on his jumper suggests that it may become more consistent in time, but I don’t think we’ll see a lot of that from him come October. But the rebounding and defense he’s been providing all week, that should shine through as long as he’s getting consistent minutes upon the start of the regular season.
Micah Downs has shown some sneaky athleticism all week, but it was his shooting touch that was on display Friday. He connected on 5-7 from three, including one that left him sitting in a seat courtside. Downs probably won’t have much of a chance with the Bucks, but I wouldn’t rule out him getting a camp invite somewhere and maybe earning a D-League call up at some point. He’s obviously got some skills.
After earning his first start, Dominic James showed his ability to get by his man with a number of penetrations into the lane. Unfortunately, James often was unable to reel himself in and turned the ball over a couple times trying to force passes inside once he beat his man. James tallied six assists, the highest number of any Buck this summer league, but his lack of confidence in his perimeter shot showed once when he refused to take an open look from the corner. That’s the shot he’ll need if he wants to stick eventually.
