(UPDATE: My piece from the ESPN Daily Dime on Larry Sanders)

I’m kind of liking the summer league thing. Exciting games that have me on the edge of my seat but don’t leave me feeling heartbroken when they don’t end the way I desire?

That sounds good to me.

Another day, another exciting finish that doesn’t really matter.

Milwaukee dropped their second straight Vegas Summer League game 67-64 to the Memphis Grizzlies after an exciting finish that saw Larry Sanders connect on two threes in the final 35 seconds of the game to tie it up with .7 second left for Milwaukee. Unfortunately, Sam Young of the Grizzlies finish the Bucks off with a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Videos would later reveal that the shot would not have counted were this the regular season, but we have more important things to discuss.

Like the aforementioned Sanders. My thoughts on him will be out later, so we’ll hold off there for now, just know that I’ve never seen a player do a complete 180 the way the Bucks first round pick did Tuesday night. Even better was the fact that Sanders big day came against a Grizzlies front line that featured Hasheem Thabeet and Darrell Arthur. They aren’t summer league fodder.

But there were other success stories Tuesday night. Read more…

In a game that ultimately means nothing, things certainly got dramatic. The Bucks dropped their summer league opener against the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night in grand, overtime fashion, 73-72.

Milwaukee took a 66-64 lead on a Deron Washington offensive rebound putback after an errant 3-pointer from Darnell Jackson. Yes, that Darnell Jackson. Milwaukee’s first option appeared to be Larry Sanders, but after the play broke down, Dominic James drove and kicked it to Jackson in the corner where he had to get a shot up. Fortunately, Washington was on the spot and able to convert what appeared to be the game winning basket.

Alas, J.R. Giddens of Dallas sent the game into overtime with a buzzer beating catch and shoot lob backdoor play with .3 seconds remaining.

But the theatrics would continue. After a three from Rodrigue Beaubois put the Mavs up two with under 30 seconds to go, Washington gave the Bucks a one point lead with a three of his own. With less than six seconds on the clock, Beaubois calmly came back down and hit a jumper from the left elbow to give the Mavs a victory.

But summer league is about so much more than who wins and who loses. It’s about guys like Larry Sanders. One thing Sanders wasn’t worried about in his NBA debut, was being perfect.

And that’s probably a good thing.

“I’m not going to be perfect and I’m not thinking about being perfect,” said Sanders after his Monday summer league debut.  “Coach Skiles told me to focus on controlling what I can control and don’t try to be perfect.”

Six turnovers, five fouls and 4-15 shooting later, Larry Sanders had finished his NBA debut. Those aren’t perfect numbers. But things weren’t all bad for Sanders.

Nine points, three blocks and seven rebounds are all numbers the Bucks are interested in seeing. Even more interesting was Sanders style of play and always running motor. The Bucks young power forward was hell bent on blocking every shot he could, the kind of effort the Bucks expected when the drafted Sanders 15th overall in June.

Occasionally, it paid off, like when he rejected an Omar Samhan attempt inside in the third quarter. Other times it didn’t go as well, like when Jeremy Lin drew a Sanders foul on a fast break and finished for the and-1.

Still, defensively his effort was good.

However, as expected, Sanders offensive game appeared a ways behind his defense. As rough as his night on offense was, there certainly were flashes that he could be a capable scorer down the road. Like the fadeaway jumper out of the block for two in the second quarter. Or the mid-range jumper that hit nothing but net in the third.

But that’s not why the Bucks wanted Sanders. The Bucks front office acknowledged that adding length and athleticism were two things high on their to-do list this off season. Their hope is that adding Sanders can go a long way towards helping on both fronts. They’ll live with his offensive limitations and hope that his aggressiveness on defense results in more blocks than fouls. If he can block a shot or two and grab a handful of rebounds every night, that’s all Milwaukee will ask of him.

Read more…

There’s always a lot worth watching in Vegas Summer League. Names from all over crop up, players no one recognizes populate rosters and team basketball often becomes an afterthought. Everyone loves to key in on a few guys that could end up making their team come October. With that in mind, I’ve highlighted a few things to watch from the Bucks this week.

• How will Larry Sanders fare?

Joe Alexander was a miss. Brandon Jennings was a hit. There were hints of both of these things by the time the Bucks left Las Vegas the last two years. Where will the Bucks most recent first round draft pick end up? I’d put my money on him falling somewhere in the incredibly wide gap between those two. Sanders isn’t likely to take over games offensively in Vegas, few big men do, but he could immediately impress if he looks like a capable shot blocker and rebounder. Sanders ability to run the court could serve him well in the fast paced wide open Vegas games. Read more…

(I’m in Vegas, but the Bucks only arrived this afternoon. Their first game is Monday evening, so I’ll be back to regular Bucks reporting then. But I thought this may be enjoyable in the meantime for you Wisconsinites. Enjoy.)

The University of Wisconsin: like Kentucky, but with role players.

Perhaps that won’t be the Badgers new slogan, but it has a certain ring to it. And it’s accurate. Five players from the 2007-08 Wisconsin Badgers will play this week at the Las Vegas summer league, despite none of them getting drafted in the past two seasons. Each of the five snuck in the NBA’s back door and now all of them are looking to stay for a while.

Those gritty Badgers with their swing offense and suffocating defense aren’t thought of as an NBA factory the way Kentucky or North Carolina are. But that didn’t serve as a deterrent to the franchises that added Marcus Landry (Knicks), Trevon Hughes (Rockets), Joe Krabbenhoft (Blazers), Brian Butch (Nuggets, though his summer league stint has ended prematurely due to injury) and Greg Stiemsma (T-Wolves) to their summer rosters.

If anything, it seems like Wisconsin players may be better prepared for success after leaving college than anyone would have suspected.

“Rosters have two or three stars and the rest of the team has to play their role to the best of their ability,” said Krabbenhoft. “At Wisconsin, we’re kind of trained to do that. I think coaches at the next level like that.”

You’d be hard pressed to find a major college team that seemed to have less of a chance to possibly place five guys in the NBA. Wisconsin is often criticized for focusing on system players and not being active in bringing in big time talents, but Krabbenhoft sees it differently.

“I mean, the talent was there,” said Krabbenhoft when I asked if he thought this were possible a few years ago. “It was just whether or not NBA coaches believed in that system. Winning does lie, and we got a lot of winners over at Wisconsin.”

Landry saw his experience at Wisconsin beneficial in developing him into a better defender.

“I think the things that are instilled into us there made us better defenders,” said Landry. “We were given such good defensive fundamentals and had to work so hard defensively that it helped get us noticed.”

If the defensive side of the ball initially earned them notice, it was the rest of their games, sometimes bottled up in Wisconsin’s disciplined approach, that got them the rest of the way. Specifically the big men.

“When we left we’re more so allowed to let our individual skills flourish,” said Landry. “There are a lot of things we can do that people may not have been seeing because of our offense.”

Krabbenhoft agreed.

“That’s not a knock against Wisconsin, it just goes to show Wisconsin is a team game and we’re there for one common goal,” said Krabbenhoft. “That goal isn’t just individually to get to the NBA, it’s to win a lot of games. After college all of us know we can play at the next level and given the opportunity, we tend to make the best of it.”

Unfortunately for Brian Butch, arguably the most talented player of the five he suffered what is being called a torn patella in Saturday’s summer league action. Obviously his week ended early and, in a worse case scenario, his career may too. Word on Sunday was that he’d be getting it looked at further on Monday.

Landry played in 18 games between the Knicks and Celtics last season as an undrafted free agent. Stiemsma earned a D-League call up from Wolves last season after two years of minor league basketball. Hughes earned a spot on the Rockets summer roster after impressing them in a tryout and Krabbenhoft played in the D-League last season, averaging 13.8 points per game in 18 contests with Sioux Falls. Each of the players is attempting to further bolster their case for an NBA roster via summer league this week, time will tell if it does the job.

In any case, each of them believes their time at Wisconsin helped get them this far.  Follow all your favorite Badgers with Direct TV Madison WI.

Jeremy Schmidt writes the Milwaukee Bucks blog Bucksketball.com

The Bucks made last minute additions to their summer league roster in adding a couple local guys, Dom James of Marquette and Ricky Franklin of UWM according to JSOnline.

James, you may recall, was on the Bucks summer roster last season before an injury kept him from joining his teammates in Vegas. James was in training camp with the Bucks, but left quickly upon receiving an offer to play in Turkey. James averaged 14.4 points and 4.2 assists in the Euroleague last season. The Bucks were taking just one point guard to Vegas and were thought to be looking at using Darington Hobson at the point some, but he may miss time with an injury. There should be some minutes for the athletic former MU star.

Franklin averaged 14.7 points and 3.9 assists for UWM last season. Franklin was a workhorse for UWM last season with 35.6 minutes per game. The Bucks summer roster now looks like this: