If we’re being honest, the Bucks aren’t having the most exciting off season. JJ Redick probably won’t be back, the team was happy just to meet with Jerry Sloan, and the rest of the coaching search hasn’t exactly titillated. The Bucks even continued their legacy of being just good enough to remain in the middle of the draft order, so we can’t even get excited about that.

But we here at Bucksketball don’t like to dwell on the negatives. So instead of talking about tanking to get Andrew Wiggins next year or writing sad acoustic love songs to Tobias Harris, we decided to reflect on the past season on the site using the most current of 2011 internet trends: a word cloud! We took every article we posted about the Bucks during the 2012-2013 NBA season and turned it into a colorful, informative look at the most relevant topics of the year:

The biggest player name, unsurprisingly, belongs to Brandon Jennings. We saw the good (a game-winning shot on the first night of the season), the bad (constant rumors that he wanted out of Milwaukee), and the surprising (the one magical week after the Redick trade that he turned into an assist machine). With decisions looming for the franchise on his restricted free agency, it’s no surprise that Jennings was a consistent topic of discussion. Will he stay? Will he go? Who knows! Will he be disgruntled if he stays? Probably!

Monta Ellis and LARRY SANDERS! come in tied for second in our Most Talked About Bucks category. Both gave us good moments (fourth-quarter theatrics and Larry Blocks, respectively) and bad moments (Monta’s 1-14 near-record setting game on December 19, Larry’s 3 ejections in 6 games, and their alleged near-fight in the locker room during the playoffs.  Between those three players, we had nearly endless topics of discussion this year, and that’s not even mentioning Tobias Harris and JJ Redick! *a tiny tear rolls down my cheek*

On the coaching end, Scott Skiles’ name is significantly larger than Jim Boylan’s, despite the fact that Boylan coached 50 games to Skiles’ 32. That proportion leads us to calculate that Skiles was 127% more interesting to talk about than his successor this year (accuracy of this math is still unverified). In other words, Jim isn’t the most interesting man in the world. If he were, maybe he would still be coaching this team.

Word clouds are also useful, as it turns out, to describe what happened this year. Let’s ask the cloud how Ersan Illyasova did this year:

“Illyasova”, “long”, “made”, “pretty”, and “three” – why yes, Ersan did make many long, pretty threes this year!

Word Cloud, what do you think about Luc Richard Mbah a Moute?

“Moute ball, know defense”. One could take issue with “Moute ball” as he didn’t ball especially hard this year, but you have to agree that he knows defense! The wise Word Cloud is right again!

How about Larry Sanders, oh wise Oracle of Words?

There’s a lot going on in this one – “much better” is encouraging, “good” and “playing” are both accurate, and “rim” even finds its was into the picture. All we need is “protect”, “defense”, and an exclamation point to round out the picture.

Let’s take one more look, this time at Mike Dunleavy:

“Dunleavey played well.” That about sums it up. I’ll miss you, Mike.

There are some more gems to be found in the cloud – “Dalembert shooting” is guaranteed to make you shudder, while the caveman-esque “Skiles like” seems like a sentiment that wasn’t said much in the team huddle this season. Finally, the implications of “coach Redick” are simultaneously terrifying and intriguing.

Hey – if you can’t be good, at least be interesting, right? Stay interesting, Bucks.

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The Milwaukee Bucks are going to try to make Lionel Hollins their next head coach. Can’t knock the hustle. (Photo: Yahoo! Sports)

The Milwaukee Bucks coaching search hasn’t been short on its big names.  Though proven coaches like Stan Van Gundy and Jerry Sloan have not reacted favorably to overtures, that hasn’t stopped John Hammond and company from reaching out to others.

Per Kurt Helin of NBC Sports, as first reported by Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal-Times:

If you believe some insightful NBA officials, it’s simply because the Bucks are playing the waiting game. They are biding their time until the Memphis Grizzlies’ season ends and they can talk to Grizzlies free-agent in-waiting coach Lionel Hollins.

Awww.

Hollins has amassed a 196-155 record since taking over as Grizzlies coach midway through the 08-09 season, with playoff appearances in the past three seasons.  He currently has his team battling for a spot in something other than the 2nd round The Finals.  It’s hard to believe that he’d be willing to come take over a Bucks organization after building up such a strong coaching rapport.

How is this even possible, you might ask.  Well, Hollins is a free-agent coach after this Grizzlies season.  While it is widely expected that Memphis’ front-office will make a push to retain their coach, there is a tiny chance that Hollins hits the open market this offseason and, historically, the Bucks have not been adverse to paying coaches a lot of money to coach in Milwaukee.

The Bucks have also discussed the coaching position with current and/or ex-Hawks coach Larry Drew, former Blazers and Sonics coach Nate McMillan, assistant coach Steve Clifford (Lakers), and both Kelvin Sampson and J.B. Bickerstaff (Rockets).

Junior Cadougan celebrates Marquette’s victory over Butler. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Draft workouts have officially begun.

Tuesday the Milwaukee Bucks will audition six players: Marquette’s Junior Cadougan, Iowa State’s Will Clyburn, D-League finals MVP Glen Rice Jr.,  Dakota State’s Tyrone Gordon Jr., New Mexico’s Tony Snell and Syracuse forward James Southerland.

Rice, a 6-foot-6 small forward, is the highest ranked player on DraftExpress.com’s Top 100 prospect list (26), followed by Snell (37), Southerland (82) and Clyburn (90). Cadougan and Gordon Jr. are not ranked.

Starring Larry Sanders. Directed by Kirk Goldsberry.

Larry Drew, looking like the loneliest man in the world. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/NBAE via Getty Images)

Nate McMillan. Kelvin Sampson. J.B. Bickerstaff. Steve Clifford. Larry Drew. These are the candidates that we know have been interviewed. Additionally, the Bucks traveled to southern Illinois and had a chat with Jerry Sloan and while most accounts say the meeting was quite pleasant, he isn’t interested in coaching the Milwaukee Bucks.

“He had a real nice meeting with them. They came to see him on his farm [in downstate Illinois]. They had a great meeting just in terms of liking each other. [Bucks general manager] John Hammond said, ‘I wish I could have stayed and watched the game with him.’ It’s just not the right fit for Jerry, from Jerry’s point of view. That’s not a negative thing; that’s just the reality.”

“For Jerry to go to a place that’s going to take years to build — and I’m not talking about Milwaukee, I’m talking about anywhere — that’s just not right for him,” Glass said, according to the newspaper. “They have to be able to compete. Jerry is a competitor, and he wants to compete and teach.”

But really … he is talking about Milwaukee, isn’t he?

Maybe the Bucks aren’t officially rebuilding, but it’s pretty obvious to everyone everywhere that this isn’t a team that’s anywhere near being very competitive. That’s why Sloan wasn’t interested, as nice as the folks in Milwaukee may be. That’s why Milwaukee never got anywhere with Stan Van Gundy either. Proven, successful coaches – coaches with options – why would they be interested in Milwaukee? Sometimes I think everyone in the world understands the dire situation the Bucks are in, except for the Bucks.

The cap space is nice and Larry Sanders is good, but Milwaukee’s a team in disarray. They have few pieces in place and even fewer obvious answers ahead of themselves this summer.

So without the ability to lure a name coach, what are the Bucks options? Well, one is hoping to get lucky with a veteran coach who hasn’t been quite so successful. The Nate McMillans and Larry Drews of the world. It’s easy to look at the records and both McMillan and Drew and point to the playoff appearances, the seasons over .500 and say those guys know what they are doing.

But in 10 full seasons with the Sonics and Blazers, McMillan got out of round one exactly once. In three with the Hawks, Drew got out once as well. McMillan’s a defensive coach who didn’t have very good defensive teams.

Drew? He doesn’t have much of a reputation, aside from being unable to corral Josh Smith. It’s hard to lay blame on Drew for failing to a task that’s probably impossible. Like probably every other coach Smith has had, he didn’t love the forward’s shot-selection. But if the most important task he had in Atlanta was getting Josh Smith to another level of recognition with regard to how poor many of the shots he was taking were, then he failed at his most important task. Whether it’s his fault or not, he’s another guy who couldn’t get his team past round one.

On the plus side, the looks at retreads alongside a couple of assistants seems to indicate that the Bucks are going to look everywhere for a coach, which is great. Milwaukee has to consider all of its options. But it’s hard to be too excited at this point about the list they have put together.

As a fan of the relatively anonymous, hungry young assistant, I’ve yet to be satiated. After Sampson, the coach that apparently every organization in the league is seemingly contractually required to speak with this summer, Clifford has been the name that’s excited me the most. He’s spent years studying under the Van Gundys, learning how to communicate and drill defense.

Most importantly, he’s yet to lead any unsatisfying, mediocre teams. Finding someone who hasn’t done that, either out of lack of opportunity or due to immense skill, seems ideal to me. The last thing the Bucks need is another guy who has his sights set on round one. There’s plenty of that going around already.

Henson and Sanders give the Bucks some youth, but Milwaukee needs some on the perimeter too. (AP Photo/The Miami Herald, Al Diaz)

We also talk about the infamous Larry Sanders/Monta Ellis dispute, potential Bucks coaching candidates and off-season priorities.

Oh and Producer Jeramey obliterates me in the Basketball-Reference Game once again. I hate that game and the day I came up with it.

Meet J.B. Bickerstaff, Rockets assistant coach and possible Milwaukee Bucks head coach (NBA.com)

As Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports, the Milwaukee Bucks are widening their head coach search parameters a bit, as Houston Rockets assistant coach J.B. Bickerstaff

The son of longtime NBA coach Bernie Bickerstaff, J.B. has already interviewed with the Detroit Pistons for their head coaching position and is rumored to be a candidate for the Phoenix Suns job, all according to Woj.

Bickerstaff was an assistant with the Charlotte Bobcats from 2004-2007 before heading to the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2007-2011.    He spent this past season as an assistant on Kevin McHale‘s coaching staff with the Houston Rockets.

Bickerstaff certainly doesn’t jump off the page, as the 34 year-old has had no coaching experience.  However, this may be an avenue the Bucks want to explore if they truly want a fresh start to the franchise.

The Bucks have already interviewed fellow Rockets assistant Kelvin Sampson as well as former Sonics and Blazers coach Nate McMillan.  They also have expressed interest in Lakers assistant Steve Clifford as well as former Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy.

Clifford is a Van Gundy disciple, who also worked under Don Nelson with the Dallas Mavericks. He had a hand in some very successful defenses before watching the Lakers fall apart this season.

Monta Ellis vs. Larry Sanders (photo via @jkoebert)

As Ken Berg of CBSsports.com reported, during halftime of Game 3 against the Miami Heat, Larry Sanders “almost came to blows” with teammate Monta Ellis in the locker room.    Sanders apparently gave a speech about playing together  and not worrying about next season or being selfish.  Ellis took offense to this and the two reportedly had to be physically separated.

Ellis has the opportunity to opt out of his $11 million contract for next year, and didn’t appreciate Sanders insinuating that his mind was elsewhere whilst on the court.

But I’m not buying it.  It’s hard to fathom that teammates would come to blows after one locker room speech in the heat of battle.  There had to be at least a few other instances that were bubbling underneath the surface that led to Game 3′s tussle.  To the drawing board!

• The Great Tattoo Debate

Both Sanders and Ellis are very heavily inked, and it’s reasonable to assume that they take pride in their body art.  At some point, the two had to have some heated discourse about who had the more impressive work done.  This probably didn’t end smoothly, and was never really settled, leaving tensions at an uncomfortably high level.

• Monta thinking that Larry’s art was rudimentary at best

Larry has worked hard developing himself both on and off the court.  A lot of his new found maturity can be attributed to his dedication to his family and his passion for expressing himself through art and design.  However, when Monta walked past some of Larry’s displays, eyed it up and down, and offered only a ”meh,” that must not have sat well with the big man.

• Larry was #TeamBackstreetBoys and Monta was #TeamNSync

We’ve all had this argument before, and it usually never ends on good terms.

Those are probably the most likely, but don’t count out these options.

• An ongoing debate on whether the Milwaukee Art Museum looks like a pelican or a sailboat

•  Larry ignored Monta’s facebook message and then posted a status so he HAD to be on.

• Spillover post-Brewers game due to differing Racing Sausage allegiances.
  

• Who REALLY ”had it all.”
  

• After 86 games, someone decided to be “cute” and change seats on the bench
  

• That one time Monta accused Larry of double dipping
  

• Who left John Henson outside too long in January, causing him to get a head cold
  

• Larry refusing to give Monta the ”courtesy wave” after he was so kind to let him merge into his lane
  

• The correct pronunciation of wingardium leviosa
  

• A disagreement as to what time they should go see Iron Man 3

• Monta bragging about how much more he got back in his tax returns
  

• Differing theories on what product Jim Boylan used for his hair.
  

We may never know what led to game 3′s incident.  However, you can be certain that we bloggers here at Bucksketball will get to the bottom of this, no matter what.  You have our word.

Sampson at a Rockets playoff shootaround with Kevin McHale. (Photo by Layne Murdoch Jr./NBAE via Getty Images)

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, the Milwaukee Bucks will be interviewing Kelvin Sampson and Nate McMillan about the team’s head coaching job this week:

McMillan and Sampson, a Houston Rocketsassistant, are two of Milwaukee general manager John Hammond’s top candidates for the job, league sources said.

The news on Sampson comes as no surprise. Immediately after, and for quite a while before, Jim Boylan was informed he would not return to Milwaukee, Sampson’s name started to pop up as a candidate for the head job in Milwaukee. He was well regarded as an assistant with the Bucks in his three seasons under Scott Skiles before leaving to take the lead assistant job with the Houston Rockets.

Sampson stepped into the head coaching job for the Rockets this past season when Kevin McHale left the team due to health issues and the eventual death of his daughter  Over that stretch, the Rockets went 7-6.

McMillan was out of the NBA last season after six and a half seasons with the Portland Trailblazers. He was an assistant on the 2006, 2008 and 2012 US Men’s National Team under Mike Krzyzewski. Before those jobs, McMillan was the head coach of the Seattle Sonics for five seasons. His teams have only twice finished higher than 27 in the league in pace. His slow it down style appears to translate into successful defenses, but his points per game allowed really more accurately reflects pace than actual defensive performance. McMillan has never coached a team that’s finished in the top 10 in defensive rating.

McMillan has already interviewed for the Detroit Pistons vacancy. While Sampson is thought to be a candidate for a number of jobs, there have been no reports of him interviewing elsewhere yet, though the Charlotte Bobcats have asked the Rockets for permission to speak with him.

I don’t have anything to add to what Jeremy wrote yesterday. We’re all sad. We’re all scared. This is going to be a weird summer. Here’s your recap of the past week.

Coverage

Jim Boylan is out so that means rumors are in. The leading candidates at the moment are Stan Van Gundy and Kelvin Sampson, according to sources. This report has been slightly rebuffed by Gery Woelfel, but we all know that’s probably just a bunch of scuttlebutt.

Over at BrewHoop, Steve von Horn wrote a great article about what either Van Gundy or Sampson would mean for the direction of the Bucks. The guys at Brew Hoop also posted a podcast about the coaching search. It’s great as always. Give both a read/listen.

More Brew Hoop! Frank Madden wrote an offseason preview on Wednesday and it does a good job of corralling the early rumors that have surfaced.

Fun idea! Jay Sorgi at WTMJ wrote about how the London Olympic arena could become the Bucks new arena. It’s currently being deconstructed and it could be purchased for millions less than it would cost to build a new arena. It seems sort of ridiculous, but if it’s feasible then I’d totes be down.

Zach Lowe at Grantland wrote about who are the next Shane Battier-style players in the league. None of them are on the Bucks, but Lowe does spend the majority of the introduction talking about Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. If he could shoot, woah boy.

Rob Mahoney at SI.com wrote about an offseason outlook for the Bucks. He says a lot of stuff which we already know, but it’s nice to read some national insight.

Tom Oates at the Wisconsin State Journal wrote about the Bucks need for a plan. He is correct. Very correct.

Truman Reed at Bucks.com wrote about the Bucks “quest” for the playoffs. #MissionAccomplished

And finally on an optimistic note, Alex Boeder at Bucks.com broke down the top-10 most memorable games of the Bucks season. That was a long/quick season. I’m exhausted.