In a seemingly impossible turn of events, it has become even more crowded inside for the Milwaukee Bucks. When Milwaukee left for Vegas Summer League last Sunday, they did so with Darnell Jackson seemingly in line to split the majority of minutes at the power forward position for the week in Vegas. Of course, Jackson was fighting an uphill battle to stay on the roster come October, much less earn any minutes. But it seemed he’d be in line to prove himself in Vegas.

And after his first game, Jackson seemed like he was heading for a bright week. He scored 17 points, grabbed seven rebounds and looked like Milwaukee’s most polished player. Yet still, as good as Jackson looked, he was still low man on the totem pole that’s become the Bucks power forward situation. He was the most likely to move, and moved he will be in the coming days … for another power forward?

What’s interesting about the Bucks upcoming acquisition of Jon Brockman is that they are getting a player more talented than Jackson and with more of a rotation player ceiling. Brockman could step in and give the Bucks a solid rebounding, hustling power forward for 15 minutes-per-game starting tomorrow if need be. He’s without question better than Darnell Jackson.

And that only leaves things more complicated today than they were yesterday when it comes to the Bucks big man rotation. But not necessarily in a bad way. The depth the Bucks have merely gives them a variety of options for the time being. I’ll go through each of the Bucks options at power forward and attempt to make their probable role a bit more clear. 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 reviewed the 2009-10 Milwaukee Bucks centers on Monday, today we knock out the forwards.

Darnell Jackson

A D-League terror,
Minutes in a useless game.
May have a future

A late season waiver wire acquisition, the Bucks thought enough of Jackson to claim him even though he could not be on the playoff roster. This was before Andrew Bogut’s injury, but they could have used another end of the rotation big for the playoffs even then. This indicated at the time that the Bucks would likely be interested in seeing if he could contribute going forward and reports that he’ll be in Vegas with the Bucks summer league team would confirm that suspicion. In two D-League games this season, he averaged 33 points and 11.5 rebounds, so there must be at least SOMETHING to Jackson’s game. Brandon Jennings also Tweeted about his dance moves, which is fun to hear about. Read more…

So what lineups are the Bucks going to use now with Andrew Bogut out of commission?  Here’s a few of the lineups the Bucks have trotted out most frequently without Bogut this season.

(A thanks to BasketballValue.com for the numbers, what a great site.)

A few notes:

• Defensively, a Kurt Thomas and Ersan Ilyasova front court seems to be the Bucks best bet.  The lineup that combined the two of them with John Salmons, Jerry Stackhouse and Luke Ridnour had a defensive rating of 88.75, lowest among the seven I listed.

• Combinations involving Brandon Jennings and Ridnour typically fare well – with or without Bogut.  At least offensively.  As I was writing yesterday, the Bucks create a lot of their offense from the wings in.  When Jennings or Ridnour are on a wing, they can really make use of their ball-handling and penetration skills. In over 25 minutes together when paired with Charlie Bell, Ilyasova and Thomas, their unit was plus 38.  Imagine if Salmons stepped in for Bell on those?  Looking at these numbers, I wouldn’t be surprised to see more lineups with those two again.  I suppose that would be “going small” again.

• With a very small sample size of just 13 minutes, Ilyasova was not a disaster at center.  Playing with Stackhouse at the four (I think primarily against the Hawks) his lineup had a difference of plus 4.5 in terms of offense rating against defense rating.  Whether he could hold up against a larger front line (Boston’s perhaps) is still up in the air

• Numbers don’t tell the story of Kurt Thomas’ foul problems so much.  When the Bucks last played the Heat without Bogut, Thomas played only 15 minutes due to foul trouble.  Thomas hasn’t had any restrictions on his fouls, but now that he’ll be playing more minutes, he’ll have to be more judicious.  We’ll see how this changes his game.

• I don’t expect to see much Luc Richard Mbah a Moute at the three.  Playing him with Ilyasova and Thomas gives the Bucks a stout defensive unit, but leaves them with virtually no creativity offensively.  The only way I see that line-up having success offensively would be with Ridnour and Jennings in the back court.  That might be worth visiting.

• A wild card in this is Darnell Jackson.  He hasn’t been used at all and won’t be available for the playoffs, but he’ll probably get some minutes coming down the stretch.  Whether or not he’ll take away minutes from the Dan Gadzuric and Brezec duo remains to be seen.

• Speaking of the dynamic duo, where do they fit in the rest of the way?  Brezec hasn’t played enough with any group to have a real sample size, but we can be sure that he’s plodding and not very good.  Gadzuric has some hope, if only because he’s athletic and an okay rebounder.  The Jennings, Bell, Delfino, Ilyasova and Gadzuric unit has a good sample size of nearly a full game and has a positive differential.  If I had to guess, and it’s admittedly hard to predict coach Skiles, I’d say we see roughly 10 minutes a game from Gadzuric the rest of the way.