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…

At 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.” Read more…

The 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.

Guard play is important in summer league basketball. It must be. That’s the only explanation for the Bucks 0-3 record that remains incredibly satisfying.

When the Bucks spent three draft picks on forwards and loaded their summer league roster up with undrafted free agents and D-Leaguers at point guard and shooting guard, everyone knew there would be some struggles handling the ball.

The struggles were on display again Thursday night. Milwaukee turned the ball over 17 times while tallying just 12 assists. Combine the sloppiness with the ball with a general inaccuracy from the field, evidenced by 40% shooting, and that’s how the result comes to be Atlanta 83 – Milwaukee 60.

Milwaukee point guards shot a combined 4-10 with seven assists and four turnovers.

As usual, there were bright spots. And as usual, the brightest bright spot was Larry Sanders. Read more…

(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…