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…

Your 2010 Las Vegas Summer League Milwaukee Bucks:

G – Antoine Agudio  6-3  Hofstra
C – John Bryant        6-11 Santa Clara
G – Paul Delaney      6-2  UAB
F – Micah Downs      6-7  Gonzaga
F – Tiny Gallon         6-9  Oklahoma
G – Darington Hobson 6-7  New Mexico
F – Darnell Jackson      6-8  Kansas
G – DeMarcus Nelson  6-4  Duke
F – Larry Sanders         6-11 VCU
G – Jerry Smith               6-2  Louisville
F – Deron Washington   6-7  Virginia Tech
C – Sean Williams           6-10 Boston College

UPDATE: Chris Douglas-Roberts tweets to Frank Madden of Brewhoop he won’t be playing in summer league.

The dust has settled and the first stage of the off season is complete. With that, the Bucks summer league roster begins to take shape.

SG: Alando Tucker

Tucker was confirmed some time ago.

SF: Darington Hobson

The Bucks first pick of the second round should be in attendance.

PF: Tiny Gallon

The Bucks second pick of the second round should be in attendance.

PF: Larry Sanders

Summer league presents a great opportunity for first round picks like Sanders to make a good impression on coaching staffs and fan bases en route to a successful season. Sanders athleticism should do him well come mid-July.

PF: Darnell Jackson

Jackson has the leg up on every other member of the squad in terms of experience with the Bucks, but will have his hands full in vying for one of the final bench spots come training camp. A productive summer league stint would be helpful for him.

After those six, nothing is official at the moment yet for Milwaukee. I’d expect to see Trevon Hughes be added to the roster eventually, but that has yet to be confirmed. So who else might Milwaukee be looking to take along to Vegas? Here’s a list of players Milwaukee brought in for workouts that went undrafted and as of now, remain unsigned.  This isn’t the complete list, but what I feel represents the more talented members of the group or players that have worked out twice (Ricky Franklin and Jerry Smith).

PF – Charles Garcia
C – A.J. Ogilvy
SF – Anthony Mason Jr.
SG – Aubrey Coleman
PG – Nic Wise
SG – Jerry Smith
SG – Ricky Franklin

Of that particular group, I’d say Smith, Garcia and Coleman probably are the most likely to at least get an invitation to try out for the team. Milwaukee may fill a couple slots with some journeymen looking to stick or players coming back over from Europe for the summer. More on this when updates become available.

Brandon Jennings wanted him at number 15.

I’m sure he was just as happy with his friend Keith “Tiny” Gallon falling to the Bucks at number 47.

Don’t get caught up in the name though, Gallon is no more a “Tiny” than Glen Davis is a “Baby”. At 6-foot-9, 302 pounds, Gallon certainly meets the power part of the power forward requirement and then some. But that isn’t why Gallon may soon be a fan favorite in the Bradley Center. The colorful, backboard breaking 19-year-old could sweep Milwaukee off it’s feet. After all, who doesn’t love to see a giant shooting 3-pointers?

“You talk about him, you talk about imagination,” said John Hammond when asked to delve deeper into Gallon. “He’s a guy who likes to do all kinds of things on the floor. He thinks he can shoot an NBA three. And the problem is, he really can.”

Half the Bucks fans that read that last sentence probably got a little sick, but the other half probably got a little giddy. Having equal parts doubters and supporters has been par for the course for the big man with the word “Misunderstood” tatooed on himself. The “misunderstanding” of Tiny Gallon is what left him available for the Bucks at 47 and they wasted no time in scooping him up, but not before talking to his ex-high school teammate Brandon Jennings.

“We talked to Brandon as the pick was getting near,” said Coach Scott Skiles. “I talked to Brandon right after, they have a relationship and that’s great. Tiny can learn a lot from Brandon. Brandon’s in the gym every day, he’s serious about the game, he loves the game and he’s got a great approach. It’ll be good that there’s somebody here that Tiny can look to and good for Brandon to start to take on more of a leadership role.”

Hammond said that Gallon’s skills were too much to pass on as they came up to their 47th pick with him on the board.

“He’s capable of posting, he’s an excellent passer. As far as rating players, we had him rated so much higher than where we picked him. We had options at 47. Do we keep the pick? Do we move it for the future, something like that? But we thought, if he’s getting close to 47, there’s no way we can move it. He’s way way too talented.”

Gallon’s freshman season at Oklahoma was at times turbulent. The kind of turbulence a plane suffers minutes before it crashes and is never found again that is. Clashes with the coaching staff, a late season suspension and ultimately the tale of the money that suddenly appeared in his mother’s hands that was the John Hancock on his declaration to go pro all dogged him. But when Gallon was playing, his numbers actually weren’t all that bad.

He was 25th nationally in defensive rebound percentage, grabbing 25.2% of available defensive boards. In just 24 minutes per game, Gallon averaged 10.3 points on 54.7% shooting while grabbing 7.9 rebounds per game. As a freshman. The indication from his numbers is that he actually used his size fairly effectively, Hammond’s earlier comment about his love for the jump-shot not withstanding. As far as upside picks go, the Bucks could have done a lot worse at 47 than the “Misunderstood” Gallon. And hey, he’s trying to make nice already. So maybe drafting him will suffice just fine.

Oh, and when a team can make their star player happy at the same time, well, that’s just all the better.