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Tuesday, October 31, 2000
Bucks: Defense key for 50-win season
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Team page/schedule | Stats: Preseason / 1999 | Roster
Last year: 42-40, fifth in Central, eighth in conference
Coach/GM: George Karl/Ernie Grunfeld
Arena, first game: Bradley Center (18,717); Nov. 5, 1988
All-time franchise record/NBA titles: 1,410-1,182/1
Notable: Bucks' 19-22 road mark was best in decade
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THE TOP EIGHT
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Pos
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Player
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Key Stat
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Skinny
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PG
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Sam Cassell
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9.0 apg
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Can't let contract status distract him
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SG
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Ray Allen
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22.1 ppg
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Future star gets better each season
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SF
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Glenn Robinson
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20.9 ppg
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With Thomas around, he's trade bait
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PF
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Jason Caffey
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6.8 rpg
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With third NBA team, might take off
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C
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Ervin Johnson
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8.1 rpg
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Holds the fort for Pryzbilla
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6th
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Tim Thomas
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11.8 ppg
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Overpaid, unless he really scores
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7th
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Lindsey Hunter
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12.7 ppg
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Was never a PG anyway; could thrive
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8th
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Darvin Ham
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.555 FG
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He's a 6-7 leaper who Karl just loves
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The Bucks must keep their focus. Last year they seemed to be on a run. It was almost
bizarre watching them because they just came apart. They have too much
talent for that type of breakdown. The Bucks are already a high-powered offensive team with players like Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson and Sam Cassell. But they must defend much better if they want to be at the top of the conference. George Karl is capable of getting the Bucks to play
top-level defense.
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By Jeffrey Denberg
Special to ESPN.com
The Good
The Bucks play fast and furiously. They can score. And score and score. The trio of Sam Cassell, Glenn Robinson and Ray Allen, unstoppable on some nights, combined for 61.6 points a game. In back-to-back games last season the Bucks scored 130 and 137 points. Allen has quietly emerged as one of the best scoring guards in the league as well as a movie star. Cassell fits at the point when he's right, a Mad Max extension of his coach. Although Robinson trade rumors proliferated over the summer, neither owner Herb Kohl nor GM Ernie Grunfeld nor coach George Karl had intention of parting with a guy who scores 21 a game and doesn't intrude on the game. Retaining Tim Thomas, adding Jason Caffey and Lindsey Hunter only feeds this monster.
The Bad
For all their zip, the Bucks have a largely undistinguished collection of power players. Ervin Johnson and Scott Williams strike fear in the hearts of no one. Caffey is tough and aggressive but he's a little undersized at 6-8, 260. Darvin Ham can only play in favorable matchup situations but his aggression is what the Bucks need. It may all come down to how fast rookie center Joel Pryzbilla comes along and finding minutes for the guys who can play. Thomas signed a $50 million contract to stay here, rather than go to Chicago where he would start. You can bet there's a quid pro quo. Hunter will be an unhappy camper unless he gets at least half the 35 minutes a night he enjoyed in Detroit. And let's face it, Karl isn't above allowing a player to go ballistic.
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THE BIG QUESTION |
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Cassell already sent a signal that he is playing this season under financial protest. It's that lousy $3.5 million Sam gets from a six-year, $21 million deal in New Jersey. Can Sam be happy? Will Sam play for wins or money?
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Whose team is this?
He's got a scraggily beard and a bear belly. He looks like a scruffy film director but what he is is a basketball coach and an authoritarian at that. George Karl stands tall and square as the leader of this crazy circus team. He is the first word and the last word. Cassell may whine a lot and make his petty demands for more money, more shots, more control. But that's George holding the reins. He would not give into Gary Payton or Shawn Kemp when he was in Seattle. Heck, he wouldn't give into World B. Free in Cleveland. They'll do it George's way or they'll find the highway. More, Karl is proud of himself and should be. He took a team that collapsed and has taken it to the playoffs two years running. He figures he has nine good players and that should be enough to make the Bucks solid winners.
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| Cassell |
How they'll play
If you will follow along with the Karl as film director theme, he is Sam Peckinpaugh and these Bucks are "The Wild Bunch." They can't stop you but they surely can gun you down. The big hope for a defense -- forget foul-prone Ervin "No Magic" Johnson - is rookie center Pryzbilla. Already, teammates have a nickname for the kid. They call him "The Eraser." Scouts say he's better than you think and if he can defend the goal against the serious big men in the league, he moves his team up a long notch. From Cassell to Allen to Robinson to Thomas to Hunter, this is score, score, score. Milwaukee snugs Lake Michigan, but you'd better be bringing your oxygen tank when you play the Bucks.
Projection
This is the most lethal offensive team in the East, destined to flirt with 50 victories and become the most successful Bucks team since Del Harris' salad days. They can create crazy matchups and force their opponents to react. Plodding teams should have no chance against them so long as shots are falling. But unless Pryzbilla or Johnson can pose a significant defensive threat, they are going to come up short in the postseason as did most of Karl's teams in Seattle. Mark them in for 47 to 50 wins and a second-round postseason ouster. That's not necessarily a bad thing considering how sour the franchise went under Mike Dunleavy and Chris Ford. And this is a team on the way up.
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