By: Chris Linskens (@Cree414 )
The situation in Milwaukee turned from one of all smiles to one of uncertainty very quickly these past few weeks.
The Bucks received warm and widespread praise after they drafted a well-spoken, mature and talented 19-year old Jabari Parker out of Duke. He threw out the first pitch to thunderous applause during a Brewers game and gave a speech at his introductory press conference that had some people asking, “Is this kid 19 or 39 years old?” John Hammond and company were all smiles as of last Saturday night.
Then, last Sunday rolled around and out of left field, multiple news outlets reported that the Bucks were in talks to acquire Jason Kidd for some sort of staff position. After listening to WTMJ’s Doug Russell tell me in person that he didn’t like what he was hearing in regards to Jason Kidd being traded to the Milwaukee Bucks, I never thought I would wake up to see that the Bucks seemed to have a massive change of heart. To much backlash, the Bucks fired head coach Larry Drew and have named Jason Kidd their new head coach.
Marc Lasary is a New York guy. He and Wesley Edens were looking for a familiar face to turn things around in Milwaukee, someone that would help seal the deal that this team is now firmly under their control. Jason Kidd spent many of his best years playing for the now Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks, so it isn’t much of a surprise to say that Marc Lasary has ties to J-Kidd.
Could Lasary and Edens gone about the firing of Larry Drew in a more respectable fashion? Yes they could have. However, this deal came together very quickly for all parties, even though the Bucks’ new brass always had their eye on Kidd if he were to suddenly become available. Larry Drew got tired and frazzled under the non-pressure of being the head coach of a Bucks squad that was expected to do very little.
Now ask yourself the following question: “Are you willing to gamble the development of the Milwaukee Bucks’ future young stars on another year of an exhausted and confused head coach in Larry Drew?” If you answered that question with a 100% ‘Yes’ congratulations, you have a pure soul, but remain a sucker for believing that the NBA isn’t about winning games.
The Bucks’ new owners are not the organization known as UNICEF and do not give away free money, food and other goods to people that can’t produce for them. They don’t possess the patience of the mighty Herb Kohl, as they need to show the people of Wisconsin that they are serious about putting a quality basketball product on the floor. This product must eventually be worthy of a new arena and won’t just get handed to them by the tax payers/state. Edens and Lasary want to make a splash and bring excitement back to the Milwaukee Bucks brand of basketball. They are off to a good start by hiring a player’s coach in Jason Kidd, (I hope I don’t eventually live to regret those words) and building around Jabari Parker.
According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, the Milwaukee Bucks are heavily pursuing point guards Eric Bledsoe, amongst other options. John Hammond is banking on the fact that Phoenix may not want to match a max offer to Eric Bledsoe, since he is a restricted free agent (this gives the Suns the right to match any offer made to Bledsoe).
Last year with the Phoenix Suns, Bledsoe had a breakout year while he averaged 17.7 points, 5.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game. However, he only played 43 games after he hurt his shin and meniscus midway through the season. This caused him to miss nearly 3 months of play.
The Suns must think about the potential ramifications of shelling out major money to a potentially injury-prone player in Bledsoe, or risk losing out on Bledsoe becoming even better. Phoenix will do its homework in this decision, after nearly getting Eric Gordon to sign a max deal before his body began to betray him time after time with New Orleans.
This is a hypothetical/potential scenario for the Milwaukee Bucks. However, don’t expect Milwaukee to be a soft team like you saw last year. Whimpering off into the night is no longer an option, at least after some development occurs. Where there is smoke, there is fire and this is just a sampling of what I expect to be a busy and productive off-season for the Bucks.
The Sports ReKap, hosted by Nick Kapetan and DJ Vogt, and The Gray Area, hosted by Chris, will begin airing once again in September on MarquetteWire.org.
Support the cause to keep the Bucks in Milwaukee by following @SaveOurBucks and @BrewCityPaul on Twitter, or go to http://saveourbucks.com/ for the latest on the Bucks’ future.
Check out The Sports ReKap's interview with Paul Henning, spokesperson for Save Our Bucks, here.
Follow us on Twitter
@Cree414 (Chris)
Like Us On Facebook:
Be sure to visit Sobelman's this summer, the official sponsor of The Sports ReKap, and try their array of mouthwatering burgers. Visit their website: http://www.milwaukeesbestburgers.com/
It is still over 8 months away but please start considering joining a Relay For Life team at your school next year. For more information on how to join a team at Marquette please contact Kristen Krawczyk at kristen.krawczyk@marquette.edu
The Sports ReKap is happy to announce the additions of Kevin Saad, Michael Felish, Chris Linskens, Matt Barbato, Kevin Clancy, and Brendan Garrity as full-time contributors to the show. If you want to be a part of the show this year email Nick at nicholas.kapetan@marquette.edu.
No comments:
Post a Comment