The Bucks were one of the surprise teams in the NBA this season even with their two star players suffering season-ending injuries. From management to coaching to rookie Brandon Jennings; Milwaukee once again became excited about their franchise. What can they do this off-season to keep that momentum going?
By: David Kay
’09-’10 Season in Review:
FEAR THE DEER! Boy was I off last year when I picked the Bucks to finish dead last in the Eastern Conference. But even with the yearly season-ending injuries to Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut, Milwaukee ended up earning the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference and nearly knocking off the Hawks in the first round of the playoffs before losing in seven games.
So how does a team without its two best players overachieve as much as the Bucks did? Credit head coach Scott Skiles for keeping this team together and the healthy players on the roster for unselfishly accepting their roles and doing what was necessary to win. Plus it helps when you have a rookie point guard like Brandon Jennings who silenced all the doubters by finishing third in the ROY voting highlighted by his 55-point performance against the Nuggets.
General Manager John Hammond deserves a lot of credit as well and was properly rewarded by being named the league’s Executive of the Year. He made a great trade deadline deal by acquiring John Salmons who came up huge in the final weeks of the season. Hammond also dumped Richard Jefferson’s overblown contract on the Spurs for cap space and veteran Kurt Thomas who was the leader and low post banger this young Bucks team needed. Add in foreign products Carlos Delfino and Ersan Ilyasova who returned to the NBA after spending some time playing professionally overseas and brought energy to this team, and the pieces fell perfectly in place for Milwaukee even though the talent level did not stand out.
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