LeBron James‘ departure from the Cleveland Cavaliers was an addition by subtraction for the Eastern Conference Central Division. With James getting jiggy with it in Miami, the Milwaukee Bucks and Chicago Bulls are expected to jockey for the Central Division title all season long.
Both the Milwaukee Bucks and Chicago Bulls experienced some significant makeovers in the offseason. The Bucks added slashing scorer Corey Maggette, resigned second half spark plug John Salmons, and solid veteran power forward Drew Gooden. The Bulls’ biggest splash was bringing in power forward Carlos Boozer and former Boston Celtics assistant coach Tom Thibodeau.
It’s been roughly 30 years since the Milwaukee Bucks and Chicago Bulls have experienced high expectations in the same season, and their early placement in the battle for the Central fittingly begins with the first preseason game between the Bucks and Bulls tonight at the Bradley Center.
By Jake McCormick and Paul M. Banks
Milwaukee Bucks and Third Team All NBA center Andrew Bogut has shaken off some early setbacks in his offseason arm rehab and projects to be ready for the Bucks opener. On the Chicago side of the coin, the rehab is just getting started. The most obvious first question here, Paul, is what happens for the first month of the season now that Carlos Boozer is sidelined with a broken wrist?
Well, that’s what Boozer does, he traditionally misses about 20 games in a season. Sometimes more, sometimes less, I’m just glad he’s getting it over with now. If there is a time to be missing games I guess now would be optimal with the meaningless preseason, and then November, a month when the Bulls traditionally struggle anyway.
They need to do something about that Circus trip- damn you Barnum & Bailey! Because it puts the Bulls in a deep hole to start every year. Obviously, the biggest concern (for both the Bucks and the Bulls) this season is finding chemistry and cohesion as soon as possible. Boozer is a huge part of that, and with his absence, it’ll certainly be delayed.
I agree with you that the Central Division is a two horse race. Cleveland is a train wreck, Indiana has no plan, and Detroit has a core that’s old and expensive, so the battle for Central Division will be fought on I-94. (I guess that would make the Mars Cheese Castle, or possibly Racine the DMZ border?).
At Media Day, I asked Thibodeau about Milwaukee’s improvement and how much of a threat they are.
“Milwaukee I thought did a terrific job last season, the way they got better as the season went along, I think Bogut emerged as a dominant center. I thought defensively, they continued to improve. They’re a hard team to score against, they play unselfishly. So I think they’re going to be a big challenge and they added some pieces. And again, they have some of the same challenges as getting guys to play together and acclimated with each other,” he responded.
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Paul M. Banks is President and CEO of The Sports Bank.net , a Midwest focused webzine. He is also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, the Chicago Tribune’s blog network, Walter Football.com, the Washington Times Communities, Yardbarker Network, and Fox Sports.com
He also does a regular guest spot each week for Chicagoland Sports Radio.com
You can follow him on Twitter @thesportsbank