Friday, January 16, 2009

Bogut out for western road trip; Beginning of the end for the Bucks?

Unfortunately, the Bucks will not be able to call in "Cadillac" Anderson off the bench for help.

Well, Andrew Bogut will not be accompanying the Bucks on their west coast road trip and has been advised by a back specialist "who suggested rest". This is not a good sign for the Bucks. At the season's half-way mark, the Bucks are sitting at 19-22 and fighting it out for one of the last Playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. The Bucks are about to embark on a 3 game western road trip where the Bucks traditionally fall on their faces. However, two of the games on this trip are against Sacramento and the Clippers, teams with a combined 18-60 record. Winnable games, even on the road for the Bucks. A 2-1 trip would be great. Heck, a 1-2 trip would be somewhat acceptable. However, if they lose all 3 games, with two of the losses coming against a 10-win and an 8-win team, the Bucks could go in the tank.

The reason I am worried this might happen is because Bogut is out. The Bucks just don't function efficiently when he is not in there. Gadzuric is just brutal (and the 12th highest paid player in the NBA!). Elson doesn't offer much. When the Bucks go with their small line-up there is just a huge hole inside. It sounds like Bogut will be dealing with this issue for the rest of the season. It was painful to watch him run up and down the court against Miami. If the Bucks lose these 3 games and Bogut continues to be hit or miss based on health, this promising start by the Bucks could go down the tubes quickly. We already know the hold-overs on the roster are conditioned to tank late in the season. Lets up this team puts up some fight and can make the playoffs and put a scare into somebody.

8 comments:

graf said...

can you show me where you got danny g is the 12th highest paid player? he makes $6 mil a year (bout six times more than he should), but that can't be the 12th highest salary, can it?

Anonymous said...

are we talking salary per minute on the floor or what???

lofty said...

no shit....he's like 5th highest on the bucks....there's no way he's even top 50 in the league.

Goldy said...

Sorry, I miscontued what Mike Hunt wrote in his article. It seemed strange to me as well, but I was too lazy to look it up. He must have been talking about Redd being the 12th highest played player. After getting up and playing basketball at 7 this morning, my reading comprehension must be lacking.

Goldy said...

Not "miscontued". That is not even a word. I mean misconstrued.

Goldy said...

I had to go back and read what Hunt wrote, which was painful:

"Given the payroll mess he inherited from Larry Harris, Hammond is in a bind. He's already performed near-miracles by unloading a ton of bad paper in Bobby Simmons and Mo Williams, but he's still stuck with Dan Gadzuric - $14 million over the next two years! - and the 12th-highest payroll in the NBA."

Yep, my mistake, I totally blew that one, which may qualify me to take Mike Hunt's place.

Anonymous said...

Hope everyone's ready for the jump-shot fest that is about to ensue on the West Coast. Technically, they should beat Sacto and the Clip Show without Bogut. Redd, Jefferson and Ridnour should be enough, especially when typically one guy (Charlie V usually) picks up some of Bogut's slack.

Anonymous said...

Ted Davis kicks ass btw...