Milwaukee Bucks
Bucks at the Break: What started out as a promising season for a young Bucks team, has crashed into a lottery year thanks to injuries arriving in bunches. After beating the Washington Wizards on December 30th, the Bucks had a 16-15 record and were in position to consider the playoffs. But the New Year has not been kind. Since that game, the Bucks have only won 3 of 22 games. During that stretch, leading scorer and All-Star talent, Michael Redd has missed 20 games. Second leading scorer, Mo Williams missed 10 games. Newcomer, Charlie Villanueva has missed 23 games. The Bucks look to be healthy after the break but it is probably too late to make anything positive out of this season.
Players of Note: Michael Redd was on his way to his best season to date before injuring his left knee. Combined with Mo Williams, Redd gives the Bucks a lethal back court. Of course, it helps when they actually play…A nice surprise for the Bucks has been the elevated play of Ruben Patterson. He’s done his part to pick up the slack during Redd’s absence. Also, Andrew Bogut has shown flashes of #1 pick talent, offering Bucks’ fans a silver lining over that last, cloud-filled six weeks…Charlie Villanueva’s first season with the Bucks has been a disappointment so far. When on the court his production has been sporadic. Equally sporadic has been his availability for games.
Looking Ahead: The Bucks season has now been thrown into turmoil thanks to the glut of injuries. So with health returning, what will the Bucks do? Emphasizing youth and experimenting with different combinations may be the smart move. It will keep the Bucks in good position for an expected talented draft pool. It will also give the team a solid assessment of players like Bogut and Villanueva to help them determine what direction they need to go in the off season. That’s a tough sell to fans and coach Terry Stotts would have to buy into that theory otherwise he could be sent packing despite the bad luck he’s had to endure.
DIVISION REPORTS
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
Central Division
Southeast Division
Western Conference