The Milwaukee Bucks suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Boston Celtics on Sunday, losing 87-56 in the TD Garden in Boston.
The Bucks’ point total was the lowest in team history and the lowest allowed by any Celtics team. The defeat pushes Milwaukee to a 26-39 record, a far cry from the impressive 46-36 record that earned them a playoff spot in 2010.
The shattering defeat highlights the team’s ineffectiveness at the offensive end, despite having a great season on defence (third in the league).
For compassion, the lowest score of the weekend in the NBL was 60 points from the Adelaide 36’ers. For starters the firepower of the Sixers is many times worse than that of the Bucks.
Even when taking in the comparative defences, the Bucks still fall well short of a mediocre game. Also for consideration, the Adelaide game this weekend, as with all NBL games was 40 minutes long. 40 minutes into the game against the Celtics the Bucks had only scored 43 points.
The Bucks are absolutely incapable of scoring (worst offensive efficiency in the league). Their offensive line-up includes 5’5 guard Earl Boykins, the ineffective Brandon Jennings and the perennially injured Andrew Bogut.
The most disappointing thing for Bucks fans though is that the Bucks are in one of the worst positions possible in terms of NBA franchises. They’re located in a city with zero marketability to free agents and they’re stuck with only the ninth pick in a NBA draft that will more than likely disappoint.
Along with this, the Bucks management has shouldered long term deals for Corey Maggette, John Salmons and Drew Gooden, all of whom have played at a standard well below their price tag.
In stark contrast to the Bucks disappointing season, the state’s football team, the Green Bay Packers, clinched the NFL championship only weeks ago.
With very little young talent (aside from PG Brandon Jennings, who seems to always make the wrong decision on offense and defence), a constantly injured franchise player in Andrew Bogut) and very little hope for a playoff berth anytime soon.
It’s going to be be a long few years for basketball fans in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
gfunk
Guest
yeah, good points. i forget to mention the salmons / contract year situation. the guys played great for the bulls then bucks, but in the past has been quite a lazy player and when he played for the kings was known to be a pain when not starting or getting enough minutes. i think jennings is really good, but maybe he's buyed into his own hype a little too much. takes too many shots. same situation when the bucks had redd and mo williams and charlie v hogging the ball and being trigger happy. re: maggette, i dont think they really needed another wing player, but were probably looking to make up for the loss of jerry stackhouse, though maggette was not the answer to that. yeah bucks haven't been the greatest drafters.
Connor Kret
Roar Rookie
I definitely agree with some of your points. Thing is, Brandon is way to overrated, Bogut will likely be injured for most of his career and Salmons' play was during a contract year where he had to play to get payed. The Bucks really need Bogut to thrive, and they work well when they can move the ball. Maggette brings all of that down and was a really poor pick up by the GM. Let's hope they can get someone better than jonas valanciunas in the draft.
gfunk
Guest
i think your being a little bit harsh there in regard to the bucks fortunes moving forward even if they did over achieve a little last season. jennings was out for a considerable amount of time with a broken foot and bogut has had recurring problems with the elbow and back amongst other things. delfino was also out for some time. those three guys are the ones that really make the offence tick. agree salmons has had a below par year when compared with last. maggette is more of a one on one player who can get to the stripe on anyone not really the what the bucks needed. they need to swing the ball a lot more, find the open shots and sink them. the bucks take way to many contested or poor jump shots. and i think you'll find that most games bogut has a lot of shots or points ie. when the offence runs through him, the better the bucks perform.