2007 Team by team previews/discussion: Milwaukee Bucks

[Glenn]

We're continuing with our in-depth looks at other teams around the league leading up to the start of the regular season.

Discussion topics can include, but are not limited to: roster makeup, offseason acqusitions/losses, likely rotation, playoff chances, strengths/weaknesses, coaching, best players, bench strength, team needs, cap room/available exceptions, etc.

2007-08 Roster
NUM PLAYER POS HT WT DOB FROM YRS
42 Charlie Bell G 6-3 200 03/12/1979 Michigan State 3
6 Andrew Bogut C 7-0 260 11/28/1984 Utah 2
50 Dan Gadzuric C 6-11 245 02/02/1978 UCLA 5
12 Royal Ivey G 6-4 215 12/20/1981 Texas 3
9 Yi Jianlian F 7-0 238 10/27/1987 R
24 Desmond Mason F-G 6-5 222 10/11/1977 Oklahoma State 7
34 David Noel F-G 6-6 230 02/27/1984 North Carolina 1
22 Michael Redd G 6-6 215 08/24/1979 Ohio State 7
51 Michael Ruffin C-F 6-8 248 01/21/1977 Tulsa 7
7 Ramon Sessions G 6-3 190 04/11/1986 Nevada-Reno R
21 Bobby Simmons F 6-6 230 06/02/1980 DePaul 5
20 Awvee Storey F-G 6-6 225 04/18/1977 Arizona State 2
31 Charlie Villanueva F 6-11 232 08/24/1984 Connecticut 2
43 Jake Voskuhl C 6-11 255 11/01/1977 Connecticut 7
52 Samaki Walker F 6-9 250 02/25/1976 Louisville 10
25 Maurice Williams G 6-1 185 12/19/1982 Alabama 4

HEAD COACH
Larry Krystkowiak (College - Montana)

ASSISTANT COACHES
Jarinn Akana (College - Hawaii)
Tony Brown (College - Arkansas)
Brian James (College - Illinois State)
Bill Peterson (College - Eckerd College)
Jim Todd (College - Fitchburg State)

STRENGTH-AND-CONDITIONING COACH
im Wilson (College - Nebraska)

ATHLETIC TRAINER
Andre Daniel (College - Austin Peay)

ASSISTANT TRAINER
John Anderson (College - Arizona State, Oregon)

Discuss.

[Hermy]

Interested to see how much Yi plays. I think this can be a borderline playoff club.

[Cross]

They have alot of 6th started material. Simmons, Mason, Bell, and Charlie V are all capable of starting on this team but I think they'd be better of backing up whoever.

The reason why this team won't do as well is because they don't got a pass first point guard. Bell, Mo Williams, and Ivey are more of a scoring type point guard. Pair that with Redd, I guess they could cancel each other out. the best passer on the team is prolly Bogut.

[Glenn]

I think the Bucks are going to be good if they can avoid injuries better than they did last year.

I'm guessing that they'll roll with something like:

Williams
Redd
Mason
Charlie V
Bogut

With Bell, Simmons, Yi and Gadzuric making up the rest of the main rotation.

That's pretty good, IMO, but they may miss both Boykins and Patterson.

They've got a lot of dead weight on the roster still, mostly bigs, (Walker, Ruffin, Voskuhl) but how many bench bigs in today's NBA aren't stiffs?

I'm not sure about Larry K's coaching, haven't seen enough of him yet to know for sure.

I see them possibly in the mix for the Central title, with a regular season ceiling similar to the Pistons (if Yi can contribute and they can stay healthy). 50 wins-ish.

[Glenn]

They've got a lot of dead weight on the roster still, mostly bigs, (Walker, Ruffin, Voskuhl) but how many bench bigs in today's NBA aren't stiffs?

Samaki just got released.

[Glenn]

After up-and-down summer, Yi to start opener for Bucks

Associated Press
Updated: October 29, 2007, 11:49 PM ET

MILWAUKEE -- Yi Jianlian will be in Milwaukee's starting lineup when the Bucks open the season in Orlando on Wednesday night.

The lineup unveiled Monday by coach Larry Krystkowiak includes the 6-foot-11 power forward from China.

Also getting a starting nod is veteran forward Desmond Mason, who signed as a free agent in the offseason to rejoin his former team.

Other starters are guards Mo Williams and Michael Redd and center Andrew Bogut.

With that starting lineup, Charlie Villanueva will be coming off the bench at power forward and Bobby Simmons at small forward.