The Fall of the 2K Milwaukee Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks were an exciting team from 1998 until 2001. Within that span, the Bucks made the playoff each season( 3 playoff appearances) and never finished a season below .500. The team had a combined record of 122 wins and 92 losses, a 57% winning percentage. Considering where this team was at from 1991 to 1998, 7 straight seasons of missing the playoffs and posting a combined record of 207 wins and 367 losses (a 36% winning percentage), things were looking pretty solid. Each season players and the team progressively improved. So how did they build the team to be so good and then what happened after the 2001 season that somehow anchored this team to a fight for the 8th spot in the Eastern Conference every year after?

Key Components to the Uprise of the Bucks

• Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson

Glenn Robinson was drafted first overall by the Bucks in the 1994 Draft out of Purdue. The man came out of college the same way he came in, a straight up scorer. While chosen over Grant Hill and Jason Kidd, the pick was in no way a bad one. He averaged 21.9 ppg as a rookie and for his career in Milwaukee never had a season below 18 ppg. As a 2 time All-Star (2000, 2001) he was a consistent scorer every year he was a Buck until 2002 and had easily the most solid mid-range jump shot in the league. He was also in terms of league identity known as a member of the Big 3 with Sammy and Ray. His downfall was defense and ball handling (usually averaged 2.5-3.0 turnovers per game). While he was not a good defender, his surrounding cast never was either so he fit in with the identity of the team. Every game you knew he was good for 20 points and 6 boards. He missed the biggest shot of his career though, a 10 foot baseline mid-range shot as time expired at Philadelphia in Game 5 of the 2001 Eastern Conference Finals. The Bucks lost the game 89 to 88 in a nail biter, but my feeling is if he makes this shot, the Bucks would have went on to the NBA Finals. Hate him or love him, he was very integral in the Bucks success during this time span.

• Ray Allen

Ray Allen was actually drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves and then traded to the Bucks along with a future first round pick (no sure who it later became or if this ever was paid up due to Minnesota being penalized by being stripped of a 1st Round pick from 2001-2005 excluding 2003 for their illegal contract negotiations and signings with Joe Smith) for Stephon Marbury in the 1996 draft. In my opinion I would take this draft day trade every time, Ray Allen is and has been a superior player to Steph throughout his NBA career. Ray is and always will be one of the scariest players behind the arc. Besides Reggie Miller, I can't think of another NBA player who posed as much of a threat from downtown. For his career in Milwaukee, he shot 41% from 3. Besides his jumper, he had the ability to put the ball on the floor and take it to the rack. I really wish he would have utilized his ability to take it to the rack more because he would have been that much more dynamic (People forget that he was in the 1996 Slam Dunk contest, this same attribute applies to Vince Carter, if he would not be so content to settle for jumpers he would be unstoppable) He was a member of the Big 3 who was rarely hurt, playing for 400 consecutive games at one point, and garnered 3 all star appearances as a Buck (7 total thus far for his career). Another thing Ray brought to the Bucks was publicity. I felt that the entire NBA and its fan base kept a closer eye on the Bucks after Ray Allen played Jesus Shuttlesworth in He Got Game. He did a pretty solid job acting too. Rays weaknesses were content in settling for his jumper at times and his focus defensively. He has and had the abilities to be a solid defender but was and still is more focused on his offensive game. In my opinion he was the most integral player on this run for the Bucks.

• Sam Cassell

Sam Cassell became a Buck in a blockbuster 3 team trade during the 98-99 season where the Bucks sent Terrell Brandon and Brian Evans to Minnesota T-Wolves along with a first round pick (maybe this is where that pick from the trade with Steph went), the New Jersey Nets retained Stephon Marbury, Chris Carr, and Bill Curley, and the Bucks also got Chris Gatling and Paul Grant as well. So a long story short, Sammy, Steph, and Terrell Brandon(who was a very solid Buck for 1 and a half seasons) were swapped around. Cassell brought experience and most of all a confident attitude to the Bucks. After being a solid role player for the Houston Rocket teams that won 2 NBA titles, he journeyed around the league until he really hit his prime in Milwaukee. He should have been an all-star multiple seasons as a Buck, putting up 18 ppg and 7 apg consistently. He has always had a great feel for 2 things, one being when to take the big shot and the other being exactly how to talk to an official. I absolutely loved how effective he was posting up smaller guards to set up his near unguardable turnaround mid-range jumper. As the third part of the Big 3, he was the floor general who really set the tone for the team. His weaknesses were his defense, him looking like an alien (had to say it, he does have an ugly mug) and at times became too much of a scoring point guard, but I liked this aspect to his game most of the time. I certainly would not argue with calling "Sam I Am" the most important piece to the Bucks success.

• Tim Thomas

Tim Thomas was traded to the Bucks along with Scott Williams in the 98-99 season for Tyrone Hill and Jerald Honeycutt (Hill was a solid rebounder, but its so clear we got the better of this deal). Thomas came to the Bucks with loads of raw talent and potential, but utilizing it consistently was a problem. Coming into his second season with the club, he really developed and became a great player off the bench. During the playoff series with Indiana in that 99-2000 season, T squared put on his own show alongside the Big 3 by averaging 15.4 ppg off the bench. At 6'10'', his ability to play 3 positions at any given time and shoot the 3 or post up for the Bucks (shooting guard, small forward, or power forward) made him a tough match up every night. Timmy got screwed out of winning the Sixth Man of the Year award in the 00-01 season. That season he averaged 13 ppg and shooting 41% from 3. Somehow Aaron McKie won the award, but it was obvious how well and deserving Timmy was based on how he played. Ray Allen said of Thomas "Tim Thomas could be the best player in the league" because he had that kind of potential. As the spark off the bench, he was an important piece to the Bucks run. As his career progressed Thomas settled for the outside shot way too much, especially after he got the big contract, and he never gave it all on defense where he could have been dominant. Thomas was still a spark and component the Bucks could not have done without in order to be as good as they were.

• Role Players

The Bucks had some very nice players who pitched in as role players during their short stint as a top tier team in the Eastern Conference. Scott Williams embodied Mr. Hustle more so than almost everybody else on the team. He played great defense and pitched in with 6 ppg and 6 rpg off the bench. Darvin Ham was Mr. Energy off the bench. Ham could jump out of the gym and was a great rebounder to have as a reserve. You did not want to be posterized during a Ham-Slamwich. Lindsey Hunter was a nice change of pace guard who could hit the open shot and played solid defense. Ervin Johnson was another post off the bench who could rebound and alter shots at the rim. He was a liability offensively but he wasn't needed to score with the Big 3 and Timmy around. Other players who contributed were Jason Caffey, Mark Pope(oh yeah can't forget about him) Vinny Del Negro, Danny Manning, and a handful of young players who were still in the developing stages (Michael Redd, Rafer Alston, Joel Przybilla). The overall thing this group needed help with was bringing in more consistency playing solid defense. The team never had a problem scoring, but playing defense was always an issue.

• George Karl

George Karl just bread success into Milwaukee. When he became the Bucks coach in 1998, something special started. Karl had never missed the playoffs with Seattle, he kept that going the second he walked into the door with the Bucks. In his first season, the lock-out shortened season, he helped end the Bucks 7 straight playoffless season streak by leading the squad to a 28-22 record and the 7 seed. While they lost in 3 and got swept by the Pacers, the team showed signs of life under him. He took them back to the playoffs in the 99-00 season losing to the Pacers again but this time taking the series to its max of 5 games. Reggie Miller said after the classic fifth game that the better team lost the series. The Bucks were the biggest challenge to the Pacers that playoff season in the entire Eastern Conference. Coming back in 2000-2001, Milwaukee, led by Karl, showed signs of dominance. The squad went 52-30 and won the Central Division along with earning the number 2 seed in the East. The Bucks marched through the playoffs until they met Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference Finals. There the series went to the max again of 7 games. The Bucks had the series won but as I said, the Big Dog just couldn't hit the clutch shot. After the 00-01 season, he still did a fine job as coach, but the team and management fell short. Karl did a great job gelling the team together and really only failed to teach the team to play consistent defense. He did make a mistake in pushing to acquire Anthony Mason, but it didn't define his career in Milwaukee. I wish he was still the Bucks coach, he just knew how to win.

Components to The Fall

• Poor Transactions

Nobody embodies this more than Anthony Mason. While he was the right kind of player, he just wasn't the right player the team needed. After going to the Eastern Conference Finals in the 2000-2001 season, the team failed to even qualify the year after with Mason. He's not to blame for all of the struggle in the 01-02 season, but he definitely didn't live up to his end of pitching in to give the Bucks the missing piece. How about the draft pick of Marcus Haislip? With players like Nenad Kristic, Tayshaun Prince, and Carlos Boozer available, the pick of an unproven athlete was not right on. Granted you can't know the 3 players I've mentioned would be better than Haislip, I have to say Prince and Boozer were definitely more proven players at big colleges in Kentucky and Duke respectively. How about the fact that team didn't have first round picks in 2001 or 2004. Trading away Ray Allen in a package deal for Gary Payton and Desmond Mason was not beneficial in any way. Allen was and still is a great player. Payton was on the down slope of his career when acquired and only lasted for that season. Mason was coming off a nice rookie season, but never panned out to become anywhere near as good as Allen (in retrospect that's who he was essentially traded for). I know the trade also cleared room for Michael Redd, but I would like to have traded Ray for at least a dominant post player(say Elton Brand in a package deal) or early round pick(that year it could have lead to drafting Amare Stoudamire). The Big Dog trade brought in Kukoc and the drafting of T.J. Ford . I was a fan of the trade and the Ford pick, but failed to see how Ford could not flourish under Karl's half court offense (now Ford is redefining his career in Toronto playing alongside Chris Bosh). Ultimately Glenn faded off after the trade, but his consistency in scoring for a sporadic and injury prone Ford and old Kukoc never turned out. Trading Sam Cassell away with Ervin Johnson for Joe Smith and Anthony Peeler was terrible. Joe was a nice role player, but Sammy was worth more. Even if it meant getting a pick, I would have liked more out of that deal.

• Coaching Moves

After firing George Karl in 2003 (why? Because he wanted more managerial power or because the team was falling short of expectations? Look at the players first, then the coach) the team never found a coach it liked. Terry Porter was a nice solid coach, but he was fired for no apparent reason to me. The team didn't play to its potential under him, but he wasn't working with a team who wanted to play to its potential either. Then Terry Stotts! Yikes! Biggest mistake ever! This guy should never be anything more than an assistant who interviews using the tag line Stats with Stots. Come on, he has had all the right tools for the Bucks and never made them work. Never before has a coach done so little with so much talent.

Look to the Future

Andrew Bogut, Charlie Villanueva, Michael Redd, Ruben Patterson, Dan Gadzuric, and Charlie Bell all make up a nice core to build off of. Defense and consistency are in need of improvement, but that has to be dug in and engraved into these guys. I do like the potential of David Noel and Ersan Ilyasova a lot as well. Lets face it, dealing off Maurice Williams, Bobby Simmons, and Brian Skinner can only improve the team. I'm not real sure how I feel about Earl Boykins, but I do think he should come off the bench to spark them as he did for Denver. I would also like to see what Larry Krystkowiak can do with this squad before writing him off. Drafting is in need of improvement, hopefully in the form of Brandon Wright or Al Horford this upcoming year assuming we don't get a chance to enter the Oden-Durant sweepstakes.