Buck the Trend: Milwaukee Will Get it Together

Just over a quarter of the season has passed, and the Eastern Conference is still a cluster of ‘what if/if only’ teams and three legit playoff teams that are playing amazing basketball (Chicago, Boston, and Miami).

Two perennial playoff teams are looking towards a better three quarters of the season. Orlando has put some pieces together that could become very dangerous come a month from now (Come on, you know that J-Rich, Gil, and Hedo are a better trio than Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis, and Marcin Gortat), and Atlanta has been the forgotten team this year as they have put together a nice stretch of games since Joe Johnson went down (and came back).

Side note: Everyone has forgotten that the Hawks made the least amount of big moves and don’t intend to. Name one other playoff hopeful team in the East that can say that besides Boston.

Kobe Bryant was ejected after being flustered by the Buck's defense in a recent home defeat.

The real question, though, is who are going to fill in the rest of the remaining three spots? Well, for starters, don’t overlook my boy’s, the Milwaukee Bucks, who have been coming together slowly throughout the first part of the season.

Yes, Brandon Jennings is out for 4-6 weeks after breaking a bone in his foot, and who knows when Carlos Delfino and Corey Maggette are coming back from their respective concussions, but remember that Scott Skiles is coaching this team with two of the better assistant coaches in the league, Kelvin Sampson and Jim Boylan. They have this team playing some of the best defense in the league, something that is often overlooked when looking father down the road in the season.

I remember many of my youth and high school coaches saying that as long as the defense is there, the offense will eventually come around. Milwaukee has been one of the worst teams offensively this season, but not because of a lack of offensive firepower. John Salmons and Drew Gooden are starting to come around after signing new contracts with the team this offseason, and Andrew Bogut has been one of the best centers in the league so far.

What this team really has going for it, though, is the versatility they have with their role players, as many of them can play multiple positions and have playing styles that compliment each other.

Ersan Ilyasova has started to play like the guy we saw at the World Championships this past summer, and guys like Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Chris Douglas-Roberts and rookie Larry Sanders have chipped in some nice contributions on both ends of the court.

The Bucks still have a long ways to go if they want to surpass last season’s success, but unlike last year there is more depth and chemistry with this team. Brandon Jennings sitting out for a month may be a good thing for him, too. He’s by far one of the most passionate and competitive players from his draft class. Tag that along with more time breaking down game tapes and I think he will finish the season stronger than how he started it.

Believe me, I was not the biggest fan of the Buck’s offseason moves, but the core young guys from last year haven’t lost a step and seem to be high character guys (unlike Skile’s last team). With the playoff experience from last year, there’s no reason this team can’t make some noise come late in the season.

Fear the Deer? Fear the Beer.