Simmons, Villanueva will make a difference

The return of a healthy Bobby Simmons and a healthy Charlie Villanueva should have a positive impact on the court for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Basketballvalue.com measures team performance while a player was on the court against team performance while the player was off the court, and then weights those numbers to reflect an equivalent amount of minutes played for all players.

Their measurements show that the Bucks have been better off over the last two seasons with Simmons and Villanueva on the court. In 2005-06, the team was a cumulative +5.23 with Simmons on the court. In 2006-07, the team was a +5.03 with Charlie Villanueva on the court.

On the other hand, some of the Bucks off-season new additions may not yield positive returns. The New Orleans Hornets were -4.08 with Desmond Mason on the court, and the season prior to that they were -6.32 with him on the court. The news is a little better for Jake Voskuhl. In 2006-07, the Charlotte Bobcats were -1.57 with him on the court, but the season prior to that they were +3.15 with him on the court.