Revised Win Profile for the 2007-08 Milwaukee Bucks

With the fall here and the NBA just around the corner (Thank God), I promise I am going to pick up the pace of my writing.

First off, though, I finally revised and updated the Milwaukee Bucks Win Profile Chart for the 2007-08 season. It tells a pretty ugly story. You can click here to see it. (Here's a primer on what the statistics mean if you're new to the site.)

According to the chart, and anyone who watched any of the action from last season, the ugly story of the '07-'08 Milwaukee Bucks can be easily summarized. Milwaukee's headline players were mediocre, and their supporting cast was downright awful.

A prime example is Michael Redd, Mr. Olympics. Redd was not as bad as I thought last year. But that doesn't let him off the hook. He was paid a King's Ransom to be a star, not a "not bad" player. "Not bad" players should be... like your sixth or seventh men in your rotation, not your lead dog. Not your "max dollar" guy. Certainly not.

The story is pretty much the same for Andrew Bogut, he was just an average player, no more no less. Although he wasn't paid to produce maximum results like Redd was, so I cut him some slack. On the plus side, his offense is improving steadily. He needs to shore up his on the ball defense. Hopefully, Coach Skiles can play a role helping get that done.

Charlie Villanueva... I hope we're not counting on too much from him. Every year he has an excuse why last year he didn't produce on a consistent basis like he's going to do this year. It was Toronto, he was hurt, it wasn't fair to start Yi... he's an excuse machine, and I don't want to hear it any more. Too bad he's not a Win Production Machine, or a Defensive Efficiency Machine, or a Consistent Rebounding Machine. That I would like.

Clearly, the newest Buck, Richard Jefferson, needs to step his game up this season. His numbers for the Nets last season were superficially flashy, but in terms of Win Production they were basically the same as Desmond Mason's. So we won't improve unless he does. But for some reason I think he will. I think he will redicate himself to defense and rebounding and efficient scoring. He'll inherit something of a leadership role, I think, on the Bucks, and that will cause him to rise up.

Getting back to last year's sorry team... I want to give Bobby Simmons and Royal Ivey special abuse. Never have two stiffer players desecrated the Greend and Red. Between them they used up about 15% of the Bucks courttime in '07-'08, and they couldn't produce a single win! In fact, by my calculation, they cost us 0.6 wins! Thanks for nothing chumps!

Then you look at Gadzuric. Has a decent contributor ever fallen faster and farther than that guy? Of course, he was completely mishandled, but that's a story for another post.

Here's hoping for better results in '08-'09!