RockCoCougars

There is nothing to bash this year, though last year at this time when he had a 6-ish ERA I was right there, deservedly so. As I posted at the end of the season, he earned his money the second half, and he has this year as well. I'm glad I was wrong and he didn't end up to be Soup 2- he's had more solid starts that season than Soup had in his four years combined.

"My point was that the picks may have been bad but *ALL* the picks were bad after the Bucks selections, and the players taken after the Bucks picked weren't special as well. " Agreed. To be honest, how many drafts have had more than a few impact players in the past 10 years? Not more than a few. I would bet that in the majority of drafts over the past decade, you could choose the best 11 players (even in hindsight) and you would not have a championship caliber team- '03 and '07 are the only two that I can think of that you would. Honestly, if I were an NBA GM, I'd just trade down, every year I didn't have a top-5 pick. More picks = more chances for a solid role player for cheap (Like Prince Luc). Elite talent really only comes from the top 5. I agree with you here as well. Especially this year. I'm actually more enamored with guys toward the end of the first round than the guys who may fall to the Bucks. Yes, only one of the best up and coming teams in the NBA built their team from scratch. I certainly don't want the Bucks to do that. I assume that you're talking about OKC. That is basically the blueprint of the only way the Bucks can rebuild from scratch. Draft well and have lots of luck. In my opinion a guy like Durant comes along once every 5 years or so. Without him, they wouldn't be very good. They were lucky to move up in the lottery (leapfrogging the Bucks) and fortunate that Portland took Oden ahead of him. My point is two fold- first, even if you are truly bad, you are not guaranteed to get a top pick. Secondly, even if you do, the odds are against you getting an impact player. The Bucks have had four #1 overall. Obviously Kareem was a franchise player, but I think they've gotten one all star appearance out of the other three combined. Basically, the only way the Bucks can completely rebuild is the draft. To be successful, with this you have to be horrible on the court, great at scouting, and lucky. Not only that, but you have to draft guys who will be willing to stay in Milwaukee if they turn in to stars. What are the odds? You could trade all your players for picks and have tons of salary space, but what worthy free agent will come to Milwaukee?

I was thinking Ron RightnowerHe was the dude with the killer perm wasn't he?

Herrera got Balfour'd. Good. The last Brewer to make such a poor impression on me in such a short time period was Joe Winkelsas. Enough said.

I'd rather have a 50 something Jesse Orosco than this Herrera character. I'm not sure what Braddock has been up to, but it hasn't really seemed to affect his performance on the field. I hope that this doesn't turn into a case of the team cutting off their nose to spite the face.

They just said, 'no injury'. Did he eat some bad seafood last night or something? It kind of looked like he was having an immodium moment out there.

I'm not a big fan of rebuilding from scratch. I don't want to relive the dark days of 1992 with Kenny Norman and the 'May Day' connection. The only reason that the Bucks were able to rebuild back then is that they made a very astute pick with Baker (who they dumped just in time and turned into Cassell and Tim Thomas), got lucky and won the lottery for Big Dog and then picked high in perhaps the best draft class in NBA history in '96 to get Ray Allen. Even with all this good fortune they only advanced in the playoffs once before tearing everything apart. The point being, you have to be very lucky to rebuild in the medium term, or you're going to be bad for a long time. I don't think the Bucks can afford that now. Bogut is a nice piece to build around, so I don't see why you would move him for an unproven commodity. Most importantly, he actually seems to like Milwaukee- hopefully, they learned from the Ray Allen debacle. NBAers who are willing to play in Milwaukee are few and far between. Bogut is only 26, and generally centers develop late. I wouldn't have a problem moving anyone else on the team, but I'm hanging on to Bogut. I'm just hoping that they can get someone who can score the basketball.

It looked like a pulled groin to me. If that's the case, I think it's a safe bet he will be dl'ed.

This looks like one of those ESPN produced movies, only starring Brad Pitt instead of some has-been. I can't see a film like this doing well in the theaters, because it doesn't appeal to a wide audience like a comedy or action film would- or even a 'chick flick'. My only question is who did they get to play Ken Macha (or is he pre-Moneyball)? I don't think Art Howe will be flattered by his portrayal.

In my opinion, Marcum isn't as good as he's been pitching, so I'm expecting him to regress- not much, but a tad- after he's been around the league once. On the other hand, I think Greinke is better than the results he's been getting so I expect him to improve. He has made a lot of guys look foolish up there this year, but he's also paid dearly for some bad pitches.

Blah, that seems like a foolish trade. The second pick would be either Williams or that Kanter. Pre-injury, Bogut looked like he was developing into a nice player. I'd rather keep him than take a chance on those two. The way this draft looks, I'd be trading picks as opposed to acquiring more.

Anybody would have looked bad pitching in those conditions today. I'm not worried at all.

That's because he wasn't. And I completely disagree. What's a bench guy going to get us (the safe pick) he's going to take us from 34 wins to 36. Big deal. Go for the home run until you find it. Agree completely. Safe won't win you a title, you need to hit, and hit big.A quick look back: 2001: No first round pick. Traded it + Jason Collier for Joel Pryzbilla. Was #22 overall. 2002: #13 overall. Marcus Haislip. Bad pick. Only really 2 above average picks afterwards, went in the 20's, Tayshaun Prince and John Salmons 2003: #8 overall. TJ Ford. Fine with this pick. Next above average pick at #18, David West. 2004: #17 overall. One of those stupid trades, we got Kevin Willis and someone for Scott Williams and this pick in 2001. Then the pick went to DET then ATL. Ended up being Josh Smith (who Denver drafted) 2005: #1. Bogut, Ersan in the 2nd round. Great draft. 2006: No first rounder. Traded it and DMason for the failed experiment that was Jamaal Magloire. #15 overall. 2007: #6 Yi. Yeah, a bad pick, but it was the pingpong balls that failed them that year. 2nd worst record. Were in perfect line to land Durant. There really wasn't anyone outstanding picked after Yi. Corey Brewer, Joakim Noah, amongst others. Picked up Sessions in the 2nd round. A solid pick. 2008: #8 Alexander. Bad pick again. Should've picked Lopez. Picked up Luc Richard in the 2nd round. Could be argued he was the 2nd best player taken after Lopez. 2009: #10 Jennings. If the draft were reheld, he'd be picked 2nd or 3rd. Great pick. 2010: #15 Sanders. Hey Now. Might be a good pick. Too soon to tell. [/url] The only picks of those that were considered 'safe' were Bogut and Ford. The rest were reaches. All except likely Jennings and perhaps Sanders turned out to be flops. Not a good percentage. Pryzbilla could have been serviceable, but Karl never gave him a chance. As for Sanders, he wasn't a lottery pick but was right on the cusp. Kind of disappointing to see a mid first rounder in the NBADL. I just don't want them drafting some guy because of his vertical or his wingspan. I also don't want to here about negotiations with some foreign team. This team needs a slasher/scorer in the worst way, and Burks seems to be the best of the bunch for that. Unfortunately I'm thinking that he'll be gone. I watched a lot of Pac10 late night hoops the past few years on FSN. Klay Thompson was pretty inconsistent in college, he'd look awesome in one game and disappear in another. There are other guys in the Pac 10 that I liked better (Malcolm Lee, Isaiah Thomas), as Imentioned above, but both may be 2nd round picks.

This guy looks like a 'mini-me' Mike Myers. Please make him go away.

After wasting lottery picks on Haislip, Yi and Alexander, I disagree. Sanders did not look like a lottery pick last season either. Jennings would be the only exception to this- and the jury is still out on him. The last thing that I want to hear is that some foreign guy 'plays like (insert HOF here)', or some guy is athletic enough 'to jump out of the building', or 'he's only been playing basketball for four years'. There is no excuse to draft a guy in the lottery who doesn't have enough skill to even get off the bench.

This team needs to take the safest pick possible at this point. Hopefully, someone who can put the ball in the basket- but unfortunately at #10, anyone you take will have warts. I'm just hoping that they don't waste another pick on a foreign guy with upside or someone who is an 'incredible athlete'. More specifically, if they take that Thompson from Texas, I'll be tempted to do an Elvis on my television set.

For this season, Wright/Gamel < McGehee/Fielder. This isn't even considering Wright's injuries this season and the fact that I think he's a tad overrated.

I'd rather re-sign Prince for $25 million per than take on Tulo's contract. I have a strong suspicion that Colorado will be regretting that one in a few years.

I'd trade him for 3 all stars, but what team trading for a rental player (obviously in contention) would part with any meaningful pieces? As for Garciaparra, I have a feeling the Red Sox knew something. He was an impending free agent, and never had a big season after 30. He certainly wasn't carrying the team like Prince has been.

The only way that I trade Prince at the deadline is if somehow the Brewers are more than 8 games out at that time. I don't see that happening.

If I remember correctly, even Yount got pretty big nationwide coverage with the "Yount count" in the sports pages, etc.. Obviously, back then the Internet wasn't around to magnify things though.

The 2001 Bucks team was no fluke. Kind of like the Brewers this year, they started like crap and went on a major run. Without the crooked officiating in the ECF, they would have made the NBA finals against a Lakers team that to my best recollection they swept in the regular season. People underrate that team because of the Mason/Karl caused implosion the next year, after which, Karl stupidly blew up the team. It still boggles my mind that Karl traded that entire starting lineup for Joe Smith, Desmond Mason, Toni Kukoc, 30 games of Gary Payton, a first rounder used on T.J. Ford, and a few salary dump guys that never even suited up for them.

I think it would take some very creative backloading as in paying him several years after his career ends. I'm not sure that Prince would be amenable to getting paid like 20 years out, but he might be- based on how his dad squandered his millions.

"The Brewers gave up 8 legitimate prospects for a little under 5 years of Sabathia, Greinke, and Marcum" Giving up 8 prospects for three legit #1/#2 starters doesn't seem like an issue to me at all. The only issue that I can see would be the Sabathia trade was a rental, but he carried the team to the playoffs, so it's tough to dispute that one. Frankly of the three guys in the majors (LaPorta, Brantley and Escobar), the jury is still out on whether they will be above average players. Lawrie has been tearing up the minors this season, but it's still probably a coin-flip whether he will be an impact player in the majors. Cain and Jeffress are even bigger question marks. Odorizzi looks like a nice prospect, but he has a loooong way to go, and the odds are against him being a #1/#2 in the majors as Grienke is right now. Who is the 8th prospect? At any rate, I'm happier trading guys for proven talents and being in first place as opposed to 10 years ago watching a AAAA team and reading about how help is on the way. If it's taught me anything, 30-some years of Brewer fandom has taught me that generally prospects are overrated.

I would agree with you on your first point, because almost everyone in the state is drinking the UW kool aid. However, in my opinion, Badger basketball has no entertainment value whatsoever- it's about as entertaining as watching paint dry. The Bucks were boring last year under Skiles, but the Badgers have pretty much been boring to watch since the mid-90's.