subject: Milwaukee Bucks Tickets - Here To Stay? [print this page] Last season, nobody saw the Milwaukee Bucks coming. The team was coming off a 34-48 season and a generally underwhelming offseason in which they drafted a point guard that had struggled throughout a one-year stint in Europe. If anyone knew Michael Redd was only going to play in 18 games in 2009-10, they probably would have written the Bucks off more than they were already doing. But if any team was truly the surprise team of the 2009-10 NBA season, it was the Bucks.
The club managed to amass a 46-36 record, good enough to earn the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Bucks followed up a solid regular season by taking the heavily-favored Atlanta Hawks to a seventh game in the first round, showing the team's future to be bright. But will the Bucks continue to grow this season, or will they take a step back?
The Bucks are powered by point guard Brandon Jennings. Jennings struggled in Europe for several reasons, one being that his game is tailor-made for the NBA, not Europe.
Jennings is lightning quick and has a knack for making jaw-dropping plays. He's a pass-first point guard, but actually did a good job of putting the ball in the basket last season, which was a big part of his role. After putting up a 55-point game very early into his NBA career, Jennings immediately became the biggest draw there is for Milwaukee Bucks tickets.
Jennings went through his fair share of rookie struggles and actually had some problems shooting the ball during the season, but he still managed to average 15.5 points and 5.7 assists per game while becoming a leader. He also showed his ability to shine in big moments with some impressive performances in the postseason.
While Jennings' literal arrival was probably the biggest factor in the Bucks' turnaround last season, center Andrew Bogut's metaphorical arrival was a close second. Bogut was an unheralded number one pick in the 2005 draft and had spent his first few seasons in the pros playing solid basketball, but also being overshadowed by standouts from the same draft class like Chris Paul and Deron Williams. However, Bogut was slowly developing and finally experienced his breakout season in 2009-10. Bogut averaged 16 points 10 boards and 2.5 blocks last season as a key cog in the team's resurgence. He suffered an ugly injury toward the end of the regular season and missed the playoffs, but should be back and ready to go this year.
A major factor in the Bucks' late-season surge was the acquisition of shooting guard John Salmons in a trade with Chicago. Salmons gave the team another perimeter player that could create his own shot and was a big reason the Bucks nearly stole their first-round series with the Hawks. Salmons re-upped with the team this offseason and is in line to be the starting two-guard in Milwaukee for the foreseeable future. The team also landed Corey Maggette this offseason, another player that can create his own shot. Maggette gives the Bucks a player that can basically get to the line at will and should significantly bolster their offensive attack. Drew Gooden at power forward should round out the starting five.
The Milwaukee bench consists of solid players like Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Keyon Dooling, Chris Douglas-Roberts and Ersan Ilyasova. The team also selected VCU's Larry Sanders with their 2010 first-round pick. While Sanders might not contribute a ton in 2010-11, he oozes upside. He's a physical freak that excels at blocking shots and running the floor, and could be an important piece of the puzzle in the future. All in all, I like the Bucks' prospects for the upcoming NBA season and I think they have a bright future in this league. They'll need to hit on a stud player to elevate themselves to the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference, but for now they should be a playoff team for the foreseeable future.
