Wolves Beat Bucks / Saturday Notes

David Sherman/NBAE/Getty Images

• Minnesota routed the Bucks 106-85 in Minneapolis, as the Bucks ended the preseason with a thud (box score). Minnesota made every shot they took in the first quarter, and while the Bucks eventually rallied to within five early in the third, another run by the Wolves put the game away by the start of the fourth. Mo, Redd, Simmons, Villanueva and Gadzuric started.
  
• The Wolves shot 61% for the game, and spent much of the first half close to 80%. Listening on the radio it was hard to tell how much of it was bad defense and how much of it was hot shooting, but needless to say it was a big step backwards for a team trying to establish a defensive identity.
  
• Al Jefferson had an easy time of it with 24/12 on 9/12 fg, but the lesser players also shot exceptionally well. Tough to win when Rashad McCants, Ryan Gomes, and Theo Ratliff shoot a combined 19/23 from the field.
  
• Turnovers were again a major problem, the Bucks racking up 27 TOs. Amazingly Minnesota was even worse with 30 TOs. Still, "sloppy" has been perhaps the defining adjective of the Bucks' preseason offense.
  
• The Bucks' PGs were especially poor, with Mo Williams racking up 5 TOs in the first quarter and Royal Ivey 7 TOs in the game.
• Dan Gadzuric had 16/8.
  
• Charlie Bell sparked the offense in the second quarter with 10 points, but left the game in the third with a leg injury. Ted Davis said he didn't leave the bench and it wasn't mentioned in the JS game report, so hopefully it's nothing serious.
• Yi had 13 points on just 2/6 from the field, but was active drawing fouls down low (9/12 ft). He also blocked a pair of shots, had no turnovers and just one foul.
• Krystkowiak wasn't happy:

  “It was pathetic," said Bucks coach Larry Krystkowiak. "For all the talk about our defensive effort. A lot of that was shot right down the drain. But I don’t mind being exposed right now. That’s just going to create a little more focus. We learned a lot in the preseason and we finished it off with a really poor effort. That’s an indication that we’ve got a lot more work to do.”

• Alex at Boeder Bucks takes a look at Marty Burns' rookie predictions as well as NBA.com's initial rookie rankings.
• Gery Woelfel reported last week that Michael Ruffin's contract required he be cut by October 26 or his contract becomes guaranteed. It's now October 27, so that leaves Ramon Sessions as the only NG'ed contract on the team. Woelfel expects Sessions to stay, which makes sense to me.
  

Friday Bucks Notes

Mo and Redd were both rested vs. the Bulls Jonathan Daniel/Getty/NBAE

• The Bulls routed the Bucks 97-81 in Chicago last night (recap). Check out video highlights here. Pretty predictable outcome given Mo and Redd rested ahead of tonight's game in Minnesota, while Bogut missed out with his sprained left wrist. Fortunately Bogut is expected to play in the season opener. Other notes:
• The patchwork starting lineup was Bell, Mason, Simmons, Villanueva and Gadzuric.
  
• Charlie Villanueva started for the first time this preseason and was the Bucks' best player for the second straight game. He scored 19 on 6/10 fg along with 8 rebounds and a couple blocks in 27 minutes. Like on Tuesday, he was aggressive going to the hoop and showed some renewed interest on defense.
• Yi never really seemed in the flow of things, finishing 2/7 with 7 points and 3 rebounds in 21 minutes. Both of his field goals were on mid-range jumpers.
  
• Charlie Bell's line was better than Royal Ivey's, but Bell still seems less comfortable running the offense than Ivey.
• Jim Paschke was kind enough to mention us on his blog, while we've also infiltrated ESPN. Baby steps, people.
• Dave Cotey has a good summary of Yi's first month in the NBA. While ESPN and everyone else was more than happy to report Yi's purported "no comment" to the age question on his first day of practice, here's something I bet they won't report:

  The 19-year-old Yi's age continues to be a hot topic. After not commenting on the subject when he first arrived, he eventually addressed the claims that he is older than listed.

  "I feel nothing uncomfortable with people asking these questions, but as I've said numerous times, I was born in 1987," Yi said. "Those questions are meaningless to me."

  When the "no comment" story broke, one of the Chinese posters at RealGM said Yi actually responded rather dismissively to the question--as you can imagine, he's heard the question before and doesn't appreciate having to answer it constantly--but that his interpreter tried to be more diplomatic by issuing a "no comment." Of course that looked worse in the media, so it's interesting to see this follow-up. But given this quote isn't nearly as interesting, don't expect it to be publicized. And in case you're wondering, I do think Yi is probably 22 (about to turn 23 on Sunday). Also of note is that Larry Harris claims in the article they had Yi rated third overall. My guess is this might be some spin, given most sources suggest Al Horford was correctly third on the Bucks' board.

  "I try to make the team better," Harris said. "I felt we got the best player at six, and I said all along, we would have taken him at three if he were at three. I have all the faith in the world in him, but I don't want to put any pressure on him to perform. We're going to be patient with him and develop him."

• Don Walker writes that David Stern is expecting big things from Yi. Walker also writes that the Yi/Yao matchup on November 9th will be the first between two Chinese players, but Yao has played against Wang Zhizhi four times.

  "...From the NBA's perspective, having another bona fide Chinese superstar in waiting, he's coming here with less exposure and less experience than Yao (Ming), but there are very high hopes for him in his homeland."

  Asked for his reaction to Stern's comments, Yi, who is in Chicago tonight for the Bucks-Chicago Bulls exhibition game, seemed pleased. "This is my first season and there is a need to improve and work hard," he said.

  Asked if he was impressed that Stern singled him out in his remarks to reporters, Yi smiled and asked reporters to thank Stern for his comments.

Camp So Far...

With a week left before the opener in Orlando, it's probably worth taking a look at how the Bucks roster is taking shape. In the interests of full disclosure, I've only seen the first two games and listened to the last four on the radio. So everything here is based on a vague mixture of visual, audio, game reports and second-hand evidence. As always, big credit to the RealGM posters who have shared their first-hand accounts. You can check preseason stats here.

The MACC Fund game gave us our first real insight into what the rotation may look like--Larry Krystkowiak not only had all his players available to him, but he also used them in a manner more consistent with you know, winning games. It looks like LK is looking at a 9-10 man rotation when healthy, with Mo, Redd, Simmons, Yi and Bogut starting. The two forward spots could certainly change, pending Simmons' health and Yi's continued improvement. It seems like the latest murmurs are that Simmons may not yet be physically capable of playing big minutes, so that's the biggest thing to keep an eye on. Off the bench, Bell, Mason (or Simmons), Villanueva, and Gadzuric should see action every night, while Royal Ivey would probably be the next option depending on how Bell fares as a PG. At the end of the bench, Michael Ruffin and Ramon Sessions have non-guaranteed contracts, but both seem likely to stick with the team after the waiving of Samaki Walker brought the Bucks down to the regular season roster limit of 15 players. The rotations were similar two nights ago in Denver, though the Gadzuric and Bogut injuries and Mo Williams' ejection required Ruffin, Ivey and Sessions to get more minutes. On to the players:

Mo Williams - Seems to be showing more hustle defensively and ran the offense very effectively last Saturday (12 assists, 1 TO, 20 points on just 12 shots). If anyone was concerned about Mo slacking off now that he's got his big contract, fear not. Unlike Bell, Mo spent his free agent offseason working daily with noted personal coach Joe Abunassar in Vegas, and looks poised to improve on his breakout season. He seems to be taking his responsibility as a team leader seriously and while he may never be the "pure" point some would like him to be, he has an excellent chance of earning that fat contract. And yes, I'm going to conveniently ignore his 0-5, 2 assist, 2 technical performance...

Michael Redd - Has coasted for much of the preseason, often times not looking for his shot as he tried to allow other guys to get involved in games. In the second Utah game Redd actually had more rebounds (6) than shots (5), which I can guarantee won't happen again this season. Then last night in Denver he tallied 7 assists and 6 rebounds, pretty unheard of numbers for the old Redd. While you don't want Redd getting too far away from the thing he does best, it's encouraging to see this newfound willingness to pass, rebound and defend. While he hasn't been scoring as much, he's obviously the last guy on the team to worry about in that regard. His knee was still a bit sore over the summer but overall he's in great shape, having dropped about 10 pounds and getting his body fat down below 10%.

Charlie Bell - Was admittedly out-of-shape coming into camp and doesn't seem over the stress of his contentious negotiations. Has generally been off. His biggest problem is probably that his wife and kids are in Michigan for the school year, so before we condemn Charlie to trade bait let's give him some time. He's still fairly inexpensive (and untradable until December 20), so the Bucks can afford to be patient while he comes around.

Royal Ivey - One of the bright spots of the early preseason games (low expectations help in this regard), Ivey has shown a willingness to defend and even stick open jumpers. Should Bell continue to struggle, watch for Ivey to possibly steal some of his minutes. Any injury to the backcourt will push him into a more regular rotation spot, and if Simmons misses time look for Ivey to play more PG as Bell slides to SG and Redd more SF.

Ramon Sessions - One of two guys with NG'ed contracts, but he's young and the Bucks seem to like him so all signs suggest he'll make the roster. Hasn't played much at all but should get an opportunity to play in the D-League barring injuries to the backcourt.

Awvee Storey - Just a guy. Hasn't played much but hit some shots in the preseason opener and hasn't played much since. Has shown his reputed chippiness a couple times already, and in general from what we've seen it's kind of hard to tell why he needed a guaranteed deal. Seems likely to be inactive most nights.

Bobby Simmons - Has shot the ball exceptionally well so far when he's played (a silly 63% from the field including 6/9 from three point range), but physically he's still working his way back from his foot injury. Missed a couple games out of precautionary reasons, so that's still a big question mark. Will his foot hold up all season? Will he miss games here and there? Will his minutes be limited in some way? Kind of hard to tell right now, but a healthy Simmons is arguably the biggest x-factor right now for the team. I can't say I'd be willing to bet on him playing 75 games, but I'd be thrilled if he proved me wrong.

Desmond Mason - Some say he's still got that jump in his step, others say he appears slightly older than he did in his first stint with the Bucks. Either way his shot has not been there so far (34% from the field, 60% from the line), which is somewhat disconcerting given his offensive efficiency was well below average the last two seasons. While he can still be a contributor for his defensive effort, athleticism and leadership, he's not likely going to be an above-average starting SF anymore. Fortunately he won't be asked to create much offense if he does have to start. LK has stated he prefers Mason at small forward, but hopefully he's not asked to be a 35 mpg guy.

David Noel - I'm not going to lie, I really haven't noticed Noel this preseason, in either a good or bad way. If Simmons misses time he would move up the depth chart, but something tells me LK will try Redd and CV at the 3 before Noel gets any burn. On the bubble to be active most nights. The Bucks took a flier on him in the second round last year and he has neither embarrassed himself nor given much reason to think he's a diamond in the rough.

Yi Jianlian - Having watched Yi play in both the summer league and a number of international tournaments later in the summer, I have to say I think he's got a great chance to be a special player. Whether he's 19 or 22, his skillset is phenomenal, especially given his size and athleticism. It all starts with a sweet stroke that he can use both on the perimeter and in the post, where he also can use his quickness and good footwork to create shots. Expect to see him used mostly in pick/pop and on the perimeter as a rookie, but rest assured he's got more in his arsenal.

He'll have to deal with culture shock and an abnormal amount of pressure (both here and in China) on top of the usual rookie troubles, so it's not easy guessing what he'll be able to do over a full season. He's still trying to sort out what he can and can't get away with against NBA players (and refs), so he'll have his share of growing pains. Rebounding, foul trouble, turnovers, and guarding strong PFs in the post will all be areas he could struggle with. But everything we've seen in games and heard about practice suggests he's an extremely intelligent guy who learns quickly. So far he's gotten much better over the course of camp, including his excellent 15 point, 12 rebound, 1 turnover game last Saturday. I initially thought he'd come off the bench and be perhaps an 8/4 type guy, but I'm probably going to have to revise that upward a little, perhaps to something closer to Andrea Bargnani last year, only slightly more rebounding and much less three point shooting. With the Bucks' personnel up front I'm really not concerned about him being able to earn the minutes that he's supposedly been guaranteed--the only thing likely to prevent him from getting 20-25 mpg will be foul trouble. He's going to be good, it's just a matter of when. Next year is a much better bet than this year, but as of now he's probably the favorite to start.

Charlie Villanueva - I was definitely in the camp expecting CV to win a starting spot by having a good camp, but so far he'd been losing ground to Yi until last night the Denver game when he went off for 21/11/5. On a good note he's going to do more than Yi at least this year, but it seems like Yi's effort on both ends gives him the edge to start. While you knew his soft defense would be a problem playing for LK, his talent is undeniable and he's got a lot to prove after an injury-plagued first season in Milwaukee. The Bucks seem to be using him largely on the perimeter thus far, which is somewhat disappointing because he has a terrific feel around the hoop (something he took more advantage of last night). I'm hoping we see more aggressiveness from him going forward, though it's possible he's still a little tentative inside after coming back from all the shoulder problems. Keep in mind he faced a difficult rehab from shoulder surgery, so he didn't have the chance to work out much until the end of the summer. While the word is he was privately upset with the Bucks' drafting of Yi, he's saying all the right things and being very professional about the hoopla surrounding a player who likely was drafted to replace him.

CV's always been a tough player to figure out, and unless injuries force him to play more at SF it seems like he's going to be again relegated to more of a supporting role. A year ago CV was being touted as the Bucks' PF of the future, but it's been a rough ride after putting up 18/10 in the first four games last year, mostly due to the shoulder injury he sustained last November in Atlanta (he also had hamstring issues early last year). You can only hope he keeps his head up and works hard on both ends of the court. Coming off the bench could be a good role, as Krystkowiak has said he likes how CV can be an offensive focal point for the second unit. If he doesn't start he's certainly capable of putting up 6th man of the year type stats, especially since he should still get plenty of minutes.

Michael Ruffin - Ruffin was signed to bring a defensive option to the end of the bench, and so far LK has spoken highly enough of him that you'd think he'll still be around on opening night. Ruffin's deal is only NG'ed through October 26th, so we'll know by the end of the week for sure if he's sticking around. Given both Yi and CV aren't defensive stalwarts, Ruffin could see minutes if both of the youngsters are getting killed by foul trouble or if someone on the front line is injured. Otherwise he's a good practice guy.

Andrew Bogut - Count me among those who think Bogut is primed to breakthrough with a 15/10, marginal all-star type season. Like last year, Bogut came into camp with extra bulk, only this time he's strengthened his legs more than his upper body; hopefully that means he'll be strong enough to bang with any bigs down low without sacrificing quickness. In the preseason so far two numbers jump out: he's blocked 8 shots in 5 games and he's shooting 67% from the line. Granted, the sample size is incredibly small, but if Bogut can be around 70% from the line he can afford to be much more aggressive (and efficient) offensively. And given the Bucks were last in the league in shot-blocking, Bogut's ability to average somewhere north of a block per game would be a big help. His shot release looks cleaner this year, which will hopefully mean his mid-range shot will finally be a weapon.

It seems like Bogut has been a year behind in meeting people's expectations his first two seasons; many expected last year's numbers as a rookie, and that he'd be around 15/10 last year. Bogut is the first to admit his consistency wasn't there last year, but now everything seems to be coming together: he's a year wiser, physically stronger, and playing for a coach he seems on the same page with. Now let's cross our fingers that the MRI on his wrist doesn't bring bad news.

Dan Gadzuric - Since signing his six year, $36 million contract in the summer of 2005, Gadzuric has struggled to find a place in the rotation but that could change this year. He actually started two games at PF alongside Bogut to start the preseason, but since then has settled in as the primary backup at center. While he still tends to foul too much, in limited minutes it shouldn't be a huge concern. Where Gadzuric can help most is on the glass; he had the best rebound rate (17.2) of anyone on the Bucks last year and his energy is difficult to match. And while Gadz isn't a lock-down defender he could provide some relief if/when Yi and CV are overmatched.

Jake Voskuhl - Jake's also just a guy. He's smart enough to know what he can and can't get away with, and right now it doesn't look like he'll be relied on very much unless one of the other bigs gets hurt.

Thursday Bucks Notes

Mo didn't have a good time in Denver. AP Photo/David Zalubowski

• The Bucks take on the Bulls tonight at 7:30 CT in Chicago. Listen to the game free on NBA.com. This game is also supposed to be broadcast in China, so watch this space for live Sopcast streams.
• Bogut is listed as day-to-day with the wrist injury he sustained in Denver on Tuesday, but don't read too much into that. X-rays were negative in Denver but an MRI was done yesterday. Charles Gardner writes:

  Bogut underwent a magnetic resonance imaging exam on Wednesday in Chicago, following the Bucks' practice session at Attack Athletics. He did not practice with the team but shot some free throws and did conditioning work on the side. Results of the MRI were not immediately available, and Bucks general manager Larry Harris said Wednesday night that he expected to have the results today.

• Gardner also writes that Dan Gadzuric practiced after missing the Denver game.

  "He's had a couple dings and bruises," Bucks coach Larry Krystkowiak said of Gadzuric. "He played three or four days with a sore knee but didn't complain about it. But it swelled up on him, and he hasn't been completely healthy."

• Sports Illustrated projects the Bucks to finish 11th in the East, but don't expect them to give much explanation as to why. Their preview is mostly just has a write-up on Andrew Bogut
• SI also has a scout's take on the Bucks. Most of it's very reasonable, but if I were to nitpick I'd have to highlight the part about Mo Williams' defense:

  A lot of teams had interest in Mo Williams last summer. He probably isn't worth all of the money he got [six-year deal worth more than $50 million], but he fills a difficult position and he was one of the better free agents available. He's become more of a scorer than a point guard, a shoot-first, pass-second guy. In the long run, that's another reason why Milwaukee is probably not a playoff team, because he looks to score more than to set up the other guys. But Williams also does a good job of keeping opposing point guards out of the paint from half-court. He's very athletic and strong, and he can guard the ball ...

Nuggets Beat Bucks / Wednesday Notes

Yi meets Miss Teen Colorado. Garrett Ellwood/NBAE/Getty

• The Nuggets downed the Bucks 114-102 Tuesday night in Denver, evening their record at 3-3. It was a foul fest with the two teams combining for a whopping 88 free throws. The Bucks trailed most of the game, coming within a bucket of the lead in the final quarter before the immortal Chucky Atkins put the Nuggets over the top. Iverson had 21 to lead Denver. Read the JS recap here. Key facts:
• Charlie Villanueva was the biggest bright spot, filling up the stat sheet with 21 points (9/16 fg), 11 rebounds and 5 assists. He was aggressive going to the hoop all night, which was great to see given his recent tendency to float around the perimeter. If CV wants to step up and seize the starting PF spot that's just fine with me.
  
• Andrew Bogut left the game in the third with what appeared to be a leg injury, but was later revealed to be a left wrist sprain (x-rays negative). Hopefully it's not a serious sprain, because I sprained both wrists when I was in high school and it's not pleasant. Then again, Bogut is probably tougher than a 15-year old me.
  
• Redd also had a nice all around game, scoring 19 points along with 7 assists and 6 boards. Yes, you read that correctly, 7 assists.
  
• Yi was wasteful with 5 turnovers but continued to shoot well from the perimeter. He finished with 12 points on 4/6 fg (1/1 from distance) and 3 rebounds in 24 minutes.
  
• Mo got tossed after disagreeing with a foul call in the third quarter; Mason and LK got techs as well in the sequence.
• Bobby Simmons evidently wasn't interested in playing, picking up 5 fouls in only 8 minutes. He made 1/2 threes.
  
• Gadzuric missed the game with a strained knee.
  
• Truman Reed writes that Yi Jianlian is ready for the spotlight. While you would expect the stuff on Bucks.com to always have a positive spin, I always like Reed's stuff because it's a) long and b) full of quotes. Keep it up, Truman.
  

  "An average NBA game in the United States is viewed by 10 million people," Harris said. "One Friday night Houston Rockets game (with China native Yao Ming on center stage) is viewed by 187 million people in China. Yi comes from the capital city in China that has 15 million people and a province of 74 million people.

  "I've talked to Charlie Villanueva, who's from New York City. They have eight million people there. Yi's city doubles that, plus his province has 74 million people. I don't think people here can really comprehend that."

• Tom Enlund writes that the coaches will likely pick the team captain(s) this weekend. Last year the captains were Redd, Mo and Bogut, with Mason being the only new guy who might be in the captain discussion. It seems like keeping the same captains would be the safe and obvious choice, though I could also see them picking Redd as the sole captain. Those are the two most politically obvious options, so we'll see if the coaches try to send a message or not.
• NBA.com has an interview with Bogut about his journey to the NBA.
  
• Brandon Haraway has a pretty solid preview of the 07/08 Bucks.

  The Bucks should have learned that they can compete in the East after so many straight dismal seasons. They have a true star in Michael Redd, a top pick center in Andrew Bogut, a better than average point guard in Mo Williams, and talent at the forwards positions in the form of Charlie Villnueva, Yi Jianlian, and Bobby Simmons. They have the personnel to do big things in the East, and they should know this, as the majority of this squad went through the good and bad last year. People forget this team was probably playoff-bound last year before Redd went down, and they played all year long without Simmons.

Bucks Fall to Jazz

The Bucks dropped their first BC game of the preseason 92-78 to the Jazz. I listened to most of the game on the radio, so I can't give that much insight into how the team looked, but overall it was an extremely sloppy game. Bobby Simmons did not play, though I haven't seen anything suggesting it was due to injury...let's hope that holds. Mo Williams returned from missing the last game to score 22 pts along with 5 assists, but he also had 6 TOs in 33 minutes. Redd had an interesting stat line, tallying more rebounds (6) than field goal attempts (5) in 24 minutes. And he even blocked a shot! I can't say I'm concerned with Redd's low key preseason so far; he's clearly trying to be more than a scorer, but I doubt once the season starts he'll continue to avoid doing the thing he does best. He does appear serious about keeping teammates involved and bringing more defensive intensity, so hopefully he can do that while still pouring in the points at an efficient clip.

Bogut quietly had a very encouraging line in 22 minutes: 10 points including 4/4 from the line as well as 7 rebounds and 4, count 'em, 4 blocks. Yi meanwhile had another very uneven game, scoring 13 points but racking up a cringe-worthy 8 turnovers. That was a theme for the night, as the Bucks totaled a staggering 30 turnovers. On a positive note, they held the Jazz to only 37.7% from the field.

Friday Bucks Notes

I think we need a caption contest. Gary Dineen/NBA.com

• Charles Gardner writes Mo Williams' shoulder injury isn't thought to be serious.
  

  Williams said he felt a bit of pain when he bumped into Chicago's Viktor Khryapa in the first half on Tuesday. The Bucks guard plans to play with a protective bar pad to protect the shoulder.

  "I'll do everything I can for safety," Williams said. "Training camp is so physical. I think if you get past training camp, I don't think I'll have any problems with it."

  I have to admit, I don't totally get Mo's logic about the regular season being somehow safer than training camp, but I hope he's right. Also check out Gardner's chat transcript from last night.

• Tom Enlund profiles Charlie Villanueva.
  
• Rob Peterson is once again writing for NBA.com, and on the second day of the new NBA.com blog he has some great pictures from the Bucks' outing to a local grocery store. CBS 58 also has brief Redd and Mason interviews from the trip. Rob has been writing great stuff for NBA.com forever, and spent last season focusing on the Central. Meanwhile, Chinese website Sohu has more pictures than anyone else, as always.
  
• The Journal Times now also has a Youtube Channel, where you can watch the Woelfel preview I linked to the other day.
• Larry Lage at the Sporting News has a preview of the 07/08 Bucks, which focuses on Larry Harris' make-or-break year.

  "Just like players, general managers have to produce good results in the final year of their contract," Harris says. "Even though we're a smaller-market team, Sen. Kohl has been very accommodating by allowing us to keep players such as Mo Williams and Michael Redd. Rightfully so, he wants a return on his investment -- financially and emotionally -- by winning."

• The Bucks will again be providing special shuttle service to/from all games this season
• Ersan Ilyasova made his regular season Spanish league debut in FC Barcelona's 86-77 win over Valladolid last weekend, scoring 5 points in 8 minutes of action. I can only assume Barcelona's decision to spell his name "Yliasova" all over their site is some sort of Catalan thing, because I've never seen it spelled that way anywhere else.

Thursday Bucks Notes

• Bob Wolfley at the JS uncovered a video with some insight on the rivalry between Yi's two fan clubs: yifansclub.com and yifansclub.org. It's all in good fun, so don't shoot the messenger, people.
  
• NBA.com highlights of the Bucks' win over the Jazz. Shockingly no Yi!
  
• Steve Luhm's JS recap from the game last night (box score). Luhm writes for the Salt Lake Tribune but I'm guessing the JS didn't send anyone to Utah for the game. As usual, we're left to overanalyze Yi's performance, but I was more interested in the explanation of Mo Williams' absence:

  Sessions benefited from the absence of Mo Williams who, according to Krystkowiak, "dinged" his shoulder Tuesday night against Chicago and was held out as a precaution.

  Keep in mind Mo injured his left shoulder against Denver last year and wore a vest during parts of camp, so keep an eye on this. The offense continues to look ragged but coming into camp we knew that part of the Bucks' game should be fine. The defense was the question, and so far, so good according to Coach K:

  "It's certainly not time to celebrate because it's going to be a work in progress," he said. "But I've been somewhat blown away with our guys' focus defensively" since the start of training camp.

• Luhm also has a brief article on Andrew Bogut, who continues to have fans in Utah after his brief but prestigious college career there.
  
• Marty Burns at CNN/SI writes about Yi's first week in camp. Aside from his comment about Yi being best suited to SF, Burns continues to provide probably the best national media coverage of the Yi situation.
• Charles Gardner writes that Larry Harris was pleased with the Bucks' opener against the Bulls.

  "We had a team defensively that showed great grit throughout the whole game," Harris said. "In the first half we had 10 steals and 15 turnovers we forced. Again, we really focused our first week on defense, and that was very apparent by our aggressiveness.

  "From a players' standpoint, I think Andrew really got us started early. He's played very well in camp. Awvee Storey and Royal Ivey did a nice job off the bench. Desmond Mason did a good job for us to start the game.

  "Mo (Williams) and Michael (Redd) have been through the wars in the pre-season, so they were just kind of getting their feet wet."

• This summer the posters at YaoMania.com, the official Yao Ming fan club, were great for providing pictures, video and commentary on Yi's performances with the Chinese national team, and now they have a board focused on Yi as well.
  

Lynn Greer Heading to Greece

In a somewhat surprising move the Bucks waived backup PG Lynn Greer this afternoon. But don't feel bad for Greer, because in place of playing another year at the NBA minimum he's signing with Greek club Olympiacos for a reported $7 million for two years. After Olympiacos missed out on Sarunas Jasikevicius and Charlie Bell, they were able to negotiate a deal with Greer, who the Bucks were happy to part ways with given their crowded backcourt. So Greer gets a hefty raise and it appears the Bucks don't have to eat his 07/08 salary (ETA: confirmed, the standard contract offset provision in the CBA means the Bucks won't owe Greer anything because of the Olympiacos deal).

A smallish, scoring PG, Greer didn't sniff the floor while the Bucks were healthy last year but had a few nice games during the latter half of the season, averaging 4.1 ppg and 1.3 apg in 41 games. Still, it's probably not a coincidence that the Bucks have three bigger, defensive-oriented guys backing up Mo Williams at the point. If you're keeping score, here's how the Bucks point guard soap opera played out this summer:

July 14: Miami goes after Mo Williams, but Bucks re-sign him at a hefty premium.
September 7: Olympiacos offers Charlie Bell a two-year deal after he's unable to get a better deal from the Bucks or a major offer sheet from anyone else. The Bucks up their offer, but negotiations with Bell break down.
September 11: The Bucks sign second rounder Ramon Sessions
September 17: Bell signs an offer sheet with the Heat, still desperate to shore up their backcourt after not getting Mo Williams.
September 18: Bucks sign former Hawks PG Royal Ivey, claiming it's unrelated to the Bell situation
September 20: Bucks match the Bell offer sheet, making everyone feel awkward
September 24: Bucks release Lynn Greer so he can sign with Olympiacos.

So the Bucks and Olympiacos end up happy, and Miami ends up with Smush Parker. I was concerned Sessions might be the odd man out given he was the only one without a guaranteed contract, but instead Sessions will likely play in the D-League while Ivey is kept as a warm body in Milwaukee. I can only assume this makes Charlie Bell the full-time backup PG given Ivey was never able to find much PT even in Atlanta. Keep in mind Bell's spent most of the past two years at the shooting guard spot, so he's likely to see time there as well while Redd is resting or with Redd at the 3. Ivey's ability to get on the court will thus depend mostly on how Bell is used. Either way the Bucks' backcourt is fairly flexible, as Mo, Bell and Ivey all have experience playing both guard spots.

This also brings the Bucks back down to 16 roster spots, meaning camp invite Angelo Reyes is the most likely cut, followed by Michael Ruffin. Still not sure if Ruffin's deal is guaranteed, but with the Bucks' clear emphasis on stockpiling defenders at the end of the bench Ruffin does seem to fit the profile. I'd throw Awvee Storey into the possible cut discussion, but he was just given a guaranteed contract for whatever reason. If Ruffin is NG'ed it's still possible the Bucks take only 14 into the regular season like last year and wait for an injury before adding another contract. Either way expect a couple more camp invites before all is said and done.

Tragedy struck Greer earlier this year when his fiancee Jillian passed away due to a brain tumor. The mother of Greer's son Lynn III, she had been with Greer since his college days at Temple. Best of luck in Europe, Lynn.

Thursday Bucks Notes

• Michael Redd pumped in a game-high 17 points in Team USA's 112-69 annihilation of Venezuela in the American's opening game of the Tournament of the Americas. Redd shot 7-12 from the field including 3-5 3fg along with three assists and two rebounds in 20 minutes. Carmelo Anthony also scored 17. Here's the box score.
  
• Ersan Ilyasova didn't score in Turkey's 74-68 victory over Latvia. Ilyasova, who last month signed for FC Barcelona, shot 0-2 from the field with one assist and one block in just 16 minutes.
  
• Charles Gardner writes that Mo Williams is working on his game in Vegas. While Mo's numbers were very impressive last year, his decision-making and ability to control a game still needed refinement, and it sounds like Mo is well aware of that criticism:
  

  As the Bucks' starting point guard last season, he played in 68 games and averaged 17.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 6.1 assists a game, all career highs.

  But he eventually wants to be considered among the league's top point guards, moving into a class with his friend and U.S. national team guard Chauncey Billups of the Detroit Pistons.

  "That's my ultimate goal," Williams said. "I talk to Chauncey a lot and pick his brain on a lot of situations.

  "I want to know I'm making the right decision every time and get to the point where instinctively it's the right decision. That's where my game is trying to take another stride."

• Check out some pictures from the Mo Williams/Monta Ellis charity game in Mississippi.
  

Saturday Bucks Notes

• Everyone has an opinion about who should make the cut for Team USA, and it's looking increasingly likely that Michael Redd will squeeze into the final 12-man roster. Lonnie White writes that both Mike Miller and Redd are likely to make the cut as of now.
  
• Steve Ashburner at SI provides a nice overview of the many unsigned restricted free agents still out there, including Charlie Bell.

  "Restricted free agency is designed to give the teams a lot of leverage, and it works,'' said Mark Bartelstein, who lists Bell among his clients. "Free agency is such a fast-moving business that a team that's going to make the offer sheet is nervous to get its money tied up for a week. How many players might you lose out on in the meantime? So unless you're a team that is using cap room to sign a player, teams feel their chances of getting anyone are very slim.''

• Bell scored 42 points in a summer pro-am game a couple weeks ago in his hometown of Flint, Michigan.
  
• Alex Boeder reports on Michael Redd's first experience playing for Team USA.
  
• Yi Jianlian and China were routed 88-55 by Dirk Nowitzki's Germany on Friday in Hamburg. China will play the Germans again on Sunday before heading to Turkey to play in an eight team invitational that will include Ersan Ilyasova's Turkish team. Yi led China with 14 points and 8 rebounds on 4/14 shooting, while Nowitzki scored 16 despite playing sparingly. Yi spoke about the challenge of playing Nowitzki earlier this week:

  "We've kept non-stop training since the Stankovic Cup last month, and I feel good now on the court," said Yi, who topped the statistic rankings in points, rebounds and blocks at the Stankovic Cup continental event.

  Foreseeing the games against the German team led by NBA star center Dirk Nowitzki, the 20-year-old said he's prepared well.

  "I'd better press him more on defence and give him no chance to score," said the 2.12-meter center, who will likely start his first NBA season this summer.

• Mo Williams and Monta Ellis are co-hosting the Mississippi Celebrity Basketball Game today in Jackson. A bunch of current NBA players are slated to participate, including Ruben Patterson, Chauncey Billups, and Al Jefferson.
  

Mo Williams Redux

Not to beat the Mo Williams signing stuff to death, but I stumbled across the full transcript from the press conference announcing his signing and thought a couple parts showed some interesting insight into the negotiating process. You can watch video highlights here as well. You never know how much BS is in these press conferences, since no player is going to say they wanted to go to another city, but they just couldn't turn down the money. Still, the discussion about how Mo was involved in the negotiations (namely that he wasn't really) is kinda interesting. Especially when there's nothing else going on.

Did you catch a lot of flack for saying that Miami was your favorite city in the Bucks Media Guide?
Mo Williams: I guess you should watch what you say sometimes I guess. Miami is a beautiful city especially when we go because it is cold in Milwaukee at the time. On terms of when I said that it was kind of a vacation spot. I will tell you a funny story about Miami. Coming out for the draft, I was working out for a lot of teams. It was three days before the draft and my second-to-last workout was for Miami and I cancelled it. That was the only workout that I cancelled during my workouts for the draft.

Interesting tidbit.

Did you get to talk with Dwyane Wade and Shaq O'Neal when you were down in Miami?
Mo Williams: No, neither was in town. I never was involved with the negotiations at all. My agent did a great job of that, keeping me away from it (and) keeping my emotions out of it as much as possible. He just brought me the information that I needed to know but as far as a lot of other things I wasn’t involved in it.

What do you think about Pat Riley?
Mo Williams: He’s an interesting guy. He’s a legend obviously. If you sit down with Pat (Riley) you’ll appreciate him. He’s a great guy. But I really don’t know him that well. I just know him from the 24 hours I spent with him. You kind of hear what other people say about him but I don’t know him personally. It was fun when we went down there. We had a nice conversation. But at the same time I had to make a decision that was best for me, my career and my family. I had to do the best thing that would make us happy.

It's interesting how media reports played up the role of Wade and Shaq in recruiting Mo, yet here Mo is suggesting he was basically divorced from the negotiating process aside from visiting Miami and talking to Riley. You also get the feeling he wasn't totally sold on Riley for whatever reason.

Was there a time when you thought you were going to lose out on Mo?
Larry Harris: Oh yeah. It’s funny and again Mo can tell you I didn’t speak to him during this time. Only one time did we speak and it was more of a group thing. When you get into that you don’t want it to be personal and it is a business. He has to understand that that’s where you have to kind of separate yourself and it becomes agent representatives and myself and (the) organization. We take the player out of it because it’s too emotional for him. It’s beyond anything you can imagine. Money is important, but (it’s really just) the whole magnitude of all of it, being it is his first time in free agency and everybody is pulling him in all different directions. Players will talk and tell him to go here and go there. They’re telling him I’m hearing they’re offering this I’m hearing they’re offering that. The one thing that was going to be a problem for us was that if there was a team that could recruit him, if there would be a team that felt like they were a step away and (that they needed) a point guard. There were two teams that I feared the most and they were Cleveland and Miami.

Often times negotiations are portrayed as the GM sitting down with the coach and player and hammering something out, but here we see a very different picture (probably due in part to Mo being familiar with the team/city). The player stands back and essentially leaves the entire process to the agent and GM. Definitely a good tactic for the player, as it allows the agent to create uncertainty over the player's intentions, without the player himself having to play the part. It worked out very well for Mo and Mark Bartelstein, as the Bucks' fears of losing Mo led to them giving Mo a much better deal (both in dollar terms and opt-out flexibility) than anyone else could have offered.

Saturday Bucks Notes

Yi Jianlian helped China squeak by Venezuela 64-62 in their opening game of the Stankovic Cup. Yi had 18 points on 4-9 from the field and 10-12 from the line along with 9 rebounds, a block, a steal and four TOs. I saw the last three quarters and it was a similar story to the Vegas Summer League, with Yi and Wang Zhizhi clearly China's two best players yet unable to get involved as much as they should have.

******

Priority Sports: By now they must be big Bucks fans

With only Charlie Bell left to re-sign, it's been pretty quiet on the Bucks' front. The consensus seems to be that the Bucks gave Bell an offer a while ago and let him know that they would match any other team's offer sheet. Which then put Bell's agent Mark Bartelstein in the position of having to drum up interest from other teams who probably know the Bucks will likely match any offer sheet they provide.

Don't feel bad for Bartelstein and his crew at Chicago-based Priority Sports though. He's already coaxed the Bucks into giving two of his other clients--Mo Williams and Jake Voskuhl--pretty nice deals. And Bobby Simmons' $47 million contract from a few years ago? Also Bartelstein's work. I think he owes Herb Kohl a beer. Though in fairness it seems like the majority of overpaid role players count Bartelstein as their agent. I'm thinking of you, Antoine Walker, Brian Cardinal, Mark Blount, and Mikki Moore.

Thursday Bucks Notes

The Journal-Sentinel has a long story on Bobby Simmons' comeback. Simmons' injuries last year were so poorly communicated by the Bucks that it's not surprising many of us are wary of penciling Bobby into the starting lineup, even with Larry Harris claiming he expects Simmons to be ready by training camp. While his first season as a Buck was slightly disappointing, even that level of production would be a huge addition for a Bucks team that by all accounts is not bringing Ruben Patterson back and played much of last year with a three guard (Mo/Bell/Redd) starting lineup.

Unfortunately the Bucks have had a habit for being very unclear about the status of their players' injuries, whether intentional or not. No one really had any idea what the deal was with TJ Ford for over a year, in part because it was such a unique injury. Even so, confusion over the likelihood of a recurrence continues to this day in spite of his doctors' suggestion that the success of his fusion surgery makes him no more at risk than any other player. Simmons meanwhile was supposedly healthy in training camp last year before he was shelved for the year. Then you had the mysterious injuries of the late season tanking last year (Brian Skinner's ebola-strength earaches, anyone?), which are in a whole different category. So while I appreciate the tentative optimism about Simmons' return, I won't be holding my breath either.

*******

Thanks to our resident cap/salary info extraordinaire, we now know the structure of Mo Williams' contract:

07-08 $7,750,000
08-09 $8,353,000
09-10 $8,860,000
10-11 $9,300,000
11-12 $8,500,000 (ETO)
12-13 $8,500,000 (PO)
Total: $51.263 mil

The relatively low salaries in the back end will make his opt-out virtually assured, provided he stays healthy and doesn't inexplicably become an awful player. As a result, the deal is more likely to end up being a four-year deal for $34.263 million or a shade over $8.5 million per year. More importantly, he'll be able to negotiate a new long-term deal (likely for more money) while he's still only 28. Not exactly the ideal structure for the Bucks. Assuming he opts out after four years, Mo's and Redd's deals will be expiring at the same time, meaning their peak salaries will also coincide. In other words, the deal isn't structured to give the Bucks possible luxury tax relef in 2009 either, when Bogut and Villanueva will be getting at least qualifying offers (and possibly starting longer extensions) at the same time that Gadzuric and Simmons are still being overpaid.

********

Bucks.com has a misty-eyed feature on Bucks scout Scott Howard's experiences scouting Yi Jianlian.

“I remember the very first report I wrote on the kid four years ago,” Howard said. “It said, ‘This kid’s gonna be a star.’

“It’s fun and interesting to see when your first impressions are accurate and they come true.”

Whoa Scott, don't get ahead of yourself.

He had exhibited impressive instincts from the very first time he appeared in the U.S., during the 2002 adidas ABCD Camp, but he was also learning and mastering a lot of intangibles.

“He was always a very aware kid with terrific court awareness and reaction time,” said Howard. “I always like that in a player. He’d had a lot of different coaches, including Del Harris (the father of Bucks General Manager Larry Harris), who coached his national team at one time, and a Lithuanian coach who’s coaching his national team now. Because he’d been exposed to so much internationally, that’a a great asset for him.”

“And he’s a team player. There’s no question he’s a team player.”

Howard, who had left the Wizards to become Director of International Player Personnel with the Toronto Raptors for two years, joined the Bucks’ scouting staff in March of 2006. From that point on, he and his colleagues continued following Yi collectively.

“Dave Babcock (the Bucks’ Director of Player Personnel) saw him play in China, and Larry Harris saw him play in Japan and in the Olympics in Athens,” Howard said. “I’ve probably seen him play 30 games in four years.”

In other words, we scouted the hell out of him. Take that, Ric Bucher.

“I always file reports,” he said. “Once there, I filed mine. Everyone (on the Bucks management team) reads that. We had tape of that tournament, and Larry (Harris), Dave (Babcock) and (scout) Scott Roth watched that. We watched Yi play in the Chinese Championships on NBA TV. We had film from the World Championships of him playing against the U.S. 'Dream Team.'”

“The more you saw, the more you were impressed. All of our evaluations said, ‘We’d better start to look real hard at this guy.’”

The members of the Bucks basketball staff continued to keep their eyes and ears open. With the 2007 NBA Draft approaching and Milwaukee slated to pick sixth, the sights and sounds around the league indicated that Yi could very well be on the board when their turn came up.

“We were down to two or three players for our lottery pick,” Howard said. “We all did our research and tried to determine who’d be gone by the time we picked. We figured (Greg) Oden, (Kevin) Durant and probably (Al) Horford would be gone. Then we heard that Mike Conley would probably go to Memphis, which he did. We thought there was a chance Yi might go to Boston, but that didn’t happen.”

By committee, the wheels kept turning.

“We made more phone calls to see if Yi was a worthwhile pick for us, and to see if he wanted to play in the NBA,” Howard said. “From everything we gathered, the pick was a no-brainer.

“Dave (Babcock) had been to China four years ago to talk with Yi’s coach. Larry’s dad had coached him. I know people who know Yi intimately. So we gathered a lot of information on him. At the end of the day, you figure out how to get it done.”

******

Yi Jianlian will be playing for the Chinese National Team in the Stankovic Cup beginning on July 28th. Meanwhile, the Chinese B Team will be headed to the Asian Basketball Championships, which tells you a lot about the quality of Asian hoops. Among the teams China will face is a D-League "ambassador" team including UWM grad Clay Tucker.

Yi and his Chinese colleagues will play five games in five days. If you want to watch these games they should be shown on sopcast--keep an eye on the schedule here.

July 28, Guangzhou
3:30 p.m.: Angola vs. New Zealand
7 p.m.: China vs. Venezuela
9 p.m.: Slovenia vs. D-League Ambassadors

July 29, Guangzhou
3:30 p.m.: Venezuela vs. Angola
7 p.m.: China vs. Slovenia
9 p.m.: New Zealand vs. D-League Ambassadors

July 31, Macao
4 p.m.: D-League Ambassadors vs. Venezuela
7:30 p.m.: Angola vs. China
9:30 p.m.: Slovenia vs. New Zealand

Aug 1, Macao
4 p.m.: D-League Ambassadors vs. Angola
7:30 p.m.: New Zealand vs. China
9:30 p.m.: Venezuela vs. Slovenia

Aug 2, Macao
4 p.m.: Venezuela vs. New Zealand
7:30 p.m.: China vs. D-League Ambassadors
9:30 p.m.: Angola vs. Slovenia

Mo Williams Was Robbed

No, not on his new contract (if anything, he did the robbing by getting player options on the last two years an ETO after four years and a player option for the sixth season). Mo was literally robbed yesterday, though fortunately it was just some thieves hitting up his parked car.

The Bucks' point guard stayed on this week after being heavily courted by the Miami Heat, signing a six-year contract on Tuesday and looking to get his job done with Milwaukee.

By Thursday, however, he was filing information with Milwaukee police alleging that someone broke into his 2005 Dodge Magnum in the 1800 block of E. Kenilworth Ave. about 2:15 a.m.

Thieves got away with two LCD screens from the head rests, a navigation system and a radio/DVD player, according to a police report.

Damage and loss are estimated at $3,000.

You paid that much for two LCDs and an in-dash DVD? C'mon Mo, I picked up the exact same package this morning for just over a grand. Hey wait a minute...uh oh.

Wednesday Bucks Notes

Charles Gardner has more on the Mo Williams deal. Interesting to hear his comments now about how he wasn't that serious about joining the Heat...tough to tell if it's all posturing after the fact.

Although Miami president and coach Pat Riley made his best recruiting pitch to Williams, the 6-foot-1 guard said he had to be pushed to even make the visit to South Beach.

"The funny thing about it, I didn't want to go in the first place," Williams said. "I was saying, 'Let's get it done with Milwaukee.'"

But agent Mark Bartelstein convinced Williams to at least consider the Heat, which desperately wanted to add a point guard to a lineup featuring Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal. Miami was over the salary cap and could offer a maximum of $31.4 million on a five-year deal.

"Everything that looks good on the outside, not everything is peaches and cream on the other side," Williams said. "I know what to expect here. With the talent we have here, bringing Desmond (Mason) back and playing for Larry K. (Krystkowiak), who is a great motivator, things are looking really good.

"I know this team is going to be a good team next year. That wasn't a doubt."

There's also a mention at the end of the article about the team's continued negotiations with Charlie Bell.

Bell also is represented by Bartelstein, the agent for Williams and Bucks forward Bobby Simmons.

"We've been talking throughout the process with Mo," Harris said. "We certainly know he (Bell) wants to be here, and we want to have him here."

******

Watch video of the Desmond Mason press conference.

Mo Williams Contract Details

The Mo Williams Show: Expect these two to be filming a sequel this fall

Mo Williams' new contract will pay him $51.5 million over six years, with player options for the fifth and sixth years. In other words, expect Mo to opt out and look for a bigger deal should he actually play as well as the Bucks hope he can. I haven't seen the way the annual salaries are structured but it will be interesting to see if the deal is front-loaded (like Kirk Hinrich's deal), flat, or with the max allowable 10.5% raises. With Bogut and Villanueva being up for extensions next summer front-loading Mo's deal could give them more breathing room against the luxury tax down the road. But that would also mean Mo would be more likely to opt out after four years, increasing the effective average he will be paid over the first four years. I'd much rather save the money now and make Mo's decision to opt out more difficult.

Mo Williams Officially Signed

Still waiting to hear whether the ETO or sixth-year player options were included in Mo's six year, $52 million deal, but for now you can peruse the Bucks' official press release on Mo's signing. As usual, no terms were disclosed.

“This is a very big day for Mo, his family and for the Milwaukee Bucks,” said Harris. “Mo has worked extremely hard to get to this point and we’re thrilled to have him in a Bucks uniform for many years to come. We see him as a key piece of what we’re trying to accomplish in Milwaukee, and that’s to return to the playoffs and ultimately win an NBA championship.”

Mo Williams Gets 6 years, $52 million

Well, it's done. The Bucks avoided the PR disaster of losing Mo Williams to the Heat for the MLE but had to pony up big time, giving him a six year, $52 million deal likely with an opt-out after four years and player option for the sixth season. I had guessed $45 million over five years, so at $8.67 million per season it's fairly palatable if Mo can continue to improve on his breakout season last year.

That said, the early termination option and sixth year player option increase the value to Mo since he can look for a bigger deal if he continues to improve or take the money if he's a disappointment. For that reason it will be interesting to see how the deal is structured. So long as the Bucks, Mo, and his agent don't announce the terms the Bucks will still be able to use their cap space on free agents, though it's looking increasingly likely that they will not go after any big names. If the Bucks' deal for Williams were to be announced officially they'd still have the MLE to spend on free agents.

Mo Williams Update

Charles Gardner reports the Bucks could be close to a deal with Mo Williams. The latest word is that the Bucks have offered a six-year, $51 million deal, which works out to slightly more per season than the previous five-year, $42 million offer from a couple days ago. If the contract includes max raises then the longer deal would actually have a slightly lower starting salary, and it's possible there could be an early termination provision as well.

UPDATE (on the update): Gery Woelfel is also reporting Williams is closing in on a deal with the Bucks. He figures six years, $48 million, but doesn't mention the reported five year, $42 million offer the Bucks supposedly made on Thursday.

Mark Bartelstein, the agent for thetalented young point guard, said he expects a contract could be signed soon.

"We're geting close to doing something,'' Bartelstein said in a telephone interview Friday night. "It's been a process, but I think there's a good chance something could be done in the next couple of days.''