[Jenneral]

Quote

The Mavericks might be the hottest team in the NBA, but the Bucks might be the scariest -- especially for the elite teams in the Eastern Conference. Since dealing for scorer John Salmons at the deadline, Milwaukee has won 10 of its 11 games, with the last two coming against the Cavaliers and the Celtics.

With their recent surge, the Bucks find themselves in the top 10 this week. As for everyone else? Read on to see where your favorites landed in this edition of our rankings.

1. Mavericks (44-21) | Prev.: 1
2. Magic (45-20) | Prev.: 3
3. Cavaliers (50-15) | Prev.: 4
4. Lakers (47-18) | Prev.: 2
5. Jazz (41-22) | Prev.: 10
6. Suns (40-25) | Prev.: 5
7. Nuggets (42-21) | Prev.: 6
8. Thunder (38-24) | Prev.: 7
9. Bucks (34-29) | Prev.: 13
10. Celtics (40-22) | Prev.: 9

FanHouse -- Click Link for Full Rankings and Analysis

[Confidence]

The Hawks at 13 really surprises me, they should be moved above the Bucks imo. Sure they lost to the Knicks three times this season, but they have some quality wins this season and they're still the fourth best squad in the East by record.

As for the Lakers 4th is a good spot for the time being.

[Force]

10 outta their last 11...man thats impressive. I thought Milwuakee had fallen off the map after their hot start.

[Jenneral]

Force, on 10 March 2010 - 08:45 PM, said:

10 outta their last 11...man thats impressive. I thought Milwuakee had fallen off the map after their hot start.

Salmons IN and Redd OUT. One can only hope they keep it like that next season. Salmons has a player option - hopefully he accepts it. If he does, we can do what the Rockets did with T-Mac this year and just let him stay at home, as far away from the team as possible. Bogut has even hinted at the team being better off without Redd.

Maybe then we can make a deadline deal to get some additional picks for him.

Either way... Bogut is playing like the first overall pick he was supposed to be. And even though Jennings' shooting has been poor (picking up lately) he's a huge reason to our success. I could care less about ROY and I hope he feels the same way as long as we make the playoffs. He's going to be a great player in the league, he just needs more time to fine tune certain aspects of his game.

Also, am I the only one that finds it kind of funny that a 5th seed in the East probably wouldn't even make the playoffs in the West?

[Real Deal]

Forgot Jennings. It's about Bogut. The guy has an improved offensive game, he's becoming a leader, and shockingly, his defense is actually better. For a while, I figured he would stick around as that "good center" we've known him to be, but now he's playing solid basketball, and I'd consider him an all-star-caliber player right now.

That may have a little to do with Jennings and Salmons, as they take the load off of Bogut offensively. Salmons is actually averaging 19 PPG as a Buck. However, nobody can really ignore Drew's play and the impact he's having on Milwaukee's season.

[Kobe24]

Wasnt there a stat where bucks are like 20-0 or something when Bogut gets 20/10.. or something like that. Damnit, cant remember.

Anyways, the Bucks could be a tough team to beat in the East but I doubt they can beat Cavs or Magic.

[travesy3]

They aren't a threat to the top level teams. They have a nice roster, got Salmons dirt cheap, I've always liked Salmons' game since he ditched us for SAC

Bucks aren't coming out of the first round with a rookie at PG, especially a rookie like Jennings.

MIL is in the same group as CHI, MIA, TOR, they are just hot right now like Toronto was 2 weeks ago.

Also co-sign Bogut, they are finally getting him the rock. Keep Redd away from this team.

This post has been edited by travesy3: 11 March 2010 - 10:48 PM

[Lone Wolf]

Bogut for MIP, IMO. Took a while for the first pick in the first round to live up to his potential.. but hey, at least he's up there now.

[Jenneral]

Lone Wolf, on 11 March 2010 - 07:18 PM, said:

Bogut for MIP, IMO. Took a while for the first pick in the first round to live up to his potential.. but hey, at least he's up there now.

Yeah, it definitely took awhile. A season or two longer than most Bucks fans would have liked. But like you said, at least he got to where any thought he could be.

Looking back, I don't think I would have taken anyone in that draft. Possibly Deron Williams or Chris Paul but coming across the talent in a 7 footer that Bogut possesses is tough. A lot tougher than an all-star caliber guard.

[Sun Tzu]

I'm so glad the Bucks have gotten better. Bogut has been impressive so far this season and has helped them a lot. The Bucks have really put a fair share of upsets this season as well.

[Erick Blasco]

I'm a big fan of how Milwaukee plays and gets the most out of itself.

One concern though, they haven't really beaten anybody of note on their winning streak, aside from the stuck-in-the-mud Celtics. They face Utah tonight. Win that game and it will justify their win streak as a product of really good basketball.

One interesting note, Milwaukee's been considered the fourth most fundamental team in the NBA according to a junk stat by Basketballprospectus.

Quote

Team TOV% DRB% eFG%v FT% TOUCH DALE
Mavericks .123 .739 .495 .818 .0174 5.231
Hawks .112 .728 .500 .764 .0169 5.212
Lakers .124 .747 .479 .769 .0168 5.168
Bucks .124 .769 .487 .748 .0167 5.146
Spurs .129 .757 .485 .744 .0170 5.104
Jazz .142 .750 .491 .738 .0189 5.091
Blazers .125 .745 .501 .790 .0160 5.088
Hornets .125 .738 .517 .789 .0166 5.085
Nuggets .134 .725 .495 .774 .0171 5.046
Raptors .128 .730 .509 .763 .0169 5.044
Cavaliers .138 .771 .477 .725 .0169 5.041
Rockets .134 .743 .502 .763 .0169 5.030
Heat .127 .750 .485 .750 .0155 5.030
Suns .137 .706 .496 .768 .0177 5.025
Bulls .135 .741 .482 .761 .0163 5.025
Thunder .143 .728 .474 .794 .0162 5.004
Pacers .141 .735 .490 .779 .0166 4.999
Knicks .131 .722 .519 .771 .0168 4.997
Magic .137 .775 .477 .725 .0158 4.986
Celtics .150 .740 .480 .739 .0175 4.970
76ers .135 .730 .513 .773 .0163 4.963
Warriors .137 .693 .519 .772 .0175 4.958
Wizards .135 .726 .500 .761 .0156 4.925
Kings .139 .726 .503 .728 .0165 4.897
Clippers .148 .734 .501 .730 .0171 4.892
Grizzlies .138 .730 .517 .734 .0162 4.871
Pistons .133 .739 .512 .715 .0156 4.871
Bobcats .152 .746 .495 .747 .0160 4.852
T-wolves .146 .740 .519 .740 .0163 4.845
Nets .142 .714 .518 .778 .0154 4.832

http://basketballpro...p?articleid=987

This post has been edited by Erick Blasco: 12 March 2010 - 06:44 AM