What a difference a couple of years make. A team that was a Glenn Robinson 15-foot jumper away from the NBA Finals in 2000-'01, on the brink of NBA supremacy, is now the rebuilding, revamped, harmless Milwaukee Bucks team of 2003, picked by many to finish dead last in the Eastern Conference in 2003-'04.
With the departures of George Karl, the Big Three and a couple other rotten apples, this Bucks team, carrying the weight of little expectation, goes from a star-studded starting five to a no-name, new-looking one in just over a season.
And it's not just these main guys. Through trades, buyouts, releases and simple \get the hell out of here"" moves, the Bucks organization has gotten rid of a general manager, head coach, his entire coaching staff, two all-stars, two NBA champions and oh yeah, Anthony Mason.
I know it's hard for basketball fans to interpret the logistics of kicking out the coach and arguably the best players on the team, but believe me, with the bad comes the good and vice versa. The good thing is that the Bucks finally have a group of players that actually care about each other and share a common denominator: winning.
The Bucks Big Three now consists of guard Michael Redd, forward Tim Thomas and rookie point guard T.J. Ford, with all three now forced to develop and complement each other, rather than putting on their own shows. Although experience is not a strong point, they are young, athletic and they hustle for 48 minutes, something any coach would love.
In addition, the return of forward Desmond Mason and the signing of forwards Brian Skinner and Joe Smith give Milwaukee a solid group of team-oriented players that match up very well with Eastern Conference big-men. With height not a major factor in the East, it'll come down to gritty, tough-nosed play, something these guys will bring to the table night in and night out.
To corral this group of young Bucks will be first-year Head Coach and UW-Steven's Point alum Terry Porter. His fiery attitude and enthusiastic coaching style reflect the type of player he always was. He will undoubtedly be a great leader and teacher for this Milwaukee team.??
Whether all these changes will prove beneficial will wait to be seen, but from the first couple of games this season, Bucks fans can see a notable difference in attitude and performance from last year's team.
As many discount the Bucks from any sort of contention other than the number one pick in the 2004 NBA draft, Milwaukee faithful like myself have one thing to say.
Give us a chance. We seriously aren't that bad. Especially since we have the Pink Panther a.k.a. Croatian Sensation, Toni Kukoc.
Arvind Gopalratnam is a senior majoring in journalism. He can be reached for comment at agopalratnam@wisc.edu.
