| Balance Of Power Authored by Zach Eisendrath - August 9, 2005 - 1:51 pm
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Ever since Michael Jordan’s departure from the Chicago Bulls, the East has been viewed as the “J.V. Conference.” Thanks to ping-pong balls, trades, and key free-agent signings- the balance of power is back in the Eastern Conference – at least for the time being. The Milwaukee Bucks are one of the teams leading the extreme power shift taking place this off-season in the NBA. However, that doesn’t mean it will be a smooth road for the Bucks this season.
The NBA schedule was officially released today and the league office definitely didn’t give the Bucks any special consideration. Not only do they open up their season against four Eastern Conference title contenders in their first five games (Philly, New Jersey, Miami, Indiana) – they weren’t granted a single game on national television (besides for NBATV). For one of the most active teams during the off-season –including landing Andrew Bogut – this comes as a pretty big surprise to me. Sure, he isn’t Yao Ming or LeBron James, but I think even casual basketball fans want to see the number one pick in action. Rightfully so, even last years number one pick Dwight Howard got on both TNT and ESPN.
I’m sick of seeing LeBron and Kobe every night. What has either of them won lately? I think it should be fun to watch how Kobe and Phil react to one another, but do I really need to see it 34 times? Instead of watching the Lakers play Seattle; I’d rather watch Andrew Bogut’s one time a year visit back to Utah. No offense to Seattle, heck, I’d love to see Desmond Mason go one on one with Rashard Lewis in primetime. Plus, Ray Allen against the Bucks never gets old. How about watching Michael Redd vs. LeBron? Are they still buddy-buddy after Redd spurned James? Dwayne Wade back in the Bradley Center; T.J. Ford on a Texas road trip –those are just some ways to give a small market team some national exposure. It shows, you can keep the LeBron’s, Kobe’s, and Shaq’s on air and still have some pretty intriguing match-ups against teams with less star power. Come-on national television schedule makers- get a little creative for once!
“At a time where the Bucks are making a handful of moves, we cannot forget about the impact Zaza Pachulia has had and could have if he remains a Buck. The 6’11”, 265 pound forward/center from the Republic of Georgia has tremendous upside potential. I know I sound like Hubie Brown during a NBA Draft, but it’s true. Zaza averaged around six points and five rebounds in a little less than 19 minutes per game. He is only 21 years old! He doubled his numbers from his rookie season in about seven more minutes a game. Imagine what he could do with more minutes!”
That is a quote from a column I wrote two weeks ago about the importance of keeping Zaza Pachulia with the Bucks. Well, who’s ready for Plan B? Larry Harris announced Monday that the Bucks would let Pachulia walk to the Hawks in exchange for nothing. 16 million over four years seemed like a bargain with the potential Zaza posses. Now he will have a great opportunity with plenty of playing time to prove to the Hawks they are getting one of the biggest steals of the off-season.
I just don’t think Larry Harris is that dumb. Letting Zaza walk away for nothing just doesn’t make sense. Big Men are hard to come by in the NBA and surely the Bucks could have gotten something in return from somebody! Sure, Herb Kohl may have told Harris to stop spending his money –but after signing BOBBY SIMMONS for a 47 million dollar deal, would we really pass up this opportunity? Maybe. Maybe not. I have no inside sources but get the feeling Harris has a missing piece to the puzzle that he is waiting to add.
I’m probably wrong and we will end up signing Marcus Fizer to short-term minimum salary deal, but hey, get a little creative for once!
You can email me comments at zach24@wi.rr.com |
