The Blueprint for Success

After following the Bucks in St. Louis during this past school year, I got greedy and felt that I needed to be a part of the dear feering going on in Milwaukee.  So with the amazing connections I have in Milwaukee, I managed to finish up my final two papers a day before I was planning on finishing them (Sorry, Dr. Murray and Dr. Gournelos) and snuck up to Milwaukee in time for Game 6.  We all know how Game 6 and Game 7 went for the Bucks and I couldn't help but feel responsible.  Because I felt so guilty, I felt it necessary to layout a plan for success for the Bucks this offseason.  A blueprint for success, if you will.

1. Resign John Salmons
• This is obviously only the case if Salmons was to decide to exercise the player option of his current deal and opt to become a free agent.  If Salmons opts to become a free agent this summer, resigning him should immediately become the Bucks first priority.  The addition of Salmons at the trade deadline was huge and Salmons immediately stepped into the Bucks lineup and became the go-to-guy in the fourth quarter that the Bucks were missing.  Without Salmons, the Bucks will not have a consistent scoring option on the wing and will have to rely on Brandon Jennings to be a scorer, a role which makes the Bucks worse as a team.
2. Get Bogut and Redd Healthy
• Today, even with missing the last 6 games of the season, Andrew Bogut was named to the ALL-NBA 3rd team.  Bogut was an absolute beast this year for the Bucks and was much of the reason for the Bucks' success.  Most impressive was Bogut's improvement on defense, where he averaged 2.5 blocks per game, which was second in the league only behind Defensive Player of the Year Dwight Howard.
• Along with getting Bogut back, the Bucks will also get a healthy Michael Redd back on the team.  Though Redd has not been able to remain healthy the last few years, a healthy Michael Redd can be a truly dangerous scoring threat and could definitely help the Bucks next season in their quest to return to the playoffs for a second straight here.
3. Show Michael Redd game film of Jamal Crawford (Hawks '09-'10) and Ben Gordon (Bulls '08-'09).
• Without Michael Redd for most of the past season, the Bucks were able to make the playoffs and their chemistry seemed much better without Redd.  I believe the biggest mistake the Bucks could be next season would be to place Michael Redd back into the starting lineup based on his past accomplishments instead of his actual ability.  Instead, the Bucks should force Michael Redd to watch the game film of Crawford and Gordon and understand what it is like to be the "gunner" coming off of the bench.  Many of the best teams in the league have a player than can score in bunchs off of the bench and they are the players that fuel many of the team's runs.  Look no further than the way Jamal Crawford played in the last couple games of their first round series against the Bucks this year.  The Bucks need a gunner to fuel their scoring while Jennings and Salmons are on the bench.
4. Get more athletic through the draft.
• In the Bucks' midseason trade with the Bulls, the Bucks swapped picks with the Bulls and moved up two picks to the 15th pick of the first round.  With this pick, it is essential for the Bucks to become more athletic, whether it is at small forward, shooting guard, or power forward.  In my personal opinion, Ekpe Udoh would be a great pick for the Bucks because he is someone that could finish in the lane and elevate above the rim.  Another great pick would be Xavier Henry, if he would fall to the Bucks.  The Bucks were second last in the league in shooting percentage because of their reliance on jump shots and an athletic forward or guard would help the Bucks get into the lane and get better shots.