I hear this one (in some form) at LEAST 5 times a week: "They should just shut up and play. I'd play (insert sport) for 1/10th of what those spoiled rich athletes make"....yeah? Would ya? I think we all would. But here's the problem: YOU CAN'T. You're not good enough. You never were. You either didn't work hard enough or you weren't blessed with the talent to be better than everyone else in your town as a kid. Guess what? Neither was I. Nor were 99% of the rest of the people on this planet. That sucks. I know. We'd all like to play shortstop or quarterback for our favorite teams. Guess what?? But life sucks.
Guess what else? They're human. They have problems like all of us. Family...work...friends...women. I will grant you this: they don't have the financial issues that some of us have. But when they go into a funk (see: Brandon Jennings) and they seem to be upset and not giving their all, I wonder if I've ever had my personal life run into a show of mine and affect my on air performance. Has this happened to you? If you answered "no" then you're either 1 of 2 things: a liar or a robot.
We're human. Just like the athletes. Sometimes they show it when we don't want them too. We damn them for not saying a word and crucify them when they say what's on their mind if it's not the company line.
Cut them (especially the younger ones) some slack. What they do on the court/field/ice/etc is unlike anything else on Earth.
Milwaukee Bucks PG Brandon Jennings said the following after they lost to New Orleans on 2/15: "I can't say I've been playing hard the last couple games...I really haven't. I need to look in the mirror and ask myself if this is something I'm up for." <-----that got everyone upset...and with good reason. If I was a season ticket holder and paid my hard earned money to see a team play, I'd be pretty upset to hear our "star" point guard admit he wasn't playing hard every night. (Hello, randy moss!) I can't blame anyone for being upset with BJ or this whole season so far.
I'm going to look at this with a "glass is half full" mentality real quick...(not a popular viewpoint, i know). Things aren't going well for the Bucks...(duh). I think Brandon is getting bad advice from a certain teammate/party planner. I think the feud between SJax/Skiles is boiling over to the PG who has the entire weight of the team on his back, since #6 went out (again). We've all had bad days, even stretches at work where we just go through the motions. Sometimes our relationships with our coworkers just rub us the wrong way and we wonder, "why?". We get over it, whether through a cool down period, time away, quiet time or just by manning up. I hope for the bucks (and bucks fans) sake that Brandon will use this adversity to grow stronger. I hope that he understands what he's got in front of him. He can have an entire city behind him. I think he WANTS to do good for Milwaukee...i also think it's just bad time for the young buck...As for the spoiled athlete idea? ...well that's tomorrow's blog.
I know I may be in the minority here…and yes, I get it: he was voted it. Here's the thing: Curtis martin is NOT an Hall of Famer. I know…I know…he's got all the numbers…his 14,101 yards? Good for 4th all time. Pro Bowls? Yep-5. All Pro? yep-5 times. I get it…but be honest: When you list off Walter Payton….Jim Brown…Barry Sanders…Eric Dickerson…is the name that comes to mind in that next breath, CURTIS MARTIN? Sure, he was durable (and there's a lot to be said about durability) but does he pass the eye test? Nope. Was he the dominant back of his generation? Nope. Only led the NFL in rushing once. See: Emmitt Smith, Sanders and Thurman Thomas (along with others). And he NEVER won an MVP... Hall of Very Good? NO QUESTION. Hall of FAME?? Not in my eyes...And again, I know what you're thinking; "WICKETT HE WAS VOTED IN". Yep…you're right…but with Chris Carter and Andre Reed still waiting, I think the voters got this one wrong.
Well it's at least a 3 part series....I continue to tell you how I would change ("fix") the Bucks....
Fixing the Bucks (part 3)
GET RID OF STEPHEN JACKSON. Yeah...this one was tough...Does Sjax have talent? Absolutely. Is Sjax the all around best player on the Bucks? Yep. Could they use his talent to win games? Probably. But let's just be honest: IT'S NOT WORKING. He's missed 3 games this season due to suspension/benching/DNPCD (out of 20 so far) and Milwaukee has won all 3: Knicks, Lakers, Pistons. The problem with Sjax is that this has been his M.O. for his entire career. He's 33 and when he doesn't get his way he butts heads with the head coach. Which brings us to the next point: Skiles won't budge. Scott Skiles is from the old school. Hard nosed. "My way or the highway". Stubborn. That doesn't exactly work when trying to "tame" a "Me-first" NBA player who's been in the league as a malcontent for the last 11 years and has millions and millions of dollars. GM John Hammond (with Skiles) took a risk acquiring Sjax. Sadly it did not work. The Bucks need to do whatever they can to move him…maybe to NJ/Brooklyn soon. I hear Dwight Howard wants to play with him…now will Ivan Drago and Jay-Z want to deal with him? Brook Lopez would look mighty nice in Green/Red.
it's still not known whether this is a 3, 5 or 20-part series...but i continue to tell you how I would change ("fix") the Bucks....
Fixing the Bucks (part 2)
LET THEM RUN! Let's be honest....THEY'RE DEER. This is a team full of guys who like to run. There isn't a guy on this roster that wouldn't like to play more uptempo and it STARTS with PG Brandon Jennings. Goodness…just watch him when they actually get on a fast break…he's lightening quickk and he gets to the basket. Sooner or later the refs are going to have to start giving him more calls. And with so many spot up shooters, this could look like the Knicks or the Suns or like Steve Spurriers' Fun & Gun Gators! Even the big man looks more comfortable running! Plain and simple, I think this offense should speed up. Way up.
This may turn into a 5 part series…or just 3 easy steps…or 20…I haven't figured that out yet…but here we go…here's where I'd start to try to get this Bucks team back to the .500 mark and beyond.
Fixing the Bucks (part 1)
Have a consistent lineup- You never know what team you're going to get with Scott Skiles. Example: Jon Leuer went from starting 6 games in a row, to getting ZERO minutes vs Atlanta on Monday. I'm NOT saying Leuer is the key and needs to play more. The starting lineup/rotation is goofy all around. From SJax, to Bogut and everyone in between-nobody has a clue what they're doing on any given night. Skiles says he's looking for consistent play. How can he expect this team to gel and create chemistry when no one (except Brandon Jennings) knows what their role will be that night?
My starting 5? BJ, Sjax, Bogut, del3no, Leuer ….
Heavy bench minutes: Gooden, Luc, Livingston Dunleavy, Harris
Garbage time: Ersan, Sanders, Udrih, Brockman,
Part 2 will come tomorrow….who should be traded??? to be continued….
