Of the 29 cities represented in the NBA, I’ve quietly been to 10 of them (Detroit, New York City, Chicago, Washington D.C., Minneapolis, Toronto, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Denver, Orlando), I’d like to go to another 8 of them (Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, Portland, and Oklahoma City-solely because of Durant), I never want to go to one of them (New Jersey- The Jersey Shore is the worst thing to ever happen to T.V. but yet ranting about the Jersey Shore has become so overplayed too that I just have to internalize all my pain and sizzle through constant references to “fist pumping” at 9 out of 10 dance parties I go too) and have absolutely no opinion on 9 of them (Atlanta, Charlotte, Sacramento, Oakland, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, Phoenix, Memphis).
But then there’s one city that stands out among all the rest as fitting no category that I’ve mentioned so far. I neither have been there, really want to go there, or will probably ever go there in my entire lifetime. However, I really have nothing against the city and if I were given tickets to a Milwaukee Bucks vs Celtics/Thunder/Heat game I would gladly make the trip across lake Michigan and enjoy a decent time in a decent city. Milwaukee Wisconsin is the most slightly above average but not great city in the country and their basketball team completely matches this persona.
Now there’s nothing wrong with being a slightly above average team. They’re kind of like, well, the Wisconsin Badgers. Both the Wisconsin football and basketball teams will always win about 80% of their games, continually play the right way, but yet never win a championship. Which is completely fine, there are plenty of below average teams in the NBA that the Bucks have separated themselves from. To be one spot away from the top 10 is something to be proud of, but still not something that will ever make me openly decide to visit Milwaukee.
Point Guard
My ranking of the point guards in the NBA is as follows:
- Rajon Rondo
- Derron Williams
- Chris Paul
- Steve Nash
- Derrick Rose
- Russell Westbrook
- Tony Parker
- Chauncey Billups
- Jameer Nelson
10. Tyreke Evans
11. Brandon Jennings
Jennings, just like this team, finds himself right on the edge of being a top 10 caliber guy. I was surprised to see his average was only 15.5 ppg because all I remember from last year was his ridiculous 55 point performance making him the youngest player (20 years old) to score over 50 in a game. It seems like teams have begun to figure out how to guard him so I’m interested to see how he’ll fare this upcoming season. At some point in the future, he, Rose, Evans, and Curry will find their way to the top 5 point guards in the league.
Shooting Guard
On Yahoo.com they list Salmons as a GF (assuming guard forward and not girlfriend). I looked into the 2009-2010 ppg of the “GF” category and once again wasn’t surprised at my results:
- Joe Johnson
- Stephen Jackson
- Paul Pierce
- Andre Iguodola
- Vince Carter
- Caron Butler
- Jason Richardson
- John Salmons
Salmons had a solid 15.4 ppg, which is not spectacular like Joe Johnson’s
21.3, nor is it average like Flip Murray’s 10.0, but instead here Salmons is, slightly above average ready to fill in at shooting guard for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Small Forward
Here’s where the Bucks take a leap into the legitimately good category. Yahoo.com has Maggette listed as an “F” not a small forward, not a power forward, but just a regular forward. In terms of ppg he is only behind Danny Granger with a solid 19.8, 0.2 better than Rudy Gay at #3. Now seeing Maggette as the #2 forward in the league is slightly misleading since LeBron, Durant, and Carmelo all fall under small forward (which I’m not really sure how since they are 6’9, 6’10, 6’8). But at the end of the day a fantasy draft comes around and Durant, LeBron, Melo, and Granger have been picked up, being that #5 guy is a pretty damn good place to be.
Side note, personally I see Quinton Richardson, Al Harrington, and Corey Maggette all as the same exact player. In 30 years when I think back about this era of NBA basketball, those three will have morphed into one memory of a pretty solid forward who played for either the Bucks, Warriors, or Clippers. Of these three clones, Maggette is by far the best one and look for him to be the go to guy the Bucks need to surpass the Hawks and even flirt with a fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Power Forward
Drew Gooden did an interesting thing with his career. Seeing that his raw talent alone wouldn’t elevate him to the top of salary ladder he decided to make a ton of bizarre presentational choices. Long socks, weird facial hair, weird hair-hair, head band, and an overall quirky persona. Somehow when you combine decent talent with decent size but a weird personality you equal a long career and a massive amount of earnings. Most recent contract, 5 year 32 million. Gooden is destined to be the “missing piece” for average teams for the rest of his career (which is code for he will be involved in even more wild 3-5 team trades). While Maggette is above being slightly above average (give that sentence a few re-reads before realizing it somehow sort of makes sense) Gooden is back down at the average or maybe even below average range at 10.8 ppg but a solid 7.8 rpg.
Center
Andrew Bogut. I see him and Mehmet Okur as being the same exact player so forgive me if I start referencing solid seasons Bogut had with the Utah Jazz and role-player minutes he had off the bench for the Detroit Pistons. Bogut is a solid 16 ppg 11 rebound kind of guy who when healthy completes a good “slightly above average big three” of Jennings, Maggette, and Bogut.
Verdict
So if you add up all of the ppg of this starting five you get: 77.4 ppg
Meaning the average ppg of these guys is 15.48. 15 ppg. Slightly above average. What a surprise.
40-40 is average. 55 wins or above is good. The Milwaukee Bucks will finish the season 50-30. Slightly above average.
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