The Bucks….not many huge names (excepting Kareem and Oscar…), but they had some really incredible, often overlooked players, like Sidney Moncrief, Marques Johnson, Bobby Dandridge, and they of course have that legendary 1971 title team…which is where we begin…
(1) 1971 Milwaukee Bucks (66-16)
The legendary Bucks team gets a bye this round…Too bad, I’m eager to see how well Kareem (32-16-3) fares against anyone…Of course, we will also want to get our first glance at the Big O (19-6-8), who they wouldn’t have won a title without. Bobby Dandridge had 18-8-4…and the depth continues. Jon McGlocklin had 16-3-4, while Greg Smith had 12-7, Bob Boozer had 9-5, and Lucius Allen had 7-3-3. No doubt this is the Bucks winner…This is an incredible year, considering this is year 3 of the Bucks…no doubt winners.
(2) 1972 Milwaukee Bucks (63-19) vs. (43) 1994 Milwaukee Bucks (20-62)
Kareem may look even better this year…but the depth isn’t as distributed. No Boozer or no Smith this year (Smith does play, but only for 28 games…). Kareem dominated, in probably his best season….get ready….he had 35-17-5….That’s right…it’s comparable to Baylor’s 35-20-5…only he’d have less points, and boards if adjusted for the year…Incredible…Oscar barely slipped a bit, now averaging 17-5-8, while Dandridge kept his game at a high level with his 18-8-3. Lucius Allen upped his game to a 14-3-4 level, while Jon McGlocklin had 11-2-3. They lost in the West Finals though….
Awful…just plain awful…Rookie Vin Baker had 14-8, and Eric Murdock had 15-3-7, while Todd Day had 13-4…Glenn Robinson came at 1st overall from this….
(3) 1973 Milwaukee Bucks (60-22) vs. (42) 1996 Milwaukee Bucks (25-57)
Kareem cooled down a bit (30-16-5), but was still incredibly dominant. Oscar isn’t dominant anymore, but is still a very useful 16-5-8 nightly. Bobby Dandridge got an even bigger 20-8 nightly, while Lucius Allen had 16-4-5…not bad…but couldn’t get out of the semis….
Vin Baker had 21-10, and rookie Glenn Robinson had 20-6-4 (impressive debut…he doesn’t get much better than this….), while Sherman Douglas had 12-2-6.
(4) 1981 Milwaukee Bucks (60-22) vs. (41) 2008 Milwaukee Bucks (26-56)
Weird…don’t remember the Bucks being 60-win good in the 80s…But when you look at it…it actually IS a pretty good team. Marques Johnson had 20-7-5 (Johnson oddly wore his first name on his jersey……Anyone know why?), and center Bob Lanier (coming over from Detroit last year for…Kent Benson and a first rounder…) had 14-6. Junior Bridgeman had 17-4-3, and a second-year Sidney Moncrief had 14-5-3, while Quinn Buckner had 13-4-5. Mickey Johnson had 13-7-4. Not bad, and it may make it pretty far, but I can’t see a 32 year old Bob Lanier coming CLOSE to stopping ANY Kareem on Milwaukee.
Not a good team at all…Guess who came from this? That’s right! Joe Alexander! But first, we see Michael Redd in his last season before injuries take over, average 23-4-3, while Mo Williams has 17-4-6. Andrew Bogut had a 14-10 season, and Charlie Villanueva had 12-6. Yi debuted with 9-5 (after averaging 25-12 in China…more proof Chinese stats are grossly inflated…I think we got all the proof we needed when Yao averaged 32-19 before coming to the NBA…).
(5) 1974 Milwaukee Bucks (59-23) vs. (40) 1969 Milwaukee Bucks (27-55)
Another high level Kareem year, though he keeps on slipping down…he still had 27-15-5 this year (but 30-16-5 the previous..). Oscar is in his last season, putting up 13-4-6 to end a successful career. Bobby Dandridge is still phenomenal, averaging 19-7, while Lucius Allen averages 18-4-5. Not a bad team…but not up to the earlier standards of Milwaukee…
So here we meet the original Milwaukee Bucks…And you know who it got them…that’s right, Kareem (Lew) himself! Flynn Robinson had 20-4-5, and Jon McGlocklin had 20-4-4…Len Chappell had 15-8, Wayne Embry had 13-9, and Guy Rodgers added 10-3-7. Seems like a lot of worn out players in Embry and Rodgers…but some great young talent in McGlocklin…
(6) 1985 Milwaukee Bucks (59-23) vs. (39) 2007 Milwaukee Bucks (28-54)
This looks like a really good front three, with Terry Cummings (24-9) leading the way. Sidney Moncrief had a 22-5-5 year, and Paul Pressey manned the backcourt with 16-5-7…I bet this team makes it pretty far in the Bucks tourney…
Teams like this really aren’t fun to write about…Michael Redd played only 53 games this year, averaging 27-4-2 in them, while Mo Williams had 17-5-6, Ruben Patterson had 15-5, and Andrew Bogut had 12-9 in his sophomore year….
(7) 1986 Milwaukee Bucks (57-25) vs. (38) 1993 Milwaukee Bucks (28-54)
Another good year for the Bucks threesome, with Cummings (20-9), Moncrief (20-5-5) and Pressey (14-5-8) all having good years, as they are joined by the breakout Ricky Pierce (14-3-2). Pretty good team; a worse 1985, only with Ricky Pierce doing better.
Blue Edwards (17-5) and Frank Brickowski (17-6) were at the helm (Brickowski is in one of my favorite NBA moments ever…Remember in the 1996 Finals when Rodman gets a tied up with Frank, and at a free throw directly following ((not shot by Brickowski…)), Rodman is standing next to him, with a hilarious small grin, taunting him…he’s just facing him during a free throw and smirking! One of the most hilarious moments ever in the NBA…). Eric Murdock had 14-4-8, and Todd Day had 14-4…Moses Malone made an 11 game appearance, averaging 5-4…he IS 37….
(8) 1970 Milwaukee Bucks (56-26) vs. (37) 2005 Milwaukee Bucks (30-52)
So we’re now in Kareem’s rookie year (but this is before Oscar came here…). The future rookie stars are debuting this year, and they both did very well…Kareem had 29-15-4 and Bobby Dandridge debuted for 13-8-4. Flynn Robinson had another 20+ point year, averaging 22-3-6 this year. Jon McGlocklin had 18-3-4…this really isn’t a bad team…
Sure Michael Redd (23-4) was pretty good…but the rest of the team isn’t really…Desmond Mason had 17-4-3, Joe Smith had 11-7, and Mo Williams added 10-3-6.
(9) 1982 Milwaukee Bucks (55-27) vs. (36) 1977 Milwaukee Bucks (30-52)
Not too bad…you obviously have a good base when Marques Johnson (17-6-4) and Sidney Moncrief (20-7-5) are your best players…Bob Lanier slipped down to 14-5 averages this year, while Brian Winters had 16-3-4. Quinn Buckner and Mickey Johnson both added 13 points, while Bobby Dandridge (5-2-1) made an 11 game appearance…
Pretty good team (I bet they beat 1982…), not record wise, but they have some pretty good talent. Dandridge had 21-6-4, while Brian Winters had 19-3-4. Junior Bridgeman had 14-5, and Swen Nater had 13-12. Rookie Alex English (5-3) made an unimpressive debut…
(10) 2001 Milwaukee Bucks (52-30) vs. (35) 1992 Milwaukee Bucks (31-51)
Here’s Ray Allen’s first Milwaukee led team…You may remember this team getting to a game 7 with Philly before losing in the East Finals….this is actually a pretty good team. Ray Ray had 22-5-5, while Glenn Robinson had 22-7. Sam Cassell manned the backcourt, averaging 18-4-8. Not too much else, but that is a solid team there (unless you count Tim Thomas ((13-4)) to be significant….). Rookie Michael Redd showcased his skills in 6 games, averaging 2-1-0 in them.
Nothing special here….Dale Ellis had 16 points, Jay Humphries had 14-3-7, and Moses Malone had one final decent year, averaging 16-9, before he officially became washed-up…
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