David Stern utters the "C" word

[TFoA]

I wonder if anyone ever plays as the Bucks in a video game. Why would you?

To see how many points you can score as Brandon Jennings?

Jennings, Bogut, & maybe Ilyasova (because I'm a fan of obscure European NBAers) would be the only reasons I'd ever play with the Bucks in a video game.

[The_Admiral]

Playing as the Bucks in video games should have a "Tolerate Scott Skiles Staring Straight Into Your Eyes And Screaming In Your Face For Being Out Of Position" feature. If it's in the game, it's in the game.

[Lee.]

I wonder if anyone ever plays as the Bucks in a video game. Why would you?

I suppose if you're from with Wisconsin you might. Other then that....I donno. Though I should talk. I doubt anyone outside of southern Ontario plays as the Raptors.

With Bosh gone, I doubt anyone inside Southern Ontario plays as the Raptors.

On a side note, if anyone has NBA JAM for the Wii, I highly recommend using the mascot code and playing as The Raptor. Not only does he have better stats than pretty much basketball player in history, but listening to the announcer shout "THE RAPTOR, WITH AN AMAZING DISPLAY OF ATHLETICISM" is pretty higoddamnlarious.

[mania]

I personally like to play as really dog teams when I play 2K11, at least in The Association, because it's fun to gut the hell out of them, and build around draft picks while trying to sign a big name FA.

[Mac the Knife]

Contract the NBA down to 16 teams. Everyone makes the playoffs. Problem solved.

[Gary]

Contract the NBA down to 16 teams. Everyone makes the playoffs. Problem solved.

Who makes the cut?

[crashcarson15]

Cultural Teams: A well-established team with rabid fans. Win/Loss is somewhat irrelevant as die-hards show up every game. Cavs,

I really hate to point that out since the rest of the post was pretty decent, but I gotta. That team had absolutely no support before LeBron got there. I think for a few years they were at the bottom of the league when it came to attendance. Then again, it's totally understandable when the face of the franchise is Zydrunas Ilgaukas.

Thank you. Win/loss is totally relevant to Cavs fans. That's why they showed up in the Lebron era and that's why they averaged 11,000 a night the year before he got there. The Cavs don't have fans. The Cavs had people who were into the trend of going to Cavs games because they had the best basketball player in the world and thought the Cavs would be the team to end their championship drought. The buzz around the Cavs this year is non-existant. They don't have rabid fans at all, moreover, any city would've behaved the same way they did had that Cavs team played in their town.

I just hate this revisionist history (and I hear it all the time) that puts the Cavs and their fans into that level of team supporters. They were a horrible fanbase before Lebron James and they'll be a horrible one afterwards. This current Cavs bunch reminds me a lot of the teams that were around before Lebron arrived and I expect the fans to support them in the same way.

Ya know, even as a Cavs fan, this is true. I still think that had the NHL gone to Cleveland instead of Pittsburgh in 1967, the Cavs would have never existed and Cleveland would make a really good hockey town.

[Lee.]

And now, here's Maz with a Penguins rant.

[smith03]

My link

From the owner of the Wolves

[pianoknight]

FYI - I didn't mean to eliminate the Bucks entirely. Just maybe merge them with the 'Wolves.

For what it's worth, the Bucks are probably 65% of that equation and Minnesota is maybe 35%.

[Legend]

I say ax the whole NBA.

I'd be ok with that. I probably wouldn't notice, other than the few times I watch ESPN wouldn't be 75% NBA.

That would be nice.

[illwauk]

@pianoknight

Extreme "homer-ism" here, or maybe not. The Bucks are not a "bottom feeder" as you said. The team does have 2 Finals appearances (1 World Championship), multiple division titles and playoff appearances in the 70's. During that stretch they have had 3 of the best players in the game in Lew Alcindor/Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, and Junior Bridgeman. Also in that time period they only failed to miss the playoffs TWICE. Yeah guys like Kareem and Oscar left towards the end of the decade, but the 80's wouldn't disappoint. Carrying over from the 70's starting in 1979 the team would make a 12 year playoff run ending in 1991. During that stretch the Showtime Lakers and the dominate Celtics were running the landscape of the NBA. The Knicks were a very good team and the Pistons and Bulls were establishing themselves in the Eastern Conference. Not to mention the teams the 76ers were able to put together. The Bucks would win their division 7 out of the 12 years. The 90's got rough, though towards the end of the decade powered by the "Big Three," would return to the playoffs capping that off with a division crown in 2001 and coming within ONE game of making the franchise's third Finals appearance. The 2000's would get rough. The team would only make it to the playoffs three times, all ousted in the first round. Until 2009 when later that season they would make a run in 2010 at the Central Division title coming up short to the Cavs. This was also the start of the "Fear the Deer" era in the teams history, featuring one of the leagues rising stars in Brandon Jennings, and a hopefully healthy and strong Andrew Bogut in the paint.

The Bucks have also had some little known coaches in their history too. Names like Larry Costello who would lead them to the 2 Finals appearances. Don Nelson would then take the helm from him. After Nelly would be Del Harris. Flash forward to the 90's when Mike Dunleavy would take control and build the team that would later return to prominence under George Karl.

If anything the Bucks have as much of a storied history and relevance to the NBA as do some of your "Hallmark" franchises. Granted they don't have the rings other teams do. But, they haven't exactly been a slacker organization.

Just my 2 pennies.

As much as I enjoyed watching the Bucks in the 80s and as much as it pains me to say this, I think the Milwaukee sports landscape would be better off without them. Yes, the Bucks have some history (although I'm surprised to see some folks considering them a "traditional" club), but the MECCA-era Bucks and the BC-era Bucks may as well be two different franchises. For all the great things he's done in politics, Herb Kohl has never cared about putting a winning team on the floor... hell, he funded a brand new arena for UW-Madison while he continues to claim the BC is outdated.

Besides, Milwaukee has had butt-monkey status in the NBA ever since Kareem's "let me down talk the city until they trade me to LA" ploy back in the 70s and not even Kareem eventually taking back pretty much all he said has removed said status. A team with the Bucks record over the past two decades would be lucky to draw half as many people anywhere else and the people who pay the ridiculous price of NBA tickets shouldn't have to be subjected to a bunch of ignorant brats whining about how nothing "major" goes on in the dead of winter in a cold northern city. I'd gladly give up the Bucks for a MLS or NHL team.

[The_Admiral]

That little Andrew Bogut fan section is kind of cool but only serves to reinforce that Milwaukee is more a college hoops town than pro these days. Panthers games at the Mecca would probably be pretty fun.

[illwauk]

That little Andrew Bogut fan section is kind of cool but only serves to reinforce that Milwaukee is more a college hoops town than pro these days.

Not to mention "Fear The Deer," which is quintessentially collegiate.

Panthers games at the Mecca would probably be pretty fun.

The Panthers moved most of their home games to the MECCA during the Bruce Pearl era, which was great for tournament games when they actually packed the place. But even back then, they still had trouble even reaching half-capacity during the season. Now they're lucky if they draw 2,500 and there's talk of moving back to the Klotsche Center for all games that don't involve the Badgers, Marquette or the Horizon League tourney.

Of course this has a lot to do with being a mid-major program that plays right across the street from the NBA and arguably the best conference in college hoops. The dynamics would certainly change with the Bucks out of the picture, which (for me, anyway) is just another reason to get rid of them. The NBA really only seems to work in Top 10 markets and smaller cities where they're the only game in town.