Bucks make their Free Agency move!

So the Bucks have been one of the earliest movers in this year's off season, they've made a few trades to bring in CDR and Corey Maggette and now they've struck one of the first deals in the free agency market by signing Drew Gooden to a 5 year, 32 million dollar contract. I like the contract's monetary value, not necessarily the length... 3 years, 20 million would have sat a lot better with me. Gooden is the epitome of NBA journeyman, he's been on about 6 teams in the last 3 years. I'm not sure what the logic behind this was, after we drafted 3 big men and already have Ilyasova. My major hope? This was the first step of a multi phased plan that Hammond has to make a trade to steal some players from teams looking to dump cap room for this monster FA season. Ilyasova's contract is very tempting for his value vs cap hit, so maybe Hammond is planning on using Gooden as a stop gap while the guys he drafted get NBA-ready and dealing Ersan.

Did I just use the term multi phased plan as if to insinuate that John Hammond was some sort of evil genius? You bet your ass I did. Fear the Deer.

Do or Die

Well, today is put up or shut up time for the Deer. Game 7. Can the Bucks figure out how to make a basket? Will they realize that Al Horford can't guard Brandon Jennings? Will Jennings and Salmons drive to the hoop on switches rather than settling for jumpshots? Will David Stern allow a Bucks victory (see 2001 Eastern Conference finals)? Lots of questions to be answered. Noon. ABC. Winner gets to see Dwight Howard put up 30 and 20 against them four times.

In another do or die situation, Hoffman came in and looked not terrible, an inning after Hawkins cam in and looked not terrible, an inning after Yo did his best Yo impression single handedly getting a win with pitching and an HR. Is it just me or do the fans in San Diego (at least last night) not completely understand baseball? They were raining boos on EVERY call, good and bad against the Padres, after Adrian Gonzalez and Bud Black got kicked out for complaining about a pitch right down the middle. Finally, does anyone understand why Craig Coshun does a bunch of Brewer games in place of Brian Anderson? Is Anderson on TBS on weekend? Does anyone care?

Three Quotes for Bucks/Hawks (Which Is now outdated) and Some Other Stuff

(ED NOTE: I started writing this on Wednesday. Obviously it is now totally outdated, but could apply to a game 7 win. Also, Salmons just bricked another jumper.)

To summarize the rather shocking win by the Bucks over Hawks last night, here are three quotes that I received via Blackberry Message from my wise younger brother (and I'm paraphrasing):



1) "The Hawks should be fucking embarrassed. They have no excuse.": This is true. On paper, the Hawks should have swept the Bucks. They have the three best players in the series. The Bucks might have one all-star caliber player. The talent difference is monumental. The Hawks just don't seem to care.

2) "Scott Skiles is the best coach the Bucks ever had.": What he has done the last week has been nothing short of amazing. This collection of cast-offs and corpses has no business even being in the playoffs, much less being on the verge of winning a series. What is going to happen when Hammond's plan comes to fruition in 2011 and he has some actual talent to work with? Basketball (at least this week) appears to be back in Milwaukee, and it is thanks to Skiles getting the most out of the best Hammonds could do. Lets just hope he doesn't wear out his welcome.

3) "Fuck the Hawks": Agreed. Josh Smith is a prick.

OTHER THINGS

-The Brewers are not playing well. At all.

-Beer Review: "Moon Man No Coast Pale Ale" by New Glarus. Pretty fucking good.

Ouch. And Thanks For Coming.

I was actually looking forward to a Bucks playoff run. I had considered shelling out some money to go to a playoff game. And then this happened. And I'm not sure how the Bucks are going to compete. They will get to the playoffs. But I doubt they will win a game without Bogut. I don't think Amare Stoudamire intentionally pushed Bogut. I've watched the replay like the Zapruder film, and didn't see a push that would've caused the fall. If David Stern thinks different, he should suspend Amare for a long ass time.