No Regard Presidential Previews: Milwaukee Bucks (James Monroe)

Oh the season. Oh the season! Election or NBA, both are upon us. We're getting into the spirit by bringing you our season previews (with a little help from the presidents). One per day for the next 30 days—which will bring us to the Day of Reckoning. So please join us on the campaign trail as we shake hands, kiss babies and sink jumpers.

“It is only when the people become ignorant and corrupt, when they degenerate into a populace, that they are incapable of exercising their sovereignty.” - James Monroe


James Monroe was a Founding Father of the United States. A great patriot, he was elected in a landslide in 1816 after serving as a U.S. Senator, Governor of Virginia and Ambassador to France. His diplomacy skills would be needed domestically during his time in office, as the sectional dispute over Missouri's admittance to the union threatened to rip the country apart. A great compromise was reached, allowing the delicate balance of the nation to continue for a few more decades before the South seceded. 

The Milwaukee Bucks, by all accounts, have been a below average franchise over the past decade or so. Since the departures of Ray Allen and George Karl in 2003, the Bucks have mired in mediocrity. As Monroe's most important moments arguably came before his Presidency in keeping European interests out of the new nation and participating in the founding of the United States, the Bucks' greatest moments came decades ago, when a squad led by legends Oscar Robertson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then Lew Alcindor) swept the Baltimore Bullets for the title in the Bucks' third year of existence. The past several seasons in Milwaukee have been more reflective of Monroe's post-presidential years, which were marred by personal financial problems and the sale of his plantation, but his name remains among the most influential of his time.

As previously mentioned, the fifth President of the United States had the momentous task of reconciling the admission of Missouri as a slave state to the union without losing control of the senate by adding two more slave-state members. To hedge against this, Monroe admitted Maine (then a satellite region of Massachusetts) as a free state, thus maintaining the balance of power in the country. The new-look Bucks face a balancing act of their own, with shoot-first backcourt mates Monta Ellis and No Regard Favorite Brandon Jennings lending new meaning to "not enough basketballs." Ellis was acquired in exchange for former #1 overall pick Andrew Bogut, his disfigured arms and all-time headcase Stephen Jackson, who has a large tattoo of a handgun on his chest and a brand new track out with Kevin Durant. Coach Scott Skiles will have to find enough touches for Ellis and Jennings while keeping them happy, or it's another season where nobody Fears the Deer. 

The Monroe Doctrine announced America's intent to stay neutral in European affairs, intending to let the new country develop on its own rather than asserting influence on the rest of the world. Ellis, Jennings, Ekpe Udoh and rookie John Henson will need to grow together quickly to assert themselves into the affairs of the rest of the Eastern Conference and become relevant again. This team has the look of a squad that will hover just below .500, but get a random 12-point win in Boston or Miami and temporarily scare the croup out of the rest of the conference. Can the young Bucks (too easy) grow together and contend for the 8th seed in the East, becoming the Team You Don't Want to Face? Will Ellis and Jennings be able to share the ball and remain effective? Why is Beno Udrih making $7 million for this team?

Rushed Pull-Up Jumpers

Pokemon who the team should adopt as its new mascot: Doduo



Headline we'll be most sick of reading: "Dalembert Provides Quiet Leadership"

Headline we're most looking forward to: "Alien vs. Marquis Daniels Flops at Box Office"

If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you enter the pearly gates?: "Oh yeah you guys took the Hawks to seven games a couple years ago. I forgot about you guys!"

Forgetting Brandon Jennings

Three years ago I watched the NBA draft—as I always do—with one player at the top of my radar, one guy who got me so excited that I knew I'd have reached as much as necessary to get him if I were a GM. This year, that player was Royce White. In 2011, it was Kemba Walker. 2010, Xavier Henry (my bad). And in 2009, it was Brandon Jennings. I didn't know a ton about Jennings—I had heard his name come up a bit during his senior year of high school and I had seen him in Gunnin' For That #1 Spot—but I knew more than most friends I talked to. A few months before the draft, someone tipped me off to one of his YouTube mixes, and I would end up watching that video (below) and other similar ones dozens of times before the big night rolled around.

Dude had the kind of game that I drool over. The dunks, the crossover, the Spidey Sense passing, and the style. Oh the style. That kind of fade-plus-shades combination doesn't swagger its way across your computer screen every day. I also read about his decision to get around the NBA's college-encouraging eligibility rules by going to play in Italy for a year, and despite the hardships he faced, I admired his choice to take a draft position risk in order to get professional experience and make a little money. I was, it's fair to say, all in on Brandon Jennings.

On that draft night, when the Milwaukee Bucks selected him with the 10th pick (too late, if you had asked me), I jumped out of my chair and declared to everyone I was with that he was going to be one of the best and most exciting players in the league. I saw him as the future of point guards in the league, and I insisted that he was going to enter the stratus of elite playmakers who would change the way offenses were run. I expected that by 2012, we would all be talking about Brandon Jennings, all the time.

But we're not. In fact, we barely ever talk about him, do we? We don't pick him for All-Star teams. We don't mention his name as part of the Westbrook-Rose-Wall point guard revolution conversation. And we sure as shit don't consider him for an Olympic spot. It seems that many of us have forgotten about Brandon Jennings altogether.

This, despite his 55-point game during his rookie season (perhaps the one moment in the past three years when the basketball world has focused on him for an evening). This, despite continued flashy, rewind-worthy plays. Most egregiously, this, despite a 2011-2012 season in which he put up 19.1 points, 5.5 assists and 1.6 steals per game (and improved his previously sub-40% field goal percentage to a moderately more respectable .418). Jennings was thiiiiiis close to being a top 20 scorer this past season, but you’d never know it from his ghost status in water cooler conversations and his lack of any major accolades.

Recently came news that Jennings, who had previously indicated that he would like to explore major-market teams when he becomes a free agent after the 2012-2013 season, would now be entirely open to staying in Milwaukee if they put together the right offer. Many will see this as the good guy move, the thing that a player like Jennings—young, with sometimes questionable on-court decisions—should say as he tries to become a better player and more marketable star. But based on the numbers and the eyeballs, Jennings is already a very, very good player who should be counting endorsement stacks all offseason long. He’s not though, and along with his occasional sloppiness and his team’s injury woes, you have to acknowledge that playing in the city of Milwaukee has something to do with that. The Bucks are not only a small market team, they are a small market team that has been pretty much middling for as long as I can remember. They are not an old team in a new, sports-starved city with several fantastic management decisions, draft picks and coaching assignments. No, they are not the Oklahoma City Thunder.

This is not me stating, a year in advance, that Jennings should jump ship on The Deer for a more cosmopolitan climate. This is me absolutely understanding some frustration on the part of a young man who has done pretty incredible work, but has lived in the shadows of other uber-athletic point guards who have entered the league in the past five years. This is me reminding all of us—you, me and everyone we know—that there’s a talent up in the North Midwest who deserves our attention during the upcoming season. Let’s all remember not to forget Brandon Jennings, and come this time next year, hopefully whatever we say and write about him—whatever he decides—will be on the tail of many previous words and much previous ink.

No Regard Recap: Ever Since The Weigh In, I Knew He Was Petro

One Game We Watched Last Night: Indiana Pacers vs. New Jersey Nets

Pacers: 108, Nets: 94

No one will believe me, but there was a 60-second stretch last night when Johan Petro made three positive plays in a row. Honestly. This happened. I rewound the DVR four times to make sure. In the second quarter, the Pacers secured a defensive rebound and got an outlet pass to Louis Amundson. Petro, trailing, changed his path, cut off Amundson from behind and blocked the layup attempt. I swear. On the following trip back down the court, he parked himself at the right elbow, caught a pass, squared his shoulders and made a jumper. This is true. The Pacers then got the ball down to the other end, someone missed a shot and Petro (I swear) got the rebound. This is all true. (But I will admit, I just checked the box score again to make sure he recorded at least one rebound. He did.) He then made a few boneheaded plays that forced Avery to yank him, but I mean, when you play with woefully uncoordinated French fire, you're going to get burned.

Oh, also, Mr. Candace Parker played great, despite the 1-9 shooting. Really, he played very good defense.

Another also: Free Jordan Farmar.

One Game We Didn't Watch Last Night: Milwaukee Bucks vs. Denver Nuggets





Bucks: 86, Nuggets: 91

No Regard Preview: Work To Be Done

One Game We Will Definitely Watch Tonight: Indiana Pacers vs. New Jersey Nets

You know how going to work is the worst? How even if you have a pretty alright job, going to work in the morning is the worst? So does Deron Williams. He has to go to work every day and pass the ball to Johan Petro, who is bad at catching basketballs.

So you know what? Johan Petro also probably hates going to work because he's very under-qualified for the job he's been hired to do, and his work day is televised.

In fact, right now all the Nets look like they hate going to work. I don't blame them, it's been awful for us fans as well. But tonight we're all going back. I hope there's at least a birthday today so I get a cupcake.


One Game We Probably Won't Watch Tonight: Milwaukee Bucks vs. Denver Nuggets

I would love to watch this game. Love to. But I'm just trying to be honest here. A holiday week was an odd time for the season to start. Family commitments, friend commitments and drinking commitments have prevented me from watching many games other than my Netsies. So as much as I'd love to check in on the Brandon Jennings-Stephen Jackson Tower of Terror (and seriously, I can't wait to see what this looks like), I just don't have enough eyeballs.

Tonight I need to check in on Greg Monroe and Jonas Jerebko as they try and not let Dwight grab every rebound ever made. I need to watch Mike D'Antoni drool over the most Mike D'Antoni player ever in Andrea Bargnani. I need to be reminded that Ricky Rubio is real. I need to see if the Mavs are ready to prove how important the second win of a season can be. I need to learn what Enes Kanter looks like. I need to find out what new vaccine LeBron and Wade have invented for tonight. Heck, I even feel compelled to see what new way the Washington Wizards have found to waste talent.

There's just too much I haven't seen yet in this young season to spend any time peeping Nene and Bogut bump into each other. And that's after I watch the Nets lose another one.

No Regard Previews: A New Show On Broadway

One Game We Will Definitely Watch Tonight:
New York Knicks vs. Milwaukee Bucks

The scene is going to be wild tonight during the first game of the Melo Era in Madison Sqaure Garden. After almost a decade of terrible decisions, and pathetic basketball teams, New York Knick nation has a right to be ridiculously excited. And who better to take over the Big Apple than one of its own, Carmelo Anthony? This evening's game marks the start of something special for both New York City and the NBA. Seriously.

No Regard Daily Recap: Can There Really Be Only One?



Yeah, I know that's not Chris Paul on the far right, but 3/4s ain't bad.

One Game We Watched Last Night: New Orleans Hornets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder

Hornets: 89, Thunder: 95

And One Game We Couldn't Help But Watch For A Bit Because The Point Guards Are So Good: Milwaukee Bucks vs. Utah Jazz

Bucks: 88, Jazz: 109


Point guards are really all that matter anymore. We've known this for some time now, but every night in the 2010-2011 NBA season is a blinding reminder. When I look at the schedule each afternoon, it reads not as a collection of teams, but a table of point guards. That's why I was surprised yesterday when Adam picked the Utah-Milwaukee contest as the game we probably wouldn't watch. But that's Brandon Jennings against Deron Williams! I thought to myself. Then I read what Adam actually wrote, only to hear that the Bucks would be decimated by injury, surely leading to them start at least one dude who has no business in a starting line-up (that turned out to be Larry Sanders), and giving relatively big minutes to someone I've never heard of (a person named Jon Brockman played 19 minutes). Still, I couldn't help peeking in a few times to see the two guards hopscotch with one another—and to make sure Deron Williams' hair still looked like it came from The Fifth Element future.

The game I did watch from start to finish, though, was a point guard game of chicken. The quickest way to say it is that Russell Westbrook outplayed Chris Paul (not to mention his own teammate Kevin Durant) in the fourth quarter, positioning his team for the win.

The longer way to explain what happened is that the NBA has turned into Highlander for the league's best point guards. Each night the top guys try to decapitate whichever guard stands in their way, with the eventual goal of being the final immortal standing. Guys who would have done damage in years past—Jameer Nelson, Raymond Felton, and even Tyreke Evans after what Derrick Rose did to him the other night—look like they've never held a blade before. The 2010-2011 season is the time of The Gathering, folks.

You can tell Chris Paul is not pleased with any of this. He thought he's lobbed off enough heads a few years ago to be considered number one, but an ungodly influx of young new point guards has forced him to polish his blade and start slicing. (Interestingly enough, his sword kind of looks like a huge knee brace now.) Last night his craftiness was one quarter away from besting Westbrook's athleticism, but Westbrook took over in the fourth. No one man should have all that power those Cheetos.

No Regard Daily Preview: Starry West

One Game We Will Definitely Watch Tonight: New Orleans Hornets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder


When the season began, these two teams were in very different positions. The Thunder were the darlings of the basketball media and expectations were higher than for any team in the West that doesn't include Kobe Bryant. And while they haven't been bad, per se, their early season performance has been overshadowed by, among other teams, the New Orleans Hornets, who won their first eight games and 12 of their first 13. The Hornets have struggled a bit of late, losing to the shit-hot Spurs and Jazz and the shit Clippers. Tonight is a chance for the Hornets to get back on track and the Thunder to remind everyone that they're still the most exciting team that side of the Mississippi. This could be a preview of what would surely be a second round playoff match-up for the ages.


One Game We Probably Won't Watch Tonight: Milwaukee Bucks vs. Utah Jazz


The Bucks look to be shorthanded for a game that already seemed unlikely to go in their favor. With Carlos Delfino out and Andrew Bogut, Corey Maggette, and Drew Gooden all questionable, the Deer will be relying heavily on Brandon Jennings, who will be kept quite busy by Deron Williams. The Jazz have won five in a row. Don't look for that streak to come close to ending tonight. As a matter of fact, we're not going to look at all.

No Regard Daily Preview: Happy Hour 11-12-10

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you may remember a feature we started this offseason, NBA Happy Hour. This Friday feature gave readers the opportunity to get drunk while, let's say, watching the FIBA championship game, by giving them certain things to look for and celebrate. We are now carrying this idea over to our weekend previews, in which we will tell you one game we'll be watching over the next three days, one game we won't be watching, and ways one could creatively reach Blackout City while enjoying either one. So without further ado: Grab a beer, follow the rules, and start the weekend with a Don Nelson-level buzz.

One Game We Will Definitely Watch This Weekend: Golden State Warriors vs. Milwaukee Bucks


Drink every time: