As the Bucks get ready to open their National Basketball Association season Wednesday night in Detroit, head coach Terry Stotts is hoping to build on last season's playoff appearance.
The Bucks were 40-42 in Stotts' first season at the helm, a 10-game improvement from the previous season. Milwaukee lost to Detroit in the first round of the playoffs. Stotts took his share of criticism from those who felt the team underachieved and "backed" into post-season play. Before the Bucks recent preseason game in Green Bay, I spoke with Stotts about his hopes for the season ahead and the perceptions about last season.
OnMilwaukee.com: How much more comfortable are you in your second year as Bucks head coach?
Terry Stotts: I think it's a question of being more comfortable with the players on the team. Last year, outside of Michael Redd and Ervin Johnson, everybody was pretty much new to me.
Now this year, even though we have a lot of new faces, a lot of the guys we're counting on, I've gone through a season with them. It makes my job easier and it makes it easier for them because of knowing the form of communication and understanding what's expected. I think that's made it easier.
OMC: How challenging has it been to run this camp without two of your starters (the injured Andrew Bogut and Bobby Simmons)?
TS: It's been good and bad. A lot of what we're trying to do is predicated on Andrew's strength as a big man passing. A lot of the offense we've put in has revolved around that. Bobby, as a three-point shooter, that's going to be a big part of our game as well.
You want to know what you have going into the season so that's been a challenge. At the same time, it's allowed us to look at Ruben (Patterson) and David (Noel) and Ersan (Ilyasova) and Brian (Skinner) and Danny (Gadzuric) where maybe if those two guys had been healthy, we wouldn't have had that. Ersan and David have really shown themselves well and they may not have had that chance.
OMC: Can this team play defense at the level that you want and that you need them to in order to get where you want to go?
TS: We're capable of it. When we added Steve Blake Ruben Patterson, Brian Skinner and David Noel, we've added players with a defensive component. We have Charlie Bell. All players have strengths and weaknesses so when you add good defensive players to your team, you should be a better defensive team.
Right now, I'm a little concerned with our rebounding. We haven't rebounded the ball well at either end. I'm less concerned with it at the offensive end than at the defensive end. We've been very good taking charges, we've been good getting deflections,. We're doing both those things better than we did last year.
Then again, we haven't been able to play Bobby and Andrew, so that will require an adjustment. I think we'll be a better defensive team than last year and with a young team you just need to keep improving in that area.
OMC: How aggressive do you want Mo (Williams) to be with his shot now that he's running the point as your starter?
TS: I want Mo to play basketball. I don't want to inhibit him from taking shots. He needs to have the confidence to shoot the ball when he's open and know that it's okay.
As a shooter, if you're questioning whether you should shoot or pass, you're not going to make the shot. He needs to have the freedom to take the shots that he needs to take. At the same time, running the point, getting other people involved, I think he's done well.
He's made a comment that he's been in the league three years and each year he's had a different role. So this is going to be the fourth year for him so I think he's capable of doing it. Everybody talks about a point guard shooting too much or setting people up. He's got to play his game and shooting is a strength of his. I don't want to inhibit that.
OMC: Last year, I remember from media day on that you were very guarded in throwing expectations out there and I got the feeling that you felt some outside expectations got a little bit out of hand and maybe unrealistic and that colored the perception of that team the whole season. Am I fair in that and what's your hope for this year?
TS: The hope for this year is to improve on last year. At this time last year, very few people outside of Milwaukee though we'd be a playoff team. As a matter of fact, I looked over some of the preseason predictions and we were picked 10th, 11th, 12th last year. So we were the 8th seed and made the playoffs.
I look at right now where the supposed experts have us. Very few of them have us making the playoffs this year. That's fine. My expectation is to improve on last year. That means more wins, that means a higher playoff seed, that means doing better in the playoffs. Those are our goals. As far as last year, I don't know what the local feeling was but I know that we got off to a good start. We had a bad stretch in the middle where we didn't win some close games.
The season on a whole, it could have finished better but if you looked at what happened at the end and what we wanted to happen at the beginning, it was successful season. I think a lot of it was the anticipation of getting the number one pick, Andrew Bogut. You look over the history of the number one pick.
Over the last 20 years, Chris Webber, David Robinson and Tim Duncan were the only number one picks to make it to the playoffs (as rookies). So I think it was an accomplishment that we made the playoffs and Andrew was a part of that. It was an accomplishment that we made the playoffs without an All-Star. I think it was an accomplishment that we broke some NBA records. Fewest turnovers, three point field goals in a quarter.
I was looking at the Dallas media guide and they were talking about how Dallas improved their defense last year and how they held opponents to a team-record 13 times under 100 points. Well, last year we held opponents under 95 for 12 games, which is even more impressive. We did a lot of good things last year but when you have the 5th or 6th seed right there if you get a win, then it kind of leaves a little bit of bitterness. But I do know that when I went around this summer, talking to my peers, all the coaches in the league, that they were impressed with what we did, especially with a young team.
That's the other thing -- the majority of our players that were playing had never even been to the playoffs. When you take all of those things into consideration...I don't want to be satisfied or sit here and say we're satisfied but at the same time I think you have to give that team last year credit for what it did accomplish.
The Bucks were 40-42 in Stotts' first season at the helm, a 10-game improvement from the previous season. Milwaukee lost to Detroit in the first round of the playoffs. Stotts took his share of criticism from those who felt the team underachieved and "backed" into post-season play. Before the Bucks recent preseason game in Green Bay, I spoke with Stotts about his hopes for the season ahead and the perceptions about last season.
OnMilwaukee.com: How much more comfortable are you in your second year as Bucks head coach?
Terry Stotts: I think it's a question of being more comfortable with the players on the team. Last year, outside of Michael Redd and Ervin Johnson, everybody was pretty much new to me.
Now this year, even though we have a lot of new faces, a lot of the guys we're counting on, I've gone through a season with them. It makes my job easier and it makes it easier for them because of knowing the form of communication and understanding what's expected. I think that's made it easier.
OMC: How challenging has it been to run this camp without two of your starters (the injured Andrew Bogut and Bobby Simmons)?
TS: It's been good and bad. A lot of what we're trying to do is predicated on Andrew's strength as a big man passing. A lot of the offense we've put in has revolved around that. Bobby, as a three-point shooter, that's going to be a big part of our game as well.
You want to know what you have going into the season so that's been a challenge. At the same time, it's allowed us to look at Ruben (Patterson) and David (Noel) and Ersan (Ilyasova) and Brian (Skinner) and Danny (Gadzuric) where maybe if those two guys had been healthy, we wouldn't have had that. Ersan and David have really shown themselves well and they may not have had that chance.
OMC: Can this team play defense at the level that you want and that you need them to in order to get where you want to go?
TS: We're capable of it. When we added Steve Blake Ruben Patterson, Brian Skinner and David Noel, we've added players with a defensive component. We have Charlie Bell. All players have strengths and weaknesses so when you add good defensive players to your team, you should be a better defensive team.
Right now, I'm a little concerned with our rebounding. We haven't rebounded the ball well at either end. I'm less concerned with it at the offensive end than at the defensive end. We've been very good taking charges, we've been good getting deflections,. We're doing both those things better than we did last year.
Then again, we haven't been able to play Bobby and Andrew, so that will require an adjustment. I think we'll be a better defensive team than last year and with a young team you just need to keep improving in that area.
OMC: How aggressive do you want Mo (Williams) to be with his shot now that he's running the point as your starter?
TS: I want Mo to play basketball. I don't want to inhibit him from taking shots. He needs to have the confidence to shoot the ball when he's open and know that it's okay.
As a shooter, if you're questioning whether you should shoot or pass, you're not going to make the shot. He needs to have the freedom to take the shots that he needs to take. At the same time, running the point, getting other people involved, I think he's done well.
He's made a comment that he's been in the league three years and each year he's had a different role. So this is going to be the fourth year for him so I think he's capable of doing it. Everybody talks about a point guard shooting too much or setting people up. He's got to play his game and shooting is a strength of his. I don't want to inhibit that.
OMC: Last year, I remember from media day on that you were very guarded in throwing expectations out there and I got the feeling that you felt some outside expectations got a little bit out of hand and maybe unrealistic and that colored the perception of that team the whole season. Am I fair in that and what's your hope for this year?
TS: The hope for this year is to improve on last year. At this time last year, very few people outside of Milwaukee though we'd be a playoff team. As a matter of fact, I looked over some of the preseason predictions and we were picked 10th, 11th, 12th last year. So we were the 8th seed and made the playoffs.
I look at right now where the supposed experts have us. Very few of them have us making the playoffs this year. That's fine. My expectation is to improve on last year. That means more wins, that means a higher playoff seed, that means doing better in the playoffs. Those are our goals. As far as last year, I don't know what the local feeling was but I know that we got off to a good start. We had a bad stretch in the middle where we didn't win some close games.
The season on a whole, it could have finished better but if you looked at what happened at the end and what we wanted to happen at the beginning, it was successful season. I think a lot of it was the anticipation of getting the number one pick, Andrew Bogut. You look over the history of the number one pick.
Over the last 20 years, Chris Webber, David Robinson and Tim Duncan were the only number one picks to make it to the playoffs (as rookies). So I think it was an accomplishment that we made the playoffs and Andrew was a part of that. It was an accomplishment that we made the playoffs without an All-Star. I think it was an accomplishment that we broke some NBA records. Fewest turnovers, three point field goals in a quarter.
I was looking at the Dallas media guide and they were talking about how Dallas improved their defense last year and how they held opponents to a team-record 13 times under 100 points. Well, last year we held opponents under 95 for 12 games, which is even more impressive. We did a lot of good things last year but when you have the 5th or 6th seed right there if you get a win, then it kind of leaves a little bit of bitterness. But I do know that when I went around this summer, talking to my peers, all the coaches in the league, that they were impressed with what we did, especially with a young team.
That's the other thing -- the majority of our players that were playing had never even been to the playoffs. When you take all of those things into consideration...I don't want to be satisfied or sit here and say we're satisfied but at the same time I think you have to give that team last year credit for what it did accomplish.
Dennis Krause joined OnMilwaukee.com as a contributor on June 16, 2006. He is a two-time Wisconsin Sportscaster of the Year and a regional Emmy-award winner. Dennis has been the color analyst on home games for the Milwaukee Bucks Radio Network for the last 10 years. He has also been involved with the Green Bay Packers Radio Network for 16 years and is currently the host of the "Packers Game Day" pre-game show.
Dennis started his broadcasting career as a radio air personality in the Fox Valley and Milwaukee.
He spent three years as a sportscaster at WMBD radio and television in Peoria, Illinois before joining WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee in 1987 as a weekend sports anchor. Dennis spent 16 years at Channel 4, serving as its Sports Director and 5 and 6 pm sports anchor from 1994-2003.
Dennis grew up in Hartford, Wisconsin and attended UW-Oshkosh. He lives in Thiensville with his wife and two children. He serves as the Community Resource Director for the Mequon-Thiensville School District.
