More Rookie Rankings

NBA.com's Dave McMenamin got into the rookie rankings party with a top ten, plus ten.

It's a very different list than Burns', as McMenamin based his rankings only off preseason performances. As such, he is forced to make some interesting choices, like ranking Aaron Gray fifth.

Yi Jianlian doesn't make the first ten, instead falling into the alphabetically listed "next ten."

Rookie Rankings

SI.com's Marty Burns ranked ten impact rookies for this year. It's not exactly a preseason Rookie of the Year list, because he said that his number one, Luis Scola, probably won't win the award. He rates Yi Jianlian number nine.

A sample:

"But he's been up and down in preseason, and the Bucks already have Charlie Villanueva at the power forward position. With the Bucks seeking to return to the playoffs, the guess here is that Yi finds himself in the same limited role as Law."

While that's not quite what voters on this site think, judging by the last couple games, Yi does seem most likely to come off the bench. But he's going to see at least 20 minutes per game, which is probably more of an impact than Burns' number eight choice, Joakim Noah.

Roster Talk

HoopsHype found a couple articles speculating about the Bucks' looming roster decisions:

The Charlotte Observer noted the Bucks might cut Michael Ruffin.

"NBA teams have until Friday to trim their rosters to 15 or fewer players. There's been some speculation the Milwaukee Bucks might cut Michael Ruffin, a player Vincent wanted over the summer. Still, no roster spot means no wiggle room for the Bobcats."

With the tough-luck Bobcats already witnessing big injuries to Sean May and Adam Morrison, they could use a forward. Ruffin has played about as well as Jake Voskuhl this preseason, which is to say he's been borderline adequate.

Meanwhile, Gery Woelfel writes about Ramon Sessions' possible future with the Bucks.
The Bucks are expected to keep second-round draft pick Ramon Sessions. Sessions, a point guard, has been solid throughout training camp.

"It is believed Sessions will start the season with the Bucks and then around the second week of November will likely be assigned to Tulsa, the Bucks' D-League affiliate."

I liked the Sessions pick on draft day and nothing I've seen so far has dissuaded me of that opinion. Then again, Royal Ivey has been one of the most pleasant preseason surprises so there doesn't appear to be a lot of point guard minutes available for Sessions yet. Sessions is averaging the fewest minutes per game of any Buck this preseason.

Preseason Game #7: Bulls Defeat Bucks

The Chicago Bulls beat the Milwaukee Bucks 97-81 on Thursday night.

The Bucks tried a very different rotation, with Michael Redd, Mo Williams, Andrew Bogut, Awvee Storey, and Michael Ruffin not playing.

Six statistics:

1. Charlie Villanueva started and scored a team-high 19 points on 6-10 shooting in 27 minutes. He also led the team in rebounds with eight and blocks with two.
2. Bobby Simmons scored just three points on 1-5 shooting in 28 minutes. He committed a team-high four turnovers.
3. The Bucks did not win any quarters, tying the second quarter 22-22 and losing the other three quarters.
4. David Noel played 25 minutes off the bench and scored five points on 2-7 shooting. He was the only Buck to not turn the ball over.
5. The Bucks had fewer team rebounds (38-32), assists (24-18), steals (10-4), blocks (8-3), and committed more turnovers (20-15). They also shot a worse percentage from the field (.494-.433), and from the free-throw line (.684-.621).
6. The Bucks shot 5-11 (.455) on three-pointers.

Preseason Game #6: Nuggets Top Bucks

The Denver Nuggets beat the Milwaukee Bucks 114-102 on Tuesday night. If the team’s previous game was characterized by Yi Jianlian’s impressive performance, then last night spotlighted the other previously struggling power forward, Charlie Villanueva.

Yi currently leads Villanueva by a pretty fair margin in the poll asking who should start at power forward. Most of the votes came after Yi’s big game and before Villanueva’s however. I've maintained Villanueva should get the nod. Let’s just hope they both play well at the same time eventually because the up-and-down performances don't distinguish either of them, and make it hard to tell if the Bucks have no starting power forwards on the roster or two.

Six stats:

1. Villanueva shot 9-16 from the field and scored a team-high 21 points in 29 minutes off the bench. He also grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out five assists. His only struggle came from outside, making 1-5 three-pointers. After hitting two out of three from outside in the first preseason game, Villanueva has made only 3-20 since.
2. The Bucks scored 37 points and allowed 34 in the second quarter, their highest offensive and defensive quarter of the preseason.
3. Desmond Mason got to the free-throw line 11 times, after getting to the line 12 times in the previous game. He’s 16-23 in the two games.
4. Mo Williams shot 0-5 from the field in 17 minutes before being ejected in the third quarter.
5. Michael Redd scored 19 points and had a team-high seven assists and 38 minutes played.
6. Royal Ivey scored 10 points, shot 5-6 from the free-throw line, dished out two assists, and didn’t turn the ball over in 22 minutes.

Preseason Game #5: Bucks Defeat Timberwolves

The Milwaukee Bucks topped the Minnesota Timberwolves 106-97 to win the 31st annual MACC Fund game on Saturday night.

On cue, after I attempted to anoint Charlie Villanueva the starting power forward, Yi Jianlian delivered easily his best performance since coming to Milwaukee.

As I'll detail below, he had a very good game statistically and all indications are that the numbers aren't lying in this case. We must remember, even though the starters played big minutes last night, that it's still preseason. A lot of young players around the league have put up big numbers in a game here and there this preseason. It is worth getting excited about, just with a little caution. Last night's performance shows that Yi has the potential to be a very capable player on the NBA level. It's safe to say we'll be seeing a lot of Villanueva, Yi, and Dan Gadzuric on the court (probably not at the same time) this season.

Six more stats:

1. Yi Jianlian scored 15 points on only nine shots from the field in 27 minutes. He also pulled down 12 rebounds and committed just one turnover.
2. Charlie Villanueva scored eight points on 15 shots from the field in 21 minutes and missed all five of his three-point attempts. However, he grabbed 11 rebounds, including six on the offensive glass.
3. The Bucks made twice as many free throws (32) as the Timberwolves (16).
4. The bench (Desmond Mason, Charlie Bell, Dan Gadzuric, Royal Ivey, and Villanueva) shot a combined 7-31 (.226) from the field with four assists and eight turnovers.
5. Mo Williams scored 20 points, made all three of his three-point attempts, dished out 12 assists, and committed only one turnover.
6. Desmond Mason shot just 3-10 from the field but got to the free-throw line 12 times, making eight, in 24 minutes.

Ranking The Bucks' Options At Power Forward

There’s some debate about who should start at power forward this season, and who should even be called one. Michael Ruffin is the fourth choice, but despite his willingness to the dirty work, there isn’t quite enough of a case to make for him. The latest is that there are three contenders, so my task is to rank them:

• 1. Charlie Villanueva

One could argue he shouldn’t start. His versatility and lack of go-to game make him a natural to come off the bench. Further, his shooting percentages were better across the board not starting last year:

"Starting: FG: .469 FT: .735 3PT: .265

Off Bench: FG: .471 FT: .925 3PT: .385"

Just twenty-three years old, he would only now be a rookie if he had stayed in school four years at Connecticut. But he was NBA-ready out of college as evidenced by his easy second place finish in the Rookie of the Year voting in 2005.

Many were encouraged when Larry Harris traded away T.J. Ford because of his deficiencies and injuries. Villanueva proved there were two similar sides of that coin. Injuries stunted his growth last season, but he says his shoulder is “100 % ready.” Entering his third year in the NBA, the next step is develop more consistency. The injuries are out of his control, but the Bucks can’t afford to rotate starting lineups so frequently this season. It's important to have a variety of capable lineups, but the starting one should be have consistency.

In the end, he’s the most logical choice to start alongside Andrew Bogut in the frontcourt given his superior talent. Villanueva’s youthful athleticism makes him a good fit on a first-string that will push the ball early and often. His all-around skill set exceeds the other competitors. While others have some specific areas of strength, Villanueva can do a little of everything: rebound, run the floor, and shoot from outside. The realistic best-case scenario for Yi Jianlian is to duplicate Villanueva’s rookie season. Granted, Villanueva has yet to take a firm step forward since his rookie year, but there’s little chance he’ll regress now in his third year.

Keep in mind, injuries marred a strong start last year by Villanueva. In November, he averaged 14.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.3 steals and shot .495 from the field. He didn’t match any of those statistics in any other month the rest of the season. A fresh beginning and the confidence that comes with a starting role will help him find the fast track he has been on intermittently the last couple years.

• 2. Yi Jianlian

At 6'11" and 238 pounds, he’s virtually the identical size of Villanueva. Contrary to official records, there are some whispers that he might be the about the same age too. One thing we do know is that he’s played four accomplished years of professional basketball in the Chinese Basketball Association. Last year, he averaged 24.9 points and 11.5 rebounds.

The question is how those numbers will translate to the NBA. If the open scrimmage and preseason is any indication, Yi has some ability to score on this new level (though not more than Villanueva at present), but will frequently be overmatched defensively. In the open scrimmage, he didn't provide any real resistance guarding Bogut. It's not as though Villanueva's expertise is defense either, but he's at least had some experience. Yi won’t have to guard centers, but consider some Eastern Conference power forwards that he’d be forced to defend: Kevin Garnett, Chris Bosh, and Jermaine O’Neal. While they are lean, they are premier rebounders and aren’t hesitant to attack the basket. Yi's tendency to pick up fouls and turnovers at a high rate so far doesn't inspire confidence either.

The Bucks have a powerful offense, but can’t afford to fall behind in the first quarter each night because they have below-average defenders all over the court at the same time. Again, Villanueva is no defensive star, but letting Yi start and pick up fouls quickly will slow down the tempo of the game, which won’t work in the Bucks’ favor. He’s best served to come off the bench, where he can get more playing time against opposing team’s backups. With the pressure of potentially 1.3 billion onlookers back home and a skeptical American media, the Bucks need to allow Yi some comfort and room to grow initially. That will ultimately expedite the process of Yi’s ascent to legitimate starting-caliber power forward status anyway. And then we can more seriously revisit this debate.

• 3. Dan Gadzuric

If Gadzuric would have progressed even moderately since his solid 2004-05 campaign, he’d have a decent case to start, like he did 81 times that year for the Bucks.

Unfortunately, he’s inexplicably regressed in what should be his prime years. Even his old strengths, like activity on the offensive glass and a high shooting percentage, have taken a turn for the worse.

Then again, his preseason performances give some reason to believe he’s ready to return to form. And coming off a defensively-challenged season, a frontcourt of Bogut and Gadzuric is the team’s best bet to create some semblance of a defensive identity. Bogut looks ready to step up as a more consistent scorer, further minimizing the problem of Gadzuric’s offensive limitations. Plus, unlike Villanueva, he played better as a starter last year, averaging 10.0 points, 10.1 rebounds, 1.75 blocks, and 1.13 steals on .508 shooting from the field.

However, those statistics need some context. They came at the end of the year and against teams with a combined record of 249-413 (.376). And the Bucks only went 2-6 in the games.

The Bucks have more depth at power forward than center, making Gadzuric more valuable serving as the team’s primary backup center. A Bogut/Gadzuric pairing makes sense depending on matchups and circumstance, and Yi looks poised to mature into a starting-worthy player before too long, but for now at least, Villanueva is the best power forward available. That might not be ideal, or exciting, but it's reality.