On June 16th, 1975, the Bucks traded Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the Lakers and SG/SF Junior Bridgeman was one of the key players the Bucks got back.  He played in 711 games in 10 years with the Bucks and he averaged 25.4 minutes, 13.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.  Bridgeman has played in the most games in Bucks’ history with 711.  He is also #7 in points scored (9,892) and he’s tied with Terry Cummings for #9 in steals with 607 of them.  Bridgeman will always be associated with Jabbar because of the trade 35 years ago, but he was a solid player in his own right.

Everyone likes to talk up 21-year old point guard Brandon Jennings, but he’s not that good.  Jennings played in 63 games (61 starts) for the Bucks last year and he averaged 34.4 minutes, 16.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game.  He only shot 39% from the floor, but that was an improvement over his rookie season.  Jennings has now played in 145 games (143 starts) in his first two years with the Bucks and he has averaged 33.4 minutes, 15.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game.  Jennings has only shot 37.9% from the floor and 35.2% from the three point line so far in his NBA career.  He should really think about passing the ball more, because he just can’t shoot.  The Bucks might try to deal him either at the NBA Draft or over the summer.

The 2010-11 season was a huge disappointment for the Milwaukee Bucks.  They added a lot of talent during the off-season and they still finished 35-47 on the year as they missed the playoffs by 2 games.  The Bucks are now 115-131 (46.7) during the regular season in Skiles’ three years in charge and they are also 3-4 (42.9%) during the playoffs.  Skiles still has a winning record in his NBA career as a head coach.  He is 396-382 (50.9%) during the regular season and he is 18-24 (42.9%) during the playoffs.  The Bucks will be expecting to get back into the playoffs in 2011-12, so they need Skiles to be up to the challenge.

27-year old center Andrew Bogut is the best player on the Bucks and they need to find a way to keep him healthy….which won’t be easy.  Bogut played in 65 games (all starts) for the Bucks last year and he averaged 35.3 minutes, 12.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.6 blocked shots per game.  Bogut’s other weakness, other than staying healthy, is his free-throw shooting as he only hit 44.2% of his shots from the free-throw line last year.  Bogut has now played in 396 games (388 starts) in his career with the Bucks and he is averaging 32.8 minutes, 12.7 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.6 blocked shots per game.  Bogut is starting to move up in the record books for the Bucks as he is #5 in rebounds (3,710) and #3 in blocked shots (618) in team history.