Fear Which Deer?

By David Weiss

How would Ricky Pierce match-up against Khris Middleton? What about Jack Sikma against Andrew Bogut? Who had more to offer, Jerald Honeycutt of Deandre Liggins? Could the backcourt of Michael Redd and Mo Williams lead the 2007-2008 Bucks past the Big Dog/Ray Allen combo of 1997-1998? Get ready to dive into Bucks history and think about some of the most heralded and the most forgotten players in franchise history.
Comparing teams of different eras has become a popular past-time. But usually when teams are compared to one another, it's great teams. This book will appeal to fans of the Milwaukee Bucks and NBA fans that love to learn about and remember the more mundane teams. This book also compares individual players to one another, taking into consideration where they were in their career during the particular season that's being profiled.
This book begins by analyzing and comparing the 1987-1988 Milwaukee Bucks and the 1997-1998 Milwaukee Bucks. This is a battle of the 20th anniversary team and the 30th anniversary team. We begin with a summary of the teams and then analyze each of the players. A game is then "played" between the two teams with the winner moving on to the finals. Then it's time for a similar analysis and competition between the 2007-2008 and the 2017-2018 Bucks teams. These are the 40th and 50th anniversary teams. Although neither season ended up being championship caliber, they both had interesting players and unusual quirks in their respective seasons. Each team is then matched up with whichever teams they have yet to play against.
This book was made possible by the wonderful modern internet-age. It is also a product of my lifelong interest in the Milwaukee Bucks. As far as the internet is concerned, I am forever thankful. Before youtube and other similar video hubs, it was extremely difficult to watch old sports clips. Right at the start of the internet's popularity (about 1997-2001) it was possible to order tapes online and that was a real treasure. But now it's possible to watch clips of Litterial Green, Pace Mannion, Randy Breuer, Jerry "Ice" Reynolds as well as complete games from these seasons. The internet is also an amazing place to get quick factual information. One search on Wikipedia or doing a general Google search gives you a players basic stats. In the pre-internet era people had to buy all of the yearbooks which were quite large and expensive. The other option was buying a team's media guide on an annual basis. So while this book doesn't reference exotic statistical sources, I did my own basic research; watching a TON of youtube videos of these players/teams and getting the basic points, rebounds, minutes, assists info. This is a super-fan-book. I have written about other topics, but this is my first foray into my lifelong passion of professional basketball. 
Has it been a long time since you've thought about Paul Mokeski, John Lucas, Terry Cummings, Elliott Perry, Yi Jianlian, Charlie Bell and Craig Hodges? If you are a die-hard NBA fan or just a fan of the Milwaukee Bucks, you'll love this unique, insightful look at the 20th, 30th, 40th and 50th anniversary teams.
This book ends with some fun "Fear the Dear" trivia and a picture match! Test YOUR Bucks knowledge!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ken Phillips
• Release date: Nov 26, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386498681

Book preview

Fear Which Deer?

’87-’88 vs ’97-’98 vs ’07-’08 vs ’17-‘18

Table of Contents

Introduction

1987-1988 Milwaukee Bucks

Season Summary

Players

1997-1998 Milwaukee Bucks

Season Summary

Players

1987-1988 Milwaukee Bucks vs 1997-1998 Milwaukee Bucks

1987-1988 vs 1997-1998 Position Comparisons and Coaching

1987-1988 and 1997-1998 Simulated Game Minutes

Quarter-by-Quarter Game Summary

Game Analysis

2007-2008 Milwaukee Bucks

Summary

Players

2017-2018 Milwaukee Bucks

Summary

Players

2007-2008 Milwaukee Bucks vs 2017-2018 Milwaukee Bucks

2007-2008 and 2017-2018’s Most Influential Players

2007-2008 vs 2017-2018’s Position-by-Position and Coaching

2007-2008 and 2017-2018’s Game Minutes

2007-2008 vs 2017-2018’s Quarter-by-Quarter

Game Analysis

Championship Match 1987-1988 Milwaukee Bucks vs 2017-2018 Milwaukee Bucks

1987 and 2017’s Most Influential Players

Player Comparisons

Game Analysis

1987-1988 vs 2007-2008

Most Influential Players/Comparisons

Player Match-ups

Game Analysis

1997-1988 vs 2017-2018 Match-up

Player Comparisons

Game Analysis

1997-1997 vs 2007-2008 Match-up

Minutes/Statistics

Game Analysis

Bucks Trivia

Introduction:

How would Ricky Pierce match-up against Khris Middleton? What about Jack Sikma against Andrew Bogut? Who had more to offer, Jerald Honeycutt of Deandre Liggins? Could the backcourt of Michael Redd and Mo Williams lead the 2007-2008 Bucks past the Big Dog/Ray Allen combo of 1997-1998? Get ready to dive into Bucks history and think about some of the most heralded and the most forgotten players in franchise history.

Comparing teams of different eras has become a popular past-time. But usually when teams are compared to one another, it’s great teams. This book will appeal to fans of the Milwaukee Bucks and NBA fans that love to learn about and remember the more mundane teams. This book also compares individual players to one another, taking into consideration where they were in their career during the particular season that’s being profiled.

This book begins by analyzing and comparing the 1987-1988 Milwaukee Bucks and the 1997-1998 Milwaukee Bucks. This is a battle of the 20th anniversary team and the 30th anniversary team. We begin with a summary of the teams and then analyze each of the players. A game is then played between the two teams with the winner moving on to the finals. Then it’s time for a similar analysis and competition between the 2007-2008 and the 2017-2018 Bucks teams. These are the 40th and 50th anniversary teams. Although neither season ended up being championship caliber, they both had interesting players and unusual quirks in their respective seasons. Each team is then matched up with whichever teams they have yet to play against.

This book was made possible by the wonderful modern internet-age. It is also a product of my lifelong interest in the Milwaukee Bucks. As far as the internet is concerned, I am forever thankful. Before youtube and other similar video hubs, it was extremely difficult to watch old sports clips. Right at the start of the internet’s popularity (about 1997-2001) it was possible to order tapes online and that was a real treasure. But now it’s possible to watch clips of Litterial Green, Pace Mannion, Randy Breuer, Jerry Ice Reynolds as well as complete games from these seasons. The internet is also an amazing place to get quick factual information. One search on Wikipedia or doing a general Google search gives you a players basic stats. In the pre-internet era people had to buy all of the yearbooks which were quite large and expensive. The other option was buying a team’s media guide on an annual basis. So while this book doesn’t reference exotic statistical sources, I did my own basic research; watching a TON of youtube videos of these players/teams and getting the basic points, rebounds, minutes, assists info. This is a super-fan-book. I have written about other topics, but this is my first foray into my lifelong passion of professional basketball.

Has it been a long time since you’ve thought about Paul Mokeski, John Lucas, Terry Cummings, Elliott Perry, Yi Jianlian, Charlie Bell and Craig Hodges? If you are a die-hard NBA fan or just a fan of the Milwaukee Bucks, you’ll love this unique, insightful look at the 20th, 30th, 40th and 50th anniversary teams.

This book ends with some fun Fear the Dear trivia and a picture match! Test YOUR Bucks knowledge!

1987-1988 Milwaukee Bucks

Season Summary

The Del Harris era began with a whimper. Herb Kohl had bought the franchise from primary owner Jim Fitzgerald in 1985 and by the end of the 1986-1987 season it was clear that Don Nelson would leave. Nelson was used to having total autonomy and Kohl had the reputation of wanting to get involved or at least know what was going on with the basketball operations.

The decision was made to promote Del Harris to head coach. Harris had taken a sub-.500 Houston Rockets team to the NBA Finals in 1981 and was a respected basketball strategist. Del Harris was also in love with all-things-veteran. He liked older, experienced players and even his staff was comprised of assistants who had been around for a long time (Frank Hamblen, Mike Dunleavy and Mack Calvin).

The 1987-1988 season was marred by Sidney Moncrief’s knee injury and Ricky Pierce’s holdout. Moncrief was getting old and Pierce was vastly underpaid considering his role on the team. The Bucks had been chasing a championship for the past seven or eight seasons and before the 1986-1987 season, they really invested in their veteran pedigree.  The Bucks added long-time Seattle Supersonic Center Jack Sikma. They traded away Alton Lister and two first round draft picks. While Lister wasn’t a young budding star, giving up two first round draft picks is inexplicable. Sikma had already been around for nine seasons by the time he got to the Bucks. Young players aren’t only essential for the future, they are essential for the present. The late-1980’s Bucks lacked athleticism and youth, both things that the draft should provide. Del’s team had precision and skilled players but they were a step slow and too predictable.

Players

Jack Sikma

Reliable and predictable, Sikma was Del Harris’s ideal basketball player. He had a nice year averaging 18.5ppg and 8.6rpg in almost 36mpg. The once-active and athletic Sikma was no longer much of an offensive rebounder. He was still a good position rebounder and had added a three-point-shot to his arsenal. Sikma was a great free throw shooter and an effective passer as well. The blonde center with an odd perm was the prototypical late-1980’s Milwaukee Bucks grinder. Guys like Sikma help you win regular season games, but he wasn’t any longer one of the top 3 guys on a championship team. Early in his career with Seattle he was a big-time impact player inside.

Drafted #8 overall in 1977. Behind Bernard King and ahead of Tom LeGarde.

Terry Cummings

Cummings was another formerly athletic player who had already played a lot of minutes by the time the ’87-88’ season began. Cummings, like Sikma, was a skilled player who provided consistency and a veteran presence. The former DePaul Blue Demon averaged over 21ppg and over 7rpg in almost 35mpg. The negatives; Cummings sometimes slowed things down with his one-on-one play and wasn’t a great defensive player. But the positives outweighed the negatives. While he wasn’t the guy you wanted taking the last shot, few guys are. T.C. wasn’t an elite player, but he was top 40 in the NBA at this time. When you look back at this era there were very few guys that scored 20+ ppg. A lot of