Packers, Brewers, and More

Bucks need more from Bogut

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 21:33:56 GMT

BY GERY WOELFEL

During the summer, Milwaukee Bucks management conclusively showed how much faith they have in young center Andrew Bogut.

The Bucks presented the 24-year-old Bogut with a guaranteed five-year, $60 million contract. He can earn an additional $12M in bonuses.

The Bucks brass obviously liked Bogut’s growth – he has steadily improved in each and every season – and they liked his potential.

At times this season, Bogut has shown he is worth every single penny he’s receiving. He has emerged as a top-shelf rebounder, averaging 10.4 per game. That’s the ninth-best average in the NBA.

During a seven-game stretch, from Nov. 12-22, Bogut was a monster on the boards. In that span, he had five games in which he grabbed at least 15 rebounds, including 20 against Utah.

But while Bogut has been a factor, if not a force, on the glass, his offensive game has become surprisingly stagnant. After averaging 14.3 points a game last season, Bogut is averaging 10.9.

In the last five games, Bogut's offensive production has dropped even more as he averaged just 9.2 points. That included a five-point performance against Charlotte and a six-point outng against the Los Angeles Lakers.

So, what’s the problem?

Injuries are a part of it. Bogut’s been slowed by ankle and knee problems. He’s also had to cope with an excruciatingly painful migraine headache, one that temporarily rendered the left side of his body virtually numb.

Bogut is to blame, too. A stand-up guy, Bogut admitted he hasn’t been as aggressive in going to the basket, and that he’s passed up open medium-range juumpers.

"I definitely have to be more aggressive,'' Bogut said after Friday's practice at the Cousins Center. "There's no doubt about it.

“I need to demand the ball better, and I have to figure out when to duck in from the weak side. I was speaking to coach (Scott Skiles) and a couple of assistants during practice today where there are times when I need to make a better effort of not just standing on the weak side and expecting someone to shoot it and duck in and be a tiger inside.

“So I definitely have to work on it.’’

While Bogut acknowledged he was partially to blame for his offensive slump, his coaches and teammates are partially to blame as well.

Bogut is one of the best field-goal shooters in the NBA and easily the best on the Bucks. He is shooting a lofty .549 from the field – 11^th best in the league.

Yet, going into Saturday night's game against Indiana, Bogut ranks only sixth on the team in shots attempted per game.

Michael Redd and Richard Jefferson, undertandably, rank first and second. Redd takes an aveage of 15.1 shots a game and Jefferson takes 14.9 shots.

Both Redd and Jeffersn are established veterans and quality, proven starters. But Charlie Villanueva and Ramos Sessions are neither.

Yet, Villanueva is averaging 12.1 shots a game, and Sessions is averaging 11.3 shots while playing mostly reserve roles.

Even Luke Ridnour, who has a reputation of being a pass-first, shoot-second point guard, is averaging hoisting up 9.47 shots a game.

And Bogut?

He putting up only 8.6 shots a game. Inexplicably, he hasn’t put up more than nine shots in any of his last six games.

For the Bucks to have a more balanced scoring attack, where their opponents aren’t allowed to primarily concentrate on shutting down the Bucks’ perimeter game, Bogut simply has to get more touches.

Does that mean Ridnour and Sessions, who generally run the Bucks’ offense, have to be more conscientious of getting the ball inside to Bogut?

Does that mean Skiles has to make Bogut a bigger component of the offense and run more plays for him?

I say yes.

Skiles says no.

“When you’re 7 feet tall in the NBA game and not being productive, a huge, huge, huge percentage of the time it is your problem because you can always go to the board and get an offensive board and put it back in,’’ Skiles said.

“You’re always getting your touches … you can always run the floor. When you’re a big man in a big man’s game, you control your destiny and how you play.’’

And right now, neither Bogut nor the Bucks are playing well.

Favre:one for the 'ages'

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:28:19 GMT

BY GERY WOELFEL

The "Old Man'' still has it.

Boy, does he.

Brett Lorenzo Favre, now a graybeard by NFL standards at 39, is proving to everyone that he still can play the game.

Granted, it's only four weeks into the season but, to date, Favre has been nothing short of sensational.

Favre has thrown 12 touchdown passes and has had only four passes picked off.

Favre's passer rating is a gaudy 110. That, folks, is the best passer rating in the entire NFL. San Diego's Philip Rivers is a distant second at 103.

For those of you keeping track, Favre's successor in Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers, has a passer rating of 95.5.

What makes Favre's highly-successful start even more impressive is that he's doing it in a radically different system from the one he had with the Packers.

He's also doing it with a decent but hardly great wide receiving corps.

Favre has won an unprecedented three MVP awards. He could be on his way to a fourth.

Packers Thompson blew it

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 22:52:07 GMT

GERY WOELFEL

You didn’t have to have 20/20 vision to see this one coming.

After Green Bay Packers general manager Teddy "Bear’’ Thompson decided to take the keys to a potential Super Bowl machine from Brett Favre and give them to a raw and unproven Aaron Rodgers, everyone knew it wasn’t a question of if Rodgers was going to get hurt but when he was going to get hurt.

Just four games into a 16-game regular season, Rodgers is hurt.

Rodgers injured his throwing shoulder in last Sunday’s 30-21 loss to Tampa Bay. The severity of the injury isn’t really known.

After the game, Rodgers said had a separated shoulder. Packers coach Mike McCarthy said it was a mere bruise. I’ll believe Rodgers.

Whatever the severity of the injury, it isn’t known whether Rodgers will play today against the Atlanta "Where have you gone, Michael Vick?’’ Falcons.

If Rodgers doesn’t start, or is unable play at some point in the game, the Packers will be led by Matt Flynn.

This is the same Matt Flynn who brought back horrific memories of T.J. Rubley when he replaced Rodgers in last Sunday’s game.

Flynn was, in a word, dreadful. He looked every bit the lowly, seventh-round pick that he was.

But no one should blame Flynn for his pathetic showing. He should have never been placed in that critical situation. Rather, Thompson should have had a competent, veteran backup on hand to replace Rodgers.

Thompson should have had someone like Kerry Collins, whom the Tennessee Titans turned to when Vince Young faltered. Or Kurt Warner, whom the Arizona Cardinals turned to when young Matt Leinart faltered.

Both Warner and Collins are battle-tested. Both give their teams a chance. Can the same be said about Flynn?

How Thompson neglected to put an experienced backup QB on his roster, especially after seeing his team nearly advance to the Super Bowl last season, is simply inexcusable.

Should Favre go out on top?

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 01:03:16 GMT

BY PETER JACKEL

Journal Times

Admit it, all of you Brett Favre aficionados out there: You’ve already contemplated the idea of the Green Bay Packers denying the New England Patriots an historic 19-0 season in Super Bowl XLII and then seeing Favre triumphantly riding off into the sunset on his beloved tractor in Mississippi, never to wear No. 4 again.

Would you like to see that happen?

So precious few all-time greats retire on top on their own terms. Michael Jordan could have by making the winning shot in the deciding game of the 1998 NBA FInals, but blew it by coming out of retirement to play for the Washington Wizards. Sandy Koufax retired after winning his third Cy Young Award in four seasons, but it wasn’t on his own terms since a deteriorating left elbow more or less forced his retirement in 1966.

If you want to talk about cool retirements, the greatest had to be by Cleveland Browns great Jim Brown. While he was in London filming "The Dirty Dozen" in the summer of 1966, Brown was warned by Browns owner Art Modell that he would be fined for every day he missed of training camp.

In a letter dated July 5, 1966, the 30-year-old Brown basically told Modell to take this job and shove it. And this was when Brown was coming off a season in which he led the NFL in rushing for the eighth time in his nine-year career.

How cool is that? Walking away on top and then not pulling a Roger Clemens and coming back multiple times.

How many other legendary athletes can you think of who retired at their peak, completely on their own terms, and leaving everyone wanting more?

Favre could be in that same position within the next month, having resurrected a Packers team that had slid back into ruins just two years ago. Can you see Favre following through with it? I sure can’t.

While none of us knows what it’s like to be confined inside a body that has endured the shots Favre has endured since 1992, he seems to be reasonably healthy. Thanks to Ted Thompson, he has one of the finest two or three sets of wide receivers in football with Greg Jennings, James Jones, Koren Robinson and Ruvell Martin joining Donald Driver.

Plus, the longer Favre plays, the less ground others (namely Peyton Manning) can gain on his all-time records. Favre can contend all he wants that he doesn’t care about records, but I don’t believe him. Of course he cares about winning first and foremost, but I don’t believe anyone who says he or she doesn’t care about records. Everyone cares about leaving some kind of legacy.

I’ll say that regardless of what happens within the next month, Favre will be back for at least two more seasons, take another couple stabs at some Super Bowl championship rings and make it harder for Manning to topple his records.

Hey, why not?

Are the Packers Super Bowl bound?

Sun, 18 Nov 2007 19:12:51 GMT

Do you think the Green Bay Packers will make it to the Super Bowl?

Agent: Bell won't re-sign with Bucks

Thu, 13 Sep 2007 21:53:45 GMT

BY GERY WOELFEL

Charlie Bell won’t be returning to the Milwaukee Bucks.

According to Mark Bartelstein, Bell’s agent, Bell has made the decision not to accept the Bucks’ multi-year offer or qualifying offer for one year.

“I think the waters have been ;poisoned to point where he doesn’t want to go back there,’’ Bartelstein said Wednesday in a telephone interview. “We told the Bucks we won’t accept their offer.

“He’s 100 percent sure he won’t be signing with the Bucks. He’s going to move on and play with some other team.’’

Bell was the only Bucks player to appear in all 82 regular season games last season. He was also their best defensive player and perhaps most versatile, capable of playing both guard positions and small forward as well.

Bell, who played with the Bucks the last two seasons, became a restricted free agent on July 1. It was expected the Bucks would quickly re-sign him, but negotiations dragged on more than anyone expected.

Bell wouldn’t say what team Bell would now try to hook on with. Bartelstein said several teams have interest in him. Last week, Bell traveled to Greece and met with Olympiacos officials. It is believed Bell has an offer on the table from Olympiacos for two years worth $8 million.

Bartelstein confirmed the Bucks had offered Bell a three-year deal. However, he would disclose the amount – or what he was asking from the Bucks. It has been speculated Bartelstein was seeking a five-year deal in excess of $20 million.

Bartelstein represents several Bucks, including Mo Williams, Bobby Simmons, Jake Voskuhl and Awvee Storey. Bartelstein said he was disappointed an accord couldn’t be reached between the Bucks and Bell.

“Charlie just didn’t feel he was being treated fairly by the Bucks; I hate to say that, but that’s the way it is,’’ Bartelstein said. “It’s just the unpleasant side of business.

Bucks Bell takes a trip to Greece

Fri, 07 Sep 2007 05:20:10 GMT

BY GERY WOELFEL

Just how far apart are the Milwaukee Bucks and Charlie Bell in contract negotiations?

You could say as far as the distance between Wisconsin and Greece.

After all, that’s where Bell was Thursday, spending the day talking with members of the Olympiacos team, one of the most tradition-rich basketball teams in Europe.

Bell, a restricted free agent who was the only Buck to play in all 82 games last season, is seriously contemplating leaving the Bucks to play for Olympiacos. Reports surfaced Thursday that Olympiacos has offered the 27-year-old Bell a two-year contract worth $10 million.

Mark Bartelstein, Bell’s Chicago-based agent, wouldn’t confirm those reports. However, Bartelstein said his client intends on staying in Greece for a couple of more days and that talks with Olympiacos officials has intensified.

That’s a far cry from the discussions Bartelstein has had with the Bucks. Bartelstein said he hadn’t spoken with any Bucks official since Tuesday and described the parties as being “light years’’ apart.

“I would have never imaged us getting to this point and having such a difference of opinion,’’ Bartelstein said. “But that happens in business. This is a business decision for Charlie and this is a business decision for the Bucks.

“We just have a major difference of opinion on Charlie’s value.’’

Bartelstein said the Bucks have extended a multi-year offer to Bell, but wouldn’t disclose the amount. Bartelstein also wouldn’t reveal what kind of contract he was seeking for Bell.

However, the scuttlebutt is Bartelstein is seeking a five-year, $25 million contract for Bell. The Bucks, according to some NBA officials, won’t go beyond a three-year deal worth around $9 million. Bell made $744,000 last season.

Bartelstein called the Olympiacos’ offer an “attractive alternative’’ but also admitted another European team – which he didn’t name but is presumably FC Barcelona – remains highly interested in Bell.

Furthermore, Bartelstein claimed there is an NBA team – which he also didn’t disclose -- that has a keen interest in Bell, who averaged 13.5 points a game last season.

Bell isn’t a stranger to playing on foreign soil. Before joining the Bucks two years ago, Bell played for Breogan in the Spanish League. Prior to that, he had stints with Virtus Kinder Bologna and Benetton Treviso in the Italian League.

It is believed the Bucks have discussed possible replacements for Bell if he decides to bolt. Earl Boykins, whom the Bucks acquired last season from Denver, remains unsigned as a free agent. But Bucks officials have made it clear they don’t have any intentions on bringing him back.

The Bucks could also be interested in Troy Hudson, a veteran combo guard who is also unsigned. However, Hudson, who played for Minnesota last season, isn’t likely to be content in a backup role behind point guard Maurice Williams or shooting guard Michael Redd.

While negotiations with the Bucks have been unproductive and could lead to Bell playing elsewhere next season, Bartelstein insisted neither he nor Bell harbor any animosity toward the Bucks.

“We’re not angry with the Bucks,’’ said Bartelstein, who also represents several other Bucks, including Williams, Bobby Simmons, Jake Voskuhl and Awvee Storey. “The Bucks gave Charlie his chance (to play in the NBA) and we’ll never forget that.

“He’s enjoyed playing there. But, again, this is a business and the Bucks are entitled to run their business the way they see it.’’

And, barring a radical change, they’ll be running it this season without Bell.