Bill and Jalen 2013 NBA Season Preview - Milwaukee Bucks (15th in the NBA too high?)

[Blacklash2k4]

Just a question for everyone. Do the Bucks deserve to be the 15th best team in the NBA? Simmons seems to think that the Bucks are a 6th-7th team which I highly doubt. I think they will miss the playoffs. Here are all the teams that they were better than according to Bill Simmons:

16: Portland Trailblazers
17: Minnesota Timberwolves - I like they starting 5. Love, Pek, and Rubio are all healthy and I love their team way more than the Bucks.
18: LA Lakers - I think it all depends on how Kobe will play coming back from injury.
19: New Orleans Pelicans - I actually think the Pelicans will be better than the Bucks. I know it's just preseason, but Anthony Davis is looking like an absolute boss, along with Holiday, Gordon, Rivers and Anderson.
20: Washington Wizards - Like the Pelicans, I love them better than the Bucks. Wall is gonna have a huge bounce back season after being sidelined by injuries. Beal is showing that he's an absolute amazing scorer. Along with a decent bench and a veteran front court, I think they are easily better than the Bucks
21: Cleveland Cavaliers - Again, I like they team a lot better. Tristan Thompson is underrated and will have a great season along with Waiters. Irving is an All-Star PG and Varejao will give you 10+ RPG and some defense. If Bynum can be productive, they are easily better than the Bucks!
22: Atlanta Hawks - I sorta agree with this.
23: Toronto Raptors - I'm biased, so I have to say we're better.
24 - 30: The Rest I agree with.

I think Bill Simmons is seriously overrating the Bucks. I thought their offseason was really bad. My prediction is that they will miss the playoffs. 9th or 10th in the East. Thoughts?

[Shrub]

I think it's an interesting position, actually.

Before these rankings, I - like everyone it seems - had dismissed the Bucks, and I think the primary reason for this is they are completely without a standout player. You glance at the roster and nobody jumps out at you.
But Simmons raises an interesting point about their balance:
Nobody stands out, but there are also no glaring holes.
There's no other team like the Bucks, really.
The kind of team that could consistently let your starters get ahead by a few points - but only a few - and then consistently take the lead over by a few points with their second unit.

That being said, I would not have them this high.
What they gain in consistency, they lose in momentum.
They are not exciting, their offense will struggle, and they will lose a lot of games (especially on the road) to momentum.

I wouldn't place them above more than 1 or 2 of the teams on that list, at most, but I think what you can expect from the Bucks is that they will steal more games than most expect and become one of those teams nobody wants to play.