FanHouse Andrewbogut

FanHouse previews a player to watch from each NBA team in advance of the 2009-10 season.

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute is not going to set the world on fire. But he's the type of player that can provide the gasoline.

To say Mbah a Moute was under the radar last season is to vastly overestimate the strength of radar systems. Coming out of UCLA, Mbah a Moute was considered a project like so many rookies. He didn't possess the wowzer tangibles (standing only 6-8 and being listed as a power forward will do that to you), didn't stir the senses with playmaking, and was considered a good college player that he might make it with some time.

And then Mbah A Moute actually hit the floor.

FanHouse previews all 30 NBA teams in advance of the 2009-10 season.

The Bucks were awful last year, but at least they had an excuse: Michael Redd, the team's leading scorer six years and counting, and Andrew Bogut, the franchise center who signed a $72 million extension before last season, each missed more than half of the season with injury.

The good news? Both players are healthy entering camp and should be primed to make up for lost time. The bad news? GM John Hammond has rebooted the supporting cast in their absence, trading Richard Jefferson to the Spurs in a cost-cutting maneuver while losing Charlie Villanueva and Ramon Sessions to free agency.

When a fifth-place team loses three of its top four scorers and doesn't even receive a legitimate starter to show for it, you know it's going to be a long year.

So, you may or may not have seen the feature we did for the NFL Draft in which we took every single team and decided who the worst draft pick in the history of that franchise was. And it was so awesome and fun to do (and totally not time consuming at all) that I decided to roll it out for the NBA as well.

So, for every NBA team, we give you a horrible draft pick -- either a straight bust, or player picked ahead of another player who was far better, etc. -- and then a snarky reason as to why said pick was the worst in franchise history. Your suggestions in the comments, please. And happy draft day!

As teams get eliminated from the 2009 NBA playoff picture, Fork 'Em figures out what went wrong.

Through the first half of the season, the Bucks rode as one of the great surprises of the NBA. A team sunk in the dead space between truly atrocious and just plain bad in 2007-08, Scott Skiles (and Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut) had Milwaukee back on the map, threatening to crash the postseason and even peeking into one analyst's Top 5 around the New Year.

You know what actually made Milwaukee famous? The soul-crushing agony of defeat.

The Bucks had recently turned things around to a certain degree with Scott Skiles and Richard Jefferson. They were a half-game ahead for the 8th playoff spot, had been playing competitively, and had some young talent to complement their core.

And now this: Michael Redd blew out his knee last night, tearing his ACL and MCL, putting him on the shelf for the remainder of the season. Ouch.

During Saturday night's overtime game between the Celtics and the Bucks, Kevin Garnett and Andrew Bogut had themselves a little dust-up. Bogut caught KG in the face with a (somewhat Kobe-esque) follow through, and Garnett responded with an open-handed smack to Bogut's face. Here's a look at the incident, which at the time resulted in a technical foul for both players.



The league is said to be looking at taking further disciplinary action, and frankly, I don't see how they can't. Clearly, this not simply another case of "KG being KG," where the league can choose to ignore his actions because he's an "emotional" player. Please. The man plainly and intentionally swung at Bogut in retaliation for getting hit on Bogut's follow through.

While Bogut's contact was incidental, I don't think even the most rabid of Celtics fans would say the same for KG's slap. If Steve Nash can get a game suspension for simply walking over to break up a fight, Garnett should get at least that much for so obviously trying to start one.

UPDATE: The league has weighed in, and Kevin Garnett has indeed been suspended for one game. The suspension will be served tomorrow night when the Celtics host the Knicks.

I can't vouch for the veracity of the supposed Twitter feed of Shaquille O'Neal. It seems like it's real -- there are repeated references to sponsorship by Vitamin Water, of which Shaq is an endorser and shareholder. (Need a reminder?) As Nate Jones relayed, O'Neal tore up Milwaukee last night, taking full advantage of Friday's rest. Apparently, the alleged Shaq didn't think too terribly highly of Bucks center Andrew Bogut. Here's a, um, tweet from late last night (via BSoS):

On the plane back to #PHX, another Suns W. Bogut is Erika Dampier with a beard.

Oh snap! Erika Dampier is, of course, Shaq's long-lived nickname for Dallas hacker Erick Dampier, a wall of a man good for blocking a few shots and giving a few hard fouls. Shaq's had "battles" with Damp as a Laker, a Hot (singular of Heat?) and now as a Sun. And no, Shaq isn't a fan.

The rest of the Shaq Twitter feed is similarly hilarious; let us pray it's legit. For instance: Our offense is like the Pythagorean Theorem. There is no answer. Or: Guys know if they need an instant bucket, they can come to me. As the son of Jor-El, it's in my nature to help others and save the universe. Shaq is America, people.

When Suns' head coach Terry Porter mentioned before the season that he was considering resting Shaquille O'Neal at various times throughout the season, I took it as him saying it was something he may do occasionally. As it turns out though, it appears to be the rule rather than the exception so far, and (needlessly) doing so at this point in the season cost the team a game that would otherwise have been winnable last night in Chicago.

The Suns planned to give Shaq the night off in Indiana, when the team was playing the second game of a back-to-back, and the big fella had put in 24 strong minutes the night before in New Jersey. In fact, Shaq was dressed in a suit up until about 20 minutes before tip-off, but was called to action after starter Matt Barnes left the team to be with his fiancee, who was giving birth to a set of twins. O'Neal played less than 12 minutes though, and with Amare Stoudemire blowing up for 49 points, the team got by without him.

After a day off, the Suns traveled to Chicago, but decided to give Shaq a night of rest because they again were facing back-to-back games, and the thinking was that tonight's opponent, the Milwaukee Bucks, would pose a bigger challenge in the paint than the Bulls. The Bucks have Andrew Bogut; the Bulls play Drew Gooden and Joakim Noah. But with the Suns already missing one of their starters, did they really need to give Shaq a night of rest, just six games into this young season?

When Scott Skiles took over in Milwaukee, there was a lot of hope that he would take the young roster and develop a defensive identity without his prototypical reliance upon players that are, say, less than dynamic.

You know the old expression, you want to make an omelet, you have to deal with Luke Ridnour and Malik Allen. Or something.

Anyway, as the Bucks defense improves, including a stout effort Sunday night versus the Knicks, the youth movement got a little boost from the injury bug. Luke Ridnour, the point guard Skiles traded for to run his offense, came down with back spasms during the Bucks loss to the Raps a few nights ago. The result was sparkplug point guard Ramon Sessions coming in to add 30 points and 17 assists in two games.

Many wondered why the Bucks added Ridnour when they had the explosive Sessions. But Ridnour has shown an ability to get Andrew Bogut involved and operate the offense. Sessions also has significant problems on the defensive end. Still, there has to be a balance between Sessions' explosiveness and Ridnour's savvy. Maybe this is the break that helps Skiles opt for the more dynamic rotation, just as Charlie Villanueva's production has increased with opportunities. Skiles needs to continue to give the young players with upside a chance to avoid being, well, Skiles.

It's hard to believe now, but once upon a time the Central Division was a powerhouse. As recent as 2006 it sent all five of its teams to the playoffs, and in 2007 it featured the top three records in the East. But last year? Only two made it to the postseason, including the disappointing Cavs, who followed up their NBA Finals appearance by winning five fewer games than the season before and failing to score as many points as they gave up.

Can the Central regain its luster in 2008-09? Well, the Pistons are still the Pistons, which means their ticket to the postseason is already punched, and the Cavs are tagging along for the ride so long as LeBron James is around. The Bulls, Pacers and Bucks will still bring up the rear, but at least there's honest-to-goodness hope they're headed in the right direction after making a series of offseason moves. Let's take a look at the most compelling storylines.