Milwaukee Bucks: Larry Sanders, Face Of The Franchise?
Is this man the face of the Milwaukee Bucks franchise? Photo Credit: Keith Allison, Flickr.com
Ray Allen? He’s not walking through that door. Glenn Robinson? Sam Cassell? Oscar Robertson? Lew Alcindor? They’re not walking through that door either. Heck, Brandon Jennings, a guy who may not be a franchise-type, but at least exudes that level of confidence, isn’t coming back either. In the midst of what amounts to a complete roster overhaul, there isn’t a prototypical alpha-dog to be found on the Milwaukee Bucks. So who WILL be the face of this franchise going forward? Look no further than one of the most menacing defensive forces in the entire NBA, Larry Sanders.
The 24-year-old Sanders had a breakout campaign in 2012-13, averaging 9.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per contest (good for second in the NBA in just more than 27 minutes per game of playing time). Sanders finished seventh in the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year vote and many felt he was snubbed as an All-NBA defender. In a league that continues to get smaller, the 6’11”, 235-pound center looms large as one of the last remaining truly dominant paint protectors in the sport. The scary thing, he’s still nowhere close to his ceiling.
How good was Larry Sanders defensively last season? He finished the season with a defensive rating of 98.5, good for sixth in the NBA, ahead of guys like Joakim Noah, Kevin Garnett and Dwight Howard. When Sanders was on the court, the Bucks allowed 98.8 points per 100 possessions. When he sat it rocketed to 105.8 points per 100 possessions, good for a seven(!) point difference. Despite averaging less than 10 points per game and playing less than 30 minutes per contest, Sanders had such a massive impact on the floor that he actually finished second to only Ersan Ilyasova for the Milwaukee Bucks in win shares in 2012-13, also incredible considering he had a lower usage rate than Beno Udrih.
Where Sanders has room to grow is at the offensive end. His shot selection certainly improved in his third NBA season. He stopped taking long jump shots, played within himself and set a career high in field-goal percentage (50.6 percent) and overall efficiency. With Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings skipping town this offseason, Larry will no longer have to contend for shots against the league’s most inefficient, selfish backcourt and might be able to assert himself even further in this offense. Might the recently acquired O.J. Mayo or Brandon Knight be better suited/more willing to run pick-and-rolls with the young big man? That remains to be seen. But for Sanders to really take the next step, he’ll have to play more minutes. Hard to do when you are constantly in foul trouble. As a good a defender as he is, he’ll need to find a balance between aggressive and reckless, something many young centers often struggle with. Committing 3.3 fouls per contest is simply too many.
According to Mark Stein of ESPN.com, Milwaukee is about to lock up Larry Sanders with a long-term deal that’ll pay him just more than $10 million annually. That’d be a great contract for a young defensive ace with the type of upside that Larry Sanders has. It has been an extremely dark period for the deer. The Bucks haven’t won 50 games in a season since 2001, when George Karl was their coach and they had a big three consisting of Sam Cassell, Ray Allen and Glenn Robinson. After squeaking into the playoffs and getting eviscerated by the Heat in 2013, Milwaukee has done some interior renovating. New coach? Check. New backcourt? Double check. Franchise player? That title now belongs to Larry Sanders. The Bucks will be bad next year; bad enough to be a factor in the 2014 lottery. But with Sanders about to be locked up long term and flanked with young, talented frontcourt mates in John Henson and Ersan Ilyasova, maybe Milwaukee can turn the corner sooner rather than later.