The Milwaukee Bucks cut Tiny Gallon today, less than four months after selecting him with the 47th overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft.

Gallon tweeted the following earlier today:

“Thanks to the Bucks 4 making my dream come Tru .. And the Fans and the Haters too.. But nothing will not Break ME!! #ILoveYouGod”

The Bucks were unsure about Gallon from the start. He came into the summer league overweight and out of shape. He didn’t show the Bucks too much, statistics-wise.

I was wondering why the even drafted him. How much different did he look at the draft workouts? They obviously saw something I didn’t.

The other two players the Bucks cut were Tory Jackson and Billy Rush. They were both signed on Sept. 27 to fill out the training camp roster.

The Bucks now have 17 players remaining on their roster.

The product on the hardwoods of the Bradley Center has steadily improved over the last few years.  Unfortunately, the crowds showing up to support said product hasn’t always mirrored that development. Watching Bucks games at the BC—especially on weeknights—used to be uncomfortably silent.  Luckily for Milwaukee, a certain seven-foot Australian center decided to take matters into his massive hands and form a cheering section in an effort to establish a dominant home-court advantage, complete with wigs, vuvuzelas, and communal chants that target opposing players any chance they can get.

For those of you who are unaware of who Squad 6 is and what they do, let me give you a quick rundown.  Andrew Bogut founded the group last season in an attempt to create a noisy and disruptive environment for opposing teams.  Hoping to replicate the crowds he has encountered in his travels around the world, Bogut graciously purchases 100 tickets for every home game in the lower bowl of the Bradley Center to fill with the rowdiest, craziest Bucks fans.  Bogut handpicks the members himself, requiring that each Squad 6 hopeful audition for a spot, granting them 30 seconds to convince the esteemed panel of judges why they are a fan deserving of such a highly coveted position.

While Bogut’s squad is founded in good-natured fun, make no mistake, there are stringent expectations of the raucous bunch.  Members are observed throughout the game to make sure they are constantly on their feet and that team spirit stays at a maniacal level.  If anyone fails to show for three games (attendance is taken at every game) they are promptly shown the door, as there are plenty of other fanatics out there who would gladly take their place.  It takes a certain level of commitment and dedication to be selected, and Bogut makes sure members hold up their end of the bargain.

Having gone to several Bucks games last year, I had the pleasure of experiencing Squad 6 firsthand.  Unfortunately, as a member of the media I could only sit back and marvel at the creative chants directed at opposing teams (“Dude Looks Like a Lady” targeting Joakim Noah and “Love Stinks” intended for Kevin Love happened to be my personal faves).  Through their clever incantations, rhythmic cadences, and inventive Bucks garb, Squad 6 earned every bit of local and national media attention it garnered last year.

With the 2010-2011 NBA season set to tip off in just a few short weeks, I was given the privilege of observing the first-round auditions this year.  Even though Squad 6 may not have the history as some of the more prominent cheering sections in American sport (a la Cameron Crazies of Duke), they have become a permanent fixture at the Bradley Center these days—and the turnout at the Cousins Center this year supports that belief.

What I walked into that night could only be described as part collegiate pep rally fused with Rocky Horror Picture Show.  My eardrums reverberated with some of the standards of the Squad 6 arsenal, as the crowd frequently broke out into the call and response chant of “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!  Oi! Oi! Oi!”, along with “Seven Nation Army”, the 4^th quarter battle cry.  There was an overabundance of hunter green, dark red, silver, and white, all manifested in various ways.

While they exuded just as much team spirit as the next, a number of Squad 6 hopefuls simply showed up in Bucks jerseys and gym shorts.  Others had a little more creative flair, with one man slathering his entire bald head in red paint.  Chocolate Jesus gave Rick Astley a run for his money as he Rick-Rolled the crowd with an original Bucks-themed version of “Never Gonna Give You Up”.  A reformed Lakers fan jumped on top of the judges table to profess his undying love for Andrew Bogut—prompting Bucks officials to quickly locate his signed waiver—then launched into a back flip that brought the frenzied crowd to its feet.  Hell, NBA commish David Stern was kind enough to make an appearance, even if he did try to regulate the entire audition process.  T-shirts were destroyed, body parts were painted, and pants were dropped—all in the name of Bucks fever.

The people I met at the auditions may have all looked radically different, but everybody I talked to could not stop singing the praises of Milwaukee’s beloved big man.  They were united by their undying love of Bucks’ basketball, some even describing their prior Squad 6 experiences as “life-changing.”  Through his overwhelming generosity, Andrew Bogut has done his part to single-handedly reenergize a fan base that had been sorely lacking for years.  What I experienced that night was nothing short of spectacular, and I’m sure I can speak for all Milwaukee Bucks fans when I tell Andrew Bogut—thank you.

 

Sports fans, if you didn’t already know, today marked the beginning of training camp for your Milwaukee Bucks. Yesterday, The Geek and I went down to Media Day, met the Bucks and got a jumpstart on the 2010-11 season. Needless to say, I’m beyond excited for the new NBA season. My expectations are high and I think we’re still an underrated team in this league. Looking at our depth, how can we not be an intimidating team to face? Our second unit can hang with a majority of the first units in this league. A majority of the roster is revamped, but John Hammond did a great job of bringing in talent and turning nothing into something.

ADDITIONS: Corey Maggette, Drew Gooden, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Earl Boykins, Keyon Dooling, Jon Brockman, Larry Sanders, Darington Hobson and Tiny Gallon.

SUBTRACTIONS: Luke Ridnour, Charlie Bell, Dan Gadzuric, Darnell Jackson, Royal Ivey, Jerry Stackhouse and Kurt Thomas.

The only losses that hurt are Luke Ridnour, one of the best backup point guards last season, and Kurt Thomas’ departure depletes our depth at center. A majority of our success rests in Bogut’s arm, depending on how well he can recover from his devastating injury this past April. Yesterday, Bogut was sans a cast and seeming pretty optimistic for the year. He’s feeling numbness in it, but he’s taking it slow and getting used to using his arm again. If Bogut gets back to his dominant form of a season ago, we’d have two budding superstars leading this team. As Brandon Jennings enters his second year, the sky is the limit. He knows how to run this offense, and said yesterday he wants to make a point of increasing his assist total. If he improves his defense and shooting percentage, Brandon could be one of the best point guards in this league. With a plethora of scorers around him, BJ can look to run this offense at his pace and use his quickness to get the basket.

Having Jennings to slice through the defense with his speed, his shooters can spot up or find space on the floor. Salmons, Maggette, Ersan, Carlos and CDR can all hit their jumpers with consistency. By adding Maggette, the Bucks will hopefully be attacking the rim with higher frequency and getting to the line. Maggette got to the line 7.9 times per game last year and shot 82%. Too many times we lived and died by the jump shot last season. Look what happened in Game 6 of the playoffs when our boy John Salmons couldn’t find the bottom of the net for the life of him.

The additions to our front court gives us a more dynamic inside-outside game. Regardless of Drew Gooden’s contract, he’s been a productive scorer and rebounder in the post during his career, with his best years coming while playing alongside a true center in Zydrunas Ilgauskas. So many times our lack of size killed us in rebounding, so having two formidable big men down low is an outstanding improvement.  And by drafting Larry Sanders, we also bolster our interior defense. Larry is raw offensively, but his length and style of play are perfect for Skiles’ defense. Also coming off the bench are our beloved Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Ersan Ilyasova. Luc’s responsibilities are less in the front court, but now we can use him as a defensive stopper a la Bruce Bowen. Ersan’s role is a little lost in the depth of our team, but he’s a solid reserve, has a great jump shot and is a fan favorite. Look for the Turkish Dirk Nowitzki to continue to shine with hustle, shooting and versatility at both forward spots.

Further down the depth chart, we have backup point guards Earl Boykins and Keyon Dooling. Neither of them are Luke Ridnour, but together they give us the exact same kind of depth behind Brandon Jennings. Both guys are seasoned veterans in this league that will help Brandon as he continues to mature. Backup shooting guard Chris Douglas-Roberts should be perfect as Salmons’ backup, and he can also play the three spot if needed. He’s a great personality that is excited to be here and I predict he’ll become one of the most popular Bucks. But maybe I’m bias because he said “What’s up, man?” to me yesterday, who knows.

The roster is filled out nicely, balanced between young and old, the new jerseys look pretty awesome and the feared deer are getting ready for a comeback. My main concerns for the year are Bogut, Maggette’s defense and Gooden’s hustle. But, I’ve boughten in to Scott Skiles and believe that he can get anyone to play his style of basketball.

PREDICTION: I’ll be bold and say 54-28, 1st in the Central Division and 3rd in the Eastern Conference. Depth, coaching and two young stars at point guard and center will propel this team to greatness. I’m feeling incredible about this upcoming season and I cannot wait to get back in the Bradley Center.

With that, I’ll leave you with something Ted Davis recently brought up... if the Bucks met the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals, wouldn’t everyone in the continental United States be cheering for the Bucks?

Is Brandon Jennings changing the shoe game as we know it?

He is, but will it have an effect on the overall basketball shoe market? On October 23rd, Jennings is releasing his shoes, called "Micro G Black Ice."  The Black Ice shoes are the signature shoes. The other shoes being released are Micro G Lite, Micro G Fly, and Micro G Blur.

Personally, I am obviously really excited because Brandon Jennings is my favorite player in the NBA and I have been waiting for his shoes to come out to a very long time. Here is a little something from an interview between Megan Wilson and Ryan Drew:

Wilson: “How important was it for Under Armour to build the hype around the signature Jennings shoe releasing it? Was there ever a plan to release the Prototype 1 or 2 (Jennings’ shoes for Italy and his rookie season) to retail?”
Drew: “With the limited number of shoes we are releasing, the true hype is in the exclusivity of the product. We don’t have plans to re-release these shoes, so once they’re gone, they’re gone. Our original plan with the Proto 1, 2, and 3 was to create product that we could use as part of our weartest program and to outfit our sports marketing assets — 12 Division 1 college programs, 33 elite level high school programs and 10 AAU teams — totaling over 18,000 pair of shoes in the last two years.”

The fact is: Kids want Under Armour basketball shoes. They want to wear them because Brandon Jennings does. The Bucks have an amazing fan base. I know many of the Bucks fans have also been waiting for these shoes and are going to buy them October 23^rd.

I will be for sure ordering two pair if not three. Now on the business side of the matter…

Many of you have probably heard about Brandon Jennings saying that he wasn’t invited to the Team USA tryouts because he wears Under Armour shoes and not Nike. It could go both ways.

Some people say, "Rose, Billups and Eric Gordon don’t wear Nike and they were invited." I look at those three players this way; Billups is a leader, a vet, someone they needed on that young team, Rose is one of the biggest players in the NBA, and Eric Gordon...well, I'm not too sure about.

The other half says, Yeah, why didn’t Jennings get invited? Then, when they hear what he thinks, they agree. Has anyone thought of this? Maybe Nike tried signing Jennings before Under Armour did. And they still have not got over the fact that he signed with Under Armour instead.

That probably is not the case, because Jennings or Nike would have said something about that already. But back to the first two reasons. I think they could have invited Jennings. They invited Evans and Curry, both of the other contenders for the Rookie of the Year award, and Evans ended up winning. Any of you who have read my other articles know that I think Brandon got robbed. What was so bad about Jennings that Team USA couldn’t even let him try out? They didn’t have to keep him on the team but they still could have given him the chance he deserved.

This whole controversy has given Under Armour Basketball a lot of attention. This is the first time they are releasing basketball shoes. Nike has always had the biggest and best players but lately some of the younger guys have signed with other shoe companies.

Look at these names. Derrick Rose, signed with Adidas. John Wall, signed with Reebok.  Evan Tuner, signed with Li-Ning. Eric Gordon, Adidas.

Those are some of the recent players that have signed with shoe brands other than Nike. Some big names of that list. Maybe the biggest being John Wall, #1 overall pick of the 2010 Draft. He was the first basketball player to sign with Reebok since Allen Iverson. That was a long time ago! 1996. I would have been a one year old. Fourteen years later, they signed one of the biggest players to come out of College Basketball recently. And he already has a shoe that he will be wearing this season. A basketball version of the Zig Tech. The Zig Tech is worn by players like Chad Ochocinco, Sidney Crosby, and Peyton Manning. So Wall joins an elite group of players sponsored by Reebok.

In all honesty, I had heard little and knew little about Li-Ning before Evan Turner signed with them. All I really knew was that Baron Davis was sponsored by them. After Turner signed with them I did more research and found out that they were the biggest Chinese sporting company. They make products for; Basketball, running, fitness, tennis, football, and badminton. They all make apparel for Kung Fu and Tai Chi. But when Turner signed with them; a lot of people searched them and found out who they were. It was also announced that Evan would have his own signature shoes and apparel by the time his sophomore NBA season rolled around. This is a big deal for Li-Ning and Turner because they will both make a lot of money off this and get a lot of attention.

So is Nike being dethroned?

Of course not. Nike will always be big; they still have Kobe and LeBron.

Plus, can't forget Kevin Durant, who will be around for many years to come.

I love Nike but I won’t be getting their basketball shoes anymore.

Nope, I gotta have my man Brandon Jennings shoes. After all, he is my favorite player.