Profiling the small forwards

October 19, 12:31 AMMilwaukee Bucks ExaminerKris Gilson

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Milwaukee Bucks Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

The Milwaukee Bucks are fairly deep at all positions, and small forward is no different.  Here's an in depth look at Milwaukee's small forwards.

Bucks' SFs: Joe Alexander, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Ersan Ilyasova

Joe Alexander
Birth Date: December 26, 1986
Birth Place: Koushung, Taiwan
Height: 6-8
Weight: 230 lbs.
Age: 22
Position: SF
Experience: 1 years
College: West Virginia
Salary: 2010: $2,583,360
Scouting report: Very athletic. Great leaper. Finishes strong around the hoop. Great wingspan. Good size for a small forward. Good jump shot – gets high off the ground and has a high release. Can hit tough shots over defenders. Good body control. Ability to beat man off the dribble with either hand. Great shot-blocker for his position. Good passer. Can post up strong. Hard worker. His game increased each year in college. Good rebounder for a wing player. Gets beat off the dribble. Still inexperienced – a late bloomer – didn’t play much his sophomore year. Needs to become a better three-point shooter to play the three-spot in the NBA. Still inconsistent.
Place on depth chart: Joe's current hamstring problem has hindered him all preseason, and he has yet to play in a game. Things are not looking good for him, and he's probably one of the last players off the bench this season. His time is running out.

Ersan Ilyasova
Birth Date: May 15, 1987
Birth Place: Eskisehir, Turkey
Height: 6-10
Weight: 235 lbs.
Age: 22
Position: SF
Experience: 1 years
Drafted: 2005: 2nd Rnd, 36th by MIL
Salary: 2010: $2,100,000
Scouting report: A very fluid athlete with excellent agility and extremely long arms that help him block shots, grab rebounds, and poach steals. Shows good instincts, and can hit the outside shot.
Not bulky for a power forward and isn't a big passer for a player with a small forward's tools.
Place on depth chart: He, Mbah a Moute, and Hakim Warrick have all been fighting for minutes at the forward spots this preseason, and Ilyasova might be the odd man out as of this moment. He's still pretty raw, but you can tell there's upside here. He should play a fair amount whether he ends up starting or not during the regular season.

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute
Birth Date: September 9, 1986
Birth Place: Yaounde, Cameroon
Height: 6-8
Weight: 230 lbs.
Age: 23
Position: SF
Experience: 1 years
College: UCLA
Salary: 2010: $736,420
Scouting report: Has good quickness and agility for a bigger player along with nice overall length. A good rebounder and a versatile defender who can clog passing lanes and play most forwards straight up. Doesn't show a lot on offense, either as a playmaker or a shooter. Still needs to establish some go-to moves. A bit foul-prone.
Place on depth chart: If I were a betting man, I'd bet he and Hakim Warrick will claim the two forward spots to open the season. Scott Skiles loves what he brings to the table defensively, and Luc will get every chance to guard the opposing teams' top players on a regular basis.

Overall Grade: C-

There's a lot to like and there's a lot to dislike about this group.  The Bucks are likely going to struggle to score points every game, and no one in this small forward group will help much in that regard.  However, there's definitely upside in all three players here on the offensive side of the ball.

As I mentioned, Alexander's time is potentially running out as a Milwaukee Buck.  Ineffective for much of last year, Joe never really showed much promise on either side of the ball, leading many fans to prematurely call him a bust.  As JSOnline's Charles F. Gardner points out, Bucks GM John Hammond has an October 31st deadline to pick up the first of two option years on Joe Alexander.  The choice will be extremely tough as Joe has been injured and/or ineffective thus far as a Buck.  He still hasn't played in a preseason game.  If he ever does get healthy and figure things out on the court, he could end up being a pretty solid player, though it may not be for the Bucks.

Ilyasova spent the past couple season playing in Europe, and the experience clearly did him some good.  He really excelled for his home country Turkey in the recent Eurobasket Championships, but has been extremely streaky thus far in the preseason.  He has a tendency to shoot the ball without his feet being set, often leading to misses.  The upside is certainly there for Ersan, and he should get some playing time in Skiles' rotation during the year.

Skiles absolutely loves what Mbah a Moute brings to the table defensively, but he's still really not an offensive threat.  He's an incredibly active player and a pesky defender that can cover just about anyone on the court at any time.  It'll be a big year for him if he wants to be considered a threat on the offensive side of the ball.  Like I predicted earlier, I think he'll grab a starting forward spot to open the season, and should really help the team defensively.

We may see other players start at or play the small forward position during the season that I have listed under other positions (Carlos Delfino at SG and Hakim Warrick at PF, specifically) - it will depend on whether Skiles wants to go with a big or small group on the floor.

The SF position could be the only position on the floor for the Bucks this season that is very fluid - we'll likely see a glut of players playing at the position during regular season games, so it's tough to give it a definitive grade at this point.  It's certainly not the Bucks' strongest position, that's for sure.

Next up, I'll take a look at the power forwards.

For more info: Profiling the: PGs, SGs, Bucks roster

(Photos courtesy of ESPN)