Better without Bogut?

So sports are all the buzz in Wisconsin right now, and little to none of the talk is about the Green Bay Packers or the Wisconsin Badgers. It's the Brewers, like the past couple years, but it's shocking to hear people talking about the Bucks. I guess that's what happens when you have a catchy (and awesome) catch phrase. But I'm on board. I Fear the Dear.

Since going 10-4 in February and 11-4 in March, the city of Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin have been boarding the Milwaukee Bucks bandwagon. When Bogut went down April 3rd, I'll admit, I thought the dream had died. But with two victories in the playoffs in front of an absolutely rockin' Bradley Center crown, the Bucks have proved that their hot stretch in the season was no fluke.

Sure, they face an uphill climb for the rest of the playoffs, having to win at least one game in Atlanta to win the series. However, I like Milwaukee's chances. I think we're actually better in this series without Bogut. (I love Bogut. I wish he was playing. But let me explain.) Post play wouldn't be effective against the Hawks in these playoffs. In 2 games versus the Hawks this season, Bogut scored 14 and 9, respectively, while the team was carried by John Salmons in both games. The same goes for the playoffs here. Kurt Thomas isn't looking to score, instead looking to set vicious screens to open up the perimeter for Jennings, Delfino, Ridnour, and Salmons.

I'm not saying I wouldn't play Bogut if he was healthy. You can't do that to such a big contributor like Andrew. But with Kurt Thomas seeing more minutes, the floor is spread out more. Instead of working the ball into the post and then dealing with Al Horford's defense and Josh Smith coming across the lane for a weakside block, the Bucks can work on swinging the ball around for a good shot. If a three isn't open, the guards can penetrate to the spots that Josh Smith isn't. Brandon Jennings worked this to perfection in game 4, one of the big reasons the Bucks one. And Bogut's defense isn't so amazing that Thomas can't replace it, as he can defend Horford just fine. The Hawks are too athletic to look to post up too much, anyway.

Do the Bucks stand a chance in the next rounds, were we to advance? Eh, maybe. The Celtics may be a decent matchup on paper, but we don't have the experience they do. We also don't have an answer for Dwight Howard (or Rashard Lewis) if we were to run into the Magic. And I don't see anyone taking down LeBron this year. I think the Bucks are a great story in round one, but after that, I get a little more skeptical.