The Bucks starting center Andrew Bogut will miss 6-8 weeks with a severe lower left leg sprain. Look for Dan Gazduric and Brian Skinner to split minutes at center until Bogut can return.

Starting small forward Bobby Simmons will miss at least a month with a stress reaction in his right heel. Ruben Patterson and rookie David Noel will probably split the position until Simmons can return.

The Bucks traded TJ Ford, because they thought Maurice Williams could handle the starting job. Williams averaged 12.1points, 2.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game last season. Williams is a good shooter and team leader when he’s on the court. The only question about Williams will be if he can handle playing big minutes. For his career, Williams has averaged 23.4 minutes per game. In those 23.4 minutes, Williams has averaged 9.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game.

Steve Blake will be the back-up for the Bucks. Blake is a good 3-point shooter (39.0%) that can stretch the defense when he plays. Blake has averaged 6.4 points, 1.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game in his NBA career. Blake should team with Williams to give the Bucks a good, productive tandem at the point guard position.

Stotts did a good job in his first season with the Bucks, going 40-42 and taking them to the playoffs. Stotts has a three year NBA career record of 92-127. The next step for Stotts is to get the Bucks to play well enough to get a home series in the playoffs so that they have a better chance to succeed when they get there.

Stotts has a career record of 1-4 in the playoffs.