Will Playing At Home Help The Bucks Opening Night Fortunes?

2011 Opener: Charlotte Bobcats

Even back before Charlotte changed from the Bobcats to the Hornets, they were still barely beating the Bucks on opening night. This was a rare December 26th opener thanks to the lockout-shortened season, but we still had more than enough bad basketball courtesy of the Bucks to watch.

Milwaukee would win 31 of their 66 games this season, which resulted in them missing the playoffs. Their weak lineups were the most likely culprit–opening day saw a starting five of Brandon Jennings, Stephen Jackson, Mike Dunleavy (oh God why), Ersan Ilyasova and Andrew Bogut.

This was the season Bogut–Milwaukee’s first overall selection a few years prior and supposed franchise savior–was dealt for Monta Ellis after he suffered a season-ending injury. A trade that changed the entire NBA landscape, we just might talk about more on our next podcast too.

The most-utilized starting lineup Scott Skiles featured this season speaks to how the team only won 31 games–Brandon Jennings, Shaun Livingston, Luc Mbah a Mouté, Carlos Delfino and Drew Gooden. Yeesh. Let’s just move on.

Next: The 2010 Opener