Kuzul

Are you new to fantasy basketball? Maybe you have played fantasy sports before but have been hesitant to try out fantasy basketball for one reason or another.

Well, here are five good reasons why you should take the leap and give fantasy basketball a chance if you’ve never played before:

1) Like any other sport, it takes time to learn.

Remember your first baseball draft? When you took players from your favorite team instead of the best available? When you took Peyton Manning No. 1 overall because “he’s the best player in the league”?

It happens.

Your team more than likely sucked, but since then you’ve crushed the opposition for a couple of titles. If you’re already a fan of fantasy sports, you should be a little more prepared to embark on a new journey than you were before. Even if you’re not, there’s no reason to take the Ricky Bobby philosophy on winning and losing.

So go ahead, take your team’s starting five, get your college team’s up-and-comers. Maybe it’ll work out, maybe not. Either way, you’ll have the enjoyment of another fantasy sport added to your repertoire, and hey, there’s always next year.

2) The scoring is the same as fantasy baseball.

I would even go so far as to say that players are more easily compared in fantasy basketball than in any other league.

In fantasy baseball, pitchers convolute things. Looking at the pros and cons of a specific hitter versus a specific pitcher becomes completely relative to the makeup of one’s team. This leads to a lot of difficulties when ranking players and reviewing trade offers.

Football’s problems are much more obvious. Because it’s based on a point system, taking the best player doesn’t always translate to creating the best team. Of course, one can compare players by their average points per game, but these can be very ephemeral. Two one-yard rushing touchdowns will outdo a player who has 115 rushing yards with no touchdowns.

This is not to say that fantasy baseball and football are unfair. I just think the use of the same stats for every player in the game and the use of rotisserie scoring give basketball the best translation from on-the-court to fantasy scoring.

3) The schedule should not turn you away.

The spotty nature of the NBA schedule per team, therefore per player, can turn a lot of people off to fantasy basketball. It shouldn’t.

Sure, you don’t have a daily schedule like the MLB or a weekly appointment like the NFL. There’s no debating that. And it does stink to check your roster every day only to see that you only have one or two guys playing on a number of nights.

The solution: Set your roster in intervals. Every three days. Once a week. Something defined. The stability of playing time in the NBA means that you will rarely have a guy starting that doesn’t actually play, even if you don’t take the time to study your team every single day.

4) Of the Big Three, the NBA offers the smallest player universe, and therefore, the smallest number of relevant fantasy players.

This makes the amount of information that you need to be process much smaller. Not that you should stop visiting your favorite fantasy basketball site. You should never do that. Many people actually do the opposite with the NBA.

The smaller player universe means less information to wade through on a daily basis, so one can more easily extract the data that applies to them from their favorite site. A site like rotoprofessor.com/basketball, maybe?

5) It’s fun.

If you’ve played and enjoyed fantasy sports, you know this point already. I think it’s worth further emphasis, though.

Remember the feeling you got from buying Josh Hamilton cheaply this year? Or how about all the sympathy you’ve received since taking Matt Forte ahead of Chris Johnson last year?

There are conversations and debates that you can only have if you’re playing fantasy. It’s as simple as that. If you like basketball, why wouldn’t you participate in something that simultaneously makes you more informed about the league and lets you compete against others?

It’s a win-win.

So with all that said, if you’ve never played fantasy basketball before, there’s no reason to be afraid. Give it a shot and see for yourself how much fun it can be. And of course make sure you’re checking out the Rotoprofessor for all your fantasy analysis.

To view the first part of Will Overton’s Top 200 Rankings on Rotoprofessor, click here

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

This is one of the most exciting times of the year in sports.  U.S. Open tennis and college football begin this week, and the NFL begins next weekend.  

What are the biggest sporting events in the NFL every year? It can depend on your perspective and rooting interest.  These 10 are undeniably a major part of the American Sporting calendar every year.

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With the news that Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren made their divorce official and with Frank and Jamie McCourt’s divorce starting tomorrow, August 30th, let’s take a look at some of the other big splits in the professional sports world.

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There and Back Again for Jacoby Ellsbury

When I went on my 10-day hiking trip to the Oval Lakes of Northern Washington, I expected I would miss no-hitters, some shakeups atop the many tight-knit divisions, and a franchise-altering trade made by Rich Cho and the Portland Trail Blazers.

Hiking peaks and lounging around a nearby lake reading Michael Chabon’s brilliant novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, the very strange Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman, and David Halberstam’s superb October 1964 was very enjoyable, but as the trip went on, I began to have withdrawals. I dreamed of writing articles. I conjured up what I was sure had happened, was happening, and what was going to happen prior to my returning to Eugene, Oregon.

After pining for a newspaper throughout the nine-mile hike out, I snatched a USA Today at a nearby gas station to see that though not much newsworthy took place, it was still an exciting week in the world of sports.

Boston Red Sox v New York Yankees, August 5th-9th; Red Sox were 6 1/2 back to begin series

Boston managed a split in their four-game series against New York. Clay Buchholz, perhaps the best in a rotation full of solid starters, paced the team in the opener and a David Ortiz homer backed his performance.

They lost the next two games of the series. Saturday’s Yankee win was overshadowed by an ankle injury suffered to Alex Rodriguez, who appears to be alright after that scare considering he hit three home-runs the following Saturday. Derek Jeter passed Babe Ruth on the Yankees all-time hit list as they blasted Josh Beckett in the third contest between the foes.

The Red Sox salvaged a draw with a victory in the finale behind six shut-out innings by Jon Lester, who, the following Saturday, tossed eight more scoreless innings over the deadly Texas Rangers.

Given how action-packed Red Sox-Yankees series usually are, this was a ho-hum duel. Nothing changed in the standings, which hurts Boston. And they couldn’t gain any more ground the rest of the week, too.

Youkilis out for season with thumb surgery; Ellsbury struggles, then returns to the Disabled List

Kevin Youkilis, one of Red Sox best hitters, was deemed done for the season as he underwent surgery to repair a tear in his thumb. It’s a devastating blow to Boston, a team already depleted by the injury suffered to former MVP Dustin Pedroia. Their lineup has been makeshift all year, and with this and what would come, it certainly will remain that way for the rest of the season.

Jacoby Ellsbury had four stolen bases in the Red Sox win over the Yankees in their series finale, but that was the lone highlight of his brief return. He was deemed ready to play after missing all but nine games due to severe damage done to his rib-cage. His performance suggested he was not healthy enough to, though, as he went 4-34 with no rbi’s before landing back on the Disabled List.

He returned to the DL Saturday night after re-injuring his ribs in Friday’s loss to the Rangers. He underwent CT and MRI scans, which found “some edema in the same area,” according to manager and apparent M.D. Terry Francona, and a new fracture line. Overall, Ellsbury said, through Francona, that it is worse than the first relapse in May. He may be done for the year. Sadly, a lost season for not only a very dangerous leadoff man, but a Oregon-native and former Oregon State Beaver.

Collison can now turn that frown upside down: the Pacers are his team to run.

A four-team trade in the NBA that helps all but one

New Orleans traded away promising young point guard Darren Collison along with James Posey to the Indiana Pacers; the Pacers traded power forward Troy Murphy (who has an expiring contract) to the New Jersey Nets; the Houston Rockets sent young guard Trevor Ariza to the Hornets; and the Nets traded their version of Ariza, Courtney Lee, to the Rockets.

Indiana, a team discontent with T.J. Ford and A.J. Price as their depth, gets the point guard of their future. Collison performed admirably in Chris Paul’s stead during his rookie season, and now he won’t be in his shadow anymore. He averaged 21 points and eight assists in 42 minutes per game during February when Paul was on the shelf, and finished the season averaging 12 points and upwards of six assists per game. He could potentially be a top-ten point guard in the league come this season, as ESPN’s Josh Whitling suggested.

Murphy gives the Nets cap-room for the Summer of 2011. The team will target Carmelo Anthony (if he doesn’t accept the Nuggets $65 million offer that’s been on the table for over a month) and Tony Parker during that free agency period, and Murphy’s expiring $11.9 million contract, should give them a considerable chance to at least nab one of the two premier talents.

Ariza put up solid numbers in his lone season with Houston, but shot just 39 percent. I’m not sure Lee will be much of an upgrade, but he’s a defensive-stalwart who seems to have a bit better head on his shoulders than Ariza. Just like every move Kevin Pritchard made for the Blazers before his dismissal, every deal that Houston does is seemingly intelligent with Daryl Morey at the helm.

The deal makes little sense for the Hornets, though Ariza does fill a need. They are taking a risk on moving Collison, as Paul could choose not to re-sign and test the free agent market. If that indeed does happen, New Orleans will have to take the time to develop a point guard, which is no easy task.

Karl Malone, Scottie Pippen inducted into Hall of Fame–deservedly, too.

Malone never won a championship with the Utah Jazz, and there have been some who have argued he isn’t Hall of Fame Material, but, in my mind, he was one of the best players of his generation–of any generation, for that matter. The Mailman formed an effortlessly talented tandem with one of the best point guards ever to play, John Stockton, and averaged 25 points and 10 rebounds per game for his career.

There was Malone-Stockton, but then there was Michael Jordan-Scottie Pippen. The latter duo kept the former duo from winning any rings.

Pippen was the quintessential side-kick, stifling on defense, one of the better athletes ever to play in the NBA, and a solid scorer to compliment Jordan’s greatness. He averaged 16 points (20 during his prime), dished five assists and grabbed six rebounds per game over a 16-year career, and came up huge come playoff time, averaging 17-7-5 in 208 playoff games.

New York Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez was arrested for assault and the San Francisco Giants acquired a big bat in Jose Guillen. Those two tidbits, a thumb surgery, newly fractured ribs, a quiet week and a half in baseball, and a four-team trade in the NBA that could have fairly large ramifications is the collection of sports news that I missed. Now I return to the blogosphere, ready to write articles off the headlines as they happen.

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With practice starting on Monday, West Virgina’s new allegations and BP now blaming RR for the Gulf Oil Spill, I thought I would take a break from regular news and find some funny stuff to post. 

First Funny

Comes from Michigan Football lover Danny Hope, head coach of the Purdue Boilermakers: “When he came to Purdue, it was as a transfer from Miami, and a lot of things [were] written about him, a lot of controversy. He’s done a great job fitting in. The team has embraced him. His teammates love him. Exceptional player and exceptional athlete and great teammate. We like everything about Robert Marve, and we certainly think he has the potential and talent for us to win on Saturday.” 

I wasn’t aware Purdue had a game this Saturday?  Maybe he meant August 14th?  I wonder if Danny knows Michigan running backs coach Fred Jackson?

Second Funny

Comes from EDSBS on ESPN’s new college football announcer lineup. Warning! Paul McGuire in not on the list.

Here is a sample:

1: LIGHT AIR, RIPPLES WITH CRESTS ON THE WATER: Pam Ward and the Slumbertonez have been bumped down to ESPNU, where they will work the nooner with new analyst Danny Kanell. Awkward sexual tension to follow? No, we’re sorry: you must have this confused with the Mike Patrick/Craig James pairing, which does/will contain tons of simmering and forbidden passion. Bonus for people who hate Pam Ward: she’s no longer on ESPN [Numericals,] and thus off the basic cable run of easily flippable consecutive channels.

2. LIGHT BREEZE, BLOWIN’ TWIGS AROUND: Mike Bellotti will debut as an analyst, presumably smoking cigars on air lit with the money he took on the way out of Oregon. Brock Huard and Carter Blackburn are his partners. Predicted on-air banter: making fun of someone actually being named “Carter Blackburn,” and his resemblance to Chuck Bass.

 
Third Funny

Those New York Knicks sure love Isiah Thomas! Zeek must have a magic wand or something!
 

Fourth Funny

Albert Haynesworth’s knee is fine and he still didn’t do the conditioning drill.  The Redskins must have loved to pay him that $21 million check a few months ago.  He seems like a great investment.
 

Fifth Funny

Comes from our own freshman running back Stephen Hopkins during spring ball.  See the picture above. I wonder how big those eyes will be when camp opens on Monday!   Go get them big guy!

Sixth Funny

Comes from CB/Safety/Stand up comedian Troy Woolfolk: 
 
“I feel like I actually chased a coach out of here,” he said, referring to Vance Bedford, who left to join Florida’s staff after Woolfolk’s freshman year and is now the defensive coordinator at Louisville. “My lack of knowledge almost caused him to get an aneurysm”
 
“Sometimes people don’t know what they’re doing,” Woolfolk said. “They come to me. That’s funny. I used to be that guy. I see how annoying it is. Every play, ‘Troy, Troy, what I got to do?’
 
So what would coach Bedford think of the Wolverines now relying on Woolfolk to direct traffic?

“We in trouble,” Woolfolk said.

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This is the day a lot of people have been waiting for since the decision came down that the Texas Rangers would go up for auction. At this moment it’s a two team race, so to speak, as to who will be the new owners of the Texas Rangers. The two teams are groups headed by Attorney Chuck Greenberg and Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan up against Houston businessman Jim Crane and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban .

What we learned earlier today was that the group led by Crane and Cuban had the highest bid over Greenberg and Ryan by more than $25 million. At that point, the attorney’s for the Greenberg and Ryan group wanted 12 hours to look over the Crane and Cuban bid. The judge gave them one hour and asked that they come back and tell him where they were.

If you think this has been a clean battle, you’d be dead wrong. Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News, Dan Kaplan of the Sports Business Journal, Bob Nightengale of USA Today, and Brian Dolgin with the Texas Rangers are all on hand, and all have reported several heated arguments between the attorneys from both sides.

Dolgin and Kaplan both reported, via Twitter, that Louis Streubeck and Thomas Lauria, respective attorneys for both sides, got into a shouting match and cussed at each other during a confrontation in the hallway of the courtroom.

We may not know the resolution of the proceedings today but what we do know is Major League Baseball is not a fan of Cuban and does not want to see him become the owner of any team let alone the Texas Rangers. After his attempt at buying the Chicago Cubs from The Tribune Company, Cuban wrote on his blog , “On the flip side, my dedication to winning could also make my job of getting approval with MLB baseball much harder.”

Whether Major League Baseball approves Cuban and Crane as the new owners of the Texas Rangers is still yet to be seen. However, if the creditors get their way, they will urge the presiding judge to award the Cuban group for no other reason than to get more money.

If you ask a lot of the Ranger fans, at least those not after the “big name” owner, they’ll tell you that the best ownership group for the foreseeable future is the group led by Ryan. However, it might not be so far fetched to think that Cuban can’t bring a championship to North Texas. He has the kind of money that can bring in the players needed for the Rangers to compete in not only the AL West but also in the American League year in and year out. He can take the money from ticket sales, concessions, and advertising among other avenues, and put it back into the players on the field.

I’m not saying Ryan won’t do the same as he’s been a big part of the rebuilding process of this team over the years, however,  Cuban isn’t a bad owner and Dallas Maverick fans will tell you the exact same thing.

What those around Major League Baseball object to is his constant questioning of NBA officials as well as the members of the NBA front office as well. Major League Commissioner Bud Selig gets questioned enough by those around baseball, having Cuban’s outspoken manner might not go over so well in baseball circles.

Whatever comes of the court proceedings over the next few days, I believe the Rangers will be in good, and capable, hands going forward.

One thing you can take away from both Cuban and Ryan is the fact that both of these guys will be committed to winning and both will show that as the owners. I’m not going to say one is better than the other, but what I will say is one knows baseball, the other has admitted at previous times that he is not a baseball guy. I’ll leave you to figure out which is which.

The bids are in and Cuban is the lead horse at this moment with a bid of $335 million, much to the chagrin of Ryan and Greenberg who’s offer currently stands at $320 million. There’s been no response from the Greenberg/Ryan camp and the judge has said that he’s willing to work through the night to have a resolution by morning.

Though there’s been some talk of stopping for the night, the two sides have ordered themselves dinner to be delivered to the courthouse so it looks like they are ready to work through the night as well.

This is a long ways from over and, if today was any indicator, there are more fireworks still to come.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

One Great Season

Here’s a conversation that I suppose will happen between 60-year-old men about 20 years from now, joined en medias res , of course:

Old Man 1: “No way, Mike is still the best ever.”

Old Man 2: “Kobe had just as many titles, but never had a Pippen alongside him.”

OM 1: “Yeah, but Kobe had Shaq in his prime for his first three rings. How ’bout Mike at No. 1 and Kobe 1A?”

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OM 2: “Looks like we might have to agree to disagree. I think Kobe was just as deadly of an assassin as Mike was. Kobe won his sixth when the talent pool may have been a little deeper across the league.”

OM 1: “Maybe, but one thing we do agree on is that LeBron does not belong in the same zip code as this conversation.”

OM 2: “Yeah, for real. I can’t believe he only won two championships in Miami.”

OM 1: “Remember how everybody thought they were going to win it all that first year? Your boy Kobe certainly had something to say about that. I was never a huge Kobe guy, but I became a fan of his the night LeBron did that ridiculous look-at-me-everybody hour of television on ESPN. I can’t believe he did Cleveland like that so publicly after that city worshiped him for seven years.”

OM 2: “I know. That was disgusting. And thanks to that, now we get it almost every year it seems. Who do these punks think they are?”

OM 1: “Yeah, thank God for guys like Kevin Durant, who could very well be part of this conversation too had he won another couple of rings. I was glad he got two for himself. Same with Wall.”

OM 2: “Yeah, those guys were fun to watch and great for the league. How ’bout when Miami introduced LeBron, D. Wade, and Bosh that weekend and LeBron started counting his future rings? ‘Not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven.’ What an arrogant dickhead. And then they only won two together. Awesome”

OM 2: “Yeah, and when he said, ‘We’re going to show the world that the Heat are back,’ are you kidding me? Back then and still to this day the world could care less about the NBA, especially that asshole. Good luck with that global brand, tough guy.”

OM 1: “I’m not even sure LeBron ever meant anything that came out of his mouth after 2009. I realize athletes get media training and so forth, but it seemed like that buffoon Maverick Carter just advised him wrongly at every turn. LeBron ended up looking, acting and sounding like a complete robot all the time. He made Tiger Woods look charming back then.”

OM 2: “I know. And remember how like a few days later, that Yankees announcer and Steinbrenner both died on the same day or whatever? Jeter was the guy who represented the team and spoke to the crowd before their next game, not A-Rod. As soon as I saw all that go down, that was the best analogy I could think of. The Heat were always going to be Wade’s team, in every way. And LeBron was going to have to stay in the background. And who the hell did Bosh think he was? He wasn’t a top-line player like LeBron or D. Wade.”

OM 1: “Word. Everyone knew from the very first minute there were going to be chemistry problems. I’m almost surprised they won the two they did.”

OM 2: “Yeah, I liked seeing them lose to the Thunder in the 2014 Finals.”

OM 1: “How ’bout when the Wizards got them in the second round the following year?”

OM 2: “I can’t believe Wall kept playing until just last year. That dude was awesome. And he was never an asshole.”

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Only 409 more days.

That’s right, in fewer than 59 weeks, the 2010 NBA free agency period opens.

And it will open sans LeBron James. No Dwyane Wade, either. Chris Bosh will be inked to a team already. Not even Joe Johnson will be available. All of those guys get their big deals this summer.

But I am still totally psyched for next year’s free agent class for one reason:

The possibility of Kevin Durant coming to Milwaukee.

(Quick pause for me to put my crack pipe down.)

It’s a long shot, I know. Oklahoma City will probably not let him go, considering he is a top-five player in the league. And even if by some horrible mismanagement the Thunder didn’t sign Durantula, why would he come to Milwaukee? No one comes to Milwaukee. Bango the Buck has even been petitioning the league to let the Las Vegas Whitetails into the NBA so he can leave Wisconsin.

And yet I cling to this shred of hope. The thought of Kevin Durant pumping in 30 points a game with second banana Andrew Bogut chiming in with 16 and 12 boards a night makes me tingle. And on the nights Durant can’t get it going, Young Money Brandon Jennings can go off for 25 large and ten dimes.

If they sign Durant, the Bucks would threaten 60 wins in the Eastern Conference with defensive guru Scott Skiles running the show. And they would be instant title contenders .

I write this knowing full well that the Bucks are more likely to sign me next season with that $19 million they will save with Michael Redd’s expiring contract. But I still hope.

And hope like mine has infiltrated sports fans world wide. Just look around:

Suddenly, the NFL Draft is as intriguing and watchable to fans as the actual games .

The classic NBA Finals match up of Lakers-Celtics is bearing down on us, and yet seemingly all we can talk about is where King James will be playing next year.

After I watched the Yankees celebrate their 27th World Series title last Season, I realized that there was much more excitement about the Bombers’ free agent signings of Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett before the season started than there was when the champagne was flowing in the Bronx in October.

It’s an interesting trend that we seem to be experiencing right now, in that we as fans care more about what happens in our teams’ war rooms than on the field.

But for fans of a team like the Browns, that interest in hoping for something better to come along is much more compelling than watching Jake Delhomme throw a pick on third-and-long.

Wishing for those NBA Draft Lottery ping pong balls to come up aces for the Warriors is more fun for their fans to think about than watching the Magic dominate them by 30. Staying true to the Pirates when the chips are down is tough for their loyal faithful when Paul Maholm gives up six runs in the first inning without recording an out.

We’re still watching our teams play the games. But we’re moving further from the bleachers, and closer to the owner’s box to take them in.

With that in mind, let me give a shout out to Kevin Durant:

Come to Milwaukee, man. It’s a fun place to spend your career. Nothing here is really that cold, except for the beer. I’ll even buy you one after you don that #35 Christmas-tree colored jersey at your press conference next summer.

It’s only 409 days away.

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Anyone who is a fan of the 1994 Kevin Smith film Clerks has probably seen – in any number of its dozens of video releases – the film’s original ending.

Cut before the film was released theatrically, but included on subsequent Laserdisc, DVD and Blu-ray releases, the original ending features the shocking twist of store clerk Dante being shot and killed.

It’s a terribly abrupt and disturbing ending, in large part because of the unexpected high degree of fun that had come before.

Sunday’s Eastern Conference quarterfinal game seven beat down of the Milwaukee Bucks at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks was like that – an ugly, shocking, disturbing, completely unsettling end to what had until then largely been a joyous 2009-2010 season.

Yes, it is easy for those who either don’t believe in or don’t care about the Bucks to quickly dismiss a team that did not make it out of the opening round of the NBA playoffs. (After all, doesn’t every NBA team make the postseason?)

But remember that the Bucks were a team most picked to be among the dregs of the NBA this season. Yet look at what they accomplished:

Finishing the season 10 games over .500.

Making the playoffs for the first time in four years. (No, not every NBA team makes the postseason.)

Pushing a heavily favored Atlanta team to a seven game series in the postseason, even though most thought the series would be finished in five.

They were able to accomplish so much after another mid-season injury (January 10) to guard Michael Redd, and a late-season injury to center Andrew Bogut (April 4), who had been having a breakout year.

Much of the credit for the Bucks successes this season has to go to GM John Hammond, who deservedly won the NBA Executive of the Year award last month, as well as coach Scott Skiles. Hammond’s decision to draft Brandon Jennings in last year’s draft and his move to acquire guard/forward John Salmons from the Bulls in February paid huge dividends this season, and Skiles has been unanimously praised for developing a wonderful chemistry with his team, despite making undesirable lineup changes due to injuries.

If Milwaukee can re-sign Salmons (who averaged nearly 20 points a game for the Bucks), if the Bucks can remain relatively injury-free next season and if Brandon Jennings can improve on his impressive rookie season, the Bucks might have the biggest upside of any team in the NBA, pending what happens in what could be a blockbuster off-season in free agency.

Yes, those are big “ifs,” but should situations fall the right way for the Bucks, their window for success could be opening wide.

On the contrary, the window for the Milwaukee Brewers seems to be slamming shut faster than the chances for a Furry Vengeance sequel. (Further proof that you can write anything on Wikipedia: note the mention of Brooke Shields as Furry Vengeance‘s “hot wife.”)

After Sunday’s humiliating 8-0 loss at San Diego that wrapped up a series in which the big bats of Milwaukee scored a grand total of two runs (and this was a four-game series), it’s almost hard to believe the Brewers are only five games under .500.

If the Brewers hadn’t had the luxury of playing Pittsburgh six times already, who they’ve outscored 61-17 despite only going 4-2 in those games, things might be even worse.

Despite a slow start for Prince Fielder – who has only seven more hits than Gregg Zaun, and the Brewers catcher started 0-for-21 – and despite the awfully offensive offensive display in San Diego, the Brewers’ bats aren’t where most are putting the blame. Casey McGehee, Rickie Weeks and especially Ryan Braun are performing up to expectations (and, in McGehee’s case, beyond, although he has cooled off a bit).

No, despite off-season efforts to overhaul what was the worst pitching staff in the majors in 2009, the Brewers still find themselves unable to get outs.

While newly rich Yovani Gallardo has rebounded from an awful start, and newly acquired Randy Wolf has been okay, the rest of the lineup has ranged from disappointing to disastrous. Dave Bush has been erratic and Doug Davis has been awful. And the only reason Chris Narveson is in the rotation is because his chief competition was Jeff Suppan, whose demotion to the bullpen was the easiest decision Ken Macha had to make since coming to Milwaukee.

Worse still has been that bullpen. And not just because Suppan now resides there. Trevor Hoffman, who was so steady last season, has already blown four saves this season and has held teams scoreless in only six of his first nine outings. New set-up man LaTroy Hawkins has done nothing but remind people why no team who signs him ends up wanting him around very long (the Brewers are his seventh team since joining the Cubs in 2004). And Claudio Vargas’s comeback to Milwaukee has been about as successful as Vanilla Ice’s latest comeback.

While Milwaukee still resides in the upper half of clubs in terms of offensive production, outhitting teams such as the Yankees, Phillies and Rays, it’s clear that their 20 and 17-run games against Pittsburgh have exaggerated those numbers.

It’s also becoming clear that they are not going to be able to regularly score as many runs as their pitchers allow.

Sound familiar?

The Brewers recent struggles (losing eight of ten as of this writing) haven’t gone unnoticed by the number crunchers at AccuScore. In the week from April 26 to May 3, they’ve dropped the Brewers’ chances of making the postseason in 2010 from 20.4 percent to just 6.5 percent, the biggest drop of any National League team.

And now we don’t even have Bob Uecker to listen to.

Yes, we have not even hit Big Brother‘s summer season yet and the Brewers have loads of time to turn things around. I know.

But given what we’re seeing now, if I had to guess which team — the Bucks or the Brewers — would next make a serious post-season run, my money would be squarely on the Bucks.

Get well, Bob.

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