What'd We Learn About the Bucks in Vegas?

The 2010 Las Vegas Summer League has come and gone, and fortunately for the Bucks wins and losses mean absolutely nothing.  Otherwise, the whole "going 1-4" thing would be cause for grave concern.

The team didn't play especially well, and 2nd round pick Darington Hobson missed the event with a groin injury.  The good news is that most of these Bucks, well, didn't have a chance in Hell of making the final roster anyway.  10 roster spots were locked down prior to Vegas (Brandon Jennings, Carlos Delfino, John Salmons, Drew Gooden, Andrew Bogut, Larry Sanders, Corey Maggette, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Ersan Ilyasova) with another pair added today (Jon Brockman via trade with Sacramento, and Keyon Dooling in free agency), and another couple (Darington Hobson, Tiny Gallon) claimed, though not taken by any stretch.  The Milwaukee roster is looking pretty full, and that's a good thing.  Despite the lack of positive results, there's certainly some good things to take away from Vegas, and because the internets like nice round numbers, I'll give you five.

1. Larry Sanders--Bucks' fans, you'll love Larry Sanders.  He's a ball of energy who blocks shots from the weak side, shows flashes of finishing ability around the basket, and has a mid-range game.  He's tall and long enough to get his shot off even when contested, and he runs the floor like a damn gazelle.  Blocked in the starting lineup by new Buck Drew Gooden, Sanders will be an ideal 1st big off the bench and a suitable replacement in the starting lineup if (...when) Bogut misses time.  His weak side shot blocking ability should help negate Gooden's defensive limitations when playing the 5, and if he can post up against smaller, less athletic 4's, all the better.  He's not the straight up stopper that Mbah a Moute is, but not many guys are.  I'm not sure how Ilyasova / Brockman / Sanders / Mbah a Moute will juggle minutes at the 4 (I suspect Ersan may have played his last game in a Bucks uniform), but I know you'll enjoy watching Larry play.
2. Point Guards--Prior to today's signing of vet Keyon Dooling to backup Brandon Jennings, the Bucks were thin (and not just physically) at the lead guard spot.  Marquette product Dominic James was the best point guard on the VSL roster, and Sun Yue came over mid-league from Washington.  It also remains to be seen how Hobson fits in, if it all.  If he can play point in a pinch, we're pretty well set.  Brandon gets the majority of the minutes, Keyon will come in and get the 2nd unit started while hitting open shots, with Hobson (or James, or Royal Ivey) being the 5th guard.  Dooling is a solid signing in the Ridnour mold, and adds another 3 point threat to a roster that desperately needed one.
   
   
3. Power Forward: Last year the Bucks eked by with a strange collection of power forwards.  Ersan Ilyasova is a stretch 4, Kurt Thomas was a veteran but limited presence, and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute wasn't really a strong consideration on the offensive end.  With Thomas leaving, the Bucks added four more 4's in the offseason: Larry Sanders and Tiny Gallon through the draft, Drew Gooden through free agency, and Jon Brockman via trade.  Tiny showed promise, but is probably best suited for the D-League at this point, leaving 5 options at the power forward slot.  LRMAM can play some 3 as well, and Gooden can play some 5.  These aren't entirely redundant options.  And with Bogut out last year, teams were able to exploit the Bucks' soft interior.  GM John Hammond clearly made this a point to address in the offseason, he deserves points for doing so with gusto. 
4. Team Cohesion--The Bucks didn't have playoff talent last year, no matter how you slice it.  But they had a playoff team, and without an injury to Andrew Bogut they'd have had a second-round-of-the-playoffs team.  This wasn't an accident; it was a very timely acquisition (John Salmons) and great team chemistry, led by rookie guard Brandon Jennings and the big Aussie in the middle, Andrew Bogut.  This year, Brandon and new face Chris Douglas-Roberts swung by the VSL to support their teammates (and, in Brandon's case, a former teammate from Oak Hill Academy in Tiny Gallon) and urge the squad on.  Coach Scott Skiles and GM John Hammond were also in attendance, and the Bucks' staff was able to remove a long-standing fake Chris Douglas-Roberts profile from Facebook (that CD-R had to periodically warn his Twitter followers *wasn't* him).  The supremely-well traveled Drew Gooden was ecstatic to get a long term deal done, and he brings a set of known talents to the starting lineup.   Milwaukee in the winter might not hold the appeal of South Beach, but management has accumulated talented players who want to be there.  
5. There's a Bright Future­--Taking a stab at the Bucks rotation right now, I think it'd look something like this (starters in bold, 2nd rounders in italics): Brandon Jennings--John Salmons--Carlos Delfino--Drew Gooden--Andrew Bogut--Larry Sanders--Corey Maggette--Keyon Dooling--Ersan Ilyasova--Chris Douglas-Roberts--Jon Brockman--Tiny Gallon--Darington Hobson.  And only two of those players, Maggette and Salmons, are over 30.  The starters, though, aren't young (save Jennings, who's 21), and with Maggette leading a second unit that feels like it has something to prove, the team is going in the right direction.  And I'm not sure how the play is going to take shape, but I'm excited by the cast of characters.

What do you think?  Was it smart to add guys like Gooden and Maggette, who don't come cheap? Do you share my excitement over Larry Sanders?  Will Ersan Ilyasova don the Frankensova mask again, just for kicks?