Not long ago the Milwaukee Bucks commissioned a Web page on behalf of their first-round pick, Joe Alexander, to promote him for the dunk contest that is a part of the NBA's all-star weekend frivolities.
It's a fun, playful site, where the enormously athletic Alexander can be seen, among other things, touching his nose on the rim. It's called seejoedunk.com.
That's fine. But on the whole, you'd rather see Joe play.
The first half of the 6-foot-8 forward's rookie season was largely spent as a non-contributor. That Alexander is suddenly more involved - averages of 13 minutes and eight points off the bench in the last three games - is relevant to a lot of things, not the least of which is a disastrous first-round history this decade that is partially responsible for the hole the Bucks are trying to escape.
The 2000 pick, Joel Przybilla, never really made it here. His liabilities were compounded by the fact that the Bucks also gave up their 2001 first-round pick to get him. In 2002, Marcus Haislip was among the franchise's all-time first-round busts, which is saying something. T.J. Ford was a harmful pick in 2003.
The Bucks did not have a 2004 first-round pick because they gave it to Denver, along with Scott Williams, in 2001 to clear salary space for maybe their all-time ruinous move, the Anthony Mason signing. Andrew Bogut (2005) became a centerpiece. The 2006 first-round choice was given away in the bad Jamaal Magloire trade. Yi Jianlian in 2007 was deemed, rightly so, too soft to stay.
So when an organization has exactly one drafted player to show from such a precious resource in the last nine years, and not coincidentally is 59 games below .500 since, it's way past time to start making amends with someone.
It's too early to call Alexander the first mistake of the John Hammond/Scott Skiles regime, although some of the lingering trade rumors might cause one to wonder how the Bucks perceive him. You could question whether the Bucks should make Alexander available as a means to unload Ramon Sessions and/or Charlie Villanueva ahead of free agency, because it appears Alexander has talent beyond his ability to forcefully and artistically dunk a Basketball.
Hurt in training camp, Alexander immediately fell behind and lost minutes with the stunning rise of rookie second-round pick Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. So give the Bucks that. As poorly as they have managed the first round lately, they have been second-round wizards with Mbah a Moute, Sessions, Michael Redd and others.
Still, a first-round pick at No. 8 needs to be more of a contributor than Alexander has shown. Seven forwards drafted behind him are scoring more; six are rebounding better. Among 50 rookies in the league, Alexander is 31st in scoring, 32nd in rebounding and 35th in minutes.
Asked whether Alexander has a future, Skiles said, "Yes, absolutely." And you saw glimpses of it Wednesday, when Alexander jet-skied the floor against Miami and made six of eight shots in 20 of his most influential minutes yet. But for a franchise that needs to start getting it right with the first round - or, more important, hit it so well with a pick that it gets out of the lottery for the foreseeable future - the Bucks must have more of those kinds of nights from Alexander. The bench is too thin without his productive minutes.
"He's been good in practice and is getting better in practice," Skiles said. "There has been noticeable improvement. We're excited about the progress he's making."
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