Bucks Leave No Stone Unturned To Find Lucky Charm
May 21, 2007 - After reading through the nearly 100 fan entries submitted to the team’s Lucky Charm Sweepstakes on www.Bucks.com, Bucks General Manager Larry Harris decided on a Lucky Stone belonging to Ken Schaetz (Shetts) of Green Bay.
Found on the floor of the Coliseum in Rome in 1994, Schaetz’ stone has been a constant companion ever since. It has ridden a cable car up the Eiffel Tower; been to Ireland for a semester of school; provided comfort to a sick friend in Mexico; helped in the delivery of four grandchildren; helped in selling homes and taking exams; and helped overcome the fear of flying.
This past Christmas, Schaetz presented his lucky stone to a dear friend and co-worker, David Gauthier, who was diagnosed with stage IV cancer. Unable to work since November due to his medical condition, Gauthier will now be returning to work in a couple weeks. Schaetz won’t say that his lucky stone is a cure for cancer, but he wouldn’t bet against it.
Schaetz has determined that although the lucky stone was originally his, the grand prize of the trip for two to the NBA Draft in New York should go to Gauthier, since the lucky stone was in his possession at the time of the sweepstakes.
|
Larry is hoping for some more lottery
luck at Tuesday's Draft Lottery. |
Harris met with members of the local media on Monday morning to unveil the lucky stone and answer any questions about the contest, the lottery and the draft.
OPENING STATEMENT BY LARRY HARRIS:
His name is Ken Schaetz out of Green Bay. Without further ado, we call it the lucky stone. We had about 75 to 100 entries and this is the one we chose. He (Schaetz) actually calls it the lucky stone and I don’t want to take away from all the things this thing has done. It was actually taken from the floor of the Roman Coliseum. It has ridden a cable car up to the Eiffel Tower; it's been to Ireland for a semester; it's provided comfort for a sick friend in Mexico; it's helped deliver four beautiful grandchildren, as well as cure the fear of flying. But I guess the most important thing was that he (Schaetz) gave it to a dear friend and co-worker last Christmas who was diagnosed with stage four cancer in November. That person had been off work until now and from what I understand now that person is returning to work in the next couple of weeks. He (Schaetz) does say that it is not a cure for cancer and, as a matter of fact, he’s played the lottery a lot and has not won yet, but he really feels from a spiritual side of it that this is meant for greater things. So hopefully on Tuesday, the spirit will move us and we will be in a positive direction like we were two years ago.
Does that trouble you that he has used it on lottery tickets and did not win?
I think the thing is at least he was being honest. But I think more importantly, there were a number of entries and this just seemed like this was a giving person that did a lot of things with it. It has been with him ever since it was granted to him and he feels like it’s very lucky. Again, thanks to all entries and to all the people who entered their suggestions. I love the fact that the people of Wisconsin, the city and all the Bucks fans have really ingratiated this whole process. It's been great. But taking the animals that (some people) wanted me to take with me on Tuesday, (wasn't going to happen). To all those who put the animal part into it, I appreciate it. Hopefully we won’t be back here again, but if we do, sometime way down the road, animals really wont' be one of the winners, I can guarantee that.
Are you feeling the vibe like two years ago?
I’m excited, to be honest with you. It's not anything like when we got into the beginning of (last) season (where) the expectation of this team was to be a team that was going to be in the playoffs and hopefully in the second round. Obviously that did not come about. So now we are here today. Skip (Robinson, Director of Community Relations) and myself are leaving tonight. I think it is estimated to go off at 7:43 p.m. I think is when they are going to start pulling the cards, Milwaukee time. So now that we’re in it I think the whole city is excited and certainly the franchise is and it's going to be a great draft. There has always been a lot said about the first two picks but I will say that I think it’s going to be a very deep draft with two name players and there are a lot of good name players behind them.
If you get a pick between 3-6, does that give you a lot of different options?
It gives us a lot of different options. Again, our philosophy on the draft has always been taking the best player. You can never have enough assets. You should never look to say, 'Well, we already have a guy slotted at that position', so you decide to go in a different direction. I think a lot of mistakes are made that way. We met yesterday as a staff for about three hours just to talk about the process and really walked away with the same philosophy that we’re going to take the best player, wherever it may be. I would say this - if you're 3, 4, 5, or 6 there are more options to do some different things because I think people are locked in at 1 and 2, whoever they may be. That will be a decision for another day and a good problem to have. I think today you’re going to draft a player 3, 4, 5, or 6 but there will be a lot more options with those particular picks.
Are you already evaluating Oden, Durant and the rest of those guys?
Yeah, that has already taken place. You want to curb your enthusiasm a little bit with that, but there are always scenarios that you’re looking into. Yesterday, we caught ourselves saying, 'You know what? We kind of have to wait until Tuesday.' But there is some genuine excitement and I think when you're watching the playoffs and that’s where you want to be, you have Utah that has kind of come out of nowhere and they're getting it done, and Cleveland. Basically two teams from our division and basically one of those is going to go to the NBA Finals. And really, I think if Detroit ends up beating Cleveland, they have a chance of winning it all. To me that says a lot about our division and where we’re going and the fact that we’re going to have to bring it next year. Obviously, Chicago was there in the final three and Indiana feels like they’re going to be back there with some revamps and some additions. It's going to be a very interesting division for many years to come and having a high draft pick is going to be very advantageous for us.
So would you be jinxing yourself to express a preference for one of those top two picks?
No, I don’t think jinxing. I think the people that know our team (know that) you can look at both if you're fortunate enough to get 1 or 2 and you're talking about those guys specifically. I kind of look at it in three different areas. 1 and 2, depending on how they go, the one player solves a lot of problems for us defensively. We were 29th in defensive, 30th in rebounding, 30th in shot blocking and one guys solves a lot of those issues and defense wins games. You look at the teams that are in the final four, especially Detroit, and I think Utah is a good defensive team and certainly San Antonio is the best - it’s not by coincidence. You look at Kevin Durant and he is the type of individual that can get 20 points in his sleep. He reminds me of how Glenn Robinson used to score like that. I think Charlie Villauneva has it that way. Michael Redd does it for us. Sometimes you look up at the scoreboard and you think they're having a bad game and they have 15 points by halftime and you say, 'I don’t even remember him scoring.' That’s the kind of impact that guy (Durant) is going to have and he is a multi-dimensional player. They're different. There’s a different wow factor in them because one is more offensive and one is more defensive, but I don’t think you should under-estimate what Oden can do offensively because it’s hard to evaluate that in college with (shorter) people ... trying to defend him and flopping around. But then you get outside of those two guys and I think the strength of the draft becomes more into the power forward area. You’ve got different sizes, strength, athleticism, that you can go in some different directions and they're all going to be very good players. Like I said, wherever we pick, whoever we take is going to be a guy that is going to be part of our rotation and could even be a starter. It depends on where he goes and what we do with him. The fans should be excited. He is going to play significant minutes and be a vital part of what we are doing next year for sure.
What would you do if you were to get number 1 or number 2?
It’s interesting. I didn’t think about it last time cause we were 6th and the chances were smaller. The thing is that if it is number 1, the first thing I can tell you is that there is an emotional side that will come out because it really is for the organization and for the fans. As much as I’d like to stay straightforward and try to have a smile and all that stuff, it's really an exciting time for everyone else and I even include Senator Kohl in that because there is just optimism and hope in that - that’s what it brings. There will be a little bit more emotion showed in this one for sure.
Do you feel lucky?
Yeah, it’s interesting. I asked a lot of people here what they think. No one has said, 'We're going to get the number 3 pick', everybody either says, 'I think 1 or I think 2.' Is there anything special that came over me? Not really, but there are just a lot of good vibes around this one.
If you get the number 1 pick two out of three years, what do you think those other GM’s will think?
Well, if they’re upset, that’s fine. I probably would be one of those guys who would be upset as well. Again, there is some luck involved, there’s no question about it. They’ve done everything to make sure there are no bent cards, no cold ping-pong balls, no one ping-pong ball that has less air than the other ones, so all that is out the window. Senator Kohl said yesterday when we were talking, ]Now it’s all on you Larry. You just have to deliver.' But it’s an exciting time. We're here on a Monday, a Monday in May, talking about this so there’s something about it. If we were 16 or 17 and out of the playoffs we wouldn’t be having this conversation. So we have to embrace it and hopefully we’ll get it done.
The 2007 NBA Draft Lottery will be televised on ESPN (Channel 30) beginning at 7:00 p.m. (CT) on Tuesday, May 22. Harris will transport the lucky stone with him to New jersey and have it in his possession when the lottery results are announced.
The Milwaukee Bucks finished the 2006-07 season with a 28-54 record and the third-lowest winning percentage (.341) in the NBA, thus receiving the third spot in the Draft Lottery. Entering the Draft Lottery, the Bucks will have a 15.6 percent chance of winning the lottery and the right to pick first in the 2007 NBA Draft on Thursday, June 28.
