Bucks Players Expected Harris To Be Fired

The Bucks are on their way to the fourth straight finish in the Central Division basement, and considering GM Larry Harris entered the season as a lame duck general manager, the players weren't shocked at all when he was given his pink slip yesterday afternoon. In fact, the opposite was true: they were actually expecting it to happen sometime soon. From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

"It wasn't surprising," [Bobby] Simmons said during a phone interview on Wednesday. "We pretty much figured something was going to happen the way things were going. Usually you would see him (Harris) at games, but after a while, you didn't see him at all.

It's obvious the team has been contemplating this move for a while -- owner Herb Kohl basically cut Harris off at the knees when he vetoed a proposed deal at the deadline that would have sent Simmons, Dan Gadzuric and Charlie Bell to the Knicks for Zach Randolph and Fred Jones. For what it's worth, though, Kohl hates the idea that he might be considered a "meddling" owner:

"You know, quote, meddling owner. Mark Cuban," Kohl said. "I'm not Mark Cuban. I honestly believe I'm not a meddling type of a manager, whether it be in basketball or whether it was in the food stores or department stores or as a senator. Most everybody who has worked for me over the years has said - while there were things about me they don't like - it wouldn't be they didn't have the latitude to do their jobs."

Most everybody, of course, but those whom he'd already decided to fire months ago.