It might be painful to admit, but Tyler Herro is the Milwaukee Bucks’ best player. Certainly, he’s their best shooting guard in more than a decade. And since coming home to Milwaukee, he’s said all the right things. But what is there left for us to say about Herro that we haven’t already said (at least until he plays a regular-season game in cream and green)?
As it turns out, thanks to Marty Robbins (and Colter Wall for introducing him to me), quite a bit. So, read on—but not before you whip into
the Western dream. Yah!
And so the story goes…
To the city of Milwaukee a stranger traded one sad day/Wrote too much to folks who followed him, had too much to type away/No other team sought his business, no one dared to trade a pick/So Boy Wonder came to Milwaukee with a shoulder and a chip/And big iron on his hip.
It was early this offseason he first repped his newfound town/Summer League in Las Vegas, bruised lookin’ like a clown/“He’s an overrated chucker,” came the whispers from critics/“And he’ll only do us damage with his shoulder and its chip/And the big iron on his hip.”
In Milwaukee livеd a point guard by the name of Ryan Rollins/Many Bucks tried to out-place him in RtR but they had fallen/He was a most-improved killer, though still twenty-four and green/And the stitches on his jersey numbered one and three, thirteen/One and three, thirteen.
When Boy Wonder talked to media, fans’ frowns turned upside down/He was a hometown Herro, but might not be long in town/He came here to take a step, up his status, make some bread/But as for RtR, he was after Rollins’ head/After Rollins’ head.
Wasn’t long before the voting came down to the two guards/But Rollins didn’t worry, Bucks that tried before were charred/Jaime Jaquez failed to take him, Kel’el Ware’d also slipped/And soon so would 11 with the shoulder and the chip/And big iron on his hip.
The offseason passed so slowly, it was time the two guards met/It was coming to a close, Ranking the Roster almost set/Folks were reading from their laptops, or on the new app on their phones/They knew this handsome Herro was about to fall and groan/About to wince and moan.
There was forty feet between them and the hoop when they did play/And though it’s metaphorical it’s still talked about today/Ryan Rollins nearly won it ‘fore a trey-bomb quickly ripped/And Boy Wonder’s aim was deadly with the big iron on his hip/Big iron on his hip.
In the mornin’ it was over when Brew Hoopers refreshed their screens/There before them lay the name “Ryan Rollins” and their dreams/Oh, he was so close to winnin’, but his votes they took a dip/When he came against Tyler Herro, his shoulder and its chip/And the big iron on his hip.
Big iron, big iron/Ryan Rollins fell to Herro and the big iron on his hip/Big iron on his hip…
There you have it, the story of a prodigal son returning home to claim the throne atop our Ranking the Roster series. Melodramatic? Grandiose? Absurd? Bang, bang, bang! You betcha. But the series warranted a fitting climax (duel? Okay, too much) and, despite making inroads into some folks’ perception of him, Herro is destined to ruffle feathers.
Nevertheless, Herro is the new sheriff in town, at least for the time being. And for the Bucks to truly “Compete. Together. Get Better,” they will need to rely on him. His big-game experience. His leadership.
And the big iron on his hip.
