Bucks Owner Herb Kohl said that he "is not worried about issues with the new hardwood floor that caused the cancellation" of the Raptors-Bucks preseason game last Friday, according to Charles Gardner of the MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL. The Bucks play their home opener Saturday against "the same Raptors team that was slipping and sliding in last week's game." Kohl: "We hope the (new) floor is going to be available for the opener. We'll find out in a day or two. We don't really know what the issue is. The league is going to be in (Tuesday) and Wednesday. They're going to tell us we need to do this and that, or we'll go back to our old floor. It's really not a problem. I don't see it as an issue the fans have to be concerned about. They need to know the game will be played on Saturday and we'll either be on the new floor or we'll be attending to the old floor." Meanwhile, Gardner noted it is a "critical time for the franchise as decisions loom on funding a new facility that would replace the BMO Harris Bradley Center." Kohl and Exec VP/Business Administration Ron Walter last week presented a report to the NBA BOG on the "progress being made toward a new downtown arena." Kohl said, "People are legitimate in their concern in this community about seeing us move ahead. ... We're 40 or 42 events and without us you can't build the building. It's important to get it done and it's important to keep the team in town, so we have to make it happen." Kohl added that NBA officials "prefer a new facility rather than any attempt to renovate" the arena (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 10/29).
