John Salmons looked like he needed another week (or two) of pre-season. Same for Corey Maggette, who seemed confused on defense (“Defense? What’s that coach?) The spacing and ball movement on offense was reminiscent of some of the worst days of the Michael Redd-Terry Stotts period.
The Bucks, still a work in progress, ugly and obvious, after dropping Wednesday’s opener 95-91 in New Orleans, would do well to pick up a win in Minnesota tonight and reset the season at home against the Bobcats Saturday.
GM John Hammond’s newcomers — Drew Gooden, Maggette and Keyon Dooling — have some work to do, and they would be wise to get to it ASAP. Coach Scott Skiles‘ patience won’t last much longer. Defensive ace Luc Mbah a Moute and bruising forward Jon Brockman are set to return in Minnesota, and Ersan Ilyasova will not be relegated to 15 minutes of playing time often — and probably not for some time.
Maggette does warrant a pass due to his lack of a preseason, and Gooden was productive in his minutes (15 pts, 11 rebs). But Gooden — who did have a full preseason — failed time and time again to get a hand in David Wells‘ face. That’s the kind of defense that gets on Skile’s nerves and won’t be tolerated on a Skiles team. Just ask Michael Redd.
The Bucks core — plus Salmons — was a winner. It’s too early to say that GM Hammond did too much this off-season, too early to be aggravated that Hammond and the Bucks are marketing Maggette and Gooden to Bucks fans as part of a winning formula. Yes, it’s early … but no — the Bucks team that played in New Orleans Wednesday was no winner.
Bright spots
Carlos Delfino (19 pts) – never looked better. Good spacing, solid D, ball movement, great teamwork with Andrew Bogut and Brandon Jennings. The Bucks core knows what it’s doing, nevermind the newcomers.
Andrew Bogut: The free throw line is only 15 feet away and 50 percent from the floor isn’t quite good enough, big man. The Bucks will need Bogut to be more efficient offensively. But in every other regard, it was great to see the Bucks center back on the court. He was in control of the paint all night (15 boards), and Emeka Okafor (0 points) didn’t get free for a single shot the entire game.
Brandon Jennings: Watching Jennings play D — often successfully — against Chris Paul was more fun than watching him run the Bucks tired-looking offense. It’s too bad the Hornets are in the West and BJ gets only one more crack at CP3 (next Saturday). That the Bucks were even in the game was a credit to Jennings, who found Delfino’s hot hand time and time again in the 4th quarter. If BJ’s sophomore season is a campaign to prove to the world that he’s the real deal, he’s off to a pretty good start.
The 45-34 Bucks are 3-1 without center Andrew Bogut and are playoff bound in the East with a seed no worse than 6th. They’ve successfully avoided a Round 1 matchup with the Orlando Magic, which could have been quite embarrassing and depressing to watch with no Bogut to battle on in the paint against Dwight Howard.
I’m sure Howard’s happy about this too, given the mano-a-mano nature of center battles and the pride that goes into the post rivalries. Sixers center Sam Dalembert, ever the Bogut nemesis, seemed a little lost on the court against the Bucks in Philly Friday, eventually picking it up in the second half to help bring the Sixers back into the game with some active help D … above the free throw line? Never if Bogut was on the court. On Saturday, the Celtics gave KG the night off and center Kendrick Perkins played just 18 mins.
But I digress. It’s time to celebrate in Brewtown, to party, literally, like it’s 1999 and Dominguez High out of Compton is the Division II state champion, the top-ranked ballers in all of California. A 10-year-old named Brandon Jennings was a ball boy for the Dominguez basketball factory, led by smooth shooting, 6’4″ senior guard Keith Kincade and sophomore center Tyson Chandler (at left), already a household name thanks to a 60 Minutes profile. Kincade scored 23 in the title gameagainst Sacramento Grant, while Chandler was held to 5 pts, 5 boards before fouling out.
The above photo came my way via an email from Dewey (thanks again Dewey!), a blogger at PlaymakerMobile. Dewey’s site is all-sports with what looks like a strong NFL focus (lots of McNabb trade stuff there now), and he’s been keeping an eye on BJ’s exploits in his rookie season.
Back to this photo: We all know what became of the Dominguez ballboy. And Chandler, a Parade and McDonald’s HS All-American by his senior year, declared for the 2001 NBA draft right out of high school. The Clippers drafted him #2 overall and traded him to the Bulls for 2000 ROY Elton Brand. After years of back trouble, grumbling by Chicago fans about “potential” and a few more in and out of Scott Skiles‘ doghouse, Chandler became a shot-blocking, offensive rebounding machine. He’s now with Larry Brown in Charlotte, a good place for that sort of specialist to be.
Funny isn’t it, that the the towering 10th grader on the left and the beaming 4th grader in the lower right would eventually end up under Scott Skiles’ tutelage, like it or not. But whatever happened to Keith Kincade?
Celtics 105, Bucks 90: I’ve never believed the reports about the demise of the Celtics, and not for once thought the Bucks could take them in a 7-game playoff, Bogut in the lineup or not. Playing without Kevin Garnett and with center Kendrick Perkins sitting out two-thirds of the game, the Celtics flexed what was left of their muscles and simply overpowered the Bucks. KurtThomas didn’t dent the Celtics front line. Ersan Ilyasova was game but too often on his own in the paint, with Luc Mbah a Moute in foul trouble. Ray Allen (21 pts on seven shots; attempted a single three pointer) Rondo and Pierce were too much for BJ, Salmons and Delfino. Sheed was a Bucks killer, as always, and Big Baby wants to fight, someone, anyone.
BJ’s brashness aside, the Celtics are not the playoff matchup for the Bucks — this year. With better inside help for Bogut, Ilyasova and Mbah a Moute, the Bucks should be ready for the Celtics in 2011. The Hawks? The Bucks are ready for them right now.
Bucks 99, Sixers 90: The Bucks won in Philly without Bogut, which, as discombobulating as that was for Dalembert, is just plain weird given The Revenge of the Airball and all things that make little sense about a Bucks-Sixers game. The Bucks managed it with half-a-John Salmons too, as their leading scorer fought a bout with the flu through halftime but looked dead on his feet by the 3rd quarter. Jennings had a bad night shooting (4-17) but I’m becoming more and more impressed with BJ’s defense. Tuesday night he slowed down Derrick Rose in the 4th quarter, enough for the Bucks to eke out a win in Chicago. Last night BJ harassed fellow rookie pg Jrue Holiday into an 0-10 start from the field, a far cry from the hot shooting night Holiday had in Milwaukee March 24.
Where’d the offense come from? Carlos Delfino was lights out with 23 pts (5-8 from downtown) and Luke Ridnour had one of those nights off the bench where everything found the bottom of the net (18 for Luke on 8-12 shooting). … Centers Kurt Thomas and Dan Gadzuric were awful on the offensive end but solid and focused on D (5 blocked shots between them). The Bucks do what they can, and it’s been good enough all year.
The Nets’ Brook Lopez got away with a goaltend to dunk the Nets into overtime against the Bulls in New Jersey, on an otherwise very workable play drawn up by coach Kiki Vandeweghe with 3.6 seconds to go. Vandeweghe set up a football-like screen for Lopez and Yi Jianlian to freely stream into the paint as Terrence Williams drove in on Derrick Rose. When Williams’ shot rimmed out, both Yi and Lopez were right there for the tap, which Lopez delivered, hand and ball clearly in the cylinder. No call, and on to OT they went, tied at 103.
In the first overtime, the Bulls jumped out to a 110-103 lead but some more terrible officiating (two no-calls on Courtney Lee hacking Rose) and two missed free throws by Rose pushed the game to a second overtime, 112-112. In the second OT, Devin Harris and T.Williams staked the Nets to a five point lead and the Bulls folded.
This was actually a pretty good game, New Jersey’s 12th win. Lopez and Yi combined for 41 pts and 26 boards; Brad Miller and Joakim Noah responded with 43 and 19, while Williams had the second rookie triple double of the season for the Nets. But refs will be refs in the NBA. And this loss by the Bulls (38-41) sets up a Sunday night showdown with the 38-41 Raptors in Toronto for the 8th playoff spot in the East.
Over at Blog-a-Bull, friendly neighborhood Bulls fans are, as usual, trying to fire coach Vinnie Del Negro.
Very, very interesting box score from Miami. Pistons fans have always regretted trading the wrong guard (Chauncey) for Allen Iverson in 2008 but very few fans seemed to notice that the Pistons went 8-2 last year with the Answer doing his thing while Rip Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace were out with injuries. This season, it’s more of the same. Deactivate Hamilton and suddenly coach John Kuester remembers that Ben Gordon is on his team. 39 points from Gordon later and the Pistons had broken Miami’s nine game winning streak. Things are getting real obvious in Detroit, as in Michael Redd-Tracy McGrady obvious.
Somebody in the West plays defense? Of coures the Lakers do when they want to but how about the Oklahoma City Thunder? I didn’t think coach Scott Brooks had them playing Eastern Conference style D but after last night in OK City vs. the Suns, I’m a believer. The Thunder held run-and-gun Phoenix to 34 pts in the 2nd half and closed out a 96-91 win. This is the kind of game that will win Brooks Coach of the Year honors, though it doesn’t seem as though OK City fans really appreciate a good defensive performance. Or maybe it’s just because the blog I read was one of those ESPN jobs.
I’m still in awe about the final shot defensive stand the Bobcats made this week in New Orleans. Mean and suffocating it was, and game winning. The Cats and Bucks are tied as the stingiest defenses in the NBA, ahead of the Magic, Celtics and Lakers. Then the Heat and the Cavs. The Thunder are 8th, giving up 104.2 pts per 100 possessions, just ahead of the Spurs and Jazz, rounding out the top 10.
Point being – it doesn’t take much to get it together in the NBA, really. Play dedicated team D, rebound the ball, have a reliable, go-to scorer and you’ll win some games. It’s no great secret why the Bucks are 21-6 since acquiring John Salmons – they were winning and playing great D most of the year, and Salmons gave them the go-to offense they needed. The Thunder play some excellent team D for Brooks; Kevin Durant‘s got the scoring end of it well in hand. It’s the D that makes them a likable sleeper pick to get to the West semis.
There’s only so much thinking one can do about Andrew Bogut’s season ending injuries. So yesterday I spent the afternoon and early evening watching the Celtics-Cavs, Lakers-Spurs and the piece de resistance in the Warriors-Raptors game: Don Nelson’s record-tying 1,332nd win as an NBA head coach.
I realize that rooting against the Raptors only serves Derrick Rose on his mission to make the playoffs, which in turn lowers the Bucks 1st round pick in the 2010 draft due to the pick swap that was part of the John Salmons trade. But this was about Don Nelson, our Nellie, the coach who took over the “Green and Growing” Bucks after the 1975 Kareem trade and built a decade-long legacy of winning that still stands as the Bucks franchise heyday, NBA championship or no. Nellie won 536 games in Milwaukee (40% of his total), as the Marques-and-Sidney, Sidney-and-Cummings Bucks averaged 54 wins per season 1980-87. The Bucks playoffs series’ with the great Sixers and Celtics teams became the stuff of legend, along with the coach, his players and those fish ties of his. Nellie loved being in Milwaukee; the city loved him.
A championship yet eludes Nelson, and with the Warriors up for sale, this could be his last season as an NBA head coach. Sunday he tied Lenny Wilkens (Sonics, Cavs, Hawks) for the most wins in NBA coaching history. One more win and Nellie goes down in history. With games against the Wiz, the T-Wolves and the Clippers on tap for the Warriors this week, I’m looking forward to win #1,333.
The Raptors (38-38) are a game ahead of the Bulls (37-39) and hold the tie-breaker. But after watching the Raptors lose a 113-112 shootout at home to the 23-win Warriors Sunday, a day after they did all they could to give away a game in OT to the 26-win Sixers, I’d have to say the Bulls have the upper hand in the race for 8th. The Raptors predictably ran a track meet with the Warriors (exactly what Golden State likes) and were helpless to defend a 39-point barrage from 3-point land in digging a 12-point 4th quarter hole. A furious comeback led by Chris Bosh and Jarrett Jack fell just short when Sonny Weems, doing his best Larry Bird vs. the Pistons in the 1987 playoffs imitation, stole the inbound under the Golden State basket, passed underneath to Bosh as he fell out of bounds … and Bosh blew the layup at the buzzer.
The young Warriors jumped around a smiling, dancing Nelson in celebration of win #1,332, Bosh (42 pts, 12 rebs) knelt along the baseline, head buried in his arms, Bird-to-DJ moment denied. … Steph Curry was brilliant for the Warriors, nearly putting up the season’s 2nd rookie triple double: 29 pts, 8 rebs, 12 assists.
The Raptors would probably make the playoffs splitting their last six games but that’s looking more and more difficult for this team. A good half of the Raptors rotation, Hedo Turkoglu included, looks ready for the season to end — and for free agent Bosh to move on to Act II of his career, which could very well be set in Chicago.
Derrick Rose Tank? There was nothing for the Bulls to tank for after agreeing to swap draft picks with the Bucks, and they’re too good to fall in with the ping counters of the league anyway. Maybe that was the point all along in Chicago agreeing to the swap. That, and knowing that when picking in the teens and lower, it’s not so much where you draft as it is who you draft. The Bulls are reminded of this every day, watching their #26 pick overall pick in last summer’s draft, forward Taj Gibson, outperform the hobbled big forward they drafted ahead of Gibson at #16, James Johnson. And then there’s 2008 #8 pick Joe Alexander wearing a suit on the Chicago bench, nothing if not a reminder of what can go wrong with a top 10 draft pick. For now, the draft can wait — Derrick Rose wants a playoff spot and we’ll all be better for it, Chris Bosh and the Raptors included.
The Bulls beat Charlotte Saturday and host the Bucks in Chicago Tuesday, the Bucks’ first game since losing Bogut for the season. This was going to be a tough game for the Bucks at full strength, the first game for John Salmons against the teammates he began the season with. With Luol Deng back in the lineup for the Bulls, and without Bogut to give Joakim Noah fits in the post… well, it’ll still be a Bucks-Bulls game, one that both teams need coming down the stretch. The Bucks can clinch a playoff spot with a win, which would also go a long way toward holding off the Bobcats for the 6th seed in the East.
Speaking of tanking: Nobody but nobody tanks quite like the Clippers. They’ve embarassed themselves at home against the Warriors and Knicks in the last five games, loafing through a three game road trip in between. Nobody even told the Knicks they had never beaten the Clippers in the Staples Center before Sunday’s game, and now no one has to.
Ray Allen: Lebron James had 42 pts and led the Cavs back from a 23-pt second half deficit after taking over offensive point guard duties. But the day belonged to Ray, who scored 26 pts on 17 shots (not including free throws) compared to Lebron’s 28 pts on 32 shots. Ray was 6-9 from the behind the arc, James 0 for 9 as the Celtics won in Boston, 117-113. It’s good to see Ray shooting well since the All-Star break, bad news for Celtics playoff opponents. This has been his worst shooting year since 2003 when he shot 35% from three-point land after being traded from the Bucks to the Sonics. But since the All-Star break, Ray’s been back to his usual self, hitting 40.3% (54-134) . If he’s on, the Celtics are still one of the toughest teams to beat in the NBA (as the Cavs were reminded yesterday), a problem that becomes magnified in a seven game playoff series.
With two games against the Bucks ahead and the Hawks with the lighter schedule, the Celtics seemed a lock for the 4th playoff seed in the East. Now that Kendrick Perkins and Kevin Garnett will miss Bogut, the Celtics may be inclined to win out the season. If I were a betting man, though, I’d take the Bucks to win a split vs. the C’s despite the disadvantage in the paint.
Carlos Delfino has a website. But it’s in Spanish, so I can’t really tell you what he’s been telling the fans back in Argentina. It’s good to see him back in the lineup, though, recovered from the neck and head injuries that forced him to miss three games last week. I didn’t see this in the Milwaukee media over the weekend but AP talked to Delfino about his comeback game Friday against the Bobcats (14 points after a rocky start) and the injury itself. Interesting conversation, as the reporter knew more about what happened to Carlos than Carlos did — he doesn’t remember the rebound play under the Bucks basket or the foot of Udonis Haslem in his neck and head area. That would be the foot now referred to as Haslem’s “inadvertant” foot.
I hope to hell we’ve seen the last of the freak injuries to Bucks players this season.
Brian Butch to sign with the Nuggets:Ridiculous Upside’s been keeping tabs on Butch’s progress with the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA Development League and it seemed only a matter of time before somebody picked up the 6’11” Badger and his reliable 3-point shooting. The big man they call Polar Bear was averaging 18 and 12 for the Jam and was the MVP of the D-League All-Star game. Butch had been playing as an independent, without an NBA contract, but all that’s about to change as the Nuggets announced they’ve agreed to terms for the rest of the season (and playoffs), as well as a non-guaranteed contract next season.
The Nuggets are thin in the front court with big forward Kenyon Martin’s recuperating knee and an ankle injury to the Birdman, Chris Anderson. Butch may or may not be on the Nuggets 13-man playoff roster, but he is eligible because he is not coming to Denver from an NBA roster (unlike PF Darnell Jackson, whom the Bucks picked up off of waivers from Cleveland). Also on the Nuggets roster are 7-footer Johan Petro and veteran Malik Allen, a Buck last season. Butch will be the 14th player on the roster.
The Nuggets have been expecting Martin to return for the playoffs, but comments he made last week cast some doubt on whether his knee is making much progress. The Birdman’s sprained ankle seems to have compounded the need for an additional big man, prompting Denver to make a move.
This one never seemed to be going well, even in the first half when Brandon Jennings was hitting five three balls and the Bucks maintained a 5-7 point edge throughout, only to see it cut to one at halftime. Rarely does so much deadeye long range bombing go for naught.
That’s because a lot of other things weren’t going so well for the Bucks. Andrew Bogut was big in the paint but the shots weren’t falling (7-18, late in the 4th) and his free throws (1-6) had reverted to last year’s clanking form. The Kings’ 21-year-old center, Spencer Hawes, was getting loose in and around the paint for putback dunks and other short range damage (18 pts, 8 rebs, 6 assists) while Kings guard Beno Udrih was having the game of his life, slashing, twisting and leaning his way to a season-high 26 pts and 9 assists. Udrih averages 12.2 pts per game.
And then there was Carl Landry, sent to Sacramento from Houston as part of the deal that sent Tracy McGrady to the Knicks. As usual, Landry was everywhere the Bucks didn’t want him to be. After Jennings sank one (his 8th of the game) from downtown to pull the Bucks within 2 at 84-82, a Landry lay-in, a Udrih three and a putback by Ime Udoka (yes, he’s killed the Bucks on the glass before) made it 91-82 as the clock ticked under the 2-minute mark.
What was going on in Sacramento? Hawes, Udrih, Udoka? Who are these guys? This was supposed to be the battle of the Rookie of the Year contenders, Jennings and Tyreke Evans (who would soon be headed for the trainers’ room, his jaw split after a collision with an Ersan Ilyasova elbow on a rebounding play). Jennings wasn’t matched on Evans — he guarded Udrih, the Kings point guard. John Salmons took the Evans assignment.
Then the advantages the Bucks had been looking for all night arrived, all in the space of two minutes. Ilyasova hit a jumper. Udrih missed on a drive and, when Hawes grabbed the rebound, he foolishly shot instead of running clock. Ex-King Salmons hit for three to make it 91-87. Landry did what he rarely does against the Bucks — he missed. Bogut dunked (that’ll improve the offensive efficiency) off a Salmons dish, and it was down to two.
Two Kings free throws, a Salmons three, more Kings free throws and a high arcing 27-foot bomb from Ilyasova tied the game and sent it into OT. The Kings never stood a chance. They lived to fight a second OT but were playing uphill the entire 10 minutes of extra play. The Bucks had finally found their groove 46 mins into regulation, not a second too late.
And Hawes could have won it by simply NOT shooting with a fresh shot clock and about a minute-and-a-half to play. Though he’s 21 (soon to be 22), he’s in his 3rd pro season and has probably been playing roundball since he was a little Spencer. There’s no excuse for getting greedy at the prospect of winning the boxscore battle against a rising All-Pro center who’s had a big feature article at yahoo.com staring a nation of the NBA obsessed in their million mosaic face at yahoo.com. Why else would the hoop look so tempting? Hawes lost the boxscorebattle anyway, as though it were the moral to a Red Auerbach basketball fable. Bogut finished with 21 pts, 11 boards, two blocks and two steals, and never quit playing (Hawes kinda disappeared). Let this be a lesson to young Spencer, who does seem to have a bright future ahead if the Kings stick with him.
In the 12 mins spanning the final two minutes of regulation and two OTs, the Bucks outscored the Kings 32-17. Salmons led with 12 , Ilyasova added 7, Bogut 6, Jennings 4 (35 on the night) and Delfino finally hit his first three of the night. It was too much for Sacramento, a team built for youth, not necessarily for crunchtime grit and savvy.
That’s not to say that the Bucks are old pros at this. Earlier in the season, they might have lost this one. But after 33 games settled by three points or less and seven overtimes (won 2, lost 5), the Bucks may be getting the hang of this. Having Salmons around to bail them out in the clutch certainly doesn’t hurt the cause. Here are the highlights:
The Bucks starters played heavy minutes to finish the Kings off (53 mins for Salmons, 45 for Bogut, 45 for Jennings and 47 for Delfino). If I were Scott Skiles (and I’m not) I’d give Bogut tonight off in Denver and take it easy on his primary rotation mates, giving the bench players an opportunity to find their rhythm. Name any one of them other than Ersan — they’re out of sync and struggling, and could use some extended playing time together.
The Bucks play Eastern conference rival the Atlanta Hawks at the BC Monday in a game that has all sorts of implications for the Bucks. The Hawks are a measuring stick of the Bucks progress, a very possible Round One playoff opponent and a team the Bucks have yet to beat this year. It’s the first game of a 5-game homestand which the Bucks may have visions of sweeping if their legs aren’t dead from the road. They’ve already beaten Denver this year, Nov. 11 at the BC. No need to wear the starters out going for a season sweep in the West that would be tough enough to get when well-rested.
Puppy love: Brandon Jennings has a crush on Ciara. Apparently, he tells all in the next issue of GQ Magazine, coming soon to a newstand near you. My advice: Don’t buy GQ — just click this linkand read all about it at Ball Don’t Lie. They’re all over it, got an advanced copy of the mag, like, really.
Cleveland Cavaliers (14-5) vs. the Bucks (9-9), 2pm @ Bradley Center, FSW.
They don’t give you much of a road shoulder in the NBA, and you’d think some of our Bucks would get tired of learning this lesson. After a fast and promising start, the Bucks-mobile has once again veered off the road and into the ditch. Andrew Bogut and Charlie Bell occupy two of the front seats on this ride, and they’ve been here many times before.
It’s not the losing that matters so much as the way they’re losing. They look terrible and have been awfully uninspired about it.
For me last night, this was highlighted by the Cavs-Bulls broadcast airing simultaneous to the Bucks stinker in Detroit. Watching good NBA basketball and bad NBA basketball side by side tends to make a barstool rather uncomfortable — no matter how great the hospitality at the Y-Not 3, where NBA junkies can actually get a double shot of the pro grame.
Unfortunately, the Bucks weren’t that interested in being a pro team Friday. Not even I could take anymore. I exited (stage left) at halftime, good timing because the Lebrons in the 3rd quarter turned their game into a laugher.
So the Bucks have lost six out of seven. Again, it’s not the losing. There’s no shame in losing great, competitive basketball games to Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavs or Dwight Howard and the Magic. This season is about developing Brandon Jennings, and about the Bucks being young, playing D, fighting for the loose change and keeping the rock moving. Those four things. Right now, the Bucks are not playing Scott Skiles defense, which tends to make the other three irrelevant.
In fact, since Scott Skiles became coach, the Bucks have seldom looked this bad when Andrew Bogut has been playing. There were a few games last December (the hapless road trip west, the Pistons game at the BC when Skiles benched his starters, a sloppy win against a depleted Jazz team at the BC) but on the whole, the Bucks have made good progress, and so has Bogut. Not so lately.
Skiles may be the point: I don’t know if there is a team in the NBA that needs its coach as much as the young Bucks need Skiles on the sidelines. Skiles, serving a one-game suspension for the tirade he threw at the refs Wednesday in Washington, DC, was nowhere to be found Friday in Detroit. The Bucks missed him.
Bogut needs to pick it up: After a strong comeback game against Chicago, the Bucks center has not played well and has been helpless to stop the Bucks from sliding into the proverbial ditch. Wednesday in DC Bogut was outplayed by Wizards 7-footer Brendan Haywood. In Detroit, he was no match for strength of 35-year-old Ben Wallace, who’s enjoying a career revival in the Detroit. Watching Big Ben Friday, it was all too clear how and why the Pistons were able to build a championship team around him. The man is a fortress in the paint.
It doesn’t get any easier for Bogues this weekend. Cavs big men Shaquille O’Neal, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Andy Varejao are in town for an afternoon game Sunday. This is a gut check game for Bogut, who was outplayed by Shaq twice last season when the Diesel was a Sun.
Bogut played once against the Cavs and Ilgauskas last season (Nov. 11 in Cleveland) and had a disappointing, foul-plagued game, just 5 pts and 7 boards in 20 mins.
Last time to see Shaq in Milwaukee?Tickets are still available for the Cavs game on Sunday. This may or may not be Shaq’s last NBA season, but he’s not getting any younger. He’ll be 38 this March. The Cavs play in Milwaukee once more this season, March 6th, a Saturday night game. But Shaq is a part-time player these days — no telling whether he’ll play the next time the Cavs and Bucks meet. Shaq will play tomorrow, so if I were you (or me) I’d get to the Bucks.com and grab a ticket or two while they last. This could be the last Brewtown appearance for the Diesel, and it’s definitely one of the last times Bucks fans will have a chance to see the future Hall of Famer play here.
In honor of Allen Iverson: As expected, the Answer returned to his beloved Philly this week and will make his entrance for the Philly fans Monday against none other than George and Carmelo and the Denver Nuggets. That should be fun. Karl hasn’t had much good to say about the Answer since trading him to Detroit for Chauncey Billups last year but that says more about Karl than Iverson — shades of all the negative things Karl said about Ray Allen after trading him.
Sam I Am says: “Just George being George.”
I like this move by the Sixers for a lot of reasons, none moreso than it gives me a reason to loath the Sixers once again. There just isn’t much to dislike on the current Sixers — they play hard, they fly up and down the court, and they’ve made a habit in recent years of making our Redd-ite Bucks look slow and unathletic (six straight losses to Philly). That’s not the Sixers fault, nor is it the fault of Bucks fans, John Hammond.
The events depicted in the video embedded below, however, ARE the Sixers fault. Specifically, Allen Iverson and Eric Snow’s fault. And coach Larry Brown’s. And Tyrone Hill’s and Dikembe Mutombo’s. And referee Tim Donaghy‘s. Yes, one of the refs for the 2001 Eastern Conference Finals was Donaghy, who went to prison for betting on games. Sunday on “60 Minutes” Donaghy claimed he never fixed a game or a series but that doesn’t mean anyone who watched the Bucks-Sixers travesty in 2001 believes him.
Welcome back to Philly, AI. Take it away Jim Rome. …
The question going into this weekend wasn't "how" or "whether" Michael Redd would fit in once he came back from his latest dunking attempt injury (his third such injury in three years), but can he fit in.
The good news is that a contusion is a bruise, not a serious injury, no reason for alarm. However, the Bucks should be careful about rushing him back in light of his lower back problems. If Bogut ends up compensating for a leg injury, he could compromise his lower back (again).
I don't think the Bucks did such a good job of being patient with their center's health last season, and it's very possible that ankle injuries suffered in the Olympics (two, including a possible cortisone shot) and one in Bucks preseason, as well as a mashed knee (guarding Dwight Howard last November) all contributed to the lower back injury. Bogut was basically playing on bad wheels for nearly four months before waking up to excruciating back pain in Philly Dec. 17.
Looking at the schedule, the earliest Bogut might return could be the Cavs game Dec. 6 at the BC, a Sunday afternoon game. The Bucks should not bring him out on the road over the next two weeks.
This is really too bad — Bogut's been playing some of the best ball of his career, making a strong case for himself to be Dwight Howard's backup at the 2010 All-Star game in Dallas. Bogues was averaging 16.1 pts, 9.2 boards and anchoring the Bucks top 5 NBA defense (they were 2nd after beating the Bobcats Friday, thanks to the Bobcats miserable FT shooting).
The 18 shots Bogut took against the Nets were his season high, a sign that coach Scott Skiles likes Bogut as a #1 offensive option — and the rest of the Bucks are finally reading from the same page on this. This wasn't always the case last season or in the pre-Skiles era, which brings us to the pending return of one Michael Redd.
MICHAEL REDD: The Bucks aren't letting on exactly when Redd will be back ("soon" JSOnline reported Thursday). But we can expect he'll play at some point on the Bucks 4-game trip west, which begins Saturday in Memphis. This doesn't bode well, as Redd hasn't played well on the road in recent years. A main goal this season was for the Bucks to maintain some level of consistency, no matter where they were playing. That goal doesn't seem too realistic over the next couple of weeks.
Without Bogut in the lineup, be ready for anything — and keep an eye on the Bucks shot selection in these upcoming games. Skiles will likely be tearing at his own ears by the end of the week, and this is going to be interesting — but don't expect the Bucks to resemble the team we've seen go 6-3. Still, the ball will be in Jennings hands most of the time, which matters more than anything else at this point.
UPDATE: Redd was not activated for the Bobcats game Friday and has said he wants "a full contact practice" before he returns. That probably means he won't play Saturday against Memphis but might be back Monday when the Bucks take on the Spurs in San Antonio. Now it's Wednesday, according to Brandon Jennings in his post-Cats game comments.
When Redd was hurt in the home opener against Detroit, the Bucks said he'd miss two weeks. Saturday marked week #3 and Redd's given no indication that he's in any hurry to get back on the court — which is fine. The only reason I can see that Bucks fans should want him back is to get the final act of the Redd era over and done with ASAP. Something's eventually gotta give here, and it shouldn't be coach Skiles, Redd's teammates or Bucks fans.
That certainly includes Charlie Bell, who shut down OJ Mayo in 40 dogged, defensive minutes Saturday in Memphis, and hit 5 three-balls on his way to a season high 19 pts. Mayo shot 0-6 from downtown, while Bell shot 5-11. Bucks won 103-95. Play tough, in-your-face defense, hit the open looks — it's a winning formula.
And how about Ersan Ilyasova, who moved into the starting lineup Friday and had a heckuva weekend — 31 pts and 19 rebs in two Bucks wins. He was 10-19 from the floor against Charlotte and Memphis, and hit 4 of his 9 3-pointers.
LUC MBAH a MOUTE missed the first game of his NBA career Wednesday and it took the Bucks an entire half to figure out how to play D and keep the Nets off the offensive glass. Luc's day-to-day, nursing a sprained foot. If he's not playing against the 'Cats, hardworking forward Gerald Wallace is a matchup problem. Luc suited up against Charlotte but it doesn't look like Skiles will use him unless necessary. (He didn't). Luc missed game 3 of his career Saturday in Memphis. Don't be surprised, though, to see Luc guarding his former captain, Richard Jefferson in San Antonio Monday.
BEATING THE GRIZZLIES: Both teams were on the 2nd night of back-to-backs. Rudy Gay was coming off one the best games of his career Friday in Philly. The Bucks were on the road for the first time in weeks, playing without Andrew Bogut against a tough front line of Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol and Gay. Yet the game came down to this: the Grizzlies were no match for the Bucks backcourt, and Ersan outplayed Randolph in the big forward battle.
Brandon Jennings, Charlie Bell and Luke Ridnour played a combined 105 mins, poured in 58 pts and only turned the ball over THREE times. Ridnour had 12 assists off the bench. And on the defensive side, Bell shut down 2009 ROY runner-up Mayo. It was a complete mismatch, allowing the Bucks to overcome a bad-as# game from Gasol and another strong outing by Gay. If Grizz coach Lionel Hollins can figure out how to get the most of his three big men, the Grizz are going to surprise some people.
What's going to happen when Redd returns? And does Skiles have the authority to bench him in favor of Bell? And at what point should Bucks fans consider filing a class action suit against the organization for saddling us with the same dam# questions about the same da#m player year after year after year.
Charlotte takes Jackson off Nellie's hands: Warrior malcontent Stephen Jackson's in and veteran defender and three-point bomber Raja Bell, a favorite of coach Larry Brown's, is gone to Golden State to help Nellie stabilize things, one would guess. Jackson's been asking for a trade for a while and last week his agent attacked Nellie in an ESPN story, if you could call it a story. Are you bored with this item yet? I am.
In any case, the Bobcats are off to a slow start, in part because Bell hurt his wrist in preseason and needs surgery at some point. Jackson, the former Pacer, he of the Malace at the Palace brawl, can score. He's averaging 17 a game and put up 21 against the Bucks last Saturday. If one of his 3-pointers (0-4) goes in, the Bucks probably lose to the Warriors despite Jennings' 55. But that's Jackson — he can get good shots easily enough but he's not a very consistent shooter. Nellie would obviously rather have Bell and his bum wrist than a healthy Jackson. Wonder when Larry Brown will start to feel the same.
Don't let the Bobcats 3-8 record fool you. They are a tough, Brown-coached team that gelled after acquiring Bell and Boris Diaw from the Suns last season (trade for Jason Richardson). In the offseason, they got bigger in the paint by trading Emeka Okafor for Tyson Chandler, always a tough matchup for Bogut (Okafor never was). The 'Cats lost a tough one in Philly Wednesday night (Jackson had 26).
This was a difficult one for the Bucks before Bogut got hurt. The Cats ARE the competition in the East. Winning games like these, at home against teams like the Pistons, Philly, the Bulls, the Cats, the Raptors — will define the Bucks season.
UPDATE: Brown cut the Bogut-less Bucks some slack, holding out Chandler (sore lower back). No Bogut and no Chandler left Brown and Bucks coach Skiles cooperating on a donut game. Brown played Chandler's backups less than 19 mins combined, while Skiles said "thank you very much, Larry" and played Dan Gadzuric and Francisco Elson even less, a combined 18 mins in the Bucks 95-88 win. Kurt Thomas got his most extended PT, getting 23 mins, though not much respect from Brown, who didn't go bigger.
Brown may regret it: the Bucks killed the 'Cats on the offensive glass, winning the battle of the boards 14-2. Rebounding, Brandon Jennings (29 pts, 12-23 shooting, wowing the home fans all the way) and the Bobcats' inability to make free throws or 3-pointers sealed the Bucks win. The 'Cats shot 51% from the floor overall but hit just 2-14 from downtown. They were at the line all night but made only 26-43 from the stripe. A strange and ugly path to victory for the Bucks, but we'll take it while the gettin's good.
Ersan Ilyasova (7 boards, now the Bucks starting PF), Hakim Warrick (9) and Thomas (7) combined for 23 rebounds against the 'Cats.
The Bucks hit the road Saturday for Memphis and three more (SA, New Orleans and OK City) in the southwest. Six of the Bucks' next 10 are on the road.
Lionel Hollins and the Grizzlies: Hollins left the Bucks last season to take over as head coach of the Grizzlies, no surprise to anybody — Hollins has been an integral part of the Grizzlies organization since its inception, and was due a real chance to be head coach (he was interim coach twice in Grizzlies history). I'm not surprised at all that Hollins had the good sense to try and bring Allen Iverson off the bench and was then perfectly content to let him out of his contract when AI didn't like it.
Now that Hollins and the Grizz are done with Iverson, they're the same talented young team that can't figure out how to win. And they're one of the worst defensive teams in the league, ranking 28th in defensive rating (the Bucks are 3rd).
But Hollins runs the Skiles offense, which can give the Bucks problems: it's like playing against a mirror. Remember late last season when the Grizzlies shocked the Bucks at home, 107-102? It was pretty rude, and the Bucks fouled the Griz all over the court. Forward Rudy Gay led the Grizz with 26 in that one.
Hakim Warrick will make his first appearance against his former team, though Ersan Ilyasova's earned most of the Bucks power forward minutes of late.
The Griz picked up a win IN PHILLY Friday night, 102-97. The Sixers are struggling a bit (playing like a "non-team," coach Eddie Jordan said.) but this is also the mark of an improving Grizzlies team, the one we caught a glimpse of toward the end of last season. Rudy Gay led the Griz with 33 pts, 10 boards, and this year's new arrival, PF Zach Randolph, is playing well too. 21 pts and 11 boards for Randolph against the Sixers. And I haven't even mentioned OJ Mayo or Marc Gasol.
Bucks (4-2) vs. Golden State Warriors (2-5). Saturday, 7:30 pm @ the Bradley Center
This must be ex-coaches old home week for the Bucks. First Skipper George Karl and the Nuggets of Carmelo's Island shipwrecked at the BC to end their Eastern conference road trip. Next up is Don Nelson and his infighting Warriors, currently in New York trying to get some practice in amid their bickering. Seems the greatest coach in the history of the Bucks and his all-star guard, Monta Ellis can't get along. Here's an excerpt from the San Jose Mercury News story:
"Nelson waved both hands at Ellis, as if to brush him off, and walked off shaking his head.
'See,' Ellis said. 'That's why I won't do it. I just won't do it.'"
The Warriors play the Knicks Friday, so Nellie's team will be playing the 2nd night of a back-to-back when they face the Bucks on Saturday. The well-rested, well-practiced Bucks, enjoying their soft schedule (quite a difference from the brutality of last season) get no excuses if they blow this one.
KID DYNAMITE — Brandon Jennings rained 55 on Nellie and the Warriors Saturday in the Bucks 129-125 win. Suddenly the whole league is watching. The Bucks were the featured Yahoo and NBA.com stories the night of the game, and there's been more since. Now for the highlights.
Dangerous win: Jennings' 55 points were just two short of Redd's franchise and Bradley Center record of 57, and the Bucks needed every one of them against Nellie's Warriors. Never let it be said that Skiles doesn't like a shootout or won't roll the ball out and let his rookie sensation get after it. But this was exactly what Nellie wanted Skiles to do Saturday (see Pregame notes below). The Warriors were one Corey Maggette (25 pts) 3-ball in the 4th from taking this game from the Bucks, too close for comfort. After the game, Skiles said the Bucks didn't play well.
Luckily for the Bucks, the Warriors have more interest in ensuring their pace than than they do in defense, and that played right into Jennings' hands. The rookie had 14 in the 4th, Charlie Bell added 7, including the game-clinching free throws in the final seconds (Jennings and Bell are starting to click as the Bucks starting guards).
The box score will show that the Bucks core of Jennings (7-8 from downtown), Andrew Bogut (19 pts, 11 rebs), Luc Mbah a Moute (12 rebs) and Bell (14 pts, 6 assists) shot well, rebounded and dished, and played heavy minutes. In a game where Nellie put four-guard lineups on the court, Luke Ridnour put in 36 mins off the bench and had a good, smart game: 13 pts, 4 assists, just ONE turnover and he even blocked a Stephen Curry shot! Nellie-ball limited Ersan and Hakim's minutes, while Jodie Meeks logged 16 minutes off the bench.
Carlos Delfino was benched after a terrible game Wednesday against Denver, and despite the fact that my pal Johnny says he looks like X-Men bada#s Wolverine. Saturday, Carlos "Wolverine" Delfino rode the pines.
Say Hello to Jason Kidd: Great game, and get ready for Jason Kidd on Monday, Skiles told Jennings after the game. The Mavs, like the Nuggets and Warriors before them, will be on the 2nd night of back-to-back road games when they face the Bucks. The Mavs ended a 3-game Pistons win streak Sunday in Detroit, stealing the game thanks to a horrendous shooting night from Pistons gunner Ben Gordon. Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavs with 25 pts. Big center Erick Dampier will miss the game, pitting Bogut against Drew Gooden, still a skilled big man. The Bucks blew the Mavs out at the BC last season without Bogut, as Charlie V and Michael Redd were on fire. Redd's allegedly going to try to play this week, if not Monday then Wednesday.
PREGAME: But before counting win #5, let's look back to Dec. 10, 2008 and shudder. The Bucks were in Oakland to play the Warriors on the last night of a three-game trip West. It was one of those rare times when the Skiles-Richard Jefferson Bucks were relatively healthy. Andrew Bogut's back had not yet revolted against him (that would happen a week later in Philly). Michael Redd's ankle sprain had been healed for about two weeks. The only player missing from Skiles' 8-man rotation was Charlie Bell, who missed the road trip to get the limp out of his ankles.
Yet the Bucks at that point were not clicking at all, and didn't seem to be able do anything well except rebound. They had had embarassed themselves against the Suns and Lakers in the first two games of the western trip, and needed a win against Nellie's Warriors to salvage some scrap of something — pride? They didn't get it.
The 6-15 Warriors blew the Bucks out in the 4th quarter, 37-15 for their 7th win, 119-96. The Warriors, like the Suns, had suckered the Bucks into an uptempo shoot-out, and the Bucks went for it, led by Michael Redd (27 pts in the loss). The Bucks fell to 9-15 and were nowhere near the committed, aggressive defensive team they are now. Skiles seemed at a loss.
The Warriors game, like the Suns game, highlighted the Bucks lack of discipline in recent years and also a lingering and major Bucks weakness: shooting.The Warriors and Suns are teams filled with guys who can drain it. They do it quickly and they do it well, and they do it much better than the Bucks, currently dead-last in the NBA in shooting at 41.4%.
The Warriors shoot 49% from the field and lead the league in scoring at 112.4 points per game. They've got six guys averaging in double figures, led by Ellis and Stephen Jackson, plus rookie Stephen Curry, who's scoring nine a game.
Redd will miss this game, a good thing for the Bucks. The Bucks can't afford to get into a shootout with a Nellie team. It's a trap for the undisciplined, and a game management challenge for Skiles, certainly no foe of a quick tempo. But it's tricky. The Warriors are going to shoot at their own pace, not much the Bucks can do about it but get a hand in their faces or force turnovers, which they've been able to do well so far this season. The big danger for the Bucks and Brandon Jennings will be falling into Nellie's groove instead of a groove their own. And they'll need to identify a couple of hot shotters as they did in the win Wednesday against the Nuggets.
IN-GAME UPDATES AND NOTES: Under six minutes to play in the 3rd, the Bucks have called time and Jennings is about to go to the line for an and-one. He made it, tying the game (69 all) for the first time in the 2nd half. This is going as expected. The Bucks fell into Nellie's trap and gave up 57 points in the first half. The Bucks could only muster 48.
The Bucks will probably need to score 110 to win this one and that's fine with Jennings — he's got 30 points with 15 minutes of game left. The kid is a dynamo. Make that 32 points. No, 35 and we're still in the 4th. 37!!! FLASH. 39!!!
KID IS ON FIRE!!! JENNINGS just hit a half court shot with no time on the clock to push the Bucks lead to nine, 92-83, going into the 4th. He has 41.
Center Andris Biedrins is out with a groin injury and won't play in Milwaukee. Biedrins is a skilled, active center with range whose quickness presents problems for Bogut. This could mean a lot of layups for Bogut if the Bucks pound the ball inside, which is what they did against the Nuggets Wednesday. Big advantage in the paint against the Warriors.
BOGUT is racking up big numbers, as expected: 19 pts on 9-11 shooting, 10 rebs — still in the 3rd. He didn't score in the 4th.
SKILES has again, as he did against the Nuggets, played Jennings, Charlie Bell, Bogut and Luc Mbah a Moute heavy minutes. That looks to be the core — the rookie sensation and three tough-minded defenders. While he split the power forward minutes Wednesday using Hakim Warrick and Ersan Ilyasova, Skiles has gone small to counter Nellie with Luke Ridnour. Jennings has not come out in the 2nd half, heading toward the 6 minute mark of the 4th, Bucks holding a 99-95 lead.
Nellie's been resting his starters, Monta Ellis and Stephen Jackson in particular. Remember, the Warriors are playing the 2nd night of a back-to-back. I'm a little concerned, though Mbah a Moute and Bogut are also getting some rest as I write this.
Note to Bucks GM John Hammond: Anthony Randolph, that stringy 6'10" forward from LSU you passed on in favor of Joe Alexander in the 2008 draft is doing just fine. He's a regular part of Nellie's rotation these days, and is averaging 13.0 pts and 7.1 boards in — get this — just 22 minutes per game.
And now, let's take a moment to ponder George Karl.
They came wearing Ray Allen Bucks jerseys, #34. They came in red hair and blue faces like a clan of barbarians. They came with bellies full of beer and filled them some more.
They came to see George Karl, the man who once publicly accused Ray Allen of not having any respect for the game.
They came to heckle the man who traded Ray Allen and sent the Bucks floundering into the Michael Redd era.
They were but one section of fans (tickets paid for by Andrew Bogut) in a crowd of just 7,000, but they were loud.
George's ship eventually crashed on Carmelo's island and there he's made his home. His Nuggets are one of the best of the West, a possible title contender. But after a rough weekend in Miami and Atlanta and a Tuesday-Wednesday back-to-back in Chicago and Milwaukee, the Nuggets have no business thinking about an NBA title. They were fortunate to escape with a 90-89 win against the Bulls — their lone victory in the East since beating New Jersey a week ago.
And George Karl is now 0-2 at the Bradley Center since the Bucks hired Scott Skiles. The Bucks jumped the Nuggets last February, 120-117, also at the end of a Nuggets Eastern trip.
Wednesday night, Chauncey Billups looked too old to be chasing around rookies with Brandon Jennings' seemingly endless supply of energy (32 pts, 9 assists for Jennings). There was indeed a reason Detroit decided Chauncey'd seen better days. Wednesday he looked very much like the tired, battle-worn guard who couldn't keep up with Rajon Rondo and Jameer Nelson in the 2008 playoffs.
And Andrew Bogut (23 pts, 10 rebs, 4 blocks) was good, very good, up to the challenge of Denver center Nene Hilario and everything else Denver threw at him, including a foul-tempered and frustrated Carmelo. The Nuggets get a little chippy when they're being beat. Check out the Bogut-Melo confontation and other highlights.
New York Knicks (1-5) @ Bucks, 7:30pm, no local TV
Welcome to the inaugural 2009-10 Bob Boozer Jinx Bucks Weekend (say that three times fast). For the uninitiated, Bucks Weekends are two or three day blogs that usually end Sunday night and sometimes even makes sense Monday morning. Bucks Weekend looks ahead and back at Bucks games while also checking 'round the NBA when the action is heaviest — on the weekends.
We're once again seeing our Bucks without the $91 million man and their defensive intensity and energy is pit-bullish. Make that Scott Skiles Baby Bulls-ish.
The current Bulls on Tuesday in Chicago didn't know what hit them in the first half. But the two main Skiles players still on the Bulls — Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng — eventually reminded their teammates whose team they were playing and got their act together in time to pull out an 83-81 win. These Bulls know their former coach well, and they know how to win basketball games. Deng finished with 24 pts and 20 boards. More on that in a bit.
The upshot of the Bucks maniacal defense, which included Charlie Bell disrupting three consecutive plays in the first half and the Bucks hounding the Bulls into some embarrassing brick-shooting, is that the Bucks rank 3rd in the NBA in defense. The measure used is the defensive rating, a simple calculation of points per 100 possessions that eliminates pace as a factor in how many points teams allow. Going into Friday night's game in Minneapolis against the T-Wolves, only the Celtics and Larry Brown's Charlotte Bobcats have a higher defensive rating.
Bucks fans have seen this before. Last season, when Michael Redd missed 14 games in November due to an ankle sprain, the Bucks climbed into the top 10 in defensive rating during the toughest part of their schedule. They were scrappy and challenged every shot and didn't at all resemble the Bucks teams of the previous five years. Life without Redd means that Bucks fans get another chance to see again what a fully committed defensive Bucks team looks like. We're catching a glimpse into the Bucks future and I like what I see.
Redd fans will point out that the Bucks are next to last in offensive rating and have had trouble making shots. True enough. Looking at the stats, everybody's gotta shoot better with the exception of Brandon Jennings and Dan Gadzuric (believe it, Gadzooks!!). Neither one will keep up their current pace (Jennings is shooting 50% from 3-point land) but Charlie Bell, Andrew Bogut and Hakim Warrick can certainly hit a higher percentage of their shots.
Shot selection: The Bucks shot selection has been mostly good to this point. With this team at this juncture in the season, shot selection is more important than whether or not the shots fall. Just as last season, finding players who can play Skiles' pressure defense and quick tempo passing game is priority. Redd can do neither of those things, and has not shot well or been healthy in the Skiles era.
The Michael Redd "3-point specialist" myth:Redd's career 3-point mark is 38.6%, good enough for 26th among active players. Pretty good but very misleading. After two-plus years in the league (playing with Sam Cassell, Ray Allen and Gary Payton) Redd had drained a remarkable 44% of his 3-pointers (270/614). In the six seasons since, he's been mediocre, shooting just 36.9% (711/1925) — and lower than that in 4 of those six seasons. Mo Williams was and is a better shooter, hands down, something that caused friction on the court when Redd and Mo played together.
But Mo is long gone and Luke Ridnour and Carlos Delfino (another bad shooting night for Delfino in Minnesota) have not been better shooters than Redd in their NBA careers. No reason to expect them to shoot 40% now. A healthy Charlie Bell is capable and is off to a 40% start so far. Life without Redd means more PT for Charlie and more bad-ass defense on the court.
Redd was off to a 30% (3-10) start this season. Let's not forget game 1 and game 2, when the Bucks were outclassed in Philly and losing their home opener against Detroit. They pulled the home opener out with Redd on the bench.
Ersan Ilyasova having problems: After watching Deng abuse Warrick and Ersan inside for 20 rebounds Tuesday in Chicago, I'm beginning to wonder AGAIN whether Ersan can play power forward in the NBA. In addition, Ersan went scoreless against the Bulls and Warrick shot 5-15. If looking for reason why the Bucks lost the game, look no further than the forwards 3-18 performance.
Ersan is the one player with the shooting ability to pick up the slack from 3-point land but he's having a rough time getting untracked.
No Love for the Timberwolves: The Bucks just might win some games if their two new forwards can show that they can play more than spot minutes. At half in Minneapolis, where Kevin Love is out with a busted hand, Warrick and Ersan have 3 points and 3 rebounds. The Bucks are being outrebounded at half and are in danger of losing their third straight to one of the leagues worst teams.
Last season, the Bucks lost in Minneapoliswith Redd and Bogut in the lineup. They lost at home Jan. 26, shortly after Redd went down for the season.
Bogut in the middle: He's dominating Al Jefferson and the T-Wolves. Through three quarters, Bogues has 15 pts, 9 rebs. The Bucks held the T-Wolves to 12 pts in the 3rd. The Wolves are shooting 37% for the game against the Bucks pressure D.
Led by Bogut's 17 pts, 10 rebs and 4 dimes, the Bucks win 87-72. That's right, 72. Life without Michael Redd means the Bucks opposition shoots 39.2% from the floor. Luke Ridnour was hot, shooting 6-9 and hitting two from downtown for 16 pts off the Bucks bench.
Not in Sessions: Day after the game, T-Wolves fan Gino said Ramon Sessions could be great for them if they use him right. "But they're not using him right," I said. "No, they're not," he said. Ramon played 15 minutes off the bench Friday and tallied 2 pts, 1 assist and 2 turnovers. Worse, he was unable to stem the tide of the Bucks dominating 30-12 3rd quarter, led by Luke Ridnour. Rookie PG Johnny Flynn, out of Syracuse, outplayed Jennings in the first half but couldn't get anything going for the T-Wolves in the 2nd.
“[Deng] owes me a meal or something,” Miller joked. “I was blocking out rebounders so he could go get about five rebounds. He’s glad I’m an old guy who doesn’t really need the stats.”
After watching Deng and the Bulls put away the Bobcats Saturday night with a big 3rd quarter run, I'm penciling in Deng for the All-Star game. Deng got 14 points during the run that gave the Bulls the lead, as he and Hinrich seemed to find a zone of their own. Note that the Bulls also needed 27 pts from guard John Salmons and 21 from Joakim Noah to beat the Bobcats (93-90) at home. Watch Larry Brown's Cats — they've played well since the trade deadline last season, and continue to be tough, even without injured Raja Bell.
THE KNICKS: Pretty much the same group that survived the trading deadline last season, minus swingman Quentin Richardson's 10 points a game (he's on the Heat). In other words the Knicks stink, though they can surprise you. Still fresh in my mind are the 39 points that Larrry Hughes dropped on the Bucks last March at the BC, a game the Bucks needed badly to stay in the playoff race. Charlie Villanueva was benched in the first half of that one for lack of interest in defense and the Bucks eventually blew the game.
This time, with Bogut in the lineup winning the post battle against smaller David Lee, the Bucks got off to a 40-22 start and never looked back, winning 102-87. Another fine game for Jennings, who marveled at how many easy shots the Knicks gave them. Bogut led with 22 pts, 8 rebs, 4 assists — Lee had 18, 7 and 4 in five more minutes of PT. Jodie Meeks hit 5-7 3-pointers to keep the rout going. The Bucks led by 23 after the 3rd.
Making shots?: While it was a nice overall shooting game by the Bucks (thanks to Meeks and Bogut) Carlos Delfino and Charlie Bell were a combined 3-8 from three-point land (not bad) and 5-12 overall from the floor for 13 points. As the starters at shooting guard and small forward, more of those have to go in. Bell's going to get minutes as the kind of physical defender Skiles needs on the court to play his pressure defense, but Delfino? Over the weekend Delfino was 5-15 from the floor. I'm still waiting for evidence that Delfino is the good shooter GM John Hammond has claimed.
Also, Luke Ridnour was 0-4 from three-point land. Note to coach Skiles: Luke's not good enough to be shooting that much from out there. Good thing the Bucks were playing the Knicks.
The Knicks and Jennings: NY, needing a point guard, took a pass on Jennings in the draft and their fans booed. A disappointed Jennings, in an online video interview, told the Knicks to f#ck off and packed his bags for Milwaukee.
NY media, for one, is already in regret mode. The Knicks drafted Jordan Hill out of Arizona and coach Mike D'Antoni is hardly playing him (shades of the Bucks and Joe Alexander). Now the NY Post reports that Knicks scouts were higher on Hill than D'Antoni and his coaching staff were (after player workouts, no doubt).
Jennings says he "beat everybody else" up and down the court in his New York workout and is still surprised the Knicks didn't draft him. The Post article calls out Knicks GM Donnie Walsh for a comment last week about "not having a good feel for Jennings' game." It seems the KNicks coaching staff doesn't agree with that statement.
And people think Lebron James is really going to consider playing for these guys?
DEFENSE: The Bucks were atop the NBA in the all-important defensive rating after the weekend games. Number one, allowing just 91 points per 100 possessions. They still rank 28th in offensive rating, but that should improve as the season wears on and Jennings gets a better feel for the Skiles offense. And the Bucks' shooters simply need to shoot better — if they can.
It's more important for this rookie-led team that Skiles' defensive foundation is being set. And, yes, life without Michael Redd means that it's possible for the Bucks to be the #1 rated defensive team in the NBA.
Does it matter if the Bucks make the playoffs? If their defense doesn’t improve to the point where they can consistently gain control of games with it, then maybe there was never a point to making the playoffs.
The Bucks are in Florida to try to figure out a way to beat Dwight Howard and the Magic after an uninspiring performance against the Raptors — and the coach and his veteran leader are not even concerned about whether their shots go through the hoop or not. They want to talk about defense.
“Congratulations,” I said to Z-man the Bulls fan, the only other guy in Axel’s (on Oakland) Wednesday night watching “the NBA TV” – everybody else was into the Kentucky-Notre Dame NIT game on the other TVs. “Looks like you guys are gonna make it to the playoffs.”
Z-man: “It doesn’t matter.”
JDMo: “Why not?”
Z-man: “Derrick Rose.”
JDMo: “Hinrich playing the point was pretty effective against Detroit … and the Bucks.”
Z-man: “Doesn’t matter.”
JDMo: “Why not?”
Z-man: “Derrick Rose.”
Point being: What’s good for Derrick Rose is good for the Bulls right now. If making the playoffs and losing to Boston, Cleveland or Orlando in the first round is good for Derrick Rose, good. If the Bulls make the playoffs relying on Kirk Hinrich to win an extra game or two, no good for Rose. It’s better to lose with Derrick Rose playing heavy minutes than to win with Hinrich, no offense to Kirk Hinrich. In fact, Bulls GM John Paxson issued that decree to coach Vinnie Del Negro after some great 4th quarters by Hinrich not too long ago (one against the Bucks Feb. 18).
What does this have to do with the Bucks? Well, if culture change is what it’s all about in Milwaukee (and that’s what GM John Hammond and Scott Skiles have said it is) then that’s the mission Skiles and Richard Jefferson have to be concerned about. Making the playoffs was only important if it grew out of the culture change, which is why GM Hammond spurned offers for RJ at the trading deadline. The message was, continue the work of establishing a winning culture built on defense, whether Joe Alexander or Andrew Bogut or Michael Redd or Damon Jones is on the court, whether the 2009-10 budget can include free agent Charlie Villanueva or not.
Although the Bucks have a core of defensive-minded players in RJ, Luc Mbah a Moute, Charlie Bell and Keith Bogans, the job isn’t finished. Where the Bucks are playing, who you’re playing, whether they are playing in the regular season or the playoffs, doesn’t matter — as Jefferson pointed out to Tom Enlund after the Toronto game:
“I’m not about starting off trips or ending trips. You’ve got to try and play good basketball. You know, (talking about) ending a home stand, or starting off a home stand,…those type of things, you can’t do that because then you get a mindset of carryover. I try to just take each game individually… We just didn’t do the stuff we were supposed to.”
“Your shooting percentage is something that you don’t worry about too much. You worry about the quality of shots you’re taking . . . if you’re taking good shots. You don’t want to pass up good shots. And then your defense, what you’re doing defensively. We’ve shown that we don’t have to shoot in the high 40s or mid-40s to win games. We can shoot in the mid-to low 40s, and even 30s, and win.”
And here’s a refreshing change for Milwaukee Bucks fans: the veteran leader and his coach are on the same page. This is part of the culture change:
“We’re a fairly high-possession team,” coach Scott Skiles said. “One of the reasons is we lead the league in forcing turnovers. We’re getting possessions there. When we play better defense on certain nights, we get more possessions that way. We’ve been a good rebounding team, which means we’re getting possessions there. Generally we have more possessions than our opponent in games. I don’t focus too much on the scoring, it’s how efficient are we being?
“We’re first in the league in forcing turnovers but of the top 10 teams, only Charlotte and Miami have less fast-break points than us. So we haven’t been efficient enough in turning those opportunities into extra baskets.”
And there you have it. The Bucks are in Florida to try to figure out how to beat Dwight Howard and the Magic after an uninspired performance against the Raptors — and the coach and his veteran leader are not even concerned about whether their shots go through the hoop or not. They want to talk about defense and the type of shots they’re getting.
That’s culture change.
NCAA tournament note: Duke is no longer Duke. No kidding. Can we now talk about those sweet seeds the ACC teams received?
Bucks (31-39) vs. Portland Trailblazers (43-26) @ Bradley Center, 7:30pm Saturday, FSN
The Bucks close out their longest homestand of the season Saturday, needing a win over All-Star Brandon Roy and the Blazers to even the stand at 3-3. Do the Bucks need a victory to stay in the race for the 8th seed in the East? No, but if they don’t put a streak together soon, the Bucks playoff hopes will die before Andrew Bogut has a chance to return.
Let’s call the Blazers game a must-win, an opportunity to bounceback from Wednesday’s drubbing at the hands of Dwight Howard and the Magic. The Bulls play the Lakers Saturday in Chicago.
Milwaukee’s the last stop on the Blazers 5-game road trip and their 3rd game in four nights. The Blazers split the first four, being blown out in Atlanta, winning in Memphis and Indiana, then losing Thursday night to the Cavs in OT. Portland’s playing well but Saturday’s a decent chance to jump a traveling West team at the BC (a la the victory over Denver last month.) A winnable game, like any other.
The team that wins the final playoff spot in the East will be the team with the toughest, most consistent mindset. Coach Scott Skiles is looking for these intangibles out of his Bucks. He also called on the veterans to lead, and though he didn’t mention Richard Jefferson by name, that means RJ (12th in the NBA in minutes played) the player Skiles has played more than any other:
“We totally need leadership right now. We need our veteran players to set the tone as far as being mentally ready and carrying us professionally. … I’m just talking being mentally ready. Knowing their job, knowing what they’re supposed to do, knowing the game plan, executing the game plan, competing all the time.”
The Blazers start two former Bucks — point guard Steve Blake and center Joel Przybilla, which is interesting enough. It’ll be the 2nd straight game in which the opponent’s starting point guard is a former Buck (Rafer Alston for Orlando Wednesday). Prz has become a mentor of sorts for rookie Greg Oden, who missed 15 games Feb-March getting his knee full strength for the playoff push.
The question of who should start at center for the Blazers seems to be settled, and one truth remains: The Oden-zilla frontcourt eats up a lot of space in the paint… Rebounding will be a key. And Luc Mbah a Moute, Charlie Bell and Keith Bogans will have their hands full slowing down Roy and gunner Rudy Fernandez off the Portland bench.
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Energee! is losing big to the Pacemates in the NBA dance bracket. So far the only matchup that has been as one-sided is the Thunder Girls 76-24% landslide over the Suns Dancers yesterday.
The fan support for the Thunder makes sense: there’s a lot of excitement in OK City over the old Sonics, and their marketing staff has fun working the buzz of being a new team in a new city. And I’m sure those cowgirls (at right) don’t mind kissing a cowboy or two to help the cause.
But the Pacemates? Nothing new about the Pacers. Plus, they’ve lost 4 straight and the playoff train just left Indy. Not much for fans to get excited about there.
The voting started Thursday at 1pm. I received an email reminding me to vote and offering up a link to the swimsuit pics of Energee! at 1:14PM. By then the rout was on.
I’m not sure what this means in terms of Bucks marketing (or lack thereof) but there’s still an hour or two left to vote. Polls closed at 1pm (Friday). 80-20%, Pacemates.
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Devin Harris out for the season: Thanks go to JTF on our Bucks message board for posting this. I kinda stopped tracking the Nets after they lost in LA to the Steve Novak Clippers. That’s right, the Steve Novak Clippers. The man can shoot. But then the Nets went out and beat the Knicks without Harris Wednesday. Bucks (1-2 vs. Nets) play their 4th Nets game this season March 30 in New Jersey.
Gerald Wallace is one bad mudder-fu..: The mental toughness Skiles wants out of his Bucks can be found in Charlotte, which should give Larry Brown’s team an edge in the race for 8th. Against the Kings Wednesday, forward Gerald Wallacerefused medical attention for a bashed knee, refused to go the hospital for an MRI and then played on it in the ‘Cats 104-88 win. That’s bad-a**. The ‘Cats seem to be channeling Brown’s 2001 Sixers.
9th place, one game behind the Bulls and 1/2 ahead of the 10th place Bucks? “We can do this,” ‘Cats fans are saying. That’s right, the Bucks find themselves in 10th Saturday after the ‘Cats (31-38) won in Toronto Friday.
Then on Saturday in Charlotte, the Bobcats were blown out by Jarrett Jack and the Pacers, who played without starting point guard TJ Ford. Gotta love this Eastern Conference race. So if the Pacers aren’t going to lay down, this could get interesting. They play the Bulls twice in the next seven days.