Brew Hoop

Recap: Pistons 93, Bucks 81

2010-02-10T06:31:47Z

MILWAUKEE -- The first offensive sequence (sequence almost implies too much order, this was pure chaos) of the game for the Bucks hinted at what was to come, but the result did not foretell the final story.

To open the night, Andrew Bogut missed a hook, and grabbed his own rebound. Then he tried again and was blocked by Ben Wallace, as Carlos Delfino hauled in the rebound. Then Brandon Jennings missed a jumper, and Bogut gathered the miss and missed the tip-shot, gathered again and missed again. Then Luc Mbah a Moute got the board and finally Charlie Bell sank a jumper.

All five Bucks were a part of that first play that led to a hoop.

Unfortunately, the missed shots foreshadowed the evening, not the eventual basket.

After the Indiana game, I wrote about the pleasure derived from reasonably expecting Milwaukee to win games against the Indianas and Detroits of the basketball world. Is that what the Bucks thought too? If there is anything Milwaukee has been better at than beating inferior opponents, it is beating inferior opponents at home. But for the first time in a long time in such a situation, they played more liked they expected to win than they played to win.

From 93-81 to 81-93 in two nights flat. So, so flat.

The kind of game that made you want to turn the channel, only it was happening in front of you. There were no other teams in the Bradley Center, and you care about the Bucks too much anyway.

They came back from a 20-9 first quarter trouncing, all the way back to lead in the third quarter. But just like the start so too the Bucks finished in bad form, as Rodney Stuckey bullied Brandon Jennings, Jason Maxiell made you wonder why Jason Maxiell isn't awfully good, Ben Gordon found his fourth quarter groove, and Milwaukee brought out the best in all of the talented individuals who typically comprise a poor Detroit team.

Deemed inadmissible on any NBA court, this was a performance you wish to strike from the record altogether. The good news is that while this game was very much on the record, it will only count on the record the same as all the others.

THREE BUCKS

Charlie Bell. Charlie stood out by not standing out. No memorably silly plays or absurd shot attempts. Unlike most everyone else on the team, for whatever reason, Bell played like he was on his home court against bad team, and he played more than anyone else -- 40 minutes -- offering steady, not spellbinding work.

A very reasonable 15/3/1 line on 5-8 shooting for Bell in this, one of the true follies of the basketball year.

Luc Mbah a Moute. A more typical Prince points sum of nine following his offensive outburst against Indiana, but 4-8 from the field will do. That is what the team wants, needs that modest offensive output, and he delivered. Not a standout defensive performance like we've seen, but he was active, gathering 11 rebounds, six on the offensive glass.

Andrew Bogut. He entered the game shooting a can't-miss 64.2 % from the field in February. So Andrew's 0-8 start gave me a headache. And I don't get headaches. Shots off the side of the backboard, consecutive misses within inches of the rim, eternally bothered, like he was going against the Defensive Player of the Year. But it was just Ben Wallace.

Then 'Drew wised up, realized it wasn't 2002 or 2003 or 2005 or 2006 and thus he wasn't facing the Defensive Player of the Year. And while I'm loathe to cite double-doubles (10/10 good, 36/8 no good) he had double-double by halftime, with 11 points and 10 rebounds thanks to a 5-6 shooting second quarter. But that money quarter wasn't enough, as the Bucks only made up four points.

And all did not end well for Bogut, who missed his first eight, made his next five, and then missed five of his final eight. In all 17 points on an uncharacteristic 21 shot attempts, though his +4 differential in 34 minutes suggests the team did just fine with him on the court and rather miserably with him off.

THREE NUMBERS

21. The Bucks hauled in 21 offensive rebounds, quite a sum. But the 52 missed shots made them possible, and too often the offensive rebounds resulted in those aforementioned missed shots, a viciously cruel and unsatisfying cycle chronicled more in the next Number.

Milwaukee's work on the offensive boards was largely negated by Detroit's 17 offensive rebounds of their own, as Jason Maxiell (6) and Jonas Jerebko (5) were too much to handle.

16.2 % Milwaukee shot 4-25 (.160) in the first quarter, a real grind that produced nine points. Nine players contributed to the madness, and it looked as bad as the numbers look.

A rather ridiculous 10 offensive rebounds in the quarter for the Bucks in the first quarter alone, and we need a statistician/historian to find the last time a team had more offensive rebounds than points in a quarter. Or let's just forget about this.

41.7 % and 82.4 % Someone perhaps forgot to notify the game's participants that Detroit was the worst three-point shooting team in the whole NBA (29.2 %) and the 27th ranked free throw shooting team (72.1 %) of all. How else to explain the hot numbers from distance (41.7 %) and at the stripe (82.4 %)?

THREE GOOD

Rarity. Milwaukee isn't that long on talent, and they have a pretty short list of bad performances this season. And even in this poor performance, they made a nice little comeback.

It's over. Mercifully.

Only a day away. The Bucks depart from cold, snowy Wisconsin to cold, snowy New Jersey tomorrow (it gets better from here) where they have the fortunate of playing the Nets, who have not turned Izod Center into a massive home court advantage. They are 3-20 at home. Just don't lose that one, team.

THREE BAD

1st Quarter. Foreshadowing the evening as a whole, it all went wrong for the first 12 game minutes, the first 21 real-time, really excruciating minutes.

Brogut (Brandon and Bogut) combined to shoot 1-13. The team tried awfully hard to make Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton (both shooting 39 % from the field coming in) supremely relevant again, no easy feat. Perhaps more impressively/unimpressively, they turned clean-cut rookie Jonas Jerebko into the Swedish reincarnate of Dennis Rodman early on.

20-9 after twelve, and a rather deplorable start for the fans who roughed it into the BC, good sports that they may be.

Not much in reserve. A lot of plaudits for the bench this season, for a lot of reasons.

But the Bucks got beat up when the bench was not on the bench, to the tune of a composite -50 differential. That was in stark contrast to Detroit's reserves, Jason Maxiell and Ben Gordon in particular, who torched Milwaukee all through the eve.

Luke Ridnour (7 points, 0 assists, 2 turnovers on 2-6 shooting) can score 16 points for the Nets tomorrow night -- for the Nets tomorrow night -- and his pre-All-Star break run will still register as a smashing success. He has been fantastic overall, the trouble is that the percentages had to start evening out just a little, and we are bearing witness to that now.

Meanwhile, Ersan Ilyasova fit nicely into the theme of grabbing offensive rebounds (3 in 9 minutes) that went for naught, as the Turk totaled zero points but managed to fit in a -16 differential in nine minutes. It's been assumed that Jennings would hit a wall due to his age, inexperience, and perhaps most of all because he is coming off a year in Europe which was grueling in its own way, but not comparable with respect to the travel and number of games of an NBA season. Is it possible that Ilyasova (who, like Jennings, played in Europe last year and thrived in November) is doomed to suffer similarly?

Fellow power forward also deemed incapable of starting at power forward Hakim Warrick shot 1-4 and turned the ball over four times in 14 mostly miserable minutes off the bench.

Number 9. Six, seven, eight, the Bulls, Bobcats, and Heat all won tonight.

Game 50: Pistons/Bucks

2010-02-09T07:19:12Z

This is what Kareem & company looked like 40 years ago against the Pistons

2009/2010 NBA Season

17-32 (5-18 away)	vs.	23-26 (16-7 home)
February 9, 2010
Bradley Center
7:00 PM
Radio: WTMJ AM 620 TV: FSN Wisconsin
Probable starters:
Rodney Stuckey	PG	Brandon Jennings
Richard Hamilton	SG	Charlie Bell
Tayshaun Prince	SF	Carlos Delfino
Jonas Jerebko	PF	Luc Mbah a Moute
Ben Wallace	C	Andrew Bogut

(25th) 103.3 - OFFENSE - 104.1 (23rd)
(22nd) 109.2 - DEFENSE - 104.0 (8th)
(29th) 88.3 - PACE - 93.2 (11th)

Linkage

Detroit Bad Boys / Bucksketball

News/notes after the jump...

JS: Mbah a Moute finding his way
Nothing Luc Mbah a Moute does is particularly flashy, but his improved play (particularly on offense) was impossible to ignore in the Bucks' back-to-back victories over the Knicks (6/7 fg, 16 pts, 6 rebs) and Pacers (18 pts, 7/9 fg, 11 rebs). Charles Gardner spoke to Skiles about it after the game:

"He hustles so much, the game just comes to him," Bucks coach Scott Skiles said of the 6-foot-8 Mbah a Moute, now playing a starting power forward role. "He was on the offensive glass and found some things around the basket, and he knocked down a couple jumpers."

Mbah a Moute was one of many x-factors on the Bucks' roster coming into the season and his performance has been a mixed bag through 49 games. The versatile defense is of course still there, and that will always be his calling card and what guarantees he's at least a 20-25 mpg guy. But despite an off-season spent focused on developing his jumper, his fg% on 16-23 foot shots has fallen from 36% to 28%, though on the rare occasions he's shot from deep (just 16 times all year) he's made a healthy 37.5%.

Of course, lost in the disappointment over Mbah a Moute's jump shot is his continued efficiency around the cup, which has as much to do with skill as it does knowing his own limitations. At the rim he makes 61.5% of his shots (up marginally from a year ago) and inside 10 feet he's upped his accuracy to 42% from 28% a year ago (though he takes less than a shot per game in that classification). On the other hand, his rebound rate has cratered noticeably, from 13.6% to 10.2%, but that's due in part to getting much more burn at SF rather than PF. I'm not sure Luc ever becomes an entrenched starter at either forward spot--his best role may end up being as a Posey-like defender off the bench--but he's also the kind of guy you never feel bad about starting.

Pistons Update
Since returning from a groin injury five games ago, Ben Gordon has scored more than 10 points just once and continues to come off the bench behind the declining Rip Hamilton (17.9 ppg but career-low .397 fg% and .242 3fg%). Meanwhile, fellow free agent signing (and reserve) Charlie Villanueva has been struggling with back spasms of late, limiting him to just 25 minutes over the past four games.

More promising has been the play of rookie second rounder Jonas Jerebko, who continues to start at PF and is coming off a 9/9 fg, 20 point outing in the Detroit's 99-92 win over the Nets on Saturday. Bogut-stopper Ben Wallace continues his solid play as well, averaging 9.0 rpg. Still, the Pistons' season has been a huge disappointment thus far, as a floundering finish to Michael Curry's first and last season in 08/09 has carried over to John Kuester's first season in charge this term. Makes you appreciate Scott Skiles even more.

So the Bucks should have a golden opportunity on Tuesday to run their home winning streak to 10 games and continue their push for the 8th playoff spot. They're currently just 0.2% behind the Heat (24-27) for the final spot and only a game behind the Bulls and Bobcats (both 24-25) for the 6th/7th spot. While the Bucks head to New Jersey tomorrow for one final game before the all-star break, the Heat host the Rockets on Tuesday and head to Atlanta on Wednesday, the Bulls are in Indiana Tuesday night and host Orlando on Wednesday, and Charlotte hosts Washington on Tuesday and heads to Minnesota on Wednesday.

SB Nation: Breaking down the deadline
Mike Prada takes a look at all 30 teams' prospects for doing deals at the deadline. Not surprisingly he doesn't see the Bucks being too active, though he does mention Caron Butler as the biggest name they might target. I agree that a big deal isn't likely, and I think Butler probably makes the most sense of any bigger names currently available. Part of that is fit (a scoring wing with Wisconsin roots makes plenty of sense) and part of it is contractual (Butler's deal expires in the summer of 2011). But for that reason dumping Butler doesn't do Washington a whole lot of good unless the also get rid of Antawn Jamison as well--only then would the Wiz have meaningful cap space this summer.

Stadium Journey: The Bradley Center
Paul Swaney knows a thing or two about stadiums--his blog is all about visiting as many of them as possible--and he recently paid a trip to the BC.

Recap: Bucks 93, Pacers 81

2010-02-07T07:22:02Z

Box Score

MILWAUKEE -- Five straight last place finishes in the division, and this is a good time to point out how refreshing and novel it is to quite reasonably expect the Bucks to beat the Pacers, Pistons, merely any team in the Central.

And even with Milwaukee traveling back from New York on the second of a back-to-back, even with Indiana in good form coming off a pair of convincing wins, even with Andrew Bogut returning after the fright of a migraine, the Bucks very rightly beat the overmatched Pacers. Just as expected.

Bogut led Milwaukee early, combing through Indiana's defense for 10 points in the first six minutes, propelling the team to another early lead. If last night was No Bogut, No Problem for the Bucks, then tonight was Bogut, Problem for the Pacers.

The Bucks built the lead all the way up to 18 early in the second quarter, but proved stubbornly determined to let the Pacers come back and hang around thereafter. You never really got the sense that they were in danger of losing, Indiana lacked any inventiveness after all, but it was one of those nights when it was frustrating to look at the scoreboard because you always felt Milwaukee should be up by more.

And such is the type of discontent that arises when you not only expect the team to win, but you expect them to do it with gusto. Nonetheless, the win now means the Bucks are in a virtual tie for the final playoff spot in the East. And if they beat fellow division opponent Detroit at home on Tuesday, the Bucks could be in playoff position soon. Just as few expected.

THREE BUCKS

Luc Mbah a Moute. Offensive dynamo (standard introduction, henceforth) Luc Richard Mbah a Moute popped in a season-high 18 points on 7-9 from the field and 4-4 from the line, along with 11 rebounds.

An offensive night for the ages, and a defensive night as usual. Danny Granger (14 points on 5-14 shooting, -19 differential) carries a heavy offensive burden on a bad team, and that's frustrating enough. Even more frustrating is having The Principal pawing at your dribble, screening your vision of the hoop, denying your basketball stardom each and every trip down the floor.

Andrew Bogut. Andrew gave the Pacers a head full of headaches early on, recovering from a migraine in speedy, superior fashion. After leaving the game against the Knicks and undersized center David Lee, the Aussie returned to face 7'2" Roy Hibbert. A young'n, but a good one by most indications.

Yet 'Drew topped his season average for points in the first half alone with 17 on a variety of hooks, runners, jumpers, power spin-moves, dunks, and -- hold up, is Bogut developing a legitimately, relatively diversified offensive arsenal? Outlook good.

Not enough touches or shots (2-5) in the second half for the team's best player, but a mighty fine comeback in all with 21 points and eight rebounds on 9-15 from the field and 3-3 at the line.

Jerry Stackhouse. One of the best nights yet for Stack, who hit the boards and hit from outside. Cross your fingers and don't hold your breath about him repeating the outside shooting display (3-6 on threes) again soon, but they fell in tonight.

The rest of the bench was largely ineffective, as Skiles rode the starters for a vast majority of the night, but Stack really excelled in the sixth man role, notching 14 points and six rebounds in 29 minutes. More on Stack in Good.

THREE NUMBERS

0. The starting backcourt didn't commit a single turnover in 64 combined minutes, and they totaled 12 assists together. Neither Brandon Jennings (2-10) nor Charlie Bell (3-8) shot the ball straight, but they did plenty.

9. Milwaukee's starters combined for nine steals and everyone had at least one, led by Carlos Delfino's four. A fair amount of Pacer sloppiness made this possible, but the Bucks were anticipatory, active in the passing lanes, aware of their defensive surroundings.

3. The Pacers were credited with an easily countable three second chance points compared to 13 for the Bucks. Milwaukee pulled down 10 offensive rebounds while Indiana had just four.

THREE GOOD

Cooking at home. Milwaukee has now won seven consecutive at the Bradley Center, the team's last home loss dating way back to Dec. 26 against the Spurs.

Bobblehead Brandon. But he only scored five points, and his likeness doesn't sport the supercool high-top fade, you think to yourself and neglect to comment below.

Casual fans or national types might not realize this, but you do: Jennings hasn't been a big-time game scorer for a while now. After scoring 25+ six times in the first three weeks of November, he has scored 25+ twice in the ten weeks since.

And that's fine. He is 20, not even all that close to 21, and he is continuing to pass and take care of the ball (7 assists, 0 turnovers) with enchanting regularity.

Plus, J.J. Hardy's game-winning hit in extras on his Bobblehead Day a couple years ago is a pointed case study in why Bobblehead heroics are not always the best the sign for promising young athletes in this city.

Jump. Shortly after starting the fourth quarter with a corner three, Jerry Stackhouse and Roy Hibbert got into something of a tiff, nothing terribly threatening, like most tiffs. The 15-year vet certainly wasn't backing down from the second year pro, irrespective of the fact that he gives eight inches and sixty pounds to the center.

And to illustrate that point, Stackhouse proceeded to win the jumpball against Hibbert. While not as fascinating as VC over Yao, notable nonetheless. And that was just a part of the signee's strong fourth quarter in which he scored six points.

THREE BAD

Not for your viewing pleasure. A bit unfortunate this win wasn't televised locally, and it's not the first time this year the Bucks have impressed playing in front of only the paying crowd.

On a positive note, the lack of on-air coverage along with it being a Saturday and Brandon Jennings Bobblehead Night provided plenty of reasons to make a trip to the Bradley Center. And a surpisingly robust, surprisingly charged 18,717 fans took note.

Warrick? Hakim checked into the game and within thirty seconds grabbed a rebound, attempted to dunk from the outskirts Milwaukee County, and got to the line, where he made one of two.

Not a bad start, except it wasn't the start at all. It was nearly the end of the third quarter when Hakim first checked into the game, and while Ersan went nuts in New York the night prior, Skiles tends to be right about these things, and the Bucks won -- Hakim seemed to deserve more than three minutes, particularly coming off three good games in a row.

Indy. Indiana lived down to many of my expectations, they started A.J. Price and Brandon Rush in the backcourt, an affront to starting backcourts worldwide, the team looked like a sad lot, not as bad as New Jersey but a sad lot, and there just haven't been many inspiring moments from the opponent when these two have hooked up this season.

Game 49: Pacers/Bucks

2010-02-06T16:47:22Z

2009/2010 NBA Season

18-32 (6-19 away)	vs.	22-26 (15-7 home)
February 6, 2010
Bradley Center
7:30 PM
Radio: WTMJ AM 620 TV: No Local
Probable starters:
A.J. Price	PG	Brandon Jennings
Brandon Rush	SG	Charlie Bell
Danny Granger	SF	Carlos Delfino
Troy Murphy	PF	Luc Mbah a Moute
Roy Hibbert	C	Andrew Bogut

(27th) 101.9 - OFFENSE - 104.1 (23rd)
(16th) 106.7 - DEFENSE - 104.2 (8th)
(2nd) 97.6 - PACE - 93.3 (11th)

Linkage

Indy Cornrows / Indy Star / Eight Points, Nine Seconds

Pretty, please. Andrew Bogut notched a career-high 31 points, Brandon Jennings came through in the clutch, and the Bucks won the first matchup of the year between these two. Pretty excellent, but not pretty at all: The 84-81 win was ugly all the way to the end, Milwaukee missed its last nine free throws, and two of the fastest-paced teams in the NBA did precious little to entertain onlookers in an even 100 possessions.

After averaging 4.2 points in the previous six games, Hakim Warrick bottomed out that night in Indiana with his only scoreless game of the season. Lost in the Skiles Shuffle, Hak' only played ten minutes that night. Five days later he scored 23 against the Spurs and he's been a new, refreshed player ever since.

Carlos Delfino meanwhile was just beginning a run of bad play, as he went scoreless in a starting role in Indiana that evening. He struggled for the next couple weeks, and then was reborn in the second half of January and remains in pretty good form.

Pace-rs. Indiana is the second fastest team in the NBA. The Bucks have had great success against the fastest team (Warriors) and third fastest team (Timberwolves), though that probably has a whole more to do with them being awful teams than anything. Though they've also scored some success against good and fast teams like the Grizzlies and Nuggets this season.

The Pacers have stormed into February, scoring 118.5 points in home wins over Toronto and Detroit. Both teams are playing the second night of back-to-backs, as Indiana ripped the Pistons 107-83 last night.

Rebounds confound. In the first matchup, Troy Murphy had 13 rebounds (1 offensive) and Luc Mbah a Moute had 4 rebounds (2 offensive). Turns out, this type of extreme discrepancy is to be expected, more or less.

Murphy averages 8.0 defensive rebounds per game, eighth in the whole NBA. Luc Mbah a Moute averages 2.8 defensive rebounds per game. Offensive boards? Mbah a Moute: 1.9 Muphy: 1.7.

Recap: Bucks 114, Knicks 107

2010-02-06T08:13:13Z

Box Score

No Bogut, no hope?

I'll admit that's largely been my feeling about the 09/10 Bucks; sure, they're scrappy and hard-working, but at the end of the day Bogut is their anchor on both ends. Take him away and the Bucks suddenly have no shot-blocking presence, a limited ability to compete on the glass and no one who can consistently score out of the post. There's more than a few good reasons why everyone who's watched more than 15 minutes of Bucks basketball this year says Bogut is the glue, the MVP, the anchor.

So you can imagine how excited I was to watch the big man head to the locker room just six minutes into the Bucks' tilt at MSG on Friday night--especially after watching him drop in three shots in succession. Though it initially appeared Bogut was nursing some kind of hand injury, word quickly came that it was a migraine keeping him down and that he wouldn't return. Better news than a knee, back or ankle injury, but disappointing to hear nonetheless.

And until halftime you could tell the Bucks seemed a bit shell-shocked as well. An early 19-9 lead disappeared without Bogut to defend the middle, as David Lee (32 pts, 15 rebs) simply went to town on Kurt Thomas, Hakim Warrick and Ersan Ilyasova for the rest of the half. Al Harrington drilled a pair of triples and took Ilyasova to school in the post for eight quick points early in the second, and Lee took the baton shortly thereafter, scoring 11 of his 19 first half points in the second. Even Chris Duhon--benched for the first time this season in favor of Nate Robinson--got backdoor for a pair of easy layups, which is generally the only way he's going to score.

The Bucks' offensive salvation came in the unlikely form of Ilyasova (18 of his career-high 25 in the first half), who showed the complete package with a pair of threes, a number of mid-rangers, and even putting it on the deck a couple times. That helped compensate for a miserable first 24 minutes from Brandon Jennings, who hit just 1/7 fg and looked to be pressing a bit after pregame comments once again underscoring his intent to make the Knicks regret passing up on him in June. The Bucks trailed by just five at the break, but it remained questionable whether they could continue scoring efficiently enough to hang with a Knicks club that seemed to be hitting their stride offensively.

Fortunately, the Bucks appeared to get the better motivational speech at halftime. In truth there was probably plenty of tactical pointers as well, but the point is that Skiles and the coaching staff made the necessary adjustments to get things going again. The Bucks started the third with Mbah a Moute on Lee, limiting the beastly Florida alum's ability to drive and forcing a few turnovers as well. And Jennings began to pick apart the Knicks' pick & roll defense, getting Warrick and Ilyasova easy buckets while starting to get his own offense going as well. After burying an open three early in the third, he thrice drove aggressively to the hoop for layups; say what you will about Lee's tremendous scoring and rebounding, but neither he nor anyone else on the Knicks provides much in the way of help defense inside. The game started to get physical, and in a flash the Bucks were up nine heading to the fourth.

Fortunately for the Bucks the post-Bogut letdown never came. A triple by Stackhouse saw the Bucks lead swell to 97-84 early in the fourth, and even a brief run by the Knicks could only cut the lead to six. As seems to be a recurring theme, Jennings delivered a dagger with a tough three off the dribble to give the Bucks an 11 point lead with four minutes remaining. And Ilyasova, quiet for much of the half, then finished it off by grabbing a key offensive rebound with 23 seconds remaining.

No Bogut...no problem? At least for one night.

Three Bucks

Ersan Ilyasova: 30 min, 25 pts, 10/18 fg, 2/3 threes, 3/4 ft, 9 reb, 0 to
January was probably Turk Nowitzki's worst month of the season: sub-40% shooting contributed to Ilyasova losing his starting gig to Mbah a Moute, and the first two games of February were simply more of the same. Fortunately, Ilyasova was around to carry the Bucks while everyone else seemed to be waiting for Bogut to pull a Willis Reed and walk back to the bench. He scored 13 of the Bucks' 25 points in the second quarter, matching Harrington and Lee shot-for-shot in the process while buying the Bucks some time as they sorted out how to deal with Bogut's prolonged absence.

Brandon Jennings: 35 min, 22 pts, 8/23 fg, 2/7 threes, 4/4 ft, 8 ast, 2 reb, 2 to
As we've seen before, Jennings shook off a rough start to largely dominate the second half with his ability to mix playmaking and timely scoring. We all know he doesn't mind the big stage, and in hoops there's none bigger than MSG. He didn't need to drop 22/8 to remind Knick fans of the mistake they made last June, but it doesn't hurt does it?

Carlos Delfino: 42 min, 13 pts, 5/12 fg, 2/6 threes, 1/1 ft, 9 reb, 6 ast, 3 stl, 4 to
This could easily have been Luc Mbah a Moute, but we'll give the nod yet again to Delfino, who had another night of huge minutes and a busy line in the box score to show for it. Delfino has been rebounding like a madman over the past month and was the Bucks' best glassman after Bogut departed, but not to be overlooked is the facilitating he provided with six assists.

Three Numbers

+14. Going into halftime I couldn't help but feel the Bucks were slowly losing their grip on the game; the early 10 point lead had evapored without Bogut around to anchor the defense and even a monster half from Ilyasova saw the Bucks trailing by five at intermission. But those concerns disappeared in a hurry in the third, as Milwaukee jumped the Knicks almost immediately and finished the period 36-22 to the good.

5:25. Would have been nice to get a bit more burn out of Bogut. Obviously.

10. The Knicks certainly aren't hurting for outside threats, but it was the Bucks who put on a show from deep, draining 10/24 threes compared to just 7/20 for the Knicks.

Three Good

Skiles. It's fairly rare that I really think it's worth questioning Skiles' tactics and rotations, and it's nights like these where it becomes clear why he's worth giving the benefit of the doubt. After his team's shaky second quarter the Bucks came out and wrecked the Knicks in the third, swarming the ball on defense and working the P&R on offense. There's something joyful about watching a bunch of mostly-marginal NBA rotation players make each other better on the court.

Role players. Ilyasova is the obvious choice to single out, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a Buck who played meaningful minutes and didn't do exactly what you'd hope tonight. Warrick threw down three huge dunks in the second half, two off offensive rebounds, while Stackhouse's work on both ends helped the Bucks extend their lead early in the fourth.

Empire State of Mind. Jennings' public goal of revenge wasn't a terribly productive thing to say in the pregame, but the kid eventually backed it up and then some. And you know what? It feels pretty damn good to be on the good side of the "How'd they pass on him?" debate for a change.

Two Bad

Bogut's migraine. This isn't the first time Bogut has struggled with migraines, though we haven't heard of them being an issue in some time. The last time it impacted his playing time was in December 2008, when a whack to the face against the Bulls triggered a migraine that led to him missing practice. He played in the next game against Charlotte, but it's not clear how much it impacted his play in a mediocre effort against Emeka Okafor. Unfortunately the Bucks don't have the luxury of an extra day off before they face Indiana, so we'll have to cross our fingers that it clears up by tomorrow evening. Feel better, Bogues.

Interior defense. Both teams went small for significant periods, sacrificing any semblance of interior defense in the process--maybe that's normal for New York, but we've expected more from the Bucks of late. It was especially evident in the second quarter, as the Knicks beat the Bucks off the dribble numerous times to finish easily around the cup (Lee driving right past Warrick . Maybe the Bucks just needed some time to adapt to being Bogutless, because their help defense picked up a little bit in the third quarter. Still, they barely edged the Knicks 58-54 in the paint, well above either team's season averages (37 ppg for the Bucks, 40 ppg for the Knicks).

Game 48: Bucks/Knicks

2010-02-05T06:44:35Z

Bucks vs Magic recap

Jennings began building his NYC street cred at Rucker Park four years ago

2009/2010 NBA Season

19-29 (12-14 home)	vs.	21-26 (6-19 road)
February 5, 2010
Madison Square Garden
6:30 PM
Radio: WTMJ AM 620 TV: FSN-Wisconsin
Probable starters:
Chris Duhon	PG	Brandon Jennings
Jared Jeffries	SG	Charlie Bell
Wilson Chandler	SF	Carlos Delfino
Danilo Gallinari	PF	Luc Mbah a Moute
David Lee	C	Andrew Bogut

(17th) 106.4 - OFFENSE - 103.8 (23rd)
(20th) 108.5 - DEFENSE - 104.0 (8th)
(7th) 93.8 - PACE - 93.2 (10th)

Linkage:
Posting & Toasting / KnickerBlogger / KnickBlog / Bandwagon Knick

News/notes after the jump...

Gunnin' for that #8 spot. The Bucks come to NYC just 1.5 games behind the Heat for the 8th spot in the East and 2.5 games ahead of the 10th-ranked Knicks. MIami has dropped four in a row, the first two against the Bucks and the last two courtesy of a rough road back-to-back that saw him visit Boston and Cleveland the last two nights. Not fun.

Meanwhile, New York snapped a three game losing streak by thrashing the Wiz 107-85 at home on Wednesday. Nate Robinson scored 23 points along with six boards and eight assists off the bench, making a clear case for Duhon's starting PG job.

Duhon's bricks. Finally Brandon Jennings gets to face an opposing PG who converts at a worse rate from the field than he does. Never known for his scoring prowess (39.0% career fg%), Duhon is shooting a career-worst 34.8% this year including a head-scratcing 31.2% at MSG. Much to the delight of most Knicks fans, Mike D'Antoni has increasingly relied on Robinson as an offensive spark off the heightening speculation that D'Antoni may finally make a change--a far cry from December, when he played the diminuitive combo guard a grand total of 10 minutes all month. Don't be surprised if Robinson cracks the starting lineup for the first time this season on Friday night.

Best of the Non-Stars. Andrew Bogut and David Lee both had pretty good cases for the all-star slot that went to Al Horford, joining Dwight Howard, Tim Duncan and Joakim Noah as the only centers averaging double-doubles. Still, Bogut has a clear size advantage down low and shouldn't have too much trouble getting his shot over the undersized-and-not-really-a-center Lee. The question becomes whether the Knicks can bring enough help and gimmick defenses to keep the ball out of Bogut's hands, while Lee will look to use both his offensive rebounding around the hoop and burgeoning mid-range game to match his gaudy 19.7 ppg/11.5 rpg averages. For more on Bogut, check out some video courtesy of the Down Under version of ESPN:

BDL's February Award Tour

2010-02-05T00:42:02Z

BDL's February Award Tour

People give your ears so I be sublime: Bucks dot Dwyer's latest lists for the year-end awards.

Understandably no MVP looks, but Brandon Jennings is second is second in ROY. That is fair. Sacramento losing 16 of 18 (!) won't help Tyreke's creds, but Brandon missing six of seven shots won't either. Still, franchise-invigorators, both of them.

Meanwhile, Andrew Bogut is fourth in line for DPOY, both flattering and deserved at once. In January, 'Drew averaged 11.3 rebounds and 2.7 blocks. And he is third in the NBA in drawing charges.

Luke Ridnour is second on the Most Improved Player list, and also places fourth in Sixth Man of the Year. A real sixth man, Luke has not started a single game this season, and he ranks sixth in minutes played on the team. Such a joy to watch, not only tremendously effective, but he always gives the hard foul. I hope Jennings is looking up to his backup.

Pretty fair placement for them all, I think. Thoughts?

Recap: Magic 99, Bucks 82

2010-02-03T04:14:06Z

More photos » Phelan M. Ebenhack - AP

Hand over eyes, still able to find the hoop better than the Bucks

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Box Score

Milwaukee started the night like it was Game 1 of the first round, an upstart club vying to for a playoff upset on the court of a conference power, a title contender. And Orlando played the rest of the game like a rather upset conference power, a title contender on their home court, like it was Game 1 of the first round.

The two-night Florida Formula followed a strange pattern for Milwaukee: lead by a lot early, lose by a lot late. And vice-versa.

A night after going down 11-0 before ultimately going way up 97-81 in Miami, the Bucks went up to Orlando and went up 18-6 before ultimately going way down.

Andrew Bogut epitomized Milwaukee's hot-brief-start and cold-long-finish by scoring eight points in the first six minutes followed by two more in the last 42 minutes of the game.

And as well as the Bucks have played on the second night of back-to-backs this season (now 6-5), it just wasn't going to work tonight. Not with this being the third game in four nights. Not with Carlos Delfino getting blocked (3) more times than making shots (2). Not with Brandon Jennings (2) scoring as many points as Dan Gadzuric.

Not the signature road win tonight. And given the circumstance? Not to my surprise.

Three Bucks

Charlie Bell. The "Wade stopper" wasn't the "Carter stopper" on this evening, but at least he contributed offensively, burying 3-5 triples as one of the few in-form Bucks.

Charlie tied for the team lead with 13 points, and that will tend not to work unless a lot of players score 13 points, a lot more than two. But that's not really Charlie's fault.

Andrew Bogut. Taking the matchup transition from Joel Anthony to Dwight Howard in curiously smooth stride, Bogut started the game by showing virtually his entire offensive arsenal -- in the first five and a half minutes. In that time he swished a running hook, nailed an 18-footer, made a hook, and totaled eight points as the Bucks raced to an 18-6 lead.

Trouble was, he didn't show much else thereafter. After starting 4-4, Bogut made just 1-7 the rest of the way, as Dwight Howard asserted himself as the NBA's preeminent big man with 22 points, 11 rebounds, and five blocks.

For Bogut, 10 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks, but something of a disappearing act.

The rest thing, maybe?

Kurt Thomas. I almost went with Luke Ridnour, which would have been fun because then all of Three Bucks would have shot 5-11. Alas, this space is for Thomas, who sank a few of those jumpers, which could go in quotations because they really involve very little jumping, per say.

But he is still in this league because he makes those jumpers, and because he knows how to position himself defensively in the post, even if that proved irrelevant against Dwight Howard. With Elson out for six weeks, Thomas becomes a bit more important, so it was good to see a decent performance.

Three Numbers

56.2 % - 47.4 %. Orlando shot better, much better, on threes (.562) than Milwaukee did at the free throw line (.474). Oh, dear.

2. The Principal scored two points tonight. Coincidentally, he is averaging 2.0 points per game in the last six games. All starts.

+3. Andrew Bogut (+1) and Brandon Jennings (+2) played 27 minutes each and combined for a +3 differential. Neither were on their game tonight, but neither were in the game for the final 5:15 of the second quarter which included the scoreless last 4:30.

Three Good

Gadzooks. A happy, Groundhog's Day birthday to Dan Gadzuric, who turned 32 tonight. Skiles gave him the present of playing time, something he gets more than once a year but not more than once a week these days.

And he topped it off with a follow-slam off a Luke Ridnour miss in the fourth quarter. Nice.

Poof, it's a magic act. Some teams, near oceans, the Bucks just can't get enough of: Golden State, Miami, New Jersey. Others, they just get too much of, like Orlando.

Fortunately, no more Magic this season.

Sked. Next: @New York, Indiana, Detroit, @New Jersey, Houston, @Detroit, Charlotte, @New York, New Orleans (sans Chris Paul) @Indiana, @Miami.

If Milwaukee has designs on a playoff run, this is the time to make that run.

Three Bad

Q2. The second quarter, rather than the second half, was the problem tonight.

It was the third quarter that felled Milwaukee in its first two losses against Orlando, but they just couldn't wait that long to to crash and burn tonight. Milwaukee scored 10 points in the second quarter, made one field goal in the final 6:49, and didn't score in the final 4:30 before halftime. I mentioned in Three Numbers that Bogut and Jennings were out of the game for that scoreless span, but it was still pretty bizarre to see Warrick, Ridnour, and Delfino miss and miss considering their recent forms.

The Magic won the second quarter by 17 points, and they won the game by 17 points.

Points... points. We didn't enter the season with the highest offensive expectations for the team's point guards, but that all changed not slowly and very surely as Brandon Jennings and Luke Ridnour became the two most pleasing surprises and two of the team's top three scorers.

Jennings (17.5) and Ridnour (11.3) entered the night combining for 28.8 points per game. But they came into the fourth quarter with four points together, and while Ridnour hit a couple threes late and finished with 13, it was a bit late for that.

Jennings managed an NBA-low two points this evening, shooting 1-7. Until he starts playing defense like Mbah a Moute, he cannot start playing offense like Mbah a Moute.

Bringing out the best in Vince. In January, Vince Carter averaged a surely shabby 8.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.2 assists on 28.4 % shooting from the field. Maybe it's just the new month, maybe it's just the Bucks who continue to bring out the best in Vince.

Carter directed the decisive, destructive 27-10 second quarter like a real pro and went into the halftime locker room with 14 points, six rebounds, four assists, and one toothy grin. He didn't do much after the break, but he didn't really need to, the Bucks were already broken.

Game 47: Bucks/Magic

2010-02-02T13:35:16Z

2009/2010 NBA Season

32-16 (18-4 home)	vs.	21-25 (6-18 road)
February 2, 2010
Amway Arena
6:00 PM
Radio: WTMJ AM 620 TV: FSN-Wisconsin HD
Probable starters:
Jameer Nelson	PG	Brandon Jennings
Vince Carter	SG	Charlie Bell
Matt Barnes	SF	Carlos Delfino
Rashard Lewis	PF	Luc Mbah a Moute
Dwight Howard	C	Andrew Bogut

(11th) 108.4 - OFFENSE - 104.1 (23rd)
(5th) 103.0 - DEFENSE - 104.0 (7th)
(19th) 92.8 - PACE - 93.2 (10th)

Linkage

Orlando Pinstriped Post / Orlando Sentinel / Orlando Magic Daily

Same state, different world. The road win over Miami is a nice start, though the loss dropped them to an even .500 this season at 23-23. So while they are in the same state, Orlando is in a completely different world than Miami. The Magic are 18-4 at home after going 32-9 at Amway last year. They are 50-13 over the past season and a half at home.

After a poor start to January, The Magic closed the month with three straight wins (including against Boston and Atlanta) and they have won six of seven. So very top-notch.

This would be a signature road win, to say the least.

Secondly. The Bucks have played the Magic twice already, and twice they have outplayed the Magic in the first half. In the first matchup, at the BC, Milwaukee carried a 56-47 lead into halftime. And they even led 49-41 after two quarters in Orlando.

Unfortunately, that combined 17-point first-half advantage pales in comparison to Orlando winning the second halves by a combined 44 points. That resulted in a 100-98 loss for the Bucks at home and a 117-92 loss in Orlando.

Even in the home-and-home sweep over Miami, the Bucks lost the second halves by a combined seven points.

Life and times of Vince Carter, Vol. 13. Carter was supposed to take the Magic to the next level, and their level already was on top of the East. And I was compelled to believe that he would do so.

But it's been the roughest of times for Carter, at least since injuries gnawed into his prime seven, eight years ago.

A career 44.4 % shooter, Carter is hitting just 38.0 % from the field on the best team he's ever played with. He also is making just 30.3 % from deep, the lowest number since his rookie season. Oddly, he is making a career-best 85.1 % from the line, but that is about the only area he is excelling in, relative to his career numbers.

Hard to figure out. Especially after watching him play more like the classic Carter in the two games against Milwaukee.

Vince was dunking and hitting threes and leading the Magic to a comeback win with 25 points in Milwaukee, and he did the same in Orlando, leading everyone with 25 points. Carter's splits against Milwaukee this year (25.0 points, 4.5 assists, 3.0 rebounds, 51.3 % shooting) are his best against any team he's played more than once this season.

Inside, outside. Andrew Bogut and the Bucks were able to limit the effectiveness of Miami around the basket, but the Magic are very good at the rim (62.0 %), and they prefer to stay inside or outside. The Magic attempt the fewest amount of shots from 16-23 feet per game: 13.1. But they hoist more threes per game (28.6) than any team.

Recap: Bucks 97, Heat 81

2010-02-02T05:13:43Z

More photos » Lynne Sladky - AP

Hakim Warrick offers a visual encapsulation of the night's action: Bucks dunk, Heat watch

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Box Score

In the hours leading up to the Heat and Bucks' second meeting in 48 hours, a disproportionate amount of attention seemed to be focused on Brandon Jennings' new nickname for Charlie Bell: "Wade stopper."

It's not that anyone really thought Bell was capable of shutting down one of the NBA's most dynamic offensive players, but in the first four minutes of the game it appeared Wade was taking Jennings' praise for Bell rather personally. A trip to the line for two free throws on the Heat's first possession. A driving score in the lane two possessions later. And that was just the beginning.

By the 7:35 mark of the first, Wade had 11 points including seven three throws. The Bucks had...nothing. Ten shots taken, all of them missed. The only bright side was that Wade wasn't getting any help, scoring all of the Heat's points in their 11-0 blitz to start the game. And as the Bucks found out when they sprinted to an 11-0 lead against the Cavs in Milwaukee two months ago, four minutes does not an NBA game make.

Like they did in Milwaukee on Saturday, the Bucks got their offense going through Andrew Bogut, Carlos Delfino and Hakim Warrick, while the Heat quickly began to fade after Wade's fast start. Luc Mbah a Moute's length helped keep Wade scoreless the rest of the first quarter and the Bucks team-tackling approach to defense took the ball increasingly out of Wade's hands. And sure enough, the Bucks were not only in it but leading 21-17 after a quarter (fun fact: the Cavs also led 21-17 after a quarter in the aforementioned December game).

The Bucks again made good use of the 2-3 zone for a good portion of the second, but even when they weren't technically in a zone they used the basic principles to crowd Wade and keep him from getting to the rim with ease--preferring to concede jump shots to Wade or, better yet, his bricklaying teammates. The latter were the main reason Wade failed to register an assist in a first half that saw the Bucks dig out of that 11-0 deficit and then some: Milwaukee doubled up Miami to the tune of 54-27 in the final 20 minutes of the half, giving them a commanding 54-38 halftime lead. Not surprisingly leading the way was Bogut (14 of his 22 in the first half), but with plenty of help from Warrick, Delfino, Stackhouse (seven points in the second) and some nice distribution from Brandon Jennings.

The Heat used a zone to throw the Bucks' rhythm off and cut the lead to 59-49 midway through the third, but that was as close as they came. Alston missed a pair of free throws and Wade turned it over before Delfino and Bell (twice) nailed corner triples on three consecutive possessions. It's rare that the Bucks can run away and hide on the road against a team they're chasing in the playoff standings--in fact, it had yet to happen before tonight. But better late than never, right?

Three Bucks

Andrew Bogut: 34 min, 22 pts, 10/13 fg, 2/3 ft, 11 rebs, 1 ast, 3 to, 1 blk
With the undersized Joel Anthony starting in place of Jermaine O'Neal (back spasms), there was little the Heat could do in single coverage to keep Bogut from dropping hooks over them all night. Jamaal Magloire and his cement-filled shoes offered a little more resistance, but for the most part Bogut just bullied the Heat down low with his usual array of ambidextrous hook shots, and only when the Heat tried to zone the Bucks in the third could they keep the big fella from dominating down low. And after defending the Bogut/Jennings pick and roll pretty well in Milwaukee, the Heat had less luck a second time around as Bogut got free a number of times. Looks like somebody needs a Bogut stopper.

Carlos Delfino: 42 min, 5/11 fg, 1/4 three, 5/6 ft, 10 rebs, 4 ast, 4 to, 3 stl
Bogut wasn't the only Buck to elevate his game to new heights in January and he wasn't the only one to carry it over to February. Delfino once again led the Bucks in minutes and filled the box score, collecting double-digit rebounds for the third time in less than a month while relying more on his driving than bombing to get points. So while 5/11 shooting isn't great, 16 points out of those 11 tries will do nicely.

Hakim Warrick: 26 min, 12 pts, 6/12 fg, 6 rebs, 2 ast, 0 to, 1 stl, 1 blk
Plenty of options for the third Buck honor, including Bell (12 pts, hard work on Wade) and Jennings (an under control 9 pts and 8 ast). But we'll go with Warrick for the major boost he provided off the bench in the first half. Warrick made an early appearance midway through the first quarter with the Bucks down 12-6 and announced his arrival shortly thereafter with a swooping fast break dunk off a feed from Jennings. Seems like they've been doing that about once a game of late.

Warrick then proceeded to do some damage with his often-dubious jump shot, ripping a face-up 20-footer and a turnaround in the post to end the quarter. The Bucks had taken the lead for good, and he added a baseline slam from Jennings for good measure. His jump shot predictably came back down to earth in the second half, but by then the Bucks were running riot.

Three Numbers

58.7%. So, now the Bucks have figured out how to score or something? Their 50.7% shooting for the game marked the third time in five games they've cracked the 50% mark--pretty significant improvement for a team that managed that feat just twice in the season's first 41 games. Making the Bucks' final shooting figure even more improbable was that 0/10 start, but they turned it around in a hurry by making nearly 59% of their shots the rest of the way.

+20. I'm not sure how much difference O'Neal could have made, but I would assume the Heat would have offered up a bit more resistance down low. Without him they were dominated 42-22 in the paint, as Bogut went to work and got a fair bit of help from Delfino, Warrick and company.

33%. Wade's been complaining from a sore back of late, so that's probably part of the reason for his struggles against the Bucks. Still, the Bucks didn't give him anything easy and the Heat never seemed to take advantage of the Bucks' focus on Wade, who finished just 13/39 from the field over the past two games. His other numbers: 22 ppg, 4 to/g, 1.5 rpg, 6.5 apg, 5 fouls/g. Can't ask for much more than that if you're a Bucks fan.

Three Good

Road trip! Technically this was the Bucks' second win against a .500+ team this season (Memphis being the first) and only their second-biggest win in terms of margin of victory (98-76 over NJ). Still, I don't think I'm going too far out on a limb when I say that this was their most comprehensive road win of the season--convincing on the scoreboard and crucial in the standings. Miami has now lost four of five and are the one team in the lower half of the Eastern playoff picture that isn't playing its best ball of the season. With Wade struggling through nagging injury and not getting a whole lot of help, the Bucks have an obvious target as they attempt to fight through a month that has been very unkind to them in recent years.

Defense. I think what impressed me most about the Bucks' defense tonight was how ready Skiles was to throw different looks at the Heat even when things seemed to be going OK. After Bell struggled to hang with an inspired Wade early on, Mbah a Moute provided a big boost. Then the zone did its job, before Bell went back at it for much of the second half. Overall, having three guys in the starting lineup (Bell, Mbah a Moute and Defino) who can switch and make Wade work for his points gives the Bucks versatility that few teams can offer. Wade wasn't shut down per se, but he didn't score efficiently and his teammates let him down time after time.

Offense. How often do we single out the Bucks' offense for praise? Not often, which you'd expect for a team ranked 23rd in efficiency. But of late the Bucks have found a terrific rhythm that we can only hope continues for the long haul. It all starts with Bogut's dominance on the block, but as we saw with the Heat, even a superstar isn't enough when the supporting cast isn't doing its job. Thankfully, on any given night the Bucks have been able to count on any number of players stepping up to carry the team for 5-8 minute stretches.

Two Bad

Zoned out. The Bucks' zone helped key the 33-21 second quarter that blew the game wide open, but the Heat's zone look gave them a dose of their own medicine in the third--and almost made a game of it. As we saw in Toronto, the Bucks have a hard time finding Bogut against a zone and their perimeter passing looked tentative. Not exactly a good combination. Fortunately, Delfino and Bell quickly shot the Heat zone to pieces with nine points in quick succession, but if I was scouting for another team I'd certainly make a note of the Bucks' discomfort against the zone.

No rest. Unfortunately the Bucks won't get much chance to enjoy this one--they head to Orlando tomorrow night for a tough tilt against Dwight Howard and the Magic. Which made it a little bit surprising that Bogut and Jennings weren't lifted until there were less than two minutes left in the game.

Game 46: Bucks/Heat

2010-02-01T13:34:20Z

Rafer 'round Wade.

2009/2010 NBA Season

24-23 (13-11 road)	vs.	20-25 (5-18 home)
February 1, 2010
American Airlines Arena
6:30 PM
Radio: WTMJ AM 620 TV: FSN-Wisconsin HD
Probable starters:
Rafer Alston	PG	Brandon Jennings
Dwyane Wade	SG	Charlie Bell
Quentin Richardson	SF	Carlos Delfino
Michael Beasley	PF	Luc Mbah a Moute
Joel Anthony	C	Andrew Bogut

(16th) 106.9 - OFFENSE - 104.0 (23rd)
(12th) 106.0 - DEFENSE - 104.2 (9th)
(28th) 90.7 - PACE - 93.3 (9th)

Linkage

Peninsula is Mightier / Ira Winderman / Hot Hot Hoops

Finding a balance. I've been on this before, but the team's post-Redd, moderate success while not relying offensively on any one or two players in particular continues to fascinate: The Bucks had six different leading scorers in the last five games of January: Ridnour (27) at Toronto, Delfino (23) vs Minnesota, Bogut (32) at Dallas, Jennings and Bell (18) vs Philadelphia, and Warrick (22) vs Miami.

And they went 3-2 in those five, with both losses (in Toronto after leading big and in Dallas by a point) falling under the close, crushing category. A crowded category this season.

A new month. Despite the six-game west coast road trip and despite losing Mike Redd to injury during that west coast road trip, the Bucks won just as many games in January (8) as they did in the sort of magical month of November. Milwaukee just finished up an 8-7 January, saving the season after a 3-11 December which followed an 8-6 November, and 1-1 October.

The Bucks play nine of 14 on the road in February, but the road on the road isn't terribly intimidating. They travel to winnable venues in Miami twice, New York twice, New Jersey, Indiana, and Detroit. They also travel to tough arenas in Orlando and Atlanta.

Wade and Beasley. Dwyane's 6-20 (.300) shooting night in Milwaukee was his second worst of the season.

Wade's only more inaccurate shooting game came Nov. 25 against Orlando when he shot 6-22. In that game, his final shot was an airball that Michael Beasley dunked home for this bizarre last-second game-winner. Wade didn't have the luxury of Beasley rebounding his misses in Milwaukee, and both players are listed as questionable for tonight's game, along with Mario Chalmers.

Wasting away. The Bucks could use a road win. Skiles, after the win over Miami on Saturday:

The teams ahead of us have some real signature wins on the road. And nothing against the teams we've beaten on the road. But we're going to have to, at some point, if we are going to hang with those teams, go on the road -- we've been right there several games -- but we're going to need to go on the road and win some of those games. And we've got a tough test this week.

The road win over last-place Minnesota, admittedly not signature. Against last-place Golden St., not qualifying either. Versus historically bad last-place New Jersey, also not so much. Indiana is half a game from last place. And Memphis, while a legit team, is also half a game from last place.

It would be worse if the Bucks couldn't boast those road wins, but the problem is that they can only boast those road wins. Winning in Miami might not really be a signature road win either, but it would be awfully useful, as the Heat are now in eighth place in the East, percentage points behind Chicago.

Recap: Bucks 95, Heat 84

2010-01-31T07:08:02Z

Box Score

MILWAUKEE -- There is a new guard in town.

By the time Dwyane Wade led Marquette to the Final Four in 2003, this city had fully embraced the Chicagoan as one of their own. A couple years later in 2005, the Bucks locked up Michael Redd to a six-year, $91 million deal. The next year, in 2006, Wade won Finals MVP. And in 2007, Milwaukee finished 28-54, as many Bucks fans increasingly pinned the franchise's troubles quite personally on Redd, as though Mike shouldn't have accepted the team's offer to pay him copious amounts of money. Meanwhile, Wade remained on a firm trajectory toward all-time great status, and he remained revered by basketball fans (not just Bucks fans) throughout many corners of Milwaukee.

Fast forward a few more years to tonight, and the sold-out Bradley Center is filled, but Redd is out for the season (again), and Wade is still in the hearts of plenty Milwaukeeans judging by the pregame introductions.

But for the next two hours and 11 minutes, a new guard outplayed and defeated the old(er) guard, eventually scoring the final six blows to lead Milwaukee to its sixth straight in Milwaukee.

City: In Brandon you should trust.

Three Bucks

Andrew Bogut. The Bucks won this game by halftime, and while it's not what the lede reads, that was because Bogut owned the painted area, owned Jermaine O'Neal, and he owned the night by that time.

We referenced the positive correlation between Andrew's increased production and number of days of rest this season in the pregame notes. Bogut was best on two days of rest coming into the game, and he certainly was the best on two days of rest tonight.

He scored eight points in the final four minutes of the team's dynamite second quarter, when they effectively pulled far enough away so that Miami could not come back.

The future All-Star (not in a couple weeks, probably within a couple years) also made the paint an unwelcome place for opponents in the first half, blocking four shots as the Bucks held Miami to 39 going into halftime.

Bogut tied a season-high with six offensive boards, and totaled 17 points on 6-11 shooting with 15 rebounds, two steals, and four blocks for the night. And 5-6 at the stripe.

A richly deserved +14 differential for the Aussie.

Hakim Warrick. Despite an energetic and effective start to the month, Warrick entered tonight having played just 31 minutes combined in the previous five games. Somehow, just six minutes per night on average in those last five.

Tonight he was sixth man extraordinaire, filling up the basket on a mix of those awkward-looking but occasionally (tonight was an occasion) effective jumpers and put-ins around the hoop, filling up the stat sheet with a team-high 22 points along with six rebounds.

He also carried the team offensively in the fourth quarter with 10 points, enabling Milwaukee to stifle a late comeback attempt by the Heat, who drew within single digits after trailing big for most of the game.

Among Hak's highlights was a reverse two-hand jam in the second quarter on a nice, long pass from Brandon Jennings. Yes, they were the correct NBA Jam duo answer.

Carlos Delfino. Another terrific game by the Argentine, who may or may not have been spurred on by a youngster sporting a Leo Messi jersey sitting courtside.

In the past two weeks, Delfino has played well in the wins, he's played well in the losses, he's just played very well. You couldn't keep Carlos off the floor, as he led everyone with 40 minutes of scoring (16 points), defending (nice job on Dwyane), rebounding (seven tonight, averaging 8.3 boards in last eight games), and dunking (a rarity on this team in transition).

Three Numbers

81.6 % After his 5-6 night at the line, Andrew Bogut has now made 31-38 (.816) at the stripe over the last six games. Just in case Frank didn't jinx him already.

91. Just 91 possessions in the game, just the type of crawling pace Miami prefers. The Heat entered the game averaging 90.7 possessions per game, making them the third slowest team in the NBA.

Still Milwaukee adjusted just fine, and while the pick and roll wasn't working with great success, they moved the ball quickly, and attacked the hoop. The Bucks converted 15-27 at the rim compared to 9-20 for the Heat. The Bucks also made 20-25 free throws.

8. He didn't make it in Three Good or Three Bucks, but Jerry Stackouse was a very Good Buck in the second quarter. Stack totaled eight points, two rebounds, and two assists, and played an instrumental role during the quarter in which the Bucks won the game, the only quarter that either team really seperated themselves at all.

Three Good

D. Wade. Not as in D. Wade the "nickname." I'm writing about the D on Dwyane.

Charlie Bell did a fine job staying in front of the shiftiest of shifty players in the league. And when I type "fine," I don't mean fair, I mean really swell. Carlos Delfino, too, was good when individually matched up. Moreover, the double teams came at the right times, and it's always a team effort when facing someone of Wade's caliber.

They didn't shut him down, but they also didn't let Wade win the game. That is tantamount to not letting the Heat win the game. Seriously, the Heat haven't won a game in which Wade didn't lead them in scoring in a month and a half.

And while he led Miami's way with 21 points, that is down from his season average by half a dozen, and he needed a lot of shots (6-20 shooting) to get even that many. He got to the line plenty (and when I say plenty, I mean he got more than enough calls from the refs despite complaining enough to pick up a technical) where he made 9-12, but the team's aggressive defense also contributed to Wade firing away from outside (0-6) despite not much historical success on threes.

I completely subscribe to the school of thought that a superstar player's offensive performance depends (a lot) more on the superstar than on the defense. So does Skiles:

We did a pretty good job on him, but also there were some shots maybe he would normally make. So you never take too much credit when you're playing against a guy who's that good.

But still, a superstar won't struggle so much without good defense either. Ultimately, you need both the player to personally struggle a bit and the good defense. So while Bell didn't make Three Bucks, he was awfully good defending Wade (so was Delfino), and Charlie chipped in offensively 11 points on 3-6 shooting and didn't turn the ball over in 33 minutes.

Loud crowd. Saturday nights always lend an attendance boost, and that coupled with a return to Milwaukee of guard ~~Rafer Alston~~ Dwyane Wade assured a sellout crowd of 18,717.

The atmosphere was fairly festive and loud, and the Bucks gave them a lot to cheer about, just as they have all month, and all season long, really.

Milwaukee finished the month a spotless 6-0 at the Bradley Center, where they haven't lost since the day after Christmas to San Antonio~~, and where they might just not lose ever again~~.

Encore. The Bucks get another shot at the Heat on Monday. Granted, the game is in Miami, but the Heat aren't much better at home than away, and the Bucks clearly match up very nicely regardless of venue.

And while they started the night seeded sixth in the East, the Heat are conceivably the most catchable team in the playoff race. And yes, the Stackhouse pickup was made with a run to the playoffs in mind. Whereas the Bobcats and Bulls are balanced clubs now starting to realize their potential, Miami appears vulnerable.

Wade should be ~~good~~ great enough to secure a playoff spot the top-heavy East, but there isn't much room for error on a team that relies so heavily on a single player. They certainly couldn't withstand an injury to Wade, and as we saw tonight, they aren't in very good shape without Michael Beasley, who missed the game with a hyperextended knee. That turned Joel Anthony into a starter, not promising stuff for a team that starts Rafer Alston at point guard.

Milwaukee is three games behind Miami after this win, so another win on Monday would draw them very much within striking distance. Particularly since after the rematch, Miami then plays: at Boston, at Cleveland, at Chicago, vs Houston, at Atlanta.

Three Bad

D. Wade. As in D. Wade. A lot of superstar performances from superstar players at the BC this season: Dirk, Kobe, Duncan, and Bosh come to mind, but not Wade this time. He came into the game averaging 23.4 points on a robust 51.4 % shooting in 16 career games against the Bucks, so maybe he was just due for an off-game.

But I didn't much care for how he carried himself either. He complained to the refs early and often, eventually resulting in a third-quarter technical for dissent. And it's not like he wasn't getting calls. On the contrary, Wade shot 12 free throws, and got the benefit of a couple questionable ones, eliciting a "special treatment" chant from Squad 6 in the second half while at the line.

PF Starters. Jeremy at Bucksketball asked before the game if there has been a worse starting matchup all year than between the starting power forwards tonight, and Luc Mbah a Moute and Joel Anthony answered that question in resounding fashion by scoring a combined zero points.

Skiles, post-game, on Luc:

I didn't like his energy. I think something happened to him this morning in the shootaround or something. He was complaining about something, I'm not sure what it was. I just didn't think he was moving around that well today.

And while you may worry away, I don't think this is a big deal.

Luke Ridnour shows rare sign of imperfection. That, is news. 0-4, no points.

Game 45: Heat/Bucks

2010-01-30T17:41:58Z

2009/2010 NBA Season

24-22 (11-11 road)	vs.	19-25 (14-7 home)
January 30, 2010
Bradley Center
7:30 PM
Radio: WTMJ AM 620 TV: FSN-Wisconsin HD
Probable starters:
Rafer Alston	PG	Brandon Jennings
Dwyane Wade	SG	Charlie Bell
Quentin Richardson	SF	Carlos Delfino
Joel Anthony	PF	Luc Mbah a Moute
Jermaine O'Neal	C	Andrew Bogut

(18th) 107.1 - OFFENSE - 103.9 (24th)
(22th) 106.0 - DEFENSE - 104.4 (9th)
(28th) 90.7 - PACE - 93.4 (10th)

Linkage

Peninsula is Mightier / Bucksketball / Bucks GameDay

News/notes after the jump...

Injuries. The Heat won last night in Detroit 92-85 without the services of Michael Beasley, who hyperextended his knee on Wednesday in Toronto. It's not believed to be a serious injury, but it's still not clear if he'll be able to go tonight. Last night Erik Spoelstra started Joel Anthony ahead of Udonis Haslem at the four, but not surprisingly Haslem picked up most of the slack in Beasley's absence with nearly 40 minutes of burn. One-time starter Mario Chalmers is listed as out with a finger injury he picked up in Motown, meaning Carlos Arroyo becomes Rafer Alston's primary backup.

For the Bucks there's some concern over Carlos Delfino's ankle, which he turned on the final play in Dallas on Tuesday. He was able to start the next night in Milwaukee, but left in the second half and finished the game on the bench. I haven't seen anything yet to suggest he'll miss tonight's contest, but stay tuned.

Rested up. Andrew Bogut's 11-point, 3/9 performance on Wednesday was a bit of a letdown following his 32-point, 13/14 effort the night previous, but it's fairly consistent with how Bogut has played on back-to-backs. We've talked about this a number of times, but it bears repeating: Bogut's an absolute beast when he has two or more days off, but far more pedestrian when he's playing with short rest:

The most worrying stat is his fg% on back-to-backs (41.8%), a figure you could live with from a small, perimeter guy like Jennings, but nowhere near acceptable for a big man. The good news? Bogut's coming off two days rest and has averaged 21/10 in nine such situations this season. Via the JS, Bogut's also not too bothered about his all-star "snub"--how un-Mo Williams-like.

"I wasn't expecting it," Bogut said after the Bucks' practice session at the Cousins Center. "We need a better record to have an all-star. We have better numbers than Al Horford, but he's definitely deserving of it. He plays for one of the best teams in the league.

"Once we get to that point, I feel I'll be an all-star."

Thomsen: Brave new world after 2011?
SI's Ian Thomsen has a fascinating read on how the next labor negotiations are already impacting teams' financial calculus.

No one knows for sure what kind of system will result from extended negotiations and a potential lockout of the players in July 2011. Some believe (as you'll see below) that the players will avoid a hard cap, or that other more creative solutions will be applied. But let me repeat this much: I asked executives from four teams what they think they'll be dealing with after next season, and all four predicted a hard cap. "I really think worst case it will be a hard cap that gets phased in over three years," a GM said.

First off, I think any small market fan in principle loves the idea of a hard cap--especially if it's accompanied by a more robust revenue-sharing agreement. The reality is that teams like the Bucks treat the luxury tax threshold as a hard cap anyway, so the benefit of forcing the big-spending teams to play by the same rules are obvious. The big implication for the near-term is that acquiring long-term contracts becomes riskier--the big contracts signed over the past two summers might start to look pretty bad if/when a new CBA forces a decline in salaries.

Bucks willing to deal, Bogut's all-star credentials, Jennings in the clutch

2010-01-29T19:01:25Z

Yes, the Bucks can win close games.

JS: Hammond willing to gamble for the right player
It's been largely assumed that the Bucks won't be players at the trade deadline; that's been my default assumption for a while, and Mike Hunt was of a similar mind in his latest column. I might just be lazy and unimaginative, but the Bucks have talked so much about payroll flexibility and cleaning up their balance sheet for 2011 that it would seem a bit out of character at this point if they dealt some of those expiring deals (Ridnour, Warrick, Alexander, Elson, Thomas) for expensive talent. Or would it???

"If the right opportunity comes up for us, the right player with a contract that we may not deem to be favorable, that doesn't mean we will necessarily say no to that," Hammond said. "If it's the right player and a player we think we can move forward with and it might have an effect on our flexibility, we may still do a deal for that."

I wouldn't read a ton into this--even if the Bucks are focused on fiscal discipline, they know that the best deals are often the least expected. They have the currency to help tax-constrained teams and a couple of their vets (namely Ridnour) could draw the attention of a contending team looking for reinforcements. None of that suggests a blockbuster is imminent, but stranger things have happened.

Shocker: Bogut not among all-star reserves
The Bucks getting shut out of the all-star game for the sixth straight season? Hardly surprising. At the very least we'll get to see Brandon Jennings in the rookie/sophomore games and possibly the skills challenge as well (h/t Jim Paschke). J.D. Mo argued for Bogut's all-star candidacy earlier this week, and I think the former #1 pick's peformance makes a valid case against Al Horford (who made it), David Lee, and Joakim Noah (who didn't).

JS: Bucks looking for go-to guy
If I was going to pinpoint the single most frustrating thing about the 2009/2010 edition of the Bucks, I'd probably go with their inability to win close games above anything else. You know the story at this point: no experienced shot-creators, no one able to draw fouls, and a go-to-guy-by-committee approach to closing games out. Add in a fair bit of bad luck and you've got a great recipe for finishing 9th or 10th rather than 7th or 8th.

"As time has gone on, he's really gotten a better grasp for his teammates and the offense, which is understandable," Skiles said. "That stuff takes some time.

"When you think about his lack of professional experience, he should be a high turnover player, and he's not. It's an understatement to say that really bodes well for him going forward."

On the positive side, Jennings' game-clincher on Wednesday wasn't the first time the rookie has come up big in crunch time, a promising development for the rest of this season and beyond. And while he's also come up short on a number of occasions (Dallas at home, at Houston, at Cleveland), Jennings has elevated his game in the clutch: 51.6% eFG% in clutch situations, compared to 44.0% overall.

RaptorsHQ: Stackhouse interview
The gang at RaptorsHQ caught up with Jerry Stackhouse last week while the Bucks were in Toronto:

I'm not putting any kind of limitations on myself, or...the other way either - if this is it, this is it! But I feel great, I feel like I could do this, I don't know if this is going to be the formula, coming in mid-season for the rest of, however long I'm playing (laughs), but after missing so much of last year, I didn't want to go out playing on that type of note. I think I've done a lot for the game and the game's been really good to me. So to just leave like that, especially after having the time off and being able to get my body back right a little bit, I was looking forward to an opportunity. Obviously my agent was working the phones a little bit, trying to figure out situations but it was tough.

D-League: Alexander's first week
What are the odds Alexander ever puts on a Bucks jersey again? Not high it seems, and a mediocre first week in Fort Wayne won't put too much pressure on the Bucks to change their minds. To be fair, Alexander is just getting his rhythm back after months rehabbing his torn hamstring, and there's bound to be some process of acclimating to a new league and teammates. But still. Jon at Ridiculous upside chimes in on Alexander's home debut last night (27 min, 11 pts, 5/13 fg, 1 reb, 2 ast, 2 blk):

I'm not crazy about T.J. Cummings, but he had 20 points and 12 rebounds and pretty much manhandled NBA assignee Joe Alexander down low. That probably says more about Alexander, but good for Cummings for stepping up to the challenge.

Alexander got the start, by the way, after coming off the bench in his first two D-League games. This was his first home game. Coincidence? Might the team that made a point of getting as many Notre Dame players as possible start the NBA player as a way to appeal to their fans? Who knows. What is known, however, is that Alexander needs a lot of work and should've been assigned to the D-League a lot sooner. That's when ya lost.

Recap: Bucks 91, Sixers 88

2010-01-28T06:34:12Z

Box Score

MILWAUKEE -- Far from perfection at the Bradley Center this evening. Further than far.

Andrew Bogut went from hot in Dallas to cold in Milwaukee, and I guess that makes sense to some extent because it is just glacial out there. Carlos Delfino went from heroic to almost truly heroic in Dallas to a game-time decision in Milwaukee. And the team's offense this month went from curiously high-powered into standby mode for much of the night.

A clearly laboring Bucks unit playing on the second night of a back-to-back coming off a draining loss in Texas still outplayed a talented Sixers squad, a Sixers squad that just makes you wonder more than anything.

And through it all, Milwaukee at long last pulled out a close game. After playing so very well in Dallas only to lose by a point, the team looked drowsy, they didn't shoot well, no individual took over, and they were slow to close in the clutch. Don't call this triumphant, but call it a win.

Both teams suffered through a disjointed start to the game, as Milwaukee plodded to a 6-5 deficit five and a half minutes in. The pace picked up a bit in the second quarter, though neither team appeared completely intent on winning.

Charlie Bell spearheaded the third quarter attack as Milwaukee slowly extended its lead from one to two to three after each of the first three quarters. Ersan Ilyasova awakened from a somewhat slumbering January with eight points in the fourth quarter, but the Sixers fought back and tied the game at 88-88. But Brandon Jennings made his first shot of the quarter with 11 second to go and the Sixers missed and missed and missed the rest of the way, capped by an Andre Iguodala clanking three at the buzzer. Music to these ears, that clank, after witnessing all of these last-second lasses.

So while the Bucks have been far from perfect at home this season, they are perfect (5-0) at home this new year.

Three Bucks

Charlie Bell. With 18 points, Charlie becomes the eighth different Buck to lead the team in scoring this month, and that is not normal. Quite pleasing though, considering this balance is precisely necessary for a team with no superstar, a team whose only All-Star is Jerry Stackhouse, but it's not 2001 anymore.

In contrast to the team's previous home win, a pointsfest over the Wolves, this was not a pretty offensive performance for the Bucks. But Charlie was pretty good. He usually earns minutes based on his defense, but he doesn't earn 44 minutes (44 minutes!) without throwing in some hoops.

Bell's jumper was working tonight, so while he only shot 1-4 from ten feet and in, the starting shooting guard 7-13 from ten feet and out. The Sixers have a bunch of combo guards (Iverson, Williams, Holiday, Green), but Charlie outplayed them all.

And in those 44 minutes? Not one turnover.

Ersan Ilyasova. Neither team made it to 20 in the fourth quarter, and the Bucks only netted six points in the last seven minutes of the game. Milwaukee was still running, Skiles wouldn't have you out there if you weren't, but most of them were running on empty.

But Ilyasova, who hasn't played 25+ minutes in a couple weeks, kicked into a higher gear and scored eight clutch points in the fourth quarter. He was getting to the basket too, scoring six of those eight right at the hoop, including a tip shot of his own offensive rebound reminiscent of early in the season when Turkish Thunder was a bit of a force on the offensive glass.

Four offensive boards tonight, but what really sticks out was his 7-8 night from the field in just 20 minutes.

Brandon Jennings. In the beginning he appeared poised to put on a Best of Worst of Iverson Show, something of a misconceived dedication to his boyhood idol. A bit too much dribbling, a few too many bricks on the way to an 0-4 start. But as the game progressed, he transitioned into more Good Iverson than Bad Iverson, and then it became clear that he Wasn't Iverson At All, this was Brandon Jennings.

The court vision has always been there, and now the assists are coming along too. On the night, 18 points, seven dimes, and just two turnovers. That marked Young Buck's sixth straight game with two turnovers of fewer. No surpise that the offense has been clicking in that same period.

Three Numbers

6. Against the team he started his NBA career in dazzling fashion with, Jerry Stackhouse only played six minutes tonight. Clearly, Stack isn't going to receive any preferential treatment despite being a respected veteran, midseason pickup, and Skiles kind of guy. No one gets preferential treatment, we've seen it with every single player on the squad. I like that.

0. Andrew Bogut didn't attempt a single shot in the entire second half, a point Frank alerted me to following the game. Dalembert gave him all sorts of trouble early on, and he went to halftime 3-9 from the field. Pretty special that the Bucks won in spite of this, especially given the team's well-documented success when Bogut is a major offensive scorer.

8. Milwaukee committed just eight turnovers, an incredibly tiny total in such a sloppy game. The guards in particular really, really took care of the ball, as Jennings, Bell, Ridnour combined for three turnovers in 91 minutes. Skiles, post-game:

Some of our shot attempts almost looked like turnovers. It's hard to believe that we had eight turnovers if you watched the game. But we have taken pretty good care of the ball... It bodes well for us going forward.

Three Good

Four for four. The Bucks didn't lose a a quarter tonight. They won the first three quarters by a point each and then tied the fourth. This, following the Minnesota game, marks the second time this week Milwaukee hasn't lost a quarter in a game.

A couple seasons ago, the Bucks outscored their opponents in all four quarters (granted, different from not losing a quarter) once.

#3 and #3. It's not a coincidence Jennings shares the same number as Iverson. And it was clear to see which guard has a prime to look forward to and which one can only look back on his prime. Jennings wasn't great, but he was good tonight. And while Iverson wasn't even good (3-10, four turnovers), he certainly played the part of ideal teammate off the court, if not always on.

I haven't watched the Sixers much this season, and I'm not sure exactly what the dominant Philadelphian perspective of the AI comeback situation is at this point. But as far as Iverson's game has fallen (the former MVP wasn't on the court for the final possession) and as much as his reputation has been battered, I saw tonight a real teammate on the bench.

Iverson didn't play a single minute in the fourth quarter. And yet in that quarter, he was the first one up giving high-fives to teammates on a timeout, he was cheering on from the bench during the game, and it was genuinely nice to see that he really genuinely cared.

Rest. The Bucks were weary winners this evening. Now a nice couple days off at home before Miami comes into town on Saturday.

Three Bad

Free throws. This, again. Seriously, 12-21 is not going to cut it most days of the week, against most teams in the league.

And 2-8 in the fourth quarter, just wow, team.

Philly. I spent a fair amount of time before, during, and after the game trying to figure out how such a formidable collection of talent can add up to so many losses. Iguodala, Dalembert, Williams, Iverson, Young, Brand, Speights, ~~Carney~~ -- these are good players, players that can work somewhere, just not right there, right now, together.

And I saw why to some extent early on, in the middle, and especially late in this one.

Down by two with eleven seconds, Elton Brand missed a layup, got the ball back and missed a short jumper. With six seconds left the Bucks had trouble getting the ball in and eventually went to the worst free throw shooter of the five on the court: Bogut. But he was able to get rid of the ball before Philadelphia could foul. Luckily, free throw specialist Luke Ridnour missed one of two, leaving the Sixers down just three points with three seconds. But they went to Andre Iguodala, despite better three-point options including Jason Kapono.

The Bucks just adore losing these types of close games, you could see it in them at the free throw line in the fourth, but the Sixers are just on another level of ineptitude.

It's hard to say if the underachieving is an indictment more on the players for playing like this, management for assembling this mismatched group, or coach Eddie Jordan, but I do know that Thaddeus Young (6-6 shooting, 14 points, 7 rebounds, +12 differential) deserved plenty more than 18 minutes.

Pretty not pretty. You might not be inclined to frame this ticket stub in your living room.

Game 44: Sixers/Bucks

2010-01-27T20:46:11Z

2009/2010 NBA Season

15-29 (8-14 road)	vs.	18-25 (13-7 home)
January 27, 2010
Bradley Center
7:00 PM
Radio: WTMJ AM 620 TV: FSN-Wisconsin
Probable starters:
Jrue Holiday	PG	Brandon Jennings
Allen Iverson	SG	Charlie Bell
Andre Iguodala	SF	Carlos Delfino
Elton Brand	PF	Luc Mbah a Moute
Samuel Dalembert	C	Andrew Bogut

(18th) 106.4 - OFFENSE - 103.9 (24th)
(22th) 109.4 - DEFENSE - 104.5 (8th)
(23rd) 91.4 - PACE - 93.6 (10th)

Linkage

Liberty Ballers / Sixers4Guidos / Depressed Fan

Rookie Points. We all know about Brandon Jennings, but it's easy to forget that the Bucks nearly drafted UCLA freshman Jrue Holiday instead. As you can probably guess, Holiday's NBA development has been a bit slower than Jennings', but he has started the past three games for Eddie Jordan's crew--next to Sixer legend, undeserving all-star, and one-time Jennings idol Allen Iverson. Ironically, Holiday's minutes as a starter have actually gone down, as he's averaging 17 mpg for the season but hasn't played more than 16 minutes in any of his starts. Like Jennings his shooting has been, uh, a work in progress (38%) though he's upped his accuracy to 45% in January including 50% from deep.

As for the old man, Iverson is averaging an un-All-Star-like 14.6 ppg and 4.3 apg in 31 minutes per contest. Meanwhile, Jennings will not surprisingly be joining AI at all-star weekend as a participant in the rookies/sophomores game.

Sammy and Drew. Aside from the 20 point, 24 rebound effort he dropped on Dalembert a couple seasons ago, Andrew Bogut has often struggled against the Sixers--though it seems like that's been a theme for a number of Bucks over the past few years. Bogut's career scoring average against Philly is just 8.8 ppg, with only Dwight Howard and the Magic holding him to a lower figure. Also of concern is the fact that Bogut is playing his second game in as many days, as his season splits have been dramatically better with more rest: 13.1 ppg, 9.6 rpg and 42.7% shooting with zero days rest vs. 21.2/10.3/61.6% with two days rest and 20.3/12.3/52.0% with more than two days rest.

But will Sammy and a lack of rest be able to slow Bogut when he's playing as well as he ever has? Following his career-high 32 points last night, Bogut's January averages are up to 17.8 ppg, 11.2 rpg, and 2.7 bpg on 57.5%/72.7% shooting. Bogut deservedly got at least a little bit of all-star buzz in John Hollinger's latest column, and for more on Drew's night in Dallas check out NBA Playbook's excellent breakdown.

Though his PT seem a bit modest (25 mpg), Dalembert is third in the league in rebound rate (gathering 21.7% of all misses) and blocks as many shots as Bogut in seven fewer mpg. Offensively he has almost no post game but doesn't force anything, shooting 52% from the field and over 82% from the line. And like Bogut he's playing his best ball this month, averaging a beastly 12.4 rpg while shooting 62.2% from the field.

Road Sweet Road. We've often bemoaned the Bucks' inability to win on the road, but Sixers fans have the opposite problem. Like Dallas, Philly has performed slightly better on the road (8-14) than at home (7-15), and fittingly split their home and home with the Pacers by winning at Conseco and then losing on Monday at home 109-98.

Recap: Mavericks 108, Bucks 107

2010-01-27T06:25:52Z

More photos » Tony Gutierrez - AP

You know Bogut's got it going when he's making shots like this.

Browse more photos »

Box Score

If a one-point loss is predictable, does it make it less heartbreaking?

To the rationalist, it's a question based on a false premise. Especially in the NBA, it's fairly well-accepted that luck is at least as important as skill in deciding close games, and the data suggests that even great teams don't systematically win nail-biters at a high rate year after year.

Of course, someone needs to tell the Mavericks and Bucks about all that. While the Mavs have now won an NBA-record ten consecutive one-point games, the Bucks' tough luck in close games continues to pile up. Which is a shame, because for the second straight game the Bucks looked nearly unstoppable on offense, drilling 53% of their field goals, half their threes (9/18) and, get ready for this, made more free throws than the Mavs. The problem of course was that Dallas wasn't so bad at the whole offensive thing either, making 51% of their field goals, 56% of their threes and missing just once in 17 attempts from the line. At least on offense they very much looked the part of a team that won by 50 points in their last outing.

In the middle of it all was Andrew Bogut, who made his first nine shots en route to a ridiculously efficient career-high of 32 points on 13/14 from the field. Bogut got plenty of help from the resurgent Carlos Delfino (22 points, six rebs, five ast) but Dirk Nowitzki (28 pts) and Jason Terry (21) matched them shot for shot down the stretch. At one point Nowitzki was 5/17 from the field, but the Bucks had little answer for him down the stretch as he made 6/8 from the field and allowed the Mavs to stay ahead throughout the final period.

Remarkably, the game had few big runs; the Mavs led early but could never shake the visitors, as Bogut and Delfino were essentially automatic all night. Delfino hit two huge threes in the final minutes, the last one coming from about 30 feet out with the shot clock runing down to bring the Bucks within one with 27.6 second left.

The Bucks opted to defend rather than send the Mavs to the line, and predictably the Mavs went to Nowitzki to try to seal it. But unlike the last time these teams met, the Mavs' superstar was expertly bottled up by Luc Mbah a Moute in the high post, forcing a turnover that gave the Bucks the ball and a chance to win. The down side? The Bucks had just three seconds left on the clock by the time they recovered the loose ball and called time out. With Delfino having the hot hand, they justifiably ran a play for him out of the time out, and catching at the three point line he looked like he could have had a decent look on the catch-and-shoot. But instead he opted to drive, finding Erick Dampier in his path to force a tough runner that caromed off the back iron.

Three Bucks

Andrew Bogut: 37 min, 32 points, 13/14 fg, 6/8 ft, 9 rebs, 1 blk, 3 to
What made Bogut's monster night so impressive is that Erick Dampier and Drew Gooden didn't put up a particularly poor effort in man-to-man situations. Dampier appeared a bit slow to keep up with Bogut when facing up, but he didn't allow Bogut to pin him down deep in the paint. And aside from a few nice finds by Jennings and Ridnour, Bogut had to work for his buckets and put plenty of them in with a hand in his face. Heck, he even put in a fadeaway baseliner in over Gooden at the end of the first. And when the Mavs started fouling him in the second half he made a respectable 6/8 from the strip. Yep, it was one of those nights.

What you could criticize the Mavericks for was their hesitation to double Bogut and only half-hearted attempts to deny him the ball in the first place. Fronting Bogut or playing zone is generally the best way to take the big man out of the game, but perhaps because of the Bucks' hot shooting the Mavs seemed wary of leaving shooters.

Carlos Delfino: 38 min, 22 points, 8/12 fg, 4/5 threes, 6 rebs, 5 ast, 2 to
Once again Delfino had the whole package working, slashing to hoop and drilling bombs with equal ease. More on him below.

Luke Ridnour: 28 min, 11 pts, 4/11 fg, 1/1 threes, 2/2 ft, 6 ast, 1 to
Ridnour wasn't quite as hot as we're used to (below 50%???), but as usual he was the catalyst for the second unit before finishing the game next to Jennings in the backcourt. As per usual, some big jumpers down the stretch to keep the Bucks in it.

Three Numbers

10. As we mentioned, the Mavs have now won an incredible 10 straight one-point contests, with two of those coming against the Bucks.

90%. Following his 5/6 night against Minnesota, Bogut's incredible 13/14 night means he's no made 90% of his field goals over the past two games. That brings his season fg% up to 52.1%, well above the career-low 49.1% he was at just a couple weeks ago.

-4. The Mavs aren't a good rebounding team, so if you have been trying to predict the Bucks' blueprint for winning it would likely have involved dominating the boards and creating enough chances to overcome their typical lack of shooting accuracy. Instead, the Bucks shot exceptionally well for the second straight game, only to be beatn 36-32 on the boards and 9-8 on the offensive glass. Not a huge differential by any means, but in a one point game it doesn't have to be.

Three Good

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Bogut's career-high brings his averages for the month to 17.8 ppg, 11.2 rpg, 2.7 bpg and 57.5%/72.7% shooting. Maybe now the guy can get a sniff of consideration for an all-star reserve spot? I mean, if Al Horford, David Lee, Joakim Noah and Brook Lopez can all get mentioned, why the heck can't Bogut?

And yes, Bogut's hitting over 70% of his freebies this month...and I've now totally jinxed him. That brings his season ft% to 62.8%, a tenth of a percent less than his rookie mark of 62.9%--which is still his career high. He also hit 70% or better of his throws in February of 2006 and February and December of 2008.

Count Chocula. Seriously, what's gotten into Delfino of late? In the past six games he's cracked 22+ points four times, twice hit double-digit rebounds, and has averaged nearly four dimes per game to boot. In the past two? He's shot 17/23 from the field including 8/11 from downtown--good for a 91% eFG% that not even Bogut and his paltry 90% can match. There's no way he keeps it up, but as a frequent critic of Delfino's overdribbling and penchant for 28-foot threes, I certainly owe Carlos his due. Well done, sir.

Being There. When facing a very good team on the road, there's not much more you can ask for (from the Bucks at least) than to keep it close and hope you make more plays down the stretch. Sadly "keeping it close" has mostly become synonymous with "losing in agonizing fashion," but it speaks to the consistent effort and professionalism of the team that they keep giving themselves chances to win tough road games.

Three Bad

Closing out. I think we've already beaten this one to death, haven't we? The Bucks are now 3-9 in games decided by three points or less and have yet to register what I would describe as a quality road win. Of the five teams they've beaten away from the BC, only Memphis is even vaguely respectable. Give the Bucks credit for consistently beating up on bad teams, but at some point you have steal some.

Falling off. Yet another Bucks road loss and a Chicago win in San Antonio moves the Bulls 3.0 games up in the battle for the final Eastern playoff spot.

Jennings' last three quarters. It was a promising start for the rook, as he buried three mid-range jumpers to start the game 3/3 (foolishly, I got excited in the game thread). Three misses were then atoned for with an open three, giving him nine points on 4/7 shooting after a quarter. But the final three quarters proved to be lean times for Jennings, as he made just 1/9 fg (a rare and-one runner in the paint in the third), including a couple key misses in the final minutes. He made up for it with some nice distribution (7 ast, 1 to), but 5/16 shooting just isn't something you can feel good about. Fortunately the Bucks have been able to play Ridnour next to Jennings late in games, but on nights like these you can't help but second-guess the Bucks' willingness to keep the ball in the rookie's hands so much down the stretch.

Game 43: Bucks/Mavericks

2010-01-26T13:35:52Z

2009/2010 NBA Season

29-15 (13-7 road)	vs.	18-24 (5-17 away)
January 26, 2010
American Airlines Center
7:30 PM
Radio: WTMJ AM 620 TV: FSN-Wisconsin HD
Probable starters:
Jason Kidd	PG	Brandon Jennings
Jason Terry	SG	Charlie Bell
Shawn Marion	SF	Carlos Delfino
Dirk Nowitzki	PF	Luc Mbah a Moute
Drew Gooden	C	Andrew Bogut

(13th) 107.8 - OFFENSE - 103.5 (24th)
(9th) 104.5 - DEFENSE - 104.1 (7th)
(19th) 91.9 - PACE - 93.7 (9th)

Linkage

Mavs Moneyball / Dallas Basketball / The Two Man Game

Smaller in Texas. The Mavericks are one of just three NBA teams with a better road record (16-8) than home record (13-7). The Celtics and Sixers are the others better away than at home thus far.

Not for lack of support. For the season, fans have filled American Airlines Center at an NBA-leading 103.9 % capacity. 103.9 would seem to be a pretty good percentage.

And none. The Bucks and Mavericks rank 28th and 29th respectively in And1% (And1's / FGA).

Rematch. Dirk Nowitzki bounced in a game-winner in overtime in one of the most fun games of Milwaukee's season to date.

Down by 18 midway through the third quarter, the Bucks stormed all the way back and took a late lead thanks to the shooting exploits of Ersan Ilyasova and Brandon Jennings. But Young Buck missed a three at the buzzer in regulation. And he missed another three with a couple seconds to go in overtime. That left just enough time for Dirk.

Blowouts. Both teams are coming off their biggest wins of the season. You know Milwaukee's story, a 33-point win.

Dallas won its last game by 50 points. 128-78, and that was sans Jason Kidd (who is probable tonight) and Erick Dampier (also probable). And while the Knicks were awful when they came to the BC a few months ago, they were 14-11 since the start of December prior to getting bounced by the Mavs.

Fifty. In the Mavericks' previous eight wins they had combined to outscore their opponents by 46 points.

Lone Superstar. Four different Bucks have led the team in scoring in the past four games: Brandon Jennings (@Houston), Andrew Bogut (Toronto), Luke Ridnour (@Toronto), and Carlos Delfino (Minnesota).

And just this month, three others also led Milwaukee in scoring: Ersan Ilyasova (@Portland), Hakim Warrick (@LA, @Phoenix), and Michael Redd (Oklahome City). Very balanced efforts resulting an even 6-6 record this month.

Sidenote: Since losing Mike Redd to injury in Los Angeles, the Bucks are averaging 106.4 points per game.

Dallas is on the other end of the scoring spectrum, led by superstar Dirk Nowitzki just about every night. Nowitzki has led the Mavericks in scoring in 11 of 12 games this month and 33 of 44 games overall.

'Drew. Bogut is straight ballin' this month aside from struggles in Los Angeles and Phoenix. In his last four, Bogut is averaging 20.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 4.0 blocks.

Recap: Bucks 127, Timberwolves 94

2010-01-24T06:47:34Z

Box Score

MILWAUKEE -- The Bucks scored 87 points in their first game against Minnesota this season. And they won handily.

So it was encouraging to see 86 on the scoreboard for the home team after three quarters. Even more encouraging to watch the Bucks pour in 42 more in the final period.

The Timberwolves looked the part of a last-place team that started the evening with half as many wins as the very ordinary Bucks. But make no mistake, this was just one of those extraordinary nights when the Bucks could make no mistake.

Carlos Delfino rebounded from a poor shooting night in Toronto by rebounding, scoring, passing, and defending like someone playing for gold, Brandon Jennings was on-point at the point, and the entire team came together to play an attractive brand of offensive basketball that they only had dabbled in heretofore.

Minnesota stayed close early on, and while the Bucks were in control, they weren't quite cruising with a 10-point halftime advantage.

But to start the third quarter, Carlos Delfino made a three, Andrew Bogut made a pair of free throws, and Brandon Jennings sank a triple. Those Three Bucks ballooned the lead to 18, and that was the game.

Quite a start to the second half.

Quite a start to the second half of the season.

Three Bucks

Carlos Delfino. After a somewhat horrific December, the Argentine has been totally terrific all January long. So it is no small compliment to say this was his finest game of the calendar year, of the NBA year. Of his NBA career.

Among all the bright spots tonight, Delfino glowed the brightest. He was great offensively, making 9-11 from the field, 4-6 on threes, scoring 24 points, and handing out a career-high eight assists. Really tremendous stuff. He also was a force on the glass, hauling in eight boards, and defended the whole court. Finished the night with a +21 differential.

He was making the patented reverse layup, corner threes, making pretty passes, everything.

Carlos started this month with a DNP-CD. And that was wholly deserved.

Call it Carlos' Renaissance.

Brandon Jennings. It's been a while since the hometown reporters have crowded Jennings after a game. Seriously, like a month and half. Granted, the Bucks have hit the road a lot lately, but the last time Brandon starred at home was way back on Dec. 9 against Toronto. And this, for a guy who made his NBA name here at the BC.

In the first quarter alone, Jennings piled up eight assists. And while he ultimately didn't make Ramon Sessions sweat about his franchise-record 24 assists, on this night the Bucks looked awfully right to put the basketball future in Brandon's hands.

Those hands have lacked touch on floaters all season long, but Jennings made all four floaters tonight. Highly, highly encouraging considering that is just the type of shot that he must master in order to become a real, consistent offensive dynamo.

This was one of Brandon's best games yet, probably only surpassed by his 55 against the Warriors and dazzling night against the Nuggets.

The perfect conversion rate on the floaters was great. The career-high 13 assists? Equally excellent. Sure, the Bucks made shots at a dizzying rate, and that helps. But the passes, they were always on point, always delivered to an in-stride recipient, always left the opponent looking, wondering how. Just one turnover for Brandon.

Andrew Bogut. Al Jefferson scored nine points, and if you are wondering when the last time he was held in single digits scoring, it was months ago, back on November 6. Against the Bucks.

For Bogut, an ultra-efficient 14 points on six shots, and he continued his New Year run as an ace defender with four more blocks and of course the star defensive work on Jefferson.

Three Numbers

70.9 % The Bucks shot 17-24 (.709) at the rim tonight. They started the evening among the worst in the NBA but took advantage of a team that is the very worst in the NBA at defending at the rim. Because while Al Jefferson and Kevin Love are talented scorers and rebounders, they don't offer much defensive post presence. Still the hoops around the basket were so very refreshing.

36. Milwaukee set a season high with 36 assists, as the starters racked up 25 while each committing a single turnover. The passing was excellent tonight, with Jennings (13), Delfino (8), Ridnour (6), and Stackhouse (5) all playing the playmaker part.

25. Those assists come much easier when you hit the fastbreak with speed and direction, as Milwaukee racked up 25 fastbreak points on 10-10 shooting. Nice.

[And while he only had one assist, and I'm not sure if it is Good or Bad, I wanted to work this in. So, One Amusing: Charlie Bell eclipsed his season scoring average in the first three minutes of the game by scoring eight points and then didn't score the rest of the game.]

Three Good

Hak' is back. Tonight we really had Four Bucks. Maybe even Five or Six Bucks. But certainly Four Bucks. Despite a pretty excellent month, Warrick got a DNP-CD against the Raptors last night. With Skiles in charge, you never really know when it's your night. To get a DNP-CD.

Before the game, Skiles said that with Stackhouse in the fold and Mbah a Moute starting at the four, it would be tough to find big minutes for all of the fours:

We are starting Mbah a Moute at the four now. So if I play Ersan and Hak' as well, somebody gets four (or five or six) minutes or something. And that's not really fair to be judging anybody. And some of it is matchups too, but when you are searching like a lot of teams are, and like we are a little bit still with finding consistency. Sometimes a guy gets left out.

Not this time. With Ilyasova struggling early, Warrick's #21 was called. And he responded, throwing in 18 quick ones on 7-8 shooting in just 16 minutes. With yet another big night, his numbers this season are rising right up to where they have been the past few seasons.

Holding after half. A night after blowing a nine-point halftime lead, the Bucks not only held firmly onto their ten-point halftime advantage, they extended it, and in a big way.

And with that, Milwaukee carried on this season's tradition of playing better on the second night of back-to-backs than on the first night. Tonight they improved to 5-4 on seconds nights compared to 3-6 on first nights of back-to-backs.

On all four. Coach Scott Skiles, before the game:

This is a must win. We have to win this game.

Point taken.

I just tirelessly (okay, I'm tired) poured through the boxscores, and this was the second game this season in which the Bucks have won all four quarters. A truly thorough win, just like it should be against the worst of the west. The only other time Milwaukee won each quarter? Just a couple weeks ago in New Jersey, a.k.a. the worst of the east, maybe of all-time.

Okay, so the Bucks have clubbed the two worst clubs in basketball. But that is what they are supposed to do, and the reason they remain in the playoff hunt despite so many stinging losses against the NBA aristocrats is because they do continue to beat the teams they should beat.

And recall that according to many of the preseason experts, the Bucks were supposed to be the team that others should always beat.

Three Bad

Hollins. Ryan Hollins fouled out in eight minutes, so that is sort of a tough starting point. Seven footer. Six fouls. Zero rebounds. Thanks for making Dan Gadzuric (three points, three rebounds) the most cherished UCLA backup center of the night.

Wilkens. Maybe just Timberwolves whose names phonetically end "inz?" Damien went scoreless in a starting role at small forward opposite Delfino. Who was pretty much the opposite.

No more Minny. The NBA won't let the Bucks play the Wolves anymore this season. For shame.

Same thing with the Warriors.

Game 42: Timberwolves/Bucks

2010-01-23T20:06:16Z

2009/2010 NBA Season

9-35 (3-18 road)	vs.	17-24 (12-7 home)
January 22, 2010
Bradley Center
7:30 PM
Radio: WTMJ AM 620 TV: FSN-Wisconsin HD
Probable starters:
Jonny Flynn	PG	Brandon Jennings
Corey Brewer	SG	Charlie Bell
Damien Wilkins	SF	Carlos Delfino
Kevin Love	PF	Luc Mbah a Moute
Al Jefferson	C	Andrew Bogut

(29th) 100.1 - OFFENSE - 102.9 (25th)
(24th) 109.6 - DEFENSE - 104.4 (8th)
(4th) 95.9 - PACE - 93.6 (10th)

Linkage

Canis Hoopus / T'wolves Blog / Bucks GameDay

News/notes after the jump...

Bouncing Back
Both teams are coming off tough losses last night, the Bucks wilting in the final five minutes in Toronto while some porous Minnesota defending in the final seconds allowed James Posey to give the Hornets a 96-94 win in New Orleans. Kevin Love returned after sitting out two games with illness, narrowly missing a double-double with 13/9 off the bench. I've got him listed in the starting five above but haven't seen a confirmation of that. The Wolves had been going with a Wikins/Ryan Gomes pairing at the forward spots, but you'd think they'll want to get Love's automatic double-double (15.5 ppg/12.2 rpg!) back in the starting lineup as soon as possible. That gives the Wolves a fearsome offensive twosome at the 4/5, as Al Jefferson is looking more like the Big Al of old this month: 21.6 ppg, 11.6 rpg and 52.2% shooting. Coming off ACL reconstruction a year ago, Jefferson has improved his scoring, rebounding and fg% each month this season.

The Wolves' decision on Love could also impact the Bucks plans--they went small in Toronto with a Delfino/Mbah a Moute starting forward combo, but I'm not sure the Bucks want to mess around with Luc trying to guard the bigger Love. Then again, I'm not sure any of the Bucks' PFs can check Love down low, so we could see Skiles opt for a Bogu/Kurt Thomas combination at times when Jefferson/Love are both in the game. Remember that Minny's big men dominated the Bucks' frontcourt in the preseason and that was part of the reason Skiles started Thomas at PF to start the season.

Rookie Rematch
Jonny Flynn had the clear edge in the box score when these teams met in November, but most of his points came in the final minutes as Jennings was watching the Bucks' win from the sideline. While we all know Jennings' shooting has cratered noticeably, Flynn's splits have been less spectacular but slightly more consistent. Neither rook has found his stroke in January, however, as Flynn is shooting 38% and Jennings (gulp) 29.6%.

Alexander makes D-League debut
Joe Alexander came off the bench for Fort Wayne last night, scoring 13 points (4/9 fg, 5/6 ft) along with six boards and five assists in 24 minutes.