-When Charlie V. is aggressive early and taking smart shots, it’s usually a good barometer of the Bucks success. UPDATE: This did not lead to much success.
-Dan Gadzuric is a cautionary tale for the Amir Johnson’s and Joakim Noah’s of the world. When you have an athletic big guy who can run the floor and the one IF is IF he can develop an offensive game he’ll be pretty good, it’s important to remember that is a capital IF.
-Charlie V. is 4-4, Al Harrington would be pleased.
-I’d make the See Joe comment about his blocked shot, but I think we can put that one to rest at this point.
-I was at Saz’s (Milwaukee what!) earlier this year during the month where Ramon Sessions was killing the competition and insisted to my friends that Sessions was a force at point guard. In my rant I asked them to name point guards who they thought were superior and when someone said Mike Bibby I scoffed at the notion. I’d like to use this forum to retract my statement regarding the comparison of Sessions to Bibby. I was wrong.
-At the end of the first quarter the Hawks ran the last second play that I detest, the one guy on top 4 guys along the baseline isolation. Why do this? Why not run guys on curls off screeners or something? To make it even worse they ran it for Flip Murray. Yikes.
-Speaking of Murray…I once read that he was nicknamed Flip because of his resemblance to Bernie Mac, who famously (or not so famously) portrayed the bum Flip in Above the Rim. I stumbled upon Murray’s Wikipedia page the other day and it claims he is referred to as Flip because of his childhood penchant for gymnastics. I’d love to know the truth. UPDATE: I researched it further on Wikipedia, the gymnastics win. He does look like Mac though.
-I can’t imagine why a Bucks team with Francisco Elson, Ramon Sessions, Tyronn Lue, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, and Richard Jefferson in the game can’t score.
-Marvin Williams takes every inch of a step that he can on his forays to the hoop. Personally I think he travels more often than not.
-Charlie V. probably doesn’t want the first half to ever end.
-Oh my goodness everything Charlie V. is shooting right now is going in. I think I saw a flame come off his hand on his last shot. Cue the NBA Jam music. UPDATE: Almost immediately after I typed that he airballed.
-After Gadzuric stops some up-tempo play with a foul here is Jim Paschke, “Gadzuric says I’ll just stop all this with a foul.”
-Since my last Charlie V. comment he is 0-2 with a turnover.
-Flip Murray and Mo Evans are making me feel pretty stupid. They are filling it up off the bench.
-Just went to espn.com to check on Murray and Evans and noticed that Elson is -16 for the game. No surprise there, he moves like he is a zombie from Dawn of the Dead.
-Murray and Evans: 9-11, 21 points.
-Speaking of the Zombie, he now has two goaltends tonight, which is surprising because I didn’t think he could get up high enough to block a shot.
-Bibby just threw up a wondrous lob to Josh Smith for 2. Looks like good night Bucks.
-And to make it official a Damon Jones sighting. Good to see Damon again, though not the pleasant circumstances they were when he made his debut the other night.
-Damon wastes no time in hoisting up a three of course.
- The Hawks have really dominated the paint, thanks to the absence of Andrew Bogut. I really can’t stress enough how important he is. The drop off in play between him and the backups is like a fall off a cliff.
-A 4 point play by Flip Murray. Yikes. After that he gets pulled so the 50 fans in attendance can applaud his effort tonight. Nice crowd Atlanta, you know this is the best team you’ve had in a decade right? What a joke.
-Brewhoop, I can’t wait to see what positives you guys pull out of this one. Charlie V. and nothing else tonight. Usually we get some garbage time highlights, but uh, not so much tonight.
-Johnny Mac likes Slumdog Millionaire as a dark horse for best picture everyone.
-Murray and Evans: 15-21, 40 points. Jerks.
-Next game tomorrow at home against the Kings, but not on TV. How about a big crowd at the BC tomorrow, what do you say Milwaukee?

At the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff chase 6 teams are in a slugfest for 2 spots. These spots could very well go to teams with records at or below .500, so can this really be called a slugfest? What is the opposite of a slugfest? A shoving match? A shoutfest? Whatever it is, the Bucks are firmly entrenched in it. I guess in a technical sense we’re discussing “playoff” chances, but really it’s going to be more like that scene in Jurassic Park. You know, before the dinosaurs go crazy and they are trying to see the T-Rex and they have that baby cow set up for him to pounce on? Charlotte, New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Milwaukee are all vying to be the baby cow to Boston, Cleveland, or Orlando’s T-Rex. (Actually scratch Orlando, I’m still not buying it. No way can they be this lethal of a shooting team in a 7 game playoff series. Is Hedo Turkoglu going to hit threes when it matters? Rashard Lewis? They are going down in round 2 at the latest.) So let’s pour over the numbers and see who’ll be the baby cow and who’ll be watching from home.

Let’s begin with who’ll miss out and why.
Charlotte
We’ll probably see Charlotte’s chances gone by the time next Friday has passed. I put them on here because they are only 2.5 games out of the last playoff spot, impressive considering the start of their season. The Boris Diaw trade was a rejuvenation for him, he can do a lot of things in the East that he wasn’t able to do in the West because of the strength of the power forwards there. However, they are about to embark on a very difficult 5 game western trip, and if that doesn’t kill them they’ll still have 19 road games to go! Including ANOTHER trip out west in February to play the rest of the best out there. This is more of a developmental season for them anyway, even though they aren’t that young and Michael Jordan continues to make terrible draft picks. I think there only good young player is DJ Augustin. It’s actually a positive thing there that Larry Brown wants to trade everyone away like he always does, because most of the team sucked when he got there. I really liked the deal for Desegana Diop. I know his contract sucks and he sucks, but at the very least he can play some D. If you’re a big man and have the skill to block shots it helps a ton. Anyway, if they make a good draft pick they’ll probably contend for a spot more seriously next year.

Chicago
The biggest problem in Chicago is that Vinny Del Negro is their coach. He looks like he has to beg the players to do anything and he might start crying at any second. He has such a desperate look in his eyes. Players aren’t going to respect that, but I imagine they went with a “players coach” because Scott Skiles rode them too hard, like he always does, and they wanted the opposite of that. Well it doesn’t look like they are responding to this either. So if it’s not the coach what could it be? A bad mix. The Bulls have the most gifted rookie point guard since Chris Paul and aren’t even scraping .500 right now. Tyrus Thomas continues to disappoint, but at what point are they going to just say “Screw it, lets see what this guy can do” and give him consistent minutes for like 30 games? He has to sink or swim. To make matters worse they are 5-16 on the road and leave for a 7 game road trip out west on Sunday. Adios playoffs. I can’t even figure they are a lock for next year either, considering they refuse to address any of their roster deficiencies they have had for 3 years now, not that I’m complaining.

New Jersey
Ahh the feel good story. Wisconsin’s favorite NBA alum Devin Harris has had THE breakout year in the NBA this year. Scoring at will and getting to the line like never before, Harris is in a perfect situation. He has even taken some of the crunch time scoring pressure off the always shaky Vince Carter. Vince had a good run, but I’m glad we’ve stopped mentioning him in the superstar category, it was just never meant to be. The Nets have a slew of young big men capable of development, including Brook Lopez who is doing some serious damage. They just don’t have enough defense and up front presence at this point. They’ll be a team to be reckoned with in a couple years though. I like the Nets. I’ll like them even more if they can move to Brooklyn and get LeBron. I wonder why they don’t do more involving Jay-Z? Shouldn’t he do there pre game music? Maybe personalized songs for each guy after they score? Wouldn’t more guys want to play there, just for a personalized Jay-Z song?

I’ve now effectively eliminated 3 teams. No surprise there, no one thought much of these teams to start the season anyway. Of the three I would certainly say New Jersey has the brightest immediate future, but Chicago clearly has the brightest star in Derrick Rose. But Chicago has the Cubs, so that’s unfortunate for them.

New York
Who would have thought the Knicks would be back so soon? I guess I shouldn’t say they are “back”, but there not god awful anymore. They sure do like to shoot some threes. There like the Magic, but without the accuracy. That is what you expect out of a team with Al Harrington, Quentin Richardson, Tim Thomas, Chris Duhon, Nate Robinson, and coached by Mike D’Antoni. The problem when facing the Knicks is, “What if they get hot?” If they do get hot it can be a long night. They have offensive firepower, although I expect them to continue making trades, and possibly dealing David Lee. If David Lee goes, the playoffs go with him. He is a terrific player. If the Bucks got him everything would be so much better in Milwaukee. Beer would taste better, it wouldn’t be as cold, and the Bucks would be TOUGH. Alas, he probably won’t be coming here anytime soon, but I don’t expect the Knicks to hold it together long enough to make the playoffs.

Leaving us with…

Philadelphia
I’m still having flashbacks to that three Andre Miller hit to put the nail into the Bucks coffin a few weeks back. He’s really not a good shooter. What’s crazy is that appears to have been the catalyst for a bit of a shooting surge for him. Philly has apparently figured out that they are a much more effective team when they run and play up tempo. I thought they figured that out in the second half of last season? I guess Elton Brand screwed that up. When EB gets back we’ll see how it all works out. John Hollinger at ESPN.com has been begging them to put him at center, it seems like the most logical move. That’s sad because that will mean less Sam Dalembert, which will surely bum out the rest of the league. They are a super effective running team though, especially Thad Young. Philly has a 7 game home stand coming up to ease transition back to Brand. That should give them a chance to build momentum before a 5 game trip out west near the end of February. Fortunately for them they’ve played most of their tough road games, with the most difficult ones left begin a Houston, L.A., Portland, and Cleveland. And if they are close with Milwaukee at the end I’m sure the NBA will put the fix on to make sure that Scott Williams gets suspended if he puts Allen Iverson on the line at all.

Milwaukee (Light it up, Light it up)
I’m slotting Milwaukee into the 7th seed. Why? They only have 15 road games left, they are done going out west, of their 37 remaining games they have only 18 left against projected playoff teams, they have 8 back to backs left with only 2 in February and 1 in April, Michael Redd is back to normal, Joe Alexander has shown a pulse as of late and probably won’t hit the rookie wall since he hasn’t played, this should make him ready when Mbah a Moute hits the wall…should I keep going? Yes? Andrew Bogut is getting adequate time to rest his creaky back, and Charlie V has played the most consistent stretch of his career as of late. Ramon Sessions also showed life last game which was nice. They’ll have a good opportunity in the last month to lock up a playoff spot, and management WANTS to make the playoffs this year more than anything for those extra ticket sales. The Bucks may even have what it takes to leapfrog Miami into the top 6 with this schedule. If that does happen don’t be surprised if the Magic fall to 3 and the Bucks give them a run in round 1.

From the New York Post:

An entrenched Bucks source does not believe Michael Redd will be traded this season.
“We need to make the playoffs this season to regain our fan base,” the source informed.
Yet the vultures continue to circle.
“Everyone is interested [Portland, San Antonio and Dallas, etc.], but their offers are pure [garbage],” said Deep Dish.

Well, it looks like Redd isn’t going anywhere. If that source is credible I would like to punch them in the face. We don’t want playoffs! We want CHAMPIONSHIPS!! Portland is probably making offers based around Serge Rodriguez and Travis Outlaw, and they suck. I’m curious what the other offers are though. Keeping Redd to get in the playoffs is silly, but trading him just to trade him would be worse. I have to think somewhere someone is willing to give us young talent and cap relief right?

When Dominic James, Jerel McNeal, and Wes Matthews came on the Marquette scene 4 years ago, everyone knew they were 3 pretty good players, but who knew they’d blow up this large. To say the least, Marquette’s backcourt has been impressive this year. Drawing comparisons to great back courts of the past few years in Villanova and Illinois, they have Marquette undefeated in the Big East looking down on everyone but the dreaded Louisville Cardinals. (Are they just destined to haunt Marquette forever?) After pouring over the numbers Marquette has the look of a top 5 back court of the past 15 years. In fact, they probably would have the look of a National Championship contender also, if they had a player over 6′6 (or however tall Lazar Hayward actually is). To be clear I’ve only included teams with at least 3 guards featured heavily, mainly because I feel like that is a more effective strategy in college. When pressing works so effectively and three pointers so important, it seems like the more guards on the court the better. I can’t in good conscience rank Marquette any higher than 5th though, considering the season is not over and they haven’t played the meat of their schedule yet, so I’ll take another look after the season. It’s the only fair way to do it. So with no further ado, here are the best 3 man (or more) college backcourts of the past 15 years.

5. 2008-2009 Marquette
Everyone knows the stats by now. They average a ton of points, they’re all closing in on George Thompson (Except Matthews, damn you Tom Crean!!). These guys are serous, but the story goes on for this Marquette team. As great as their backcourt is, they could run into some serious trouble when the schedule picks up. These other back courts all advanced to the Sweet Sixteen or better, and 2 won national titles, but with at least some kind of help from the front line. Matthews McNeal, and James are all doing incredible things this year, but they cannot do it alone. If history tells us anything, Dwight Burke or Joe Fulce will need to provide something in the front and if they do this could be a very special year for Marquette. More importantly are we sure Scott Merritt doesn’t have any eligibility left? Maybe like 5 games in March?

4. 2005-2006 Villanova
Ahh yes Villanova. Kyle Lowry, Allan Ray, Randy Foye and…and…that white kid. About a month ago a friend of mine called me looking for the name of the white guy, the first thing that came to my mind was Steve Blake. I thought he looked like Blake, but I knew Blake was from Maryland and a lot better. I had to call someone else, the Internet got involved and we all remembered, oh yeah Mike Nardi. He’s not all that memorable, but Nardi could fill it up, he shot 40% on threes in this season. Post man Curtis Sumpter injured himself either in the end of the previous season or at the start of this one and was unavailable, making for a unique 4 guard look. Of course the real stars were the other three, with Foye emerging as leading man. Foye averaged a healthy 20.5 with Allan Ray chipping in to the tune of 18.5 per game. Lowry (who I always call Mike, then remember that is Will Smith from Bad Boys) ran the point and played the same stingy defense that has earned him playing time in the NBA. They lost in the Sweet Sixteen to eventual champion Florida, but may have done better had Allan Ray’s eye not popped out of the socket just a week before the tournament began. Yikes.

3. 1999-2000 Michigan State
Meet the Flintstones. Mateen Cleaves, Charlie Bell, and Morris Peterson will always be remembered for their name and no one will forget where they are from. They put Flint on the map during their championship run in 2000. A memorable game against Florida in the National Championship painted Mateen Cleaves as an incredibly gritty, determined leader and probably put him in the first round of the draft later that year. He took a backseat as a scorer to Morris Peterson but handed out a hefty 6.9 assists per game. Cleaves would go on to be a hall of fame towel waver in Sacramento. Peterson was money from downtown, shooting 42.5% and averaging 16.8 points per game. Bell was the same steady player he is now, playing in every game and hitting free throws and threes, while providing perimeter defense. The numbers for these guys aren’t as flashy, but National Titles never lie, they were tough. Jason Richardson was a freshman who didn’t contribute a ton, but would later be leaps and bounds better than all of the Flintstones.

2. 2004-2005 Illinois
The closest to an undefeated team many have seen in their lifetime Illinois was a Matt Sylvester miracle away from being undefeated heading into the National Championship. Alas they’d end their season with 2 losses. Most teams would be fine with 2 losses, I feel like these guys would have preferred one come at a different time though. Deron Williams, Dee Brown, and Luther Head, led a very versatile Illinois team into the National Championship game with one loss, but ran into an all time great powerhouse in North Carolina. Carolina would go on to have 4 first round picks off that team, while Illinois barely got 4 into the NBA. But rest assured 3 came from that backcourt. Williams took over in the NCAA tournament, showing serious range and clutch shooting ability, and defense. Brown was a one man show on the fastbreak, leaving everyone in the dust and Head provided lethal outside shooting.

1. 1996-1997 Arizona
Without question, THE backcourt to which all others are compared to. Marquette can look to these guys for inspiration. Arizona had a 4 man big rotation, with Eugene Edgerson being the 4th at 6′6 and full of scrap. He’d later have a hellvuan afro. Jason Terry has probably had as much practice as anyone at the role of 6th man and it started here when Mike Bibby came aboard as a freshman starter. Not that Terry could complain, as Bibby averaged 13 and 5 and made life easier for everyone else. Michael Dickerson and Miles Simon were the main scoring threats on this team at 18.9 and 18.4 points per game. Simon missed the early part of the season with an academic suspension and the ‘Cats went only 6-4 in their final 10 games. But this team just found ways to win. Even though they did not win a tournament game by more than 8, they won the National Championship. When you have great guards it gets a little easier to squeak out games at the line. Everyone but Simon later did serious damage in the NBA. On the plus side for Simon he is an all time great CBA player, and great free throw shooter.

I’d like to give a shoutout to statsheet.com. What a site. If you love college basketball or refs, go here now.

Not everyone thinks that the Bucks would be on the losing end in the proposed Mike Conley deal.

“It’s wrong,” the 7-foot Spaniard continued. “I wouldn’t trade Mike. You’re looking and you’re trying to do something to fix this, but that isn’t the right thing. There’s more to what’s going on.”

In an article by Memphis Commercial Appeal Grizzlies beat writer Ronald Tillery Marc Gasol passionately insists that giving up on Conley would be a mistake.

“There are many reasons. First you’re starting, and then you’re out of the lineup,” Gasol said. “And sometimes you’re not playing as well. The important thing is how you are inside. What are you trying to accomplish on the court? Are you working? Are you doing what coach is asking you to do? Are you helping your teammates? Mike is always trying to do the right thing.”

Tillery compares Conley’s early stats to that of other point guards who flourished later in their careers such as Steve Nash, Tony Parker, and Devin Harris, saying that the system he currently is in does not allow for his full potential to shine through.

But would Milwaukee be any better?

The Bucks have a lot of success in an up-tempo offense, but only average 2 more possesions per game than Memphis. They usually like to feed Andrew Bogut early in games and then have a tendency to get stagnant with Michael Redd and Richard Jefferson in the half court offense. They certainly have the tools to be an effective running team, but Scott Skiles has a tendency to be a bit overbearing. He has hesitated to let the younger Sessions take control of his team. He is a very defensively demanding coach, which could cause a problem for Conley whose Memphis team performs 8 points better every 100 possesions with him off the court than with him on the court defensively.

Oddly enough it’s the point guard he battles for minutes for currently, Kyle Lowry, who would seem to be more of a fit with Skiles defense first philosophy. Lowry is regarded as one of the better defenders on the point in the league, and it seems like Memphis is recognizing that more, as his minutes have increased to almost 30 a game in January. Lowry is an affordable 2 million next year with RFA the year after.

Rumblings have quieted on the deal in the past few days since it was reported to be on Senator Kohl’s desk, so this might be all for not, but the passion Gasol has for Conley is at least one bright side to the proposed deal. If there is one thing the Gasol brothers know, its that Memphis has made some bad trades.