Recap/Box Score

Just let me have one moment.  However fleeting you’ll insist it may be, all I ask for is one simple moment.  I know you’re waiting around the corner from my moment Pessimistic Bucks Fan.  I know you’re sitting there waiting to tell me it’s only a matter of time before Andrew Bogut gets hurt again.  I know you want to say “they rushed him back and then he played nearly 35 minutes?  Are these guys nuts?  He’ll by out by next week!”  But I don’t care about any of that right now.  All I care about is what happened tonight.

The Bucks eeked one out.  That’s something they haven’t been able to do lately and it doesn’t imply that they are any better than they were last week or the week before.  Generally, there is a decent amount of luck involved in one possession games.  The Bucks certainly came close to blowing this one, but didn’t and that’s a good thing.  A large part of the reason they were in it is the largest guy on the team.

Bogut’s play figuratively (and at times quite literally) leapt off the court for the majority of his 34:39 on the court.  He was mobile and showed no sign of the injury that had kept him shelved for the previous five games.  He frequently carried the Bucks for extended stretches on offense. When he wasn’t the focal point, he was often the release valve if the Bucks struggled to get a good shot.  Bogut brought his entire offensive repertoire in this one: hooks, baby hooks, left hand, right hand and runners.  It all started with Bogut in the paint on offense.  22 points on 10-19 shooting.  Ask Joakim Noah if Andrew Bogut is back, he spent the better part of four quarters getting destroyed.

But that’s not the best part. Read more…