(A special guest post from Ross Geiger today on the work John Hammond has done in his two years with the Bucks.  Ross has covered the Bucks for Marquette University.)

From day one, Bucks general manager John Hammond has had goals.

His goals seemed very unrealistic to many around the league, and rightfully so when taking a glance of the Bucks roster at the time Hammond took over the team. The Bucks signed a slew of horrid contracts in the years before he arrived and had little direction, leaving Hammond with a giant mess of puzzle pieces in front of him.

Puzzle pieces that were impossible to solve immediately, yet pieces that are beginning to come together as Hammond’s closes in on the end of his second year in Milwaukee. Undoubtedly Hammond’s tasks have had their highs and lows especially when examining his last two first round draft selections: 2008’s 8^th overall pick Joe Alexander and 2009’s 10^th overall pick Brandon Jennings.

Risks were taken, big trades were made, injuries occurred, and despite all the criticism Hammond remained determined to follow his game plan: to put the best possible team out on the floor each and every night. That game plan has been Hammond’s number one goal as the team progresses each year. Hammond has stressed time and time again, that fans be patient, and to trust the direction he is leading the franchise. A trust that’s beginning to flourish at the Bradley Center each night and it all started with laying a foundation. Read more…

Recap/Box Score

“We need multiple guys doing the damage out there.  That’s our formula right now, that’s the way our team is constructed.  We spread the ball around, I say it all the time, they’re unselfish and try and hit the open man and play good team basketball.  When we’re playing well and we’re clicking we are gonna have four or five guys in double figures.”

-         Scott Skiles 2/24/2010

Yes, one night before the Bucks put seven players into double figures, Scott Skiles was singing the praises of his teams unselfishness and insisting that it would take a lot of different scorers for the team to have success.  And he always claims he doesn’t know what’s coming next.

You fooled us all Coach, you fooled us all.

The Bucks got double figure points from seven different players Thursday night.

John Salmons             20

Brandon Jennings      18

Ersan Ilyasova           17

Andrew Bogut            15

Luke Ridnour 12

Jerry Stackhouse       11

Carlos Delfino            10

And they needed every last point to get past the pesky Pacers in the fourth quarter.  After taking control of the game in the second and further exerting their collective wills in the third, the Bucks let things get away from them a little in quarter four.  After grabbing a 14-point lead, two Pacer threes sandwiched around a layup brought Indiana back within six points with four minutes to go.

But the Bucks kept one play ahead of the Pacers.

A Troy Murphy three to close the gap to just three points?  Meet a Jennings jumper.  An Earl Watson tip shot to make it a two point contest?  Meet two free-throws for Salmons.  The Bucks were losing it, without losing it and ultimately stopped before they lost it.  Simple enough? Read more…