The End of the Beginning Is Still an End
Sunday, May 2nd, 2010
Jennings brought back memories from the home opener when he busted this one out.
When it was all said and done too many factors were working against the Bucks. Atlanta’s superiority was evident: length, size, athleticism, shooting, you name it Atlanta has it over Milwaukee. The Bucks pulled off a few victories that not many saw coming, but when focused, Atlanta was just too much for the Bucks to handle.
To have gotten as far as they have, for the Milwaukee Bucks right now it would be easy to be satisfied with what they’ve accomplished. Without their best player, Milwaukee pushed the third best team in the Eastern Conference to a Game 7. But there seemed very little satisfaction in just getting there throughout Milwaukee’s last stance in their first round series with the Atlanta Hawks. Not from Brandon Jennings at least, who forced ABC to make use of their five second delay as he cursed at himself in disgust heading off the court at halftime after missing the second of two free throws.
Maybe they still shot too many jumpers, but when it came down to it, Milwaukee just didn’t have the players to exploit the Hawks constant switching off screens. Not enough Bucks are good enough off the dribble to take advantage of mismatches on the perimeter. That’s how the Bucks came to rely on a 20-year-old rookie in Game 7 of an NBA Playoffs series. And make no mistake, the Bucks rode Jennings in this one.
After being one of the aforementioned Bucks that settled too often for jump shots in Game Six, Jennings was in attack mode against the Hawks Sunday afternoon. Of his 18 shots, Jennings took 10 of them inside the paint and at the rim. Someone had to expose the Hawks on their pick and roll defense and Jennings wanted to step up to be the guy that did that Sunday. That’s what leaders do.
But Jennings can’t guard Al Horford. And apparently neither can Primoz Brezec. Or Dan Gadzuric. Or Ersan Ilyasova. Or even Kurt Thomas, at least not when Horford really has it going and is attacking the glass. Horford was too much inside all game and all series, save for a game or two. Horford led the charge with 15 rebounds as the Hawks dominated on the glass 55-34.
It won’t always be like this though. The Bucks will have Andrew Bogut back next season. It’s possible he could be joined by a brand new burly power forward with some tools. A slasher could show up ready to get to the bucket with John Salmons if he hangs around and the Bucks could be better than ever.
And look at that, I’m talking about next season for the first time. On May 2nd. That sure feels a lot better than doing it in March or April as I’ve done the majority of this last decade. So I’m as disappointed as the next person today, but it feels good to have something to build on. (more…)
Progress is supposed to be a slow process: Bucks 91 – Hawks 87
Thursday, April 29th, 2010Isn’t it funny how a matter of moments can alter the perception of one shot?
Along with many others that joined me on Wednesday evening’s Daily Dime Live, I thought Josh Smith had finished off the Bucks with just over four minutes to go Wednesday night. Smith faded a little bit from the top of the key and drilled a long perimeter shot that I’d been very enthused about from the moment it left his hand until the second I realized it dropped through the bottom of the net. Josh Smith simply isn’t supposed to hit those shots. One of those consensuses that form when this kind of things happens quickly formed. You know what I mean, where everyone collectively says, “Well, if he’s hitting those kinds of shots, the Bucks are doomed.”
A few voices did manage to get their dissenting thoughts out there though. Perhaps it would be a good thing for the Bucks that Smith hit a long shot. It may persuade him to try hitting another unlikely jumper later. I just didn’t feel there was enough time for any of that to matter though. The Bucks were down more possessions than there were minutes left on the clock, that’s never a recipe for success.
Then John Salmons put together five points in less than 48 seconds and the lead was down to four. The shot still lingered in the back of my mind, but it remained buried since Joe Johnson would very likely be the guy with the ball in his hands for Atlanta as this game wound down.
Except he didn’t get the ball, because he committed two fouls in the next 29 seconds and was relegated to cheerleader duty for the rest of the contest. Sandwiched between those Johnson fouls were three more Milwaukee free throws and suddenly the Bucks had the ball down only a point.
After Ersan Ilyasova caught a pass and scored over Smith in the lane to give the Bucks a one point lead with just under two minutes to go, the Bucks had the lead and the Hawks didn’t even have a leader. Where would they turn?
Well it’s a funny thing that happened. Maybe that shot that I had previously assumed finished off the Bucks was still fresh in Smith’s memory, or maybe it wasn’t, either way Smith took another shot that he had no business taking, a three with eight seconds left on the shot clock. Smith predictably missed and Al Horford rushed a shot attempt after controlling the offensive rebound. The Hawks were rattled. The Bucks were rolling and wouldn’t look back.
When it was all said and done, Milwaukee went on a 14-0 run after that Josh Smith jump-shot that worried me so. The very shot that I thought may have ended the Bucks season has them on the brink of an upset in round one. (more…)
A Whole New Series: Bucks 111 – Hawks 104
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010
Check out the reaction by the Bucks bench. Priceless.
If it hadn’t been done before, and it’s probably foolish that it wasn’t, the word “can’t” was officially removed from the dictionary on the Milwaukee Bucks 2009-10 season. It’s uses were once prevalent. Milwaukee can’t get to the line. They can’t score inside without Andrew Bogut. Brandon Jennings can’t finish. The Bucks can’t hang with the Hawks in the playoffs.
Can’t, can’t, can’t, can’t. These Bucks seem to know not of this word. Every time the rest of the world decides they aren’t capable of doing something, they go on and do it anyway. Milwaukee shot 32 free throws Monday night. They outscored the Hawks in the paint 44-26. Jennings was 9-16 from the field and didn’t hit a 3-pointer.
And the Bucks tied up their first round series with the Hawks at two.
In front of a raucous crowd with only a few pockets of empty seats in a sold out Bradley Center, the Bucks squeezed every last drop of effort out of 10 different players and played as close to flawless a game as they have without Bogut. The Bucks, a team once known for their selfishness on the court and corrosive chemistry off of it, relied on the formula that’s been working for them all season: above average ball movement and a sense of togetherness I haven’t seen in Milwaukee.
Asked about this being one of those games the old Bucks used to lose, Jerry Stackhouse had a very appropriate answer after the game:
I don’t know any of them old Bucks teams.
Can’t? Not these Bucks, not yet. (more…)
So, maybe this is possible: Bucks 107 – Hawks 89
Saturday, April 24th, 2010I remember walking out of the Bradley Center on March 28th feeling very good about things. Milwaukee had just defeated the Grizzlies, the day was still young after the early game, the temperature was in the 60’s and a possible successful playoff run was on the horizon. Now, less than one month later, clouds draped the air on a cold and damp Saturday afternoon when I approached. It was almost too perfect a representation of Milwaukee’s season.
What was once so bright, had turned so dim that the light was nearly off
And then Brandon Jennings hit a three and busted out the three point monocle.
And then he did it again.
And again.
Then John Salmons got involved. When it was all said and done, Milwaukee was up 36-19 after one, the Jennings/Salmons duo was 9-10 and the brightness had officially returned to Milwaukee’s season.
Surprise seems to be the appropriate reaction, but should anyone really be shocked? Atlanta was a below average road team this season, MIlwaukee was an above average home team and Milwaukee had shot very poorly from three in the first two games. All those factors seemed to work in Milwaukee’s favor.
There was some smaller things Milwaukee did well to get themselves off first round life support — switching Luc Richard Mbah a Moute onto Josh Smith comes to mind — but remembering that they at one time used to hit open shots this season was by and large the most important thing Milwaukee did in game three.
Offense
I’ve been saying it and saying it: eventually the Bucks would start hitting some shots. All it took was getting back to the comforts of home. After three point shooting percentages that rivaled the temperatures on a normal winter day in Wisconsin, the Bucks finally found the bottom of the net on Saturday evening, hitting 10-21 3s. I actually pinpointed 10 as the number of threes the Bucks would need to hit to win game two, so I guess I was just a game early.
For all the coaching adjustments, matching up and other things that go into a playoff series, sometimes it’s the simple things that end up making the biggest difference. For the Bucks, that “little thing” was finally hitting the three at a respectable clip.
- I said this during the Daily Dime Live Chat and I’ll say it again: what a relief it must have been for the Bucks coaching staff and entire Bradley Center crowd to see Kurt Thomas’ long lost 15-foot jumper. Thomas finished 4-4 from the field. He looked good scoring eight points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Thomas and Delfino have deservedly shouldered plenty of blame for the Bucks struggles in the first two games, but it’s only appropriate to mention how Thomas’ playing his typical game played a big part in the Bucks taking game three. Milwaukee doesn’t need Thomas to do anything outside of his comfort zone, they just need him to do things longer than he might be built for at this point. The three days off seemed to do wonders for him.
- Yes, Brandon Jennings did cool off once again. But that didn’t mean he stopped contributing. As my first defense in this case I’d present his behind the back pass to Jerry Stackhouse after hounding Mike Bibby into a turnover. Stack finished with a dunk and senior citizens everywhere were suddenly inspired. Jennings was 5-11 (3-6 3FG) and scored 13 points to go with five assists.
- While Jennings couldn’t maintain his hot start, John Salmons did. Yet again. The Bucks big pickup (seriously, shouldn’t he get to hold John Hammond’s executive of the year award for a few months a year) came through when Milwaukee needed him the most with 22 points on 9-11 shooting. Even better, Salmons tallied seven assists and was creating for the Bucks who can’t create so much for themselves. He’s a humanitarian that John Salmons.
Defense
If I had the power to write things on the Bucks chalk board before games I would have wrote these three words in all caps: STOP JOSH SMITH. And you know what? I would have been pleased with Milwaukee’s effort in doing just that. Unequivocally the biggest thorn in the side of the Bucks through the first two games, Smith finally was contained a bit. Smith had been feasting on offensive rebound putbacks and fast break dunks, but the Bucks weren’t giving anything easy away to him on Saturday. Sure, he still managed nine offensive rebounds, but few of them resulted in dunks for him or points at all for the Hawks. Atlanta scored just 12 second chance points on 6-18 shooting. After shooting over 70% through the first two games, Smith finished Saturday’s game 2-12. Someone find Luc Richard Mbah a Moute’s belt and put another notch in it.
- So what’s the more accurate representation of this Hawks team? The over 50% efforts from the field they had in games one and two, or this sub-40% shooting effort they produced Saturday night? It’s probably somewhere in the middle. The key to keeping them down for Milwaukee was preventing all the easy baskets they got in games one and two. When Josh Smith was heading in for a dunk, he had Mbah a Moute, Ilyasova, Thomas and Dan Gadzuric meeting him at the rim. Defensively, Milwaukee was simply a much more confident group.
- I’d be remiss to let a nice night from Dan Gadzuric go by without pointing it out though. After many cries from the crowd for Gadzuric after Thomas struggled so badly in the first two games, Gadz saw 17 minutes and produced 10 rebounds. It’s just what he does.
Final Thoughts
I now find myself wondering, “will we ever get a good game in this series?” The Hawks seem prone to both blowouts and doing the blowing out, but I can’t help but expect game four to be a lot closer than game three either way. Milwaukee will not continue to shoot at the clips they did and the hawks will probably find a way to put some more points on the board. But as my final final thought, I did really enjoy something I saw from Milwaukee that I haven’t in years.
The mild-mannered Luke Ridnour holding his pose on a three to put the Bucks up 93-65 with the shot clock running down. If you think Brandon Jennings wasn’t the rookie of the year, I get that. But don’t try and tell me he didn’t have more of an impact on a team than any other rookie. This one started with Jennings and the monocle and ended with Ridnour holding his pose. These are not your slightly older brother’s Bucks NBA fans.
Hope continues to fade: Hawks 96 – Bucks 86
Wednesday, April 21st, 2010Before the series, I assumed the Bucks would be down two games to zero after the first two in Atlanta. Many targeted game three as the Bucks best opportunity to steal one from the Hawks.
Now I’m closer than ever to believing the Bucks will be swept.
Feelings of optimism reigned after a hard fought second half in game one. It appeared the Bucks may have put a few things together and had a strategy for how to attack and at least slow down the Hawks. Few of those things were on display for more than a few minutes at a time on Tuesday night. For Milwaukee, Tuesday’s loss in Atlanta had to seem like a loud and clear message from the opposition. That message?
We’re more talented than you across the board and we’re going to continue to exploit every advantage we have, regardless of how you attempt to counter it.
It’s fun to see a coach pull counter moves and try and out strategize the other team. But the thing about the Hawks is that, regardless of what strategies the Bucks want to try, they aren’t the ones that will need to adjust. The Hawks are ready for everything the Bucks throw at them and can swap the same seven guys in and out. Atlanta constantly forces Milwaukee to adapt, try new things and attempt to match up. Atlanta has controlled six or seven of the eight quarters this series has seen. When they’ve had momentary lapses, they’ve made sure they were just momentary. Regardless of what moves Coach Scott Skiles wants to make, the Hawks have been in control.
A lot of this starts with Josh Smith. Smith has been everywhere the last two games. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear the Hawks had two guys named Smith, both of whom were ridiculously athletic. He’s grabbing offensive rebounds (five on Tuesday), blocking shots while getting steals (four combined Tuesday), finding teammates for baskets (nine assists) and dunking. He’s doing lots of dunking. I haven’t seen someone dunking this much in a game in years. So. Much. Dunking. What’s been the worst thing about Smith, is how he’s gotten all these dunks.
- Fast breaks
The Hawks are constantly looking to run on Milwaukee. They’re running on turnovers, they’re running on misses and they’re running on makes. Atlanta’s motto seems to be: never stop running. But they aren’t doing it irresponsibly, mind you. They’re in control the whole time. If there isn’t an easy shot, Atlanta is pulling it back out. But they are at least exploring the opportunity to see if there is something they can get easy. The fast breaks that have come off Milwaukee turnovers have been especially effective.
Atlanta spent the majority of game two trapping the Bucks ball handlers on the pick and roll. If Milwaukee wanted to run a pick and roll, Atlanta was going to force a long pass. Atlanta was rotating defenders to make the pass to the open man a lengthy pass. Once they created a lengthy pass, they often intercepted it once Milwaukee threw it. Those interceptions create fast breaks and easy dunks. Often, Atlanta is able to completely abandon Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, freeing Josh Smith to roam around in the half court and make plays. It’s hard for the Bucks to counter this, as Mbah a Moute is their worst offensive player and can’t really hit a jump shot or create.
- Offensive rebounds
Milwaukee is allowing 10.5 offensive rebounds per game against the Hawks, after allowing an average of just 9.6 a night in the regular season. That may sound like just one more opportunity, but that doesn’t quite paint a vivid enough picture. Atlanta converted on six scoring opportunities on 10 offensive rebounds on Tuesday night. The Hawks size and strength advantages inside create easy opportunities on their offensive rebounds. Milwaukee has a hard enough time defending them, giving them second chances is almost assuring them of a basket.
Milwaukee is doing a great job of beating themselves, something Atlanta is already more than capable of.
Now the Bucks have lost two games, by only 10 points each, which really isn’t a lot of points. Yes, there was a little bit of garbage time in each game, but it worked in Milwaukee’s favor once and against them once when reflected in the final score. So is there anything else (aside from cutting down turnovers that lead to fast breaks and limiting Josh Smith’s offensive rebounds) the Bucks can do to beat the Hawks?
There is, and it’s not that complicated.
Hit some threes.
For all the things that have gone wrong for Milwaukee in these last two games, the most baffling has been their complete inability to hit a three. After hitting 35.6% of their threes in the regular season, the Bucks have hit just 10 threes on 44 attempts in the post season (22.7%).
It’s not hard to imagine one or both of these games turning out a little different had the Bucks hit more threes. Tuesday, Milwaukee finished 4-24 on threes. They weren’t all bad shots either, Milwaukee was indiscriminately missing on wide open threes as often as they were contested ones. I’d love to say I have an explanation for this sudden inability to connect from deep, but I don’t. I could see Carlos Delfino’s current 0-5 effort on threes and 5-16 on all attempts being written off to aftereffects from the injury he suffered a few weeks ago, but it’s difficult to see any other Bucks player with a valid excuse.
They just aren’t making their shots.
Fortunately, the lack of reasons why could be a sign that things will eventually even out. Perhaps the Bucks will come out firing once they get back home and keep it going throughout the rest of the series. Playoff jitters likely aren’t a factor, but maybe coming back home with a couple games under their belts will improve the Bucks ability to hit threes. If that isn’t the answer, then we could have a long two games in Milwaukee followed by a considerable gap until the Bucks next game: next season.
