Are you worried about Jackson's influence on Jennings?
“They know how I feel,” repeated Stephen Jackson over and over again after the game against the Pistons. On who “they” were, Jackson would not elaborate, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that he’s talking about John Hammond, Scott Skiles and the Bucks organization at large.
The Bucks are 3-0 without Jackson. Against New York, he was suspended for missing shootaround because he overslept. He was suspended for the Lakers game because he was verbally abusing refs while playing the Bulls. Skiles chose not to play him against the Pistons. According to Jackson, this was the first time that he’s never played in an NBA game he was available to play in.
Without Jackson, the passing looks crisper and the offense looks better. Possessions aren’t wasted on Jackson heat checks. Delfino is playing better perimeter defense. And the team is stocked with better scorers, shooters and distributors. “Scott is right. We are playing well without me in the lineup,” said Jackson. “The rotation is great and as long as we’re winning. There’s nothing for nobody to complain about.”
Jackson isn’t playing well, but he isn’t a locker room cancer. The other players generally adore him. He’s the first one off the bench to high-five everyone during time-outs. He’s around and not playing well, but he’s not undermining any efforts to win. “My situation is going to get better soon,” Jackson said, “Until then, I’m going to support these guys and continue to collect my check.”
Hoopsworld recently ran a report stating the Bucks were looking to ship Jackson.
Carlos Delfino, SF23 MIN | 4-7 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 3 AST | 10 PTS | +5
Carlos Delfino has quietly been the best perimeter defender the Bucks have. Good thing too since Moute needs to play heavy power forward minutes with Bogut out. He bodies up hard on his man. And against everyone except Kobe Bryant, he plays the passing lanes aggressively.
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, SF28 MIN | 0-5 FG | 2-2 FT | 4 REB | 2 AST | 2 PTS | +4
Seriously, how versatile is Moute. Guards Kobe one game, the next he has to guard Greg Monroe. He used his long arms to deny Monroe the ball. And when Monroe was backing up, those same arms pestered Monroe’s dribble resulting in a few turnovers.
Didn’t think it was possible, but Drew Gooden pump fakes on defense. Will Bynum’s just scorching to the basket and Gooden’s all like, “I’m going to get in your way. . . no I’m not.” It’s a lot of fun to watch.
The Pistons’ point guards had the audacity to step onto the same floor as Jennings. This infuriated him greatly. He scorched Bynum and Walker Russell Jr. around the corner, but was often met with a horde of Pistons big men. No matter. Jennings just torched the Pistons from three. And after each one, he defiantly strutted back on defense.
Mike Dunleavy, SF26 MIN | 8-10 FG | 2-2 FT | 3 REB | 3 AST | 20 PTS | +16
The Bucks ran a sweet pindown for Dunleavy in the fourth. It was a swish. And it put the Pistons away for good. But Dunleavy had no mercy and kept burying them. If they pindown that play a lot more often, some good things are in store for the future. It’s not a coincidence that since Dunleavy started replacing Jackson’s minutes that the ball movement and offense has been off the charts.
Larry Sanders, C12 MIN | 2-3 FG | 2-4 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 6 PTS | +14
Sanders did a very simple power move to the basket and converted a lay-up. No foul. No travel. No double dribble. I don’t know how to say this in any way that won’t sound condescending, but I was so proud of him. I wasn’t the only one in the Bradley Center that felt this way, he got a few cheers when he checked out in the middle of the fourth.
Two Things We Saw
Bucks won a battle they normally lose. Bucks took 26 free throws to the Pistons 20.
Big storyline from this game that supports some rumors: 12 players were used in this game. None of them were Stephen Jackson. And there’s no reason to actually play him. Delfino is a better defender. There are a lot of better shooters and distributors on the team. The offense just looks great when he doesn’t stop possessions with ill-advised threes and haphazard drives to the basket. And this is coming from the guy who was so excited Jax was joining the team that he compared him to a samurai.
Drew Gooden will get by a guy like Pau Gasol for a layup and get a technical foul two seconds later. Drew Gooden will finish a wide open fast break layup and fall down for no conceivable reason. Drew Gooden will do his damnedest to defend Andrew Bynum and throw a pass through traffic into Derrick Fisher’s body. None of these things, not the good ones, not the bad ones, should be surprising.
Gooden was all Milwaukee really could counter the Lakers front line with, and he did his best. He’s typically a pretty uneven player, but Saturday night, he was better than that. He made a higher percentage of his shots and performed as well as you could expect against the Lakers tough front line. He often has the best numbers of any of Milwaukee’s starters, but Saturday night, he actually played the best too.
Elbow jumpers. I wonder how many Livingston has made in his life. It’s a pretty effortless shot for him, especially when he’s able to take it coming out of a post up. He displayed an uncommon blend of leaping ability and power with a dunk on a scrambling Andrew Goudelock. I’m sure Bucks fans are getting more comfortable with the idea of him as the starting shooting guard each game.
Before the game, I was thinking if the Bucks were going to be competitive, it would be because Jennings has 30 points and eight assists or something like that. Jennings had 10 points and five assists coming into the fourth quarter and the Bucks led by seven. Huh? Your guess is as good as mine. Saturday night’s was an okay game from Jennings – he handled the ball well, had only one turnover and pressured Laker point guards well, but only scored 12 points. And the Bucks still won and even shot 50% from the field. Weird.
Mike Dunleavy, SF22 MIN | 6-8 FG | 1-1 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 15 PTS | +21
He was like the perimeter version of Ilyasova. He hit two threes, helped facilitate ball movement, grabbed some boards and shot a good percentage. If Milwaukee’s reserves can make shots at a rate better than 50%, that would go a long way towards moving them forward without Bogut. Obviously they won’t every game, but on a night when the starters were solid, but not great, it was a big pickup.
While using most of his energy guarding the Lakers tough front line, he wasn’t the rebounding force he’s often been this season. But he helped the Bucks shoot better than 50% with his efficient night. Hit a three, grabbed enough boards in the fourth quarter to keep the Lakers from coming back – a game you’ll certainly take from Ilyasova.
Three Things We Saw
Defending Kobe was primarily a dual effort. Delfino spent a lot of time on him throughout the game, as did Luc Mbah a Moute. Poor Mbah a Moute got the duty in the fourth quarter, when Kobe decided to get serious. He was up to the challenge though, forcing Kobe into some tough shots. The Mamba made 10 of 21 shots and almost had a triple double, but he led the Lakers in turnovers and did not put another game winner on the Bucks heads. Success.
Did the Bucks just make more free throws than their opponent? That’s an anomaly for this group, but they love it every time it happens. With the Lakers huge front line and Kobe Bryant in the back court, this certainly didn’t seem like the game Milwaukee would win the free throw battle in, but here we are. It certainly helps explain how we ended up with such a surprising final score.
Milwaukee is one of the league’s best teams at forcing turnovers and they were at it again against the Lakers. 15 Laker turnovers led to 23 Milwaukee points. That’s defense leading to offense and that, is exactly what Scott Skiles wants to see.
Stephen Jackson has been suspended one game for verbal abuse of an official and failure to leave the court. Incident occurred against CHI.
And things remain turbulent.
This is the second game this season Jackson will miss for disciplinary reasons. He missed the team bus to shootaround in New York and Coach Scott Skiles opted not to play him.
To all my fans apologize for my actions. Its just somethings refs shouldnt say. Gotta keep my kool. Lesson learned.
In other news, I’ve obtained what I feel like is reliable information that John Hammond met with Joel Przybilla and his agent in Milwaukee on Saturday and could be close to working out some a deal. I’m now rooting for this scenario, solely so I don’t look like an idiot for reporting it.
That’s where this season currently sits for me.
Ultimately, Przybilla isn’t making or breaking the Bucks if he joins the team. He would be another big body and he would give the team a true center. But he’d be giving them one that hasn’t played in about eight months and seems fairly content to be retired.
Jeremy Schmidt writes the Milwaukee Bucks blog Bucksketball.com. Follow him on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.
A special thanks to Andy Kamenetzky from ESPN’s Land o’ Lakers Lakers blog for stopping by to answer some questions I had regarding Milwaukee’s opponent this evening. Check out Land o’ Lakers and see a few answers I had for him as well.
1. He’s smart enough to do it, but will Kobe be willing to let Gasol and Bynum dominate the Bucks?
Given Gasol’s exceptionally aggressive nature Wednesday against the Clippers, I’d like to think Kobe will try to keep that going, for the sake of Pau and the matchup. And he’s already praised Bynum’s “thirst to score.” And for all the talk about Kobe’s high shot count this season, he’s done a pretty fine job moving the ball around. But as is always the case with Kobe involving teammates, there’s a leash, and it can be frustratingly short. Kobe’s natural desire to take games over, even when not always necessary, can also equal big men receiving too few touches over stretches.
But in fairness to Kobe, there are kinks being ironed out in Mike Brown’s offense, one of them being Gasol’s role. Pau’s number hasn’t been called enough by the coach, as opposed to Bryant. There’s also an onus on Pau to seek out more scoring opportunities with the ball in his hands, even if he’s theoretically working as a facilitator on a particular set.
