Recap/Box Score/Enemy

The line has been drawn in the sand.

In the Eastern Conference, there’s really good teams (Boston, Miami and Chicago), good teams (Atlanta, Orlando) first round playoff exit teams (New York, Philadelphia, Indiana, Charlotte, Milwaukee and Detroit) and then the really bad teams (New Jersey, Toronto, Washington and Cleveland).

With only four really bad teams, that means three of the first round playoff exit teams won’t even make the playoffs this year.  Detroit is a likely candidate for the outside looking in and right now, Milwaukee’s out too.  But the Bucks still have a chance at a playoff spot and it’s a better chance than the one they have at really good draft pick.  That bottom half of the East?  None of those teams are going anywhere.

During Milwaukee’s 92-74 thrashing of the Raptors Tuesday night, it seemed clear throughout that the Raptors wouldn’t be catching the Bucks in the standings this season.  Neither will the Nets or Wizards.  And the Cavs may never win again, so rule them out too.  If Milwaukee isn’t going to sink below any of these teams (and they won’t fall below the Kings or Wolves in the West either), the best they can do is have the seventh best shot when the lottery is done in May.  Those aren’t good odds.

Odds are another middling draft pick, and if that’s the case, the Bucks may as well try and get back on the playoff track.

They certainly defended like a team that wanted to do that Tuesday night.  Milwaukee limited a very good Raptors offense to 36% shooting from the field, after having allowed four consecutive opponents to shoot better than 50%.  Milwaukee’s defensive reputation won’t be re-built in one game against one of the league’s worst teams, but if Milwaukee can string together a few performances like this, they could have something again.

Read more…

Recap/Box Score

I know the Bucks have been inconsistent this year, hell, I write about it every game.  So glancing at a box score and seeing some shaky performances doesn’t really faze me anymore.  But they took inconsistency to a whole new level in Friday night’s loss to the Raptors.

(Photo by Ron Turenne/NBAE via Getty Images) The Bucks were far more interested in getting it outside of the paint in the second half Friday night.

After playing what I thought was their best half of basketball all year long in the first half, the Bucks went away from everything that had been working for them and resorted to chucking up three-point shot after three-point shot against the Raptors zone defense.  The more they chucked, the better Toronto felt, because Milwaukee ended up 5-26 from downtown, including a 3-15 performance in the second half.  And, as has been the case often times this year, once the Bucks offense gave out their defense soon followed suit.

Quickly, the Bucks double digit lead became a single digit lead and then it was a one possession game and then the Bucks were trailing.  It was a slow and painful deterioration, but that’s only because Luke Ridnour wouldn’t let the Bucks bungle their terrific first half any sooner than they did.  Remember those three threes I said the Bucks connected on in the second half — all Ridnour, all in the fourth quarter.  The Bucks scored 23 fourth quarter points, 18 of which were Ridnour’s.  So, when looking back on why the Bucks were unable to translate some of their best ball of the season into a W, we can safely agree that we needn’t look in Ridnour’s direction. Read more…

The Bucks don’t do a lot of back to backing, at least they haven’t yet this year.  After the up-coming couplet with Toronto, the Bucks have double takes with Miami and Washington later on this year.  In the interest of avoiding repetitiveness, this preview is intended to cover the both of the Raptors games.  In reward for your going along with this, I’ll do my best to cook up a fun little feature in lieu of a preview before the Raps game on Friday.

Enjoy.

Milwaukee Bucks (16-23)

(Probable) Inactives: Francisco Elson and Joe Alexander

vs.

Toronto Raptors (21-21)

(Probable) Inactives: Pops Mensah-Bonsu and Reggie Evans

Dates: 1/20/2010 & 1/22/2010

Time: 7:00 (CST) & 6:00 (CST)

TV: FS Wisconsin & None (Boooo)

Match-Ups

Point Guard

Brandon Jennings vs. Jarrett Jack

Jennings is coming off a statistically aesthetically pleasing game against the Rockets.  This is no small feat, as he hasn’t done a lot of fine box score work in the past month or two.   It will be fun to see how he performs against a larger guard coming off a strong game.  Jack checks in at 6′3, 202 pounds and has taken the reigns as the starting point guard in Toronto after the team’s upswing under his guidance with Jose Calderon out for a while in the last two months.  Since the start of December, Jack has been up around 50 percent shooting and hitting nearly 40 percent of his threes.  He also provides more defense than Calderon, who has never been known as a lockdown defender at the point.

Advantage: Bucks Read more…

Toronto Raptors (Jay Triano) 10-13

(Likely) Inactives: Jose Calderon, Reggie Evans and Patrick O’Bryant

at

Milwaukee Bucks (Scott Skiles) 9-11

(Likely) Inactives: Joe Alexander, Francisco Elson and Michael Redd

Date: 12/9/2009

Time: 7:00 (CST)

TV: FS Wisconsin

Match-Ups

Point Guard

Brandon Jennings vs. Jarrett Jack

Calderon did not make the trip to Milwaukee, so it’ll be Bosh’s buddy Jarrett Jack taking the lead against the Bucks.  The same Jarrett Jack who stopped to tie his shoe during play against Chicago last week.  Chicago didn’t seem to mind though.  Jack is a big strong point guard in the Billups mold, but not so savvy.  He’ll be handful for Jennings, but doesn’t really excel at anything.  He’s not a terrific scorer, isn’t a great shooter and doesn’t get to the line very often.  There’s a reason he’s a backup at this point in his career.  Still, he could give Jennings problems if he forces the issue, but with so many skillful offensive players on the court with him, it’s unlikely he will.

Advantage: Bucks Read more…