Changes made and lessons learned: Bucks 103 – Mavericks 99
“We’ve been concentrating on trying to get John(Salmons) going, for lack of a better way of phrasing it,” Bucks coach Scott Skiles said last Saturday night. “Trying to get him in tune offensively, things like that. The other night, when John starts one for five or one for six, and then goes out, the thought process is, we’d like to get John back in there a little bit quicker than if John was four for six.”
Every man, and coach it seems, has his breaking point though. At some point, wins and team success take precedent over trying to get one player going. Milwaukee had been force feeding Salmons for some time, partly in order to apparently get him going, and partly because, with Luc Mbah a Moute playing the three, there just was no other option.
So while it was surprising, it made sense that Skiles seemed to have reached that point in a game he must have sensed was winnable Monday night. In Milwaukee’s 103-99 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, Coach Skiles did something he rarely does unless an injury occurs: he changed his second half lineup. To the bench went Mbah a Moute and into the lineup came Chris Douglas-Roberts. CD-R was on the court when the Bucks saw a 20-point deficit shrink to just nine at halftime and gave the Bucks a creator on the opposite side of Salmons who struggled through a one for four first half. Finally, the pressure to do it all on the wing was off of Salmons. In addition, CD-R got an opportunity to shine.
And shine he did, scoring the first five points of the third quarter, a quarter the Bucks would win by 10. And just like that, Milwaukee had more than enough confidence in themselves to step toe-to-toe with the Mavericks, proud owners of a 12-game winning streak coming into Monday night. It’s amazing what a little confidence can do for a team.
While the Mavs could have been proud of their winning streak coming into the game, the Bucks had to be a bit embarrassed by their offense before Monday night, the worst in the league and one of the worst the NBA has ever seen. But they showed signs of life in Friday’s tiff with the Rockets and after a shaky first half against the Mavericks, recaptured that good form. The ball moved, players played crisp and, finally, shots went in. Milwaukee hit 47.6% of their shots and a sizzling, and kind of remarkable, nine of their 13 3-point attempts. Most importantly, the Bucks refused to get down after their own misses and rallies from the Mavericks.
After taking a one-point lead into the fourth quarter, Milwaukee trailed by five with 6:47 to go. Seemingly more unified and aggressive than ever, Milwaukee proceeded to outscore the Mavs 20-11 to close the game, with each field goal made either being a dunk, layup or assisted 3-pointer. The offensively challenged group that couldn’t make a shot or even get a good look looked like a thing of the past. When the Bucks move the ball and are hitting their shots, they bare little resemblance to that squad that skidded to start this season.
And a second half lineup that took some of the creating pressure off John Salmons played no small role in the success of the suddenly new look Milwaukee Bucks Monday night. Read more…
