Milwaukee Bucks

100

Final Recap | Box Score

86

New York Knicks

	Shaun Livingston, PG 34 MIN | 7-10 FG | 4-4 FT | 5 REB | 3 AST | 18 PTS | +22 Livingston has a very specific game and he executed it tonight. In his first start of the season for the suspended Stephen Jackson, Livingston made six of seven shots in the paint. He uses his size so well and is quick to move the ball too. It helps when he’s on the court with guys who can shoot the three, as it mitigates his inability from deep.
	Carlos Delfino, SF 29 MIN | 4-7 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 2 AST | 9 PTS | +8 Delfino and Luc Mbah a Moute did a stellar defensive job on Carmelo Anthony. They stayed with him, played physical and frustrated him into two technical fouls and a fairly inefficient line that saw him score 35 points on 26 shots. They made him stick with the long jumper, a shot he can make, but a short worth ceding.
	Brandon Jennings, PG 36 MIN | 15-26 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 5 AST | 36 PTS | +17 Four shots. Jennings took just four shots against the Knicks that weren’t in the paint or from three-point range. With 26 attempts, that’s a pretty terrific ratio. He’s always seemed to like playing the Garden and Friday was certainly no exception. When he’s hitting threes, he’s a very difficult cover. New York’s patchwork point guards certainly were no match.
	Drew Gooden, PF 22 MIN | 2-9 FG | 6-8 FT | 11 REB | 0 AST | 10 PTS | +2 In a backup role, with plenty of other talented players on the court, that allows him to focus on rebounding and put-backs, Gooden works well. He’s generally ridiculous to watch when he’s taking on a real active role, but he’s always been a useful rebounder. Rebounds, put-backs and the free throws that result from them can be his thing.
	Ersan Ilyasova, PF 23 MIN | 1-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 9 REB | 3 AST | 3 PTS | +15 It seemed we never went more than a few seconds without hearing Ilyasova’s name when he was in the game tonight. He battled for rebounds all night and pestered the Knicks pricey frontline. He earned every one of his nine rebounds.

Three Things We Saw

1. Jennings was on the court for 36 minutes, but certainly spent a good amount of time inside the mind of Carmelo Anthony late in the game. Jennings will encourage some chippy play here and there, especially when he’s feeling it from three and the Bucks are winning. I’m sure he reveled in Anthony’s second technical.
2. I’m sure many will point to Jackson’s absence, the Bucks win and the solid play from Livingston as a clear pattern for success, but let’s avoid jumping that gun just yet. There’s a lot of season left and Jackson isn’t going anywhere any time soon. The Bucks need to find a way to get him playing well regularly.
3. 1-8 on the road. A lot better than 0-9.

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Enemy: Knickerblogger

Point Guard
Brandon Jennings vs. Chauncey Billups

In his first game as a Knick, Billups will face the team he performed very well against in his last game as a Nugget.  Billups scored 20 points and hit a late game three that gave the Nuggets the lead for good in their 94-87 victory over the Bucks last Wednesday.  Jennings is coming off one of his better games this season and, without question, his best game since returning from a foot injury.  Jennings scored 27 points and handed out seven assists against the defenseless Timberwolves.  He’s traditionally taken a liking to playing on big stages, especially Madison Square Garden, so look for Jennings to have it going early.

Advantage: Knicks

Shooting Guard
John Salmons vs. Landry Fields

Salmons’ tough year appeared to be on the rise after his best game as a member of the Bucks in Milwaukee’s loss to the Nuggets last Wednesday.  Salmons tallied 33 points and, before struggling down the stretch, provided nearly all the offense the Bucks needed to pull off an upset.  In his first game back from the All-Star break Tuesday night though, he, like many of his teammates, seemed to have lost any positive momentum he had.  Salmons scored just 12 points on four of 13 shooting.  Most troubling for Salmons is a three-point stroke that has disappeared once again.  After hitting better than half his threes in January, Salmons has made just over a quarter of them in February.  Inconsistency has been his biggest enemy this season, but traditionally he starts to get a lot more consistent around this time of year.  We’ll see if that holds up again.

Advantage: Bucks

Small Forward
Carlos Delfino vs. Carmelo Anthony

Anthony may slide down to the four in his Knicks debut, depending on whether the Knicks want to start an extra guard or a center next to their big name forwards.  If ‘Melo is going to get time at the three though, he could be in line for another big night.  Anthony had his way with the Bucks’ Delfino last Wednesday, pounding him into submission during a 10-15 first half shooting performance.  The scales swung more in the Bucks favor in the second half when Luc Mbah a Moute slid down and spent time on the scoring forward, but it was too late by then.  Milwaukee may look to find a way to match up Mbah a Moute on the newest Knick earlier in this game.

Advantage: Knicks

Power Forward
Luc Mbah a Moute vs. Amar’e Stoudemire

Mbah a Moute is sure to have his hands full Wednesday night, regardless of who he is matched up with.  He’ll likely spend time on both Anthony and Stoudemire.  Either way, he’ll need a much better effort than the one he gave against the T-Wolves, when he grabbed just one defensive rebound and spent the majority of the game on the bench.  The strength and physicality of the Wolves frontline was too much for Mbah a Moute, but the Knicks lack the same strength.  They are much more finesse and play more into the hands of Mbah a Moute.  Still, he won’t have an easy night.

Advantage: Knicks

Center
Andrew Bogut vs. Ronny Turiaf

Stoudemire may move over to center and force Bogut to guard him.  Stoudemire’s speed and jump-shot would give Bogut a few problems, as he has trouble defending quicker bigs on the perimeter.  If Turiaf starts, that would play into the hands of the Bucks.  Things haven’t gone so well offensively for Bogut lately — he’s scored in double figures just one time over his past five games.  Milwaukee’s been getting him the ball adequately, but Bogut’s made just 15 of 40 shots over the past five games.  Rough numbers for ideally the centerpiece of Milwaukee’s offense.

Advantage: Bucks

Bench
Corey Maggette, Jon Brockman, Keyon Dooling and Ersan Ilyasova

vs.

Toney Douglas, Bill Walker, Shawne Williams, Renaldo Balkman and Roger Mason

It’s tough to tell just who will be apart of the Knicks rotation after their trade with Denver.  Roger Mason had been glued to the bench, but possibly could see minutes going forward.  Renaldo Balkman and Shelden Williams came over from Denver and are among the only bigs New York has left.  Corey Brewer is another new addition.  The surest bets seem Toney Douglas and Shawne Williams, both capable offensive player who leave something to be desired on the other end.  Maggette scored well against the Wolves and Brockman grabbed a career high 14 rebounds.

Advantage: Knicks

Prediction: Knicks 99 – Bucks 93

The energy in MSG by itself may be too much for the Bucks to overcome.  Add that to the actual skilled playing of ‘Melo and Stoudemire and the Bucks face a tall task in knocking off the new-look Knicks in their first game together.

Jeremy Schmidt writes the Milwaukee Bucks blog Bucksketball.com.  Follow him on Twitter.  Then become a fan on Facebook (in the sidebar).

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For the Bucks to score consistently and be a good offensive team in general, someone different has to step up every game.  That was the line on the Bucks earlier this season.  Since then, things have kind of went awry and rather than having someone step up every night, more often than not, no one has.

That’s the drawback to the Bucks model.  Players that aren’t stars won’t be as consistent about getting it done every night.  But with so many options, the theory went, everyone wouldn’t be off every night and that would balance out the inconsistencies.  But there has been no balance.  Just a lot of missed shots all season.

But Wednesday night?  Wednesday night was a little bit more like the Bucks expected this season.  It seemed to be the exception to a season long funk.  But then reality set in.  At about the same time it always does for the Bucks.  Late in the fourth quarter.

With 4:22 remaining, Milwaukee scored points 85 and 86 on a John Salmons jumper.  That would be their final field goal.  Only one Andrew Bogut free throw down the stretch prevented the Bucks from going scoreless, as they blew a lead that was as large as five points in the fourth quarter in a 94-87 loss to the Denver Nuggets Wednesday night.

Milwaukee missed its final 10 shots as the Nuggets slowly pulled away.  The Bucks saw their shooting percentage plummet from 44.3% to their final total of 38.8%.  It was a scene all too familiar to Bucks fans, even though the rest of the game seemed to be a revolution.

Brandon Jennings and Bogut were unable to find their form early, at halftime, late or ever, but players around them rose to the challenge.  Salmons in particular seemed to seize the ESPN spotlight before Milwaukee melted down. Salmons finished with his highest scoring total as a member of the Bucks, 33 points.

At about the same time he seems to do so annually, Salmons has begun to look like the guy the Bucks traded for last February.  Against the Nuggets, all those shots that had been rimming out earlier this season found the bottom of the net.  The more they did, the more confident Salmons looked.  There was no hesitation by the fourth quarter.  He attacked the hoop not worrying about anyone on the Nuggets impeding his progress and, most importantly, he finished.  At least until the finish.

Like his teammates, Salmons couldn’t find the touch down the stretch.  He finished his strong game by missing his final four shots in the last four minutes.  Prior to that, Salmons combined solid defense on one end with correct basketball plays on the other.

And when the correct play was to pass it off, the ball often found its way into the hands of Corey Maggette.  As it so often does.  And as he always does, Maggette knew what to do with it.  The Bucks forward scored 16 points off the bench in his return from a back strain that held him out of Milwaukee’s victory over the Clippers.

Thanks to the heavy lifting from Salmons and Maggette, Milwaukee was able to stay close and hold a lead for a large part of the game, even though their two stars didn’t shine.  Ultimately though, Milwaukee will only go as far as Bogut and Jennings take them.  The building blocks combined to shoot just two for 18 from the field, scoring seven points and turning the ball over four times.  All season the Bucks have been waiting for players to step up, and on a night when two did, the two guys the Bucks most rely on took a step back.

That about sums this season up.

Offense

Once again, the ball freely moved throughout the Bucks offense.  So often this season, the Bucks offense has been bogged down with too much dribbling and not enough movement.  But the Bucks crisply passed the ball from strong side to weak side, corner to corner, all over the court on Wednesday.  And as they did against the Clippers, the made shots followed along for the majority of the night.  This may make Bucks fans quiver, but it was Earl Boykins at the controls when the Bucks were playing their best.  Jennings re-entered for Boykins with 3:16 remaining and the Bucks up one.  He was unable to direct the offense as effectively as Milwaukee’s third string scoring guard.

The directing problem was most evident when Jennings spent the majority of one possession dribbling, before firing up a fadeaway jumper that missed everything as the shot-clock expired.

• Despite making some shots, the Bucks failed to make many threes.  Milwaukee finished just 3-23 from distance.

Defense

No team in the NBA wants to let a scorer like Carmelo Anthony get going early.  Unfortunately, the Bucks allowed just that against Denver.  With Ersan Ilyasova out nursing an eye injury, Luc Mbah a Moute was forced to slide on down to the four, largely keeping him from manning up with ‘Melo early.  And the big scoring forward took advantage.  He scored 12 points in the first quarter and 21 in the first half.

By the fourth quarter, Maggette slid down to the four on defense and Mbah a Moute was back hounding ‘Melo as he always does.  But a scorer like Anthony will get his if he’s allowed a good start.  Anthony finished with 38 points and 12 rebounds (seven of which came in the fourth quarter)

• So Bogut was awful on offense, we have established that.  But the big man still did his part on the defensive end and on the glass.  Despite scoring just those three measly points, Bogut finished with 20 rebounds, his third 20+ rebounding game this year.  In some ways, this game from Bogut was a perfect game to summarize this Bucks season on national television.  He looks like a legit defensive player of the year candidate very often, just like the Bucks look like one of the league’s best defensive teams.  But, um, he is a center and made one of seven shots and scored three points.  That’s often going to be the difference between winning and losing.

Final Thoughts

Milwaukee’s playing better basketball right now than they have for most of the season.  That’s a good thing.  They aren’t good at closing out games and haven’t been all season.  That’s a bad thing.  The All-Star break is here and the Bucks are 13 games under .500.  That’s a bad thing.  Milwaukee lost eight of 10 heading into the break.  That’s a bad thing.  Separately, players have been talking for some time about “now” being the time when they need to make a run.  That “now” started after a home game against San Antonio last month and has now extended to Wednesday evening.  At some point “now” will pass the Bucks bye.

It may already have.

Jeremy Schmidt writes the Milwaukee Bucks blog Bucksketball.com.  Follow him on Twitter.  Then become a fan on Facebook (in the sidebar).

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Denver Nuggets (George Karl) 10-6
Inactive: Kenyon Martin

Date: 12/01/2010
Time: 8:00 PM (CST)
TV: FS Wisconsin

Enemy: Roundball Mining Company

Point Guard
Brandon Jennings vs. Chauncey Billups

Before playing the actual best point guards in the league last season, Jennings said Billups was actually the best point guard in the league.  Then he put 30 on Billups and hasn’t said such nonsense since.  No, Billups isn’t the best point guard and actually, the 34-year-old Billups may no longer be better than Jennings.  Everyone assumes Jennings is the least reliable shot making point guard in the league (and by everyone, of course I mean me), but Billups is giving Jennings a run for his money.  Chauncey has hit just 36.6% of his shots this season and only 34.9% of his threes, both worse numbers than Jennings has produced.  And, despite playing in the up-tempo Nuggets offense (third in the league in pace), Billups is averaging just 4.9 assists per game against 2.7 turnovers.  Perhaps Billups is no longer the best fit for an offense that seems to thrive with a quick point guard like his backup Ty Lawson.  Oddly enough, he may be a better fit for a slower team like the Bucks while Jennings could thrive in a more open court game like the one the Nuggets play.  Oh well.

Advantage: Milwaukee

Shooting Guard
John Salmons vs. Arron Afflalo

Salmons is second on the Bucks in minutes and has to be close to last in effectiveness this season.  Now that both Chris Douglas-Roberts and Corey Maggette are healthy, will Salmons still continue to see more than 30-minutes-per-game?  Defensively he’s far better than either CD-R or Maggette, so I wouldn’t be on a significant minute drop, but it certainly is something to keep an eye on.  Another one for 11 outing like he had in Utah won’t do his cause any favors.  Afflalo has been a very accurate shooter from deep and everywhere else this season, hitting 43.4% of his shots from three and 50.4% from the field overall.  He’s also a plus defender.  More or less, he’s everything I’d like for Luc Mbah a Moute to be some day.  But I dream … I dream.

Advantage: Denver (unless last season’s Salmons shows up)

Small Forward
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute vs. Carmelo Anthony

Anthony is fighting the flu, which is a much more difficult opponent than the Milwaukee Bucks at this point in the season.  ‘Melo told the Denver Post he would try and give it a go against the Bucks, but isn’t sure if he’ll be able to play.  I’m willing to bet he plays and scores around 20 points, but isn’t his typical effective self on the glass.  Mbah a Moute won’t make it easy for him offensively, but he will make it easy for him on offense.  If Anthony is truly ill, it would be nice to see Mbah a Moute crashing the glass especially hard on the offensive end to make him work.  That’s a real strength of Mbah a Moute and I’m sure he’ll be active.

Advantage: Denver

Power Forward
Larry Sanders vs. Shelden Williams

Here comes a battle you’ll never forget.  Actually, if Williams could get more minutes, his numbers might be fairly impressive.  That’s always been the problem with Williams though, he’s not good enough at anything to actually deserve more than 15 minutes-per-game.  He’s capitalizing on Kenyon Martin’s absence right now and producing a little bit, but he’ll soon enough be back at home on the end of the bench when Martin returns.  Sanders struggled horribly with boxing out against the Jazz and failed to make much of an impact at all.  I don’t expect the same problems against a significantly less talented matchup in this one.  Still, Williams is a more reliable for six points and six rebounds at this stage in his career than Sanders.  Less foul prone too.

Advantage: Nuggets

Center
Ersan Ilyasova vs. Nene Hilario

Hilario could be the Bucks biggest problem Wednesday night.  His offensive rating this season is a powerful 125 this season and he’s been a force around the rim, finishing on 74.5% of his attempts.  Surprisingly, Nene has attempted just eight shots per game this season.  For a player as efficient and dominant around the hoop as he is, he sure doesn’t get many looks.  If he’s able to use his size, strength and quickness advantages to wreak havoc on the offensive glass the way Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson did the other night, he could be in store for a lot of easy buckets at the rim or free throws as a result.  Ilyasova’s jumper has been on lately and Milwaukee will need his hot streak to continue.  Over the past three, he’s shooting 48.4%, which isn’t great for a power forward/center, but he balances that out by hitting 46.1% of his threes over that time span, averaging 16.3 points and 8.7 rebounds.  That is the shooting Milwaukee expects out of their stretch four.

Advantage: Nuggets

Bench
Keyon Dooling, Corey Maggette, Chris Douglas-Roberts and Earl Boykins

vs.

Al Harrington, J.R. Smith, Ty Lawson and Chris Anderson

Take another look at the Nuggets bench.  Wow.  They have a boatload of offensive talent on their second unit and could do some big time damage against the Bucks backups, even if Maggette is ready to go.  Milwaukee would benefit a ton from a strong game from Dooling, who hasn’t had many of those this season.  Smith is ready to explode at any moment and Lawson uses his speed and quickness very well inside of the Nuggets high octane offense.

Advantage: Nuggets

Prediction: Nuggets 108 – Bucks 93

This may not be pretty.  Without Bogut, Milwaukee doesn’t have its defensive anchor to stop the high powered Nuggets offense.  Denver can beat a team from the outside or inside, and the rebounding problems Milwaukee had against Utah seem to indicate that they are ripe for exposure inside again.  The Bucks were able to stick with the Jazz for three quarters thanks largely to some hot shooting that they couldn’t sustain.  Milwaukee isn’t likely to shoot as well from downtown as they did for the first three quarters of the Jazz game, but it’s possible they could rebound better.  If they can do that and have a less offensive offensive output than they typically do, this may not be the blowout I’m envisioning.  But why should anyone suspect the Bucks shoot better than 40% at this point?

Jeremy Schmidt writes the Milwaukee Bucks blog Bucksketball.com.  Follow him on Twitter.  Become a fan on Facebook (in the sidebar).

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In terms of the Bucks, the “what is” is shaping up to be a pretty enjoyable 2010-11 season. But what if it could be more. What if it could really be something special? What if one move could get Milwaukee that much closer to a spot in the Eastern Conference Finals or even, dare I say, a chance to compete with Miami?

I can’t help myself, so I’ll indulge this one time.

As a one season rental, isn’t there a pretty compelling case to be made for Carmelo Anthony to the Milwaukee Bucks?

Even when indulging in an exercise like this, I’m still somewhat grounded in reality, so I’m not saying Anthony could ever want to stay in Milwaukee for more than a season. Not when New York is flaunting its wears so prominently. Not when Chris Paul toys with the idea of joining ‘Melo there on their own super team. Free agency has never been Milwaukee’s game any way. But the trade market has often been good to the Bucks.

Realistically, the Bucks can make a compelling offer to Denver. Milwaukee is loaded with young talent and has the ultimate facilitator in these situations, a guy whose new last name is Expiring Contract in Michael Redd. Package Redd with Ersan Ilyasova, Chris Douglas-Roberts and a first round pick and that’s a good start. Maybe swap Ilyasova for Larry Sanders or find a way to get Luc Richard Mbah a Moute involved and we might have legit intrigue from Camp Denver.  Assets shouldn’t be the issue if Denver decides to part ways with Anthony.  The bigger question would be whether the potential gains that come with acquiring Anthony for what would likely be one season outweigh the cost.

The Bucks are more or less locked in for the next four years at every position but the three.  And while they have a number of options at small forward, none of them are the package, namely the scorer, Anthony is.

Those free throw problems the Bucks had last season are right now in the hands of Corey Maggette, but wouldn’t everyone feel a lot better if Anthony was the one taking care of them? His smooth jumper and winning pedigree would ease many of the concerns people have about Maggette’s fit.  While Anthony demands the ball, his awareness and feel for the game is superior to Maggette’s. He just fits on the court in a five-on-five setting better Maggette’s own efficiency numbers are impeccable, but it can come at the price of team efficiency. Anthony doesn’t have that cost.

The infusion of Anthony would allow Maggette to thrive as a role player and make the Bucks starting five down right formidable, while leaving the Bucks with no more questions defensively than they have now.

And Anthony can slide right into Michael Redd’s salary slot to leave the Bucks financially no worse for the wear.

But would Anthony disrupt chemistry? On the court, he’s no more a risk to the team than Maggette.  In the locker room he’s likely a much more commanding presence than the Bucks have had to deal with in some time, but Milwaukee seems to have a group that’s all on the same page as their coach. That goes a long way towards harmony regardless of who is coming in and out. So long as a coach has his guys on his page, whether they are all best friends or not, they should work well together. And when a team’s two most established stars, in this case Andrew Bogut and Brandon Jennings, are buying what the organization is selling, that goes a long way.

It’s all too perfect. But fairy tales usually are. The thought of Carmelo Anthony coming to Milwaukee during a Bucks playoff run is as crazy as a Cy Young winner joining the Brewers during a playoff push.

Hmm.

I guess sometimes, fairy tales do come true.

Jeremy Schmidt writes the Milwaukee Bucks blog Bucksketball.com

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After intensity lagged considerably against the Clippers and Kings, one could only assume things had to get better against the Nuggets for the Bucks Saturday.  Unfortunately, they were coming off a double overtime game Friday night, got to their hotel around four in the morning Milwaukee time and were facing a team with the third best home record in the league.  So this one was over before it started.

I mean, you just can’t expect to write the Bucks off so easily and then not have them win.  That’s just not how they roll.

Forgive me for sounding like a broken record lately, but once again, the Bucks have another win that can be placed on the pedestal as “their best win of the year”.  That’s becoming a recurring theme, no?  Beat the Cavs, (still a good win even if they were without Lebron James) best win of the year.  A full strength Celtics team drops one to the Bucks: Milwaukee’s best win of the year.  The scorching hot Jazz can’t topple the Bucks either?  That was the best win of the year.  Regardless of which win was your personal favorite or which one should stand out as the signature on what’s becoming a thrill ride of a Bucks season, they all count for one and they’re all sending the same message: these Milwaukee Bucks are for real.

I will say I enjoy the road wins a little more, especially the ones against upper-echelon teams.  For so long the Bucks have been automatic losses when heading into opponents territory, even as recently as earlier this season.  Now the Bucks have a fighting chance wherever they go.  Scott Skiles said earlier this year that he thought it’d take 15 road wins for this team to make it to the playoffs.  As he was saying that he was pining for a signature road win too.  He wanted to beat a real legit team on their court, probably for the sake of his own guys’ mentality.  If they want to win in the playoffs, they’re going to have to beat some playoff teams on the road.  As recently as Saturday morning, the Bucks still hadn’t proven to themselves that they could do that.

Well, they finally did it Saturday night.  Even sweeter?  They did it in their 15^th road win.  Playoffs … playoffs … playoffs …

Offense

The strategy this season has been simple: get the ball to Andrew Bogut. So what happens when Bogut’s saddled with foul trouble like he was Saturday night?  Simple, just ride John Salmons and Carlos Delfino. What was once the Bucks biggest weakness, wing scoring, turned into their saving grace against the Nuggets.  Salmons finished with 26 points (8-16 FG 1-1 3FG 9-9 FT) and hit all six free-throws he attempted in the fourth quarter.  When it got down to the nitty gritty, Salmons didn’t fold up.  That’s a great sign for the Bucks going forward and whether he can do that consistently will have a lot to do with how far they go this year.

Delfino may have missed his final two free-throws that would have iced it, but that was about the only thing he screwed up all night.  The Argentinian finished with 21 points (6-11 FG 4-5 3FG 5-8 FT) and seven rebounds – all while shadowing Carmelo Anthony at the other end for the majority of the game.

• After stepping out of the spotlight and into the shadows for the last two games, the Bucks bench was back at it Saturday night.  Milwaukee’s reserves chipped in 32 points in Denver after scoring just 17 Friday night against the Kings.  Ersan Ilyasova did the heaviest lifting again with 14 points and 10 rebounds, but the Bucks got big contributions from Kurt Thomas (five points and six boards, while mixing in timely defense and one big assist to Ers) and Luke Ridnour (11 points on 5-8 FG).  Balance is a friend of the Bucks and the more it’s embraced, they better they play.

• The very same Milwaukee Bucks that couldn’t shoot the Clippers out of a zone last Wednesday have now 23 of 51 (45 %) threes in their last two games.  A good barometer of the Bucks shooting prowess is often Delfino and his 4-5 effort from deep in the Bucks win Saturday was as huge as his absence in the loss Wednesday.

Defense

20-62.  That’s the combined makes and attempts for Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups and J.R. Smith against the Bucks.  For those that aren’t math whizzes, that means Milwaukee held three of Denver’s best offensive players to 32% shooting.  The collective efforts of Delfino, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Salmons, Brandon Jennings and Thomas were terrific.  With Bogut’s minutes limited due to foul trouble, the Bucks were allowing more offensive rebounds than they usually do, but somehow were able to keep it together defensively.  I’ll give a lot of credit to the wing players for their effort on Billups and Anthony, but it’s hard for me to quantify Kurt Thomas’ impact.  He was clogging up the middle on defense and being physical with the Nuggets.  That makes a huge difference.  The team that showed up for the Bucks Saturday and brought buckets of defensive intensity, physicality and effort is a lot closer to the team the Bucks will be come playoff time.

• The Nuggets shoot a lot of free-throws and the Bucks are a very aggressive defensive team.  That spelled disaster heading into Saturday’s game and played out as everyone expected.  Denver shot 30-38 from the free-throw line while the Bucks were just 23-28.  Considering Milwaukee was out-fouling Denver 14-5 at one point that isn’t such a big difference.  The Bucks seem to be getting better at this as the season’s gone on and the acquisition of Salmons has only helped.  He’s denying the straight line penetration guys like Tyreke Evans and Carmelo Anthony could have got earlier this year.

Final Thoughts

After a 2-1 trip out West, Milwaukee now has five straight at home.  That’s a big deal.  Milwaukee’s been incredibly tough to beat in Milwaukee and have got to be flying high after the big wins against Sacramento and Denver.  I can only imagine that the Bucks suspect they’re the third best team in the East and a team with that sort of confidence and their defensive intensity is dangerous.  And fun too.  For proof that these guys are having a blast right now we need look no further than Scott Skiles after Saturday’s improbable win.  Rarely will you see him so much as crack a smile, but Skiles was slapping his guys on the back and on the receiving end of a headlock from Carlos Delfino.

It reminded me of the 2001 season, when Tim Thomas grew so fond of rubbing George Karl’s head after wins.  Those were good times.

And so are these.

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A trait you’ll often see in the best point guards is the ability to know when to get others involved and when to take shots themselves.  Often, early in the game they like to get their teammates involved, get them in rhythm and comfortable.  If the other guys are feeling it, that makes a point guard’s night much easier.  As the game goes on the best point guards may take things upon themselves a little bit more though, if things are getting tense and the team needs a big basket or two, the greats have always had the ability to turn the meter to 11 and guide their team to victory.  So what’s the best way to explain what Brandon Jennings did against Denver?

First quarter:  0 points 4 assists

Fourth quarter: 14 points 0 assists

He knew when it was time for him to take over.

Offense

• Jennings led the Bucks with 32 points, nine assists, four rebounds and one clutch play after the next to keep the Bucks ahead in the fourth.  With four minutes to go and the Bucks up one, Jennings hit two threes a minute apart before sinking six free throws in the last 20 seconds to seal the deal for Milwaukee.  What was even more impressive was his demeanor at the line.  Jennings was laughing and yucking it up … in a two point game!  He looked like he was shooting around with his friends!  Brandon on the second three he hit in the fourth and the free throws:

I was feeling it from the first one and I knew it was in once it left my hands.  Before the game I try and get (to the Bradley Center) early and shoot about a hundred free throws before the game starts.  I hit a lot, about 90.

• Jennings wasn’t the only Buck on Wednesday night.   Andew Bogut continued his stretch of stellar play, dropping 23 and 10 to go along with four blocks and a steal.  Nene had nothing for Bogut, who was getting great looks from Jennings early and showing off his soft touch all game.  In the third quarter Bogut got tangled up with Carmelo Anthony (and the most foolish double technical ever was issued, really Bogut fouled Anthony who was very frustrated (more on that later) and then Anthony shoved him, but he’s ‘Melo so it was a double tech) and it looked like the tides might be turning as the game got more physical.  But Bogut led the Bucks through a potential rough patch, finishing the quarter with six points and four rebounds.  When it got physical Bogut never backed down.  His presence as a leader was clear.

• Off the bench, Ersan Ilyasova contributed 17 points and eight rebounds.  On his first three pointer, Kenyon Martin didn’t even bother getting a hand up to defend him.  It was almost like K-Mart had no idea who this was or that he could shoot.  Ersan made them pay the rest of the game, finishing 3-3 from behind the arc and 5-8 overall.  The Bucks bench surprisingly outscored the Nuggets backups 35-25 thanks to Ersan and ten points out of Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. But LRMAM’s biggest contribution came on the other side of the ball.

Defense

• LRMAM hasn’t been great this year.  He’d looked a bit out of sorts, he looked like he was worrying about his jumper some, he looked a little bit lost before tonight.  But against Carmelo Anthony, one of the best offensive players in the league, LRMAM looked right at home.  I kept track of the Bucks work on Anthony all night, and here’s what I came out with:

Not a bad effort out of the guy Bucks fans are hyping as one of the better defender in the league.  This is exactly why we fans are so high on LRMAM.  Not only was he able to get him off his game, he got in Anthony’s feelings a little bit too (actually, on the technical Brandon Jennings and ‘Melo began talking at half court.  When I asked Jennings what was said he replied, “I just told him to calm down.  I said hey, that’s my teammate, you can’t be hurting him.  ‘Melo’s a cool guy, we got that Oak Hill connection).  There were a few times Anthony was obviously frustrated by LRMAM’s defense and the refs lack of bail out calls that resulted in him forcing shots or turning it over.  LRMAM wouldn’t take the credit though:

Those guys (Carmelo) only get frustrated for a minute and then their confidence goes back up.  You just have to try and slow them down and keep frustrating and keep frustrating them.  You have to try and keep them from catching it where they want to, it’s a whole team thing.  We did a great job  playing team defense and getting stops when we needed.

• Bogut didn’t take any charges in this one, but he blocked four shots with authority and led a Bucks team that out rebounded the Nuggets 46-37.  The Bucks strength in the paint was a big reason they were able to control this one from start to finish.  In Chicago on Tuesday night, the Nuggets dominated points in the paint 46-34.  Against the Bucks they still won that category, but only 44-40.  The Bucks gave up nothing easy inside.

• Alas, not all news is good news.  The Bucks were the last team in the NBA to allow their opposition to reach 100 points in a game.  But when the opposition shoots 39% in doing so, I guess even Scott Skiles will live with that.

Was this a big win?  I’d say.  Now 4-2, the Bucks hadn’t beaten anyone significant heading into Wednesday night’s win.  Now?  They have a bit of a feather for their cap. Skiles talked about dominating at home before last Saturday’s game against New York and to do that, it’s important to blow out the bad teams and beat the good teams.  This is a step in the right direction.  When asked if this was a statement game Jennings started saying yes, but stopped in his tracks to re-phrase what this win means:

Well, actually tonight was just a big game for us.  It’s a team that went to the Western Conference finals last year and we wanted to come in here and prove that we’re able to compete with those types of teams.  Bogut played a hell of a game tonight.  Hey, if he keeps doing that we’ll keep winning a lot of game.

And if you keep putting up 32 and 9, the games may start to mean more and more.

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(Likely) Inactives: Johan Petro

At

Milwaukee Bucks (Scott Skiles) 3-2

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

Game Time: 7:00

TV: Fox Sports Wisconsin

Match-ups

Point Guard

Brandon Jennings vs. Chauncey Billups

Billups is the ideal result of any combo point guard in the league.  He bounced around, people weren’t sure if he was a scorer or a passer, but he figured things out about six years into his career.  The idea of Chauncey Billups is probably as intimidating as any match-up for point guards in the league.  Billups is the go-to-guy whenever someone is describing a veteran, muscley, big, winning point guard.  Upon arriving in Denver last year, Billups changed the culture and held players accountable as defenders and teammates.  At 33, Billups is still going strong thanks to a game that relies on strength and smarts rather than speed.  Jennings will learn a lot by watching the tape of this one when it’s done.

Advantage: Nuggets

Shooting Guard

Charlie Bell vs. Aaron Afflalo

Bell and Afflalo essentially need to be the same player.  Both are expected to play good defense and hit open shots.  Neither really needs to create much and both have someone more capable of providing offense backing them up.  They are simply counted on to be more consistent (if less explosive) than the guys backing them up and keep the ball moving.  They both fill their roles fairly well and will likely see decreases in playing time as “Earl” (I’ll explain in the bench section) and Jodie Meeks get more acclimated to this season.

Advantage: Nuggets

Small Forward

Carlos Delfino vs. Carmelo Anthony

If the season were to end right now, it Anthony would be on the short list of names on the MVP ballot.  Anthony ranks third in the league in PER, second in scoring, second in field goals, free throws made and attempted.  On top of all of this, Anthony has cut his turnovers by nearly one per game.  His offensive rating is an all time  high ten points higher than his defensive (118-108).  Simply put, Anthony is a beast this year.  Carlos Delfino is not, but he did hit two threes in the first quarter against the Knicks, so he’s got that going for him.  I’d expect Delfino to see fewer minutes than Luc Richard Mbah a Moute in this one though, as long as LRMAM performs like last year’s LRMAM and not the struggling version that has shown up this year.  LRMAM may give the Bucks a better chance of slowing the powerhouse Anthony regardless of which version shows up.

Advantage: Nuggets (I emphasize ADVANTAGE here too)

Power Forward

Hakim Warrick vs. Kenyon Martin

Martin is a stronger more ideal version of Hakim Warrick.  Or at least he was.  Martin is not the athlete he once was and shoots an ever increasing amount of perimeter jumpers with varying degrees of success.  Martin has taken more shots from 16-23 feet this year than he’s taken at the rim.  The Martin of six or seven years ago was much better offensively, but Martin hasn’t lost much on defense.  Martin can still catch lobs and throw down in traffic, but not with the same regularity he once did after two serious knee surgeries.  Warrick’s dunks have been a terrific source of energy time and again for the Bucks and he’s been crashing the boards on offense with great regularity.

Advantage: Nuggets

Center

Andrew Bogut vs. Nene

Nene lead the league last year in true shooting percentage (takes into account two’s, three’s and free throws) and, remarkably, is doing even better in this category this season.  The biggest difference in Bogut and Nene’s offense is that Nene gets to the line more and converts at a higher rate.  He’s taken 28 more free throws than Bogut and shoots at a rate that is nearly 20% better.  Nene is fourth in the league in free throw attempts per field goal attempts.  Nene is also a great athlete able to run the floor and stay with the up-tempo Nuggets.  Plus he beat cancer, which is extra cool.  This will be a very good test for Bogut after a few strong games in a row.

Advantage: Nuggets

Bench

Luke Ridnour, Jodie Meeks, LRMAM, Ersan Ilyasova and Dan Gadzuric

vs.

“Earl” Smith III, Ty Lawson, Anthony Carter, Chris Anderson

Who is “Earl” Smith III?  J.R. Smith has emerged from his season opening seven game suspension with a supposed new outlook and a request for a new name.  J.R. wants to be referred to as “Earl III” from now on (it’s his given name).  I will acquiesce to his request.  Call him what you may, he’s part of a very talented Nugget bench.  Smith can put up 40 on any given night, Ty Lawson is one of two rookie point guards with a higher PER than Brandon Jennings and Chris Anderson is one of the best rebounders and shot blockers that doesn’t start in the entire league.  The Bucks counter with their five deep rotation of defenders and role players.

Advantage: Nuggets

Prediction: Bucks 103 – Nuggets 107

This one may be a wake-up call for the Bucks after a couple of teams that looked like they would have problems scoring in an empty gym in Minnesota and New York.  The Nuggets are third in the league in offensive rating (though sure to drop after a poor performance in a win in Chicago Tuesday) and seventh in pace.  This year they’ve had games in which they’ve scored 133, 111 and 122.  They get up and down and score with efficiency.  It all starts with Anthony.  ‘Melo dropped 33 on the Bucks in their meeting last February and got to the free throw line 16 times.  That’s been a problem for the Bucks again this year and should be a focus for the Nuggets.  The Bucks showed they do have some scoring punch against the Knicks and they’ll need all of it against a not-so-great defensively Nuggets team to keep up.

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