Defense Not Necessary: Bucks 114 – Knicks 107

February 6, 2010

Box Score/Recap

(Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images) Hak' = Dunk

(Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images) Hak' = Dunk

New York’s basketball team isn’t typically apart of my basketball viewing schedule.  They aren’t on national television very often and when they are I tend to look the other way.  I’m not big on teams that have gutted their roster in order to pursue free agents.    While I generally liked Mike D’Antoni’s Suns teams, I know the Knicks can’t be as efficient, mainly because they have few shooters and even less competent point guards.  Plus they play even less defense than those Suns teams did.  There’s a word that I can’t think of right now that would describe them aptly I assumed, but I had little proof since I never watched them.  But I had high hopes for the Bucks on Friday night coming into their game on Broadway.

Then Andrew Bogut got hurt.  So I went from hopeful that the Bucks would be able to leave the Big Apple with a win, to downtrodden that Bogut’s injury might be more than a migraine.  My thought process went something like this:

Migraine?  What?  He’s never had migraines before.  Didn’t he just take a charge a minute or two ago?  Is this another back injury?  Will we see Bogut again this season?  Is his career in jeopardy?

So that may have been an overreaction.  Call me a little snake bit after years of injury problems that seem to never end and spread across the roster.  Bogut walked out fine, no limp, no slouch, no teammates dragging his body to the locker room, so I’ll operate going forward under the assumption that all is well.  As for Friday night’s game, I thought of the word I was looking for and it isn’t even very fancy.  Simply put, the Knicks are defenseless. Read More »

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Wade and A Bunch of Guys: Bucks 97 – Heat 81

February 1, 2010

Recap/Box Score

In front of what appeared to be only close friends and relatives of both teams, it was very clear that the Miami Heat can be boiled down to two parts: Dwyane Wade and a bunch of guys.  Just as clear Monday night was that the Bucks continue their recent uptick in play and are looking more and more like a team that has begun to figure things out.  I’ve been contesting that the Bucks have looked like a much better team since an overtime loss on Martin Luther King Jr. Day at Houston and the numbers don’t lie.

In the eight games starting with the loss at Houston, the Bucks are 5-3 with a +7.5 scoring margin.  One of the biggest reasons for the recent Bucks miniature surge has simply been consistent offense.  All season long the Bucks have played stifling defense, but have struggled to put the ball through the rim on the other end.  Andrew Bogut has averaged 20.4 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game, but the most important statistic for Bogut has been his 68 percent shooting.  All year he’s been pretty good for the Bucks, but he’s only been hitting around half it shots, which is a little below average for a seven-footer as talented as he.  The 68 percent shooting provides the Bucks a solid base for their attack.

(Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images) This is a confident bunch right here. Except Jodie Meeks, he's just kind of there.

(Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images) This is a confident bunch right here. Except Jodie Meeks, he's just kind of there.

Monday night, Bogut was again the focal point for the Bucks.  After missing their first 10 shots, the Bucks were able to find Bogut for a few easy ones to get them going.  Bogut finished the first quarter with eight, the Bucks finished the quarter with the lead and the Heat were just about finished, as they made only cursory runs the rest of the way.  I guess that’s what happens when Wade has a bad night, because Milwaukee has now seen D-Wade twice this year when he’s been off and the rest of the Heat haven’t responded kindly to their stars struggles. Read More »

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Turning Superhuman into Super Human: Defending Dwyane Wade

January 31, 2010

6-20 for 21 points.  That was Dwyane Wade’s final shooting line Saturday night and that was probably everything the Bucks could have asked for.  That sort of night out of a player like Wade is part good defense and part good luck, but probably more good defense than we realize.  I took the time to break down every one of Wade’s shots and so I could see how the Bucks had such success against one of the better players in the NBA today.  Enjoy.

(There’s a synopsis of the whole thing at the end if you don’t want to wade through it all.  Get it, wade through? Ah, I do what I can.)

(Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images) Wade did not have a happy (second) homecoming this year.

(Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images) Wade did not have a happy (second) homecoming this year.

1-1: Wade catches it coming off a Jermaine O’Neal screen and then gets another screen from O’Neal off the dribble.  He’s able to take it right a back pedaling Andrew Bogut and hit a floater without a hand in his face.  When Wade’s isolated against Bogut like that it’s obviously not going to favor the Bucks very often.  Bogut isn’t quick enough with his hands to be able to contest a Wade shot without being susceptible to a fake and dunk combo. Read More »

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Two With Toronto: Games 40 and 41

January 20, 2010

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 »

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Bucks Lose More Than A Game To Lakers: Lakers 95 – Bucks 77

January 11, 2010

It’s hard to even be concerned about a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on the road.  That talent disparity is too great and the road troubles too significant for the current version of the Milwaukee Bucks.

But it isn’t hard to be concerned about another knee injury to Michael Redd.

Either on his jump or on his landing on what looked to be a shot attempted but ended up as a pass in the second quarter, Redd went down and didn’t come back up.  The left knee is the same knee he tore his ACL and MCL in last January and gave him soreness earlier this year that required some time off.  Whether this is as serious as the latter or another patella strain remains to be seen, but it’s generally not a good sign when a player needs to be helped back to the locker room as Redd did. Read More »

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