I’m in the process of finishing John Devaney’s book on a season with the 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks, Alcindor And The Big O: A Season’s Diary.  It’s a diary about the whole team, but much of it centers on the two most important pieces of that season’s NBA Champion Bucks squad.  He discusses how Lew Alcindor (more famously known as Kareem Abdul-Jabar) and Oscar Robertson were able to feed off each other and help lead the Bucks to their title.

At one point, Devaney remarks that he’d once heard someone mention that the two stars formed a symbiosis.  A symbiosis is the intimate living together of two dissimilar organisms in a mutually beneficial relationship.

Kind of like Brandon Jennings and Andrew Bogut?

Now before you put your fist through your keyboard typing out an angry e-mail or comment, I assure your, I’m not comparing either Jennings or Bogut to Robertson or Kareem.  Again I’M NOT COMPARING JENNINGS TO ROBERTSON AND BOGUT TO KAREEM.  But that doesn’t mean they cannot operate in a similar fashion.  The Bucks strategy with Kareem and Oscar was simple: get it to Kareem and if he’s getting doubled let Oscar create until he’s doubled and can kick it out to the shooters.  They played off each other and were able to blow away the competition and take each other to the next level.

In a similar fashion, the Bucks try to run everything they do through Bogut first.  He’s option 1 and 1A if you will.  Teams have gotten wise to this and have been quick to double team him lately.  When he’s getting doubled, Jennings frequently is in charge of probing the defense and getting the Bucks another shot, even if it’s frequently his own (errant) shot.  Often Jennings will resort to an unsuccessful drive just to open things up for Bogut by drawing his man.  Make no mistake, this offense runs through Bogut and Jennings.

And they work well together while running it.  The Bogut-Jennings pick and roll has been a season long staple of the Bucks offense and when Jennings is finding Bogut he’s often left with some of his easiest shots.  Bogut’s career year has certainly been the result of his own hard work, but don’t downplay Jennings role in it. Read more…

Milwaukee Bucks (Scott Skiles) 8-4

(Likely) Inactives: Joe Alexander, Andrew Bogut, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute

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New Orleans Hornets ( Jeff Bower) 6-9

(Likely) Inactives: Chris Paul, Ike Diogu, Hilton Armstrong

Date: 11/25/2009

Game time: 7:00 (CST)

TV: FS Wisconsin

Point Guard

Brandon Jennings vs. Darren Collison

I don’t want to be in Darren Collison’s shoes Wednesday night.  Jennings is coming off a 6-21 effort against one of the best defensive teams of the past decade.  He’s shown in the past that he’ll use negatives as motivation.  The Hornets have the second wort defensive rating in the league, so don’t expect Collison to have the best help in dealing with an angry, motivated Jennings.  On the plus side, Collison is probably the Hornets best perimeter defender, if not already their best overall defender.  Whether he is or isn’t, he probably has seen plenty of point guards in his four years at UCLA and through his 11 games in the NBA, so while Jennings may not surprise him, he should still prove quite a handful for the rookie.

Advantage: Bucks Read more…