Once again, the good folks at Stubhub.com have been generous enough to provide Bucksketball.com with some Bucks tickets to giveaway to our readers.

In the comments section of this post, leave your prediction for tonight’s Bucks-Nets game.  Final score and both team’s top scorers.  The winner will receive FOUR tickets to Sunday’s Bucks-Knicks game in section 111, row GGG.

Don’t feel any pressure to pick Milwaukee either.  If you think they’ll lose, then you think they’ll lose.  I’m looking for the closest pick, not the homeriest pick (yes, I made that word up).

Onto a few quick notes about tonight’s game.
Read more…

Box Score/Recap/Enemy

Shoot, miss, rebound, score, repeat.  That was the game plan for the Utah Jazz apparently Saturday night in Milwaukee.

With no one doing much on the glass for the Milwaukee Bucks, the Jazz took full advantage and grabbed 14 offensive rebounds leading to 25 second chance points in a game that looked an awful lot like the one the Jazz won against the Bucks in Utah earlier this season.  The result was the same Saturday, just a little less lopsided, as the Jazz beat the Bucks 95-86.

Milwaukee actually outplayed Utah for the majority of the first half, but saw things start to slip away as the second quarter ended and what had been an 11 point lead with under five minutes to go turned into just a three point halftime lead.  Things officially began to spiral out of control in the third quarter.  Milwaukee was able to grab just three rebounds in the entire third quarter, while the Jazz had five on the offensive end alone.  Utah scored 10 second chance points in the third quarter and flipped Milwaukee’s three point halftime lead into a three point lead of their own.

One would expect the Jazz’s talented inside combo of Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson to cause problems off the glass, but it was the rangy forward Andrei Kirilenko who gave Milwaukee the most problems, grabbing four offensive rebounds with a variety of snags, tips and touches that the Bucks had no answer for.

The 12 extra shots Utah accumulated more than made up for the shooting percentage difference when it was all said and done.  Utah chose their shots wisely too.  The Jazz attempted 12 more shots inside the paint than Milwaukee, outscoring the Bucks inside 32-28 despite hitting just 16/40 shots inside.  But all night, it was quantity for Utah over quality. Read more…

Enemy: Salt City Hoops

Point Guard
Brandon Jennings vs. Deron Williams

Williams is coming off a rough night in New Orleans against arch-rival Chris Paul. The Jazz fell to the Hornets by 29 and Williams was held to just 10 points and five assists.  Surely, he’ll be looking to right the ship in Milwaukee.  Jennings was instrumental in the Bucks fourth quarter comeback in San Antonio, but was unfortunately just as instrumental in the Bucks needing a comeback.  He made just four of 18 shots against the Spurs, lacking the touch he’d shown frequently in the games before.  Jennings is getting closer and closer to a reliable 40% shooter, which, when compared to his first season, isn’t such a bad thing.  Especially for a 21-year-old.

Advantage: Jazz Read more…

Recap/Box Score/Enemy

Earl Watson, a 20% 3-point shooter on the season, banked in a three at the first half buzzer that had Bucks fans on Twitter wondering why it seemed one team after the next has hit buzzer beating shots against the Bucks this year.  Sometimes, it seems like this team is unlucky.

But, really, we all know better.

Luck does play a part in basketball, but it takes a backseat to execution and hard work.  Milwaukee’s often had the latter this season, but has constantly battled the former.

Monday’s 109-88 loss to the Utah Jazz was no exception.  No, this isn’t the same Bucks team that limped into game 17 just 6-10 overall, but it’s probably a much weaker squad, even if they did upend the Charlotte Bobcats on Saturday..  One dealing with injuries to Andrew Bogut, Drew Gooden, Corey Maggette and Carlos Delfino. The “Backup Bucks” were over-matched Monday night, but didn’t do themselves any favors.

Milwaukee was brutalized on the glass, allowing 16 offensive rebounds and seeing themselves get out-rebounded 48 to 26.  Part of that was the significant size advantage the Jazz were working with, but some of that is effort too.  Milwaukee missed a number of box outs, a completely inexcusable offense for a team that knows they are operating undersized.  Milwaukee struggles enough shooting the ball and has had their share of problems defending without Bogut, the last thing they can afford to do is give their opponents second chances.  On top of those issues, Milwaukee was unable to capitalize on a turnover advantage.  Utah scored eight points off just 12 Milwaukee turnovers, while the Bucks only tallied nine points off Utah’s 20 turnovers.  That’s a painfully accurate summary of Milwaukee’s inability to execute.

What could have been a five point halftime deficit turned into eight on Watson’s lucky three.  But that was the only thing that was lucky Monday night. Read more…

Recap/Box Score

I was driving home to get ready for the game Friday night when I couldn’t help but find myself thinking of my prediction for the evening.  I had the Bucks losing by one.  The Jazz had been so good as of late and the Bucks seemed to be due to drop one.  But it was gnawing at me a little bit.  I couldn’t help but think of the number nine.  The Bucks had only lost nine home games coming into their tilt with the Jazz Friday night, and the number nine is even a little bit deceiving.

The Mavericks (Dirk), Lakers (Kobe) and Kings (Tyreke Evans) all barely escaped the BC with wins early in the season thanks to last second heroics.  Milwaukee was in position to win and got unlucky at the buzzer.  The Magic came to Milwaukee while Andrew Bogut was down with a leg injury and won by two.  That’s four losses that don’t really bother me.

So coming into Friday night’s game, 63 games into the season, the Bucks had five legit home losses, each coming before the arrival of John Salmons and after the clock had struck midnight on Brandon Jennings great start.

But Salmons is here, Jennings has gone from prince to pauper to pro and the Bucks showed me the error in my thinking.  This was a very good home team early in the season, but now I’ll be shocked when (if?) they drop another in Milwaukee.  The fans had the BC as loud as it’s been in years Friday night and the Bucks rewarded their loyalty by closing out the second (or third) best team in the West.

The home locker room in Milwaukee seems to have the obligatory quiet confidence (well, loud confidence in Jennings’ case) in their group to know they won’t be losing at home the rest of this season.  To be honest, they know a lot more about the team than I do, so who am I to argue? Read more…