Can Delfino get it going with Bogut out?

Contrary to popular belief, the Bucks season is not over.  Nor does the NBA delay the start of the playoffs until Andrew Bogut is healthy.  And don’t expect a first round bye because the Bucks would have been competitive with a healthy Bogut.  No, the NBA keeps moving forward every day.  So that’s what the Bucks must do.

But how?  How can the Bucks get past an injury of this magnitude, at this juncture in the season?  Bogut has been the centerpiece for most of what the Bucks have done right, offensively and defensively, in the last two seasons.  There simply is no replacing Bogut, especially not with six games left in the regular season.  So the Bucks must find a way to remain competitive without being able to replicate everything Bogut gives them.

And naturally, that will put pressure on the remaining members of the Bucks front court.  Kurt Thomas and Ersan Ilyasova should see the most significant increases in minutes, with Thomas likely stepping in as the new starting center and Ilyasova probably seeing some more time at the five in small ball lineups.  But I’m not convinced either of them will have to take anything more unto themselves with Bogut out.  Milwaukee isn’t all of a sudden going to slide either Thomas or Ilyasova into Bogut’s spot on the offense and dump the ball into them in the post.  It’s just not their game.  I expect each to be more productive, especially Ilyasova and I’ll get to that in a minute, but I don’t expect a great deal more usage out of them.

But, as odd as this appears, I do expect more out of Carlos Delfino.

Something’s occurred to me in the last few games.  Something that explains an awful lot about why things have gone the way they have for the Bucks this season.  Something I only dove into once a reader pointed out that Brandon Jennings stands around the top of the key an awful lot.  And it’s something that completely explains why the Bucks have prospered without Michael Redd, but are being sentenced to season execution after the loss of Bogut. Read more…