An Unsatisfying Victory is Still a Victory: Bucks 98 – Pacers 94
Sunday, March 14th, 2010Saturday night I ventured to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner. Unfortunately, the wait was to be over 30 minutes and my friends and I were too hungry to wait.. With a lack of other options in the area, we settled on Applebees.
I’m not an Applebees guy; they’ve screwed up my mediocre food far too many times, so I was heading there with trepidation to begin with. The mental transition I had to make in going from wings at BW3’s to whatever I’d have at Applebees had me down too. Naturally, after we were seated and ordered, each of my friends received their food, while mine didn’t arrive. A mistake was made, the order wasn’t placed and my food wasn’t ready. I had to wait another 10 minutes to get my food.
My meal ended up being better than I expected and they gave it to me on the house for my troubles, so when it was all said and done I was pretty pleased with the end result. Still, the process I went through was unsatisfying.
And by describing my Saturday evening dining experience, I’ve more or less told you the story of the Bucks-Pacers game Sunday afternoon. The Bucks played down to the Pacers level, which made for some sloppy basketball and an overall unsatisfying experience. Coming off three straight thrillers against Cleveland, Boston and Utah, I didn’t expect this one to be high theater, but I was hoping for a crisp game at least. I shouldn’t be surprised though. If the Bucks last three opponents are the equivalent to my BW3’s, then Indiana is absolutely my Applebees.
Still, the Bucks got the W and no matter what the game looked like Milwaukee is one step closer to a playoff spot and a fifth seed. And that sounds about as good as a free meal to me. (more…)
Bucks Outlast Pacers, Avoid Embarassment: Bucks 112 – Pacers 110
Friday, February 26th, 2010“We need multiple guys doing the damage out there. That’s our formula right now, that’s the way our team is constructed. We spread the ball around, I say it all the time, they’re unselfish and try and hit the open man and play good team basketball. When we’re playing well and we’re clicking we are gonna have four or five guys in double figures.”
- Scott Skiles 2/24/2010
Yes, one night before the Bucks put seven players into double figures, Scott Skiles was singing the praises of his teams unselfishness and insisting that it would take a lot of different scorers for the team to have success. And he always claims he doesn’t know what’s coming next.
You fooled us all Coach, you fooled us all.
The Bucks got double figure points from seven different players Thursday night.
John Salmons 20
Brandon Jennings 18
Ersan Ilyasova 17
Andrew Bogut 15
Luke Ridnour 12
Jerry Stackhouse 11
Carlos Delfino 10
And they needed every last point to get past the pesky Pacers in the fourth quarter. After taking control of the game in the second and further exerting their collective wills in the third, the Bucks let things get away from them a little in quarter four. After grabbing a 14-point lead, two Pacer threes sandwiched around a layup brought Indiana back within six points with four minutes to go.
But the Bucks kept one play ahead of the Pacers.
A Troy Murphy three to close the gap to just three points? Meet a Jennings jumper. An Earl Watson tip shot to make it a two point contest? Meet two free-throws for Salmons. The Bucks were losing it, without losing it and ultimately stopped before they lost it. Simple enough? (more…)
Game 57 Preview: Bucks at Pacers
Thursday, February 25th, 2010Milwaukee Bucks (Scott Skiles) 28-28
at
Indiana Pacers (Jim O’Brien) 19-38
Larry Legend has been Lotto Larry for a few years in Indy now.
Date: 2/25/2010
Time: 6:00 (CST)
TV: FS Wisconsin
Matchups
Point Guard
Brandon Jennings vs. Earl Watson
Jennings numbers continue to look pedestrian, but his impact is evident in the success his teammates are having. Five Bucks scored in double figures Wednesday night and three more scored nine points. If a team doesn’t have a good point guard, it’s difficult to get that kind of even distribution, even in a blowout. Jennings always keeps the offense running smooth and didn’t record a turnover against New Orleans. Jennings’ usage is at 26, his assist rate is right around 30 while his turnover rate is only 12.6. Let me take Deron Williams as an example of where Jennings is having success. Williams’ numbers in those categories are as follows, 23.6, 42.7 and 17.2. If just a few more times nightly, Jennings were to hit an open shooter leading to a successful three-point shot, Jennings could conceivably close in on the first two numbers while keeping his turnover number down. He’s not all that far off from Williams and if he used a few less possessions statistically, as a point guard he’d be in the class directly below Williams. That doesn’t say anything about his offensive struggles with shooting, which would bring his overall game down a little further. Bottom line, Jennings has been a VERY good point guard.
Advantage: Bucks (more…)
Game 49 Preview: Bucks vs. Pacers
Saturday, February 6th, 2010Milwaukee Bucks (Scott Skiles) 22-26
Inactives: Michael Redd, Francisco Elson and Joe Alexander
Vs.
Indiana Pacers (Jim O’Brien) 18-32
Inactives:Tyler Hansbrough, Jeff Foster and Earl Watson
Date: 2/6/2010
Time: 7:30
TV: Nah
Matchups
Point Guard
Brandon Jennings vs. A.J. Price
The rookie matchup to end all rookie matchups, JENNINGS V. PRICE. Okay, so not really. Price’s rise from late second round pick to starting point guard on a bad Eastern Conference team hasn’t been a popular story, but is intriguing nonetheless. With Earl Watson out after a death in the family, Price got his first start on Friday against the Pistons. Price can hit an open three, but often won’t burn anyone from deep, he’s a fairly consistent 33 percent shooter from deep. He probably won’t see more than 25 minutes or so, as T.J. Ford has come back with a vengeance or something like that. After being banished to the bench for some time, Ford got some minutes on Friday and made the most of his time hitting five of seven shots and dropping five assists. Either way, Jennings shouldn’t have his hands full with them on either end.
Advantage: Bucks (more…)
Something to Feel Good About: Bucks 84 – Pacers 81
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009Scott Skiles had to laugh, probably to keep himself from crying, but maybe to keep himself from running on the court and launching an impromptu tutorial on how to properly shoot a free throw. After all, we’re talking about a guy who was an 88.9 percent free throw shooter for his career.
So the 0-7 finish the Bucks had at the free throw line Monday night was properly particularly devastating for their coach to watch.
And it’s unfortunate that the once again unacceptable free throw shooting takes away from the positives that this game brought. Andrew Bogut had the best game of his career, dominating Roy Hibbert and everyone else the Pacers threw at him en route to 31 points and 18 rebounds. And Bogut was able to cede control of the ending to Brandon Jennings, who had another frigid looking shooting night at 7-19, but hit a three and fall-away jumper in the last two minutes that helped give the Bucks just enough breathing room.
And that’s how everyone envisions the Bucks being successful, ride Andrew Bogut relentlessly all game and then let Jennings handle the ball and make plays in the fourth quarter, it’s the perfect big man/little man set up. And for one night the Bucks had it going.
And still, Milwaukee almost blew the game.
Sigh. (more…)
