Przybilla as a Buck. It could happen again soon.

From Alex Kennedy of Hoopsworld:

Stephen Jackson has been suspended one game for verbal abuse of an official and failure to leave the court. Incident occurred against CHI.

And things remain turbulent.

This is the second game this season Jackson will miss for disciplinary reasons. He missed the team bus to shootaround in New York and Coach Scott Skiles opted not to play him.

Jackson has apologized on Twitter.

To all my fans apologize for my actions. Its just somethings refs shouldnt say. Gotta keep my kool. Lesson learned.

In other news, I’ve obtained what I feel like is reliable information that John Hammond met with Joel Przybilla and his agent in Milwaukee on Saturday and could be close to working out some a deal. I’m now rooting for this scenario, solely so I don’t look like an idiot for reporting it.

That’s where this season currently sits for me.

Ultimately, Przybilla isn’t making or breaking the Bucks if he joins the team. He would be another big body and he would give the team a true center. But he’d be giving them one that hasn’t played in about eight months and seems fairly content to be retired.

Jeremy Schmidt writes the Milwaukee Bucks blog Bucksketball.com. Follow him on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Milwaukee's hopes may rest on Drew Gooden's wacky game. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

We know Andrew Bogut is going to be out (UPDATE: We now know it will be 8-to-12 weeks too. Damn). His ankle won’t unfracture quickly. Whether or not this torpedoes Milwaukee’s already fragile season largely depends on who replaces the majority of Bogut’s 30 minutes each night.

The early candidate is Drew Gooden. He will likely get the start in Bogut’s spot against the Chicago Bulls on Friday and Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday. For the time being, he’s Milwaukee’s best option for big minutes.

That isn’t saying much.

Last season, Gooden’s PER while playing the center position was 13.6, roughly six points lower than his PER at the power forward position. The numbers have remained consistent to last season this season. Gooden’s PER as a center this year is 13, while his PER at the four is 29. The smaller sample size for this season makes me hesitate a bit, but since they are consistent with last season, it seems to be a pattern worth recognizing as far as Gooden’s role on the Bucks is concerned, although Gooden did post an 18 PER while playing center with the Mavericks three seasons ago.

The aggressive, athletic Gooden can occasionally thrill, but he often seems to make the most simple parts of the game difficult. Many passes become no look ones. Pump fakes turn into foul drawing exhibitions. Suddenly, Gooden has developed a taste for the outside shot too, which is probably better than him shooting 22-foot jump shots, but isn’t an ideal shot for a starting center that has never demonstrated that range before.

An apparent general lack of attention to detail seems to make Gooden a less than ideal candidate as a back line defender. Simply, he isn’t the guy who erases the mistakes of his teammates. But if Gooden isn’t a perfect fit offensively and isn’t the defender Milwaukee thrives with, is there a better internal option to replace Bogut?

Nope.

Read more…

They’re back! After a lockout-sized hiatus, Buck Hits have returned to bring you the very best of the Bucks from around the web. Much to discuss, so without further adieu…

Recap

12/27/11 Bucks v. Wolves

Box Score

Analysis: JSOnline, Brewhoop, We’re Bucked

Power Rankings

Marc Stein: 17
NBA.com: 17
Charles Gardner: 16

A reliable backup center would be nice for the Milwaukee Bucks. Not nice like Brandon Jennings finishing at the rim somewhere near 50 percent nice or another 3-point shooter who converts at more than 37 percent nice, but it’d still be a pretty chill thing for the Bucks to get. It’s consensus. Another consensus: the options aren’t that appetizing. You say: “But Ian, it’s just a backup, they’re not supposed to be good.” Well I’m a fan of a football team whose backup quarterback often doubles as the second best quarterback in the league, so excuse me for having standards (Matt Flynn and Doug Pederson Forever!).

That said, here are some seemingly logical options, either because of their previous work under John Hammond, who seems to favor such guys, or rumors that the Bucks have had discussions with them.

Read more…

Recap/Box Score

Let’s go through our checklist for what makes a classic regular season game (and I mean for the teams, not in terms of the entire league):

• Two overtimes

A lot of NBA games go into overtime.  Teams usually end up going into overtime somewhere between five and ten times a season (the Bucks did it four times last year).  Going into overtime in itself is nothing special.  Two overtimes?  Now I’m listening.  Regardless of whether the game is intra-divison, out of conference or whatever, it’s going to hold some appeal.  The last time the Bucks went into double overtime was December 17th of 2007.  So this is not an everyday situation.  Check.

• Memorable plays

Andrew Bogut’s tip (actually, his NOT tip).  Brandon Roy’s fall away jumper to tie it with 12 seconds to go in regulation.  Brandon Jennings’ pull-up jumper to tie it with four seconds left in the first overtime.  Jennings Nashian lay-up with 43 seconds to go in the second OT.  Yeah, we had a number of memorable plays in this one and I haven’t even mentioned Jennings’ floater near the end of regulation or a number of big dunks late from LaMarcus Aldridge.  Check.

• Memorable Moments

Beyond the shots that we’ll remember for the rest of the season, we were treated to a few tense instant replay ref calls.  Was Bogut’s tip shot at the end of regulation good?  It wasn’t, but it was fun waiting for the refs to tell us whether or not he touched it before the buzzer went off.  Did Luc Richard Mbah a Moute tip the ball out of bounds in the first overtime with the Bucks down two, or did Aldridge hit it last?  The tape wasn’t super clear, but it did appear Aldridge’s fingers were the last thing the ball touched in play.  Squad Six had the building rocking by starting a “this way” chant while pointing in the Bucks direction.  Soon everyone else joined in on the fun and the arena filled with electricity.  Check.

• Significance

Was there any better way for Jennings to get his very first NBA double-double than in a double overtime win at home?  I say no.  Jennings has always fed off the energy of the Bucks crowd and today was no different.  Especially when he got it going in the third quarter to the tune of 12 points after not even attempting a shot in the first half.  Jennings would finish with 18 points and 11 assists.  Check.

While regular season games only hold so much significance in the long run (I’d never compare this game to any of the great playoff games of recent years) this one was still fun to watch.  If you missed it, you likely won’t be able to catch a better Bucks game this year, which is actually pretty wild, since I didn’t find the first half to be all that special.  I mean, it wasn’t bad, Bogut had it going and the Bucks were playing better defense than they had in some time, but I never suspected I’d be thinking of this one as a classic when it was all said and done.  That’s the beauty of sports I guess. Read more…