Had I started writing this immediately  after the Bucks game, things would not have been pretty.  The number of scathing criticisms going through my head had to have been up over 50.  We just hadn’t seen an effort like that out of this year’s Bucks team to date, so I had a lot of trouble wrapping my mind around the performance.  Lambasting the Bucks lack of energy is easy, as they had none.  It was virtually never a game from start to finish and the Pistons manhandled and at times embarrassed the Bucks.  And we’re not talking about the ‘96 Bulls here.  The Pistons (6-12 coming in) aren’t very good.  The weren’t even a better than average home team at 4-4 entering play Friday night.

So there is a lot do be disappointed about.

But the more I thought about it, the less the whole thing bothered me.  It’s all still frustrating, but I get it a little more.  Yes, anyone can have a high energy and effort level on any given night.  And yes, teams with less talent really should be bringing it with a full tank of pluckiness to make up for their deficiencies, but it’s not that simple.  But a team with as little overall talent as the Bucks can’t possibly match their opponents effort every single night.  The Pistons won only for the second time in ten days, they were very hungry and saw the Bucks as the perfect team to feast on.  It was evident almost immediately.  They pushed and got very little resistance.  This Pistons team didn’t necessarily have more talent than the Bucks, but they certainly were playing with a greater sense of need for this win.

At this stage in their development, the Bucks aren’t going to win any games where they don’t feel like the absolutely need it.  Why they played like they didn’t need this one is beyond me, the schedule isn’t getting any easier in the next week.  They have two or three quality starters on their team and then role players galore.  That’s a team that needs to scrape by with grit and determination, both of which were in short supply Friday.

Rebounding

• I’ve figured out the equation.  Foul trouble for Ersan Ilyasova ≠ rebounding success for the Milwaukee Bucks.  For the second straight game, Ilyasova missed a large portion of the game due to fouls and the Bucks were hammered on the glass.  46-30 was the gruesome result.  Troubling is that Hakim Warrick “had a good game”.  13 points and seven free throw attempts is all well and good, but he played 32 minutes at the power forward spot and grabbed a total of ONE REBOUND!  ONE! 1! O-N-E!  There is nothing “power” about that.  I don’t know if I should even be disappointed in the one rebound game.  When you sign a guy as little as Warrick to take minutes at the four, you have to kind of expect more one board nights than ten board nights, right?

• Domination sums up Ben Wallace’s glass work (and the rest of his work) on Andrew Bogut pretty well.  Wallace 11 – Bogut five.  Wallace 6-8 240 – Bogut 7′0 260.  I don’t get it and I never will.  How can Wallace always do it?  Is he some sort of super-human?  He continues to muscle up bigger guys, push them away from the paint and generally destroy their minds, rendering them completely ineffective.  Not only did Wallace pound Bogut on the glass, but he tossed up 11 points and three blocks to Bogut’s eight and one.  Bogut’s all-star campaign has come off the tracks and crashed into a house.

Offense

• Brandon Jennings was a mere shell of his former self against the all-NBA tandem of Chucky Atkins and Will Bynum.  When you’re going up against two former undrafted free agents, you know they’re going to be playing you hard.  At times it looked like Jennings just wanted nothing to do with it.  He’d dribble to half court, stop, and then pass and head the other way.  Gone was the once potent Jennings/Bogut pick and roll.  In it’s place was stop a step past half court because Will Bynum will not allow you any further.  When Jennings would give it up and try to get it back, Chucky Atkins would relentlessly hound him, preventing a return pass.  It wasn’t until a brief surge in the fourth quarter in which he was the only Buck with any energy that Jennings showed signs of life.  Another poor shooting effort just piles on to this effort for Jennings.  He’ll get this whole playing on the road thing down eventually, just like he’ll get the floater thing.  A game of patience.

• The Bucks made 10-30 three’s.  If they hit three more they would have equaled their shooting percentage for three’s on the season and the game would be tied.  The bad shooting probably is as much of a culprit for the bad effort as anything.  If they hit a few more shots, they probably would have been a little more determined and got a few more stops.  I’m not excusing the effort and saying it’s cool to play better defense only when you’re shooting well, but that’s the realities of life.

Defense

• None was played.  The Pistons shot 57.4 percent.  Ben Wallace had four uncontested dunks off pick and roll’s.  Chucky Atkins scored ten points.  Jonas Jerebko had 16 and seven.  Allowing 37 points to the those three combined says more about the Bucks defense in this one than I ever could.

Final Thoughts

Cleveland on Sunday.  So much for having a sense of urgency on winnable road games before a tough week.  Cleveland comes into the BC on Sunday and then the Bucks go to Boston for the rare Tuesday night game.  Toronto and Portland come to town Wednesday and Saturday.  The Bucks might have the upper hand against Toronto, but none of those teams are pushovers.  That’s why it’s puzzling to see the Bucks get so thoroughly walloped against Detroit Friday night.

They got CLEVELAND on Sunday.  Didn’t the Detroit game feel a little more important knowing that a likely loss is coming on Sunday?  Lebron had 56 last time he was here!  It’s not impossible that the Bucks, who are a completely different team at home, will win Sunday, but it IS improbable.  It’s starting to throw me back in to meltdown mode all over again thinking about how nice the Detroit win would have been.  I’ll just have to return to my default dealing with losses mechanism …

2011 … 2011 … 2011 … 2011.

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(Probable) Inactives: Michael Redd, Joe Alexander and Francisco Elson

at

Detroit Pistons (Jon Kuester) 6-12

(Probable) Inactives: Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton

Date: 12/4/09

Time: 7:00 (CST)

TV: FS Wisconsin

Match-ups

Point Guard

Brandon Jennings vs. Chucky Atkins (!?)

These are like the grandfathers to the 2000 Pistons.  Chucky Atkins?  Ben Wallace?  Atkins has been bumped into the lineup over the last couple games as a way to get Rodney Stuckey some time at the two, apparently as a method of sustaining his energy.  Atkins is more a pure point guard than Stuckey or backup Will Bynum.  He’s mainly in that crappy starter who gives you less than 20 minutes of non-terrible defense role.  The Royal Ivey Memorial Starter if you will.  At any rate, Jennings may be able to get some good looks early if he chooses.  Jennings typically looks to get Bogut involved early in games though, so that may not really pay off.  By the time BJ usually starts to look to get off, Atkins will be on the bench.  Atkins isn’t any kind of threat on offense though, so at least BJ won’t get burned while he’s in.

Advantage: Bucks

Shooting Guard

Charlie Bell vs. Rodney Stuckey

Stuckey had a wonderful debut at shooting guard against the Hawks on Sunday, but not so much against the Bulls Wednesday.  From 10-23 to 4-16.  Handing the keys over to Stuckey hasn’t gone so smoothly this year.  Despite nearly six more minutes a game, Stuckey’s assists have fallen from 4.7 to 4.1 a night.  His shooting percentage has dropped under 40, which is notable for a guy who doesn’t shoot three’s.  Stuckey’s game is one built on power and getting in the paint, but this year he’s hitting just 34 percent of his shots within 10 feet, down from 56 percent last year.  Sounds like Brandon Jennings, only without the vision or three-point shooting.

Advantage: Pistons

Small Forward

Carlos Delfino vs. Jonas Jerebko

International flair in all it’s glory at the small forward position.  Jerebko is supposedly so valuable that even when the Pistons starters return he won’t be glued to the end of the bench according to Pistons coach Jon Kuester.  I guess I have a lot to learn about Jerebko, because his numbers say he absolutely should be on the bench, the far end of it.  Some players play better than their numbers though, Charlie Bell has been known for one, so I won’t rule out Jerebko not sucking, but his 8.9 PER and 54 percent free throw shooting suggest otherwise.

Advantage: Bucks

Power Forward

Ersan Ilyasova vs. Charlie Villanueva

Via Chuck V’s Facebook:

The antibiotics are kicking in, its helping me clear the congestion in my nasal paths. Its kinda nasty but its mainly clogged up with dry blood. I’m glad the surgery went well. Its a matter of healing now & getting use to the mask. Part of it is mental I think too.

You’re right Charlie, that is nasty.  A broken nose will have Charlie V. busting out a mask for the first time Friday night.  I don’t have much data to back this up, but I’d imagine first mask games aren’t easy.  It must take a least a game or two to get used to those awful things.  Ersan started erupting as soon as he was able to shake his.  I liked this one for the Bucks before I knew Chuck was going to be rocking the mask and I like it even more now.  Ersan’s relentless hustle, annoying defense and off-ball movement should give the antibiotic’d out Villanueva all kinds of issues Friday.  Ersan could have a huge night on the offensive glass.  Oh, and remember when Chuck turned into a money three-point shooter over his last few months in Milwaukee?  Well he’s back down to 32.8 percent and is shooting more than ever.  The Bucks dodged a bullet.

Advantage: Bucks

Center

Andrew Bogut vs. Ben Wallace

I’m having early season flashbacks.  Bogut opens the year with a poor performance against Sam Dalembert and then faces the born again Ben Wallace on the second night of the Bucks season.  The results were not pretty, six points and eight rebounds on 2-7 shooting.  Wallace, while not very big, is strong as hell and a smart defender to boot.  The surprising athleticism and quickness he has for a man of his advanced age serves him well against Bogut.  He knows how to play every center in the league and can still have success against a lot of them.  Look for Wallace to attack Bogut’s left hand and try to get him out of his comfort zones on offense.  I’d love to see Bogut respond to a poor game last game with a good game here.  Exercising his Ben Wallace demons would be a positive step towards further establishing himself as one of the better centers in the league.  At the absolute least, Bogut will need to work his hardest to keep Wallace off the offensive glass, he’s the league’s leader in offensive rebound percentage.

Advantage: Bucks

Bench

Luke Ridnour, Hakim Warrick, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Kurt Thomas and Jodie Meeks

vs.

Ben Gordon, Will Bynum, Jason Maxiell and Kwame Brown

Gordon is the one who may decide how this game turns out.  If he gets hot, all bets are off.  And he can get hot.  Fortunately he’s a little nicked up and struggled in his last game against Chicago.  Bynum is probably the best point guard the Pistons have, even if he can be a little greedy at times.  He’s built like Maurice Jones-Drew and is getting four attempts AT THE RIM a game.  That’s incredible for someone his size.  He could give Jennings problems in the fourth quarter.  Maxiell is no longer on the table, he’s fallen off of it and Brown still sucks.  The rare bench that can match the scoring prowess of Ridnour and Warrick, though Mbah a Moute’s return should help limit the Pistons effectiveness.  If he returns that is.

Advantage: Bucks

Prediction: Bucks 96 – Pistons 88

It’s rare the Bucks have played a team with more important injuries than their own this year, but that’s the opportunity the Pistons are offering Friday night.  With no Rip Hamilton or Tayshaun Prince, the Pistons have been unable to establish the defensive mindset that they’ve long used to win games.  You’d think that would allow new players like Gordon and Villanueva to establish themselves and turn the Pistons into a more potent offensive squad, right?  Well the Pistons rank 21st in defensive rating and 21st in offensive rating.  So they aren’t getting a lot of stops and they aren’t getting much offensive either.  They’re just not a very good team.  Coming into the season I’m sure a lot of people thought one of these teams would be  in last and one might be in second, but I’m thinking no one would have been able to play the match game and win.

The Pistons don’t have the big talented shooting guard that has been hurting the Bucks lately.  If Bell is able to contain Gordon throughout this one, the Bucks should be able to limit what the Pistons do on offense and come out ahead.  But limiting Ben Gordon is easier said than done.

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