Recap/Box Score/Enemy

The fourth quarter seems like a logical place to start.  After all, the Milwaukee Bucks were right there.  They didn’t have to spend the period playing catchup.  They didn’t dig themselves a hole, they weren’t in trouble.  Coming into the fourth quarter, the Bucks actually held a lead.  It wasn’t large, just a point, but Milwaukee needed one more quarter of solid basketball to salvage the last game of their three game trip out West.

12 minutes later, the Bucks would walk out of the Oracle Center with a three game losing streak.  The good work Milwaukee had done a week ago had been undone.  Once again, Milwaukee was 10 games under .500.

So how did it happen?

It wasn’t missed shots.  Typically the Bucks get looks and blow open jumpers, that’s just been the season.  Down the stretch against the Warriors though, Milwaukee didn’t even get that far.  The Bucks blew four consecutive possessions from the 3:28 mark of the fourth quarter to the 1:47 mark.  Over this stretch, the Bucks attempted two shots: a Keyon Dooling desperation three as the shot-clock expired and a Carlos Delfino three that was little more than an attempt to draw a foul.

In the past Scott Skiles has praised his team for generally executing well, but this was the worst execution the Bucks have had all season.  And the timing was abysmal.  The whole turnover spectacle started after back-to-back Corey Maggette baskets in isolation left the Bucks down just two.  Suddenly the Warriors lead had expanded to six after they capitalized on the Buck poor play.

Maggette battled back to keep the Bucks within two, but he would have had to have been perfect to bring the Bucks all the way back after their charitable offense handed the Warriors so many opportunities earlier.  He wasn’t perfect.  Maggette missed a free throw on an and-1 that would have left Milwaukee down one.  The Bucks could never close the gap all the way and the Warriors walked away with a win.

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Tweeted this during the Bucks-Clippers game Monday evening:

Milwaukee had just come out of a timeout, a full timeout, and ended up with one of the worst shots they’ve attempted all season.  Without question the worst one I’ve seen them produce after a timeout.  This is a team that ran one of the finest sets of the year earlier this season in Boston in a late game situation.  Milwaukee is certainly capable of running effective offense.  More often than not though, four players seem content watching one try and go one on one.

When Milwaukee is moving the ball and players are moving without the ball, they have success.  Shots open up that way.  Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don’t, but at least the offense is active and engaged.  The worst kind of offense is one where there is initial movement followed by stationary basketball and one on one play.

The worst kind of offense, is this right here.

Jeremy Schmidt writes the Milwaukee Bucks blog Bucksketball.com.  Follow him on Twitter.  Then become a fan on Facebook (in the sidebar).

Now we see the numbers.  So what do these lineups tell us?  We’ll start with the good ones.

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Enemy: Hoopinion

Point Guard
Keyon Dooling vs. Mike Bibby

We’ve been over this a time or two.  Dooling: defense.  Bibby: offense.  Fortunately for Milwaukee, Dooling’s a better offensive player than Bibby is a defensive player.  Especially lately.  Dooling’s connected on 43.2% of his threes this month and 41.6% of his shots overall.  Injuries to Brandon Jennings and John Salmons have forced Dooling into a much bigger role over the past month and a half and for the most part, he’s responded well.  Defensively there are some players he matches up with better than others, but he’s always competitive at that end.  Earlier in the season his shooting was an adventure, but he’s normalized over the past month.  Dooling’s had plenty of criticism come his way this season, but he’s been more than adequate as Milwaukee’s number two point guard.

Advantage: Bucks

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Recap/Box Score/Enemy

If only Ramon Sessions had been bottled up a bit more, Milwaukee really would have had a night to boast about.  I guess teams shouldn’t really boast about beating the Cavs though, regardless of how lopsided the affair is.

Regardless, Milwaukee had a statistical advantage across the board against Cleveland.  More rebounds, more assists, fewer turnovers, a better shooting percentage, you name it, Milwaukee did better.  Except for free throws.  The former Buck Sessions made sure Cleveland held their own there.  They had to do well somewhere I guess.

But in Milwaukee’s 102-88 victory in Cleveland Friday night, there was never much of a doubt.  The Bucks led from start to finish and squelched any possible Cleveland runs in a hurry, the start of the fourth quarter being a good example.

Cleveland made up ground quickly as the third quarter wound down, going on a 10-0 run that spanned the last 2:13 of the period.  Milwaukee saw a 19-point lead shrink to nine and Cleveland’s crowd had suddenly awoke again.  But the Bucks were having none of that when the fourth quarter started.  They had been waiting patiently, suffering through Heat game after Magic game after Heat game to get some easy games on their schedule.

Milwaukee forced misses on the Cavs first six shots of the fourth quarter and an Andrew Bogut hook shot with 8:51 to play in the fourth built Milwaukee’s lead back up to 18, putting the Cavs hopes to bed early again.  But for as much as this game was about an easy win for a team that needs as many as they can get, it was about the return of a glue guy.

Carlos Delfino checked in with 3:49 to play in the first quarter and would play 13 minutes before the first half was done.  Scott Skiles said he planned to limit Delfino to 10 minutes for the game, but Delfino was so active for the Bucks, cutting through open lanes, keeping the ball moving and launching threes, that he ended up logging 23 minutes.  He made just one of seven shots from 3-point range, but it was good to see him back anyway.  His chemistry with teammates on the court and comfort in Milwaukee’s offense is always evident when he’s on the court.

Milwaukee’s hoping the wins follow him back.

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