As much as I’d like to think Corey Maggette turned some kind of corner against the Magic and will earn steady playing time the rest of the season in which he’s productive, I remain skeptical.  In an Insider piece for ESPN.com today, John Hollinger lists Maggette as a member of his All-Disappointment team — with good reason.

Maggette has been incredibly disappointing this year, not only because he’s been a shell of his former self as a scorer, but because he’s often been so bad on both ends of the court that he’s failed to even earn minutes.  Alone, this would be a troubling issue for the Bucks.  But his below average production doesn’t stand by itself in a corner.  It’s smack dab in the middle in one of the many rooms full of problems for the Bucks.

The Corey Maggette Wrecking Ball that’s been turned onto the Bucks instead of their opponents has amplified the problems at the small forward spot for the Bucks.  If Carlos Delfino were still playing, Maggette’s struggles would be noticable, but nothing Milwaukee wouldn’t be able to withstand.  But Maggette’s poor play and Delfino’s absence have left Luc Mbah a Moute logging more minutes at the three than anyone would like to see.

Recently Chris Douglas-Roberts has gotten more action at the three, and he’s produced somewhat better results.  But he’s still limited and rough around the edges offensively. So, despite a strong start to the season, Roberts has played like many would expect a third year, second round pick who is getting his first taste of supposedly meaningful basketball after spending two years with the Nets.  He hasn’t exactly been a godsend.

The play of Milwaukee’s sub-par forward trio has been reflected in the numbers. Read more…

If you’re a Bucks fan, it stands to reason that you’re also a Brewers fan.  After all, Milwaukee’s pro basketball team ranks a distant third behind its pro baseball team and that pro football team a ways to the north.  If you’re a Brewers fan, you probably remember Bill Hall, probably not fondly though.

That’s not entirely his fault though.  It’s largely his fault, but he can’t take all the blame.  Think back a ways, remember the good times with Bill Hall.  He was once an effective utility man for the Brewers. In 2005 and 2006, he alternated between third base, shortstop, second base and then eventually centerfield, never truly mastering any of them, but playing competently enough that he earned at bats practically every day.  Having someone who could fill in and play a number of different positions is always a nice luxury to have, especially for a smaller market team like the Brewers.

Hall did his best playing all those positions, but ultimately wanted to settle on one spot and the Brewers appeared to desire likewise.  Both parties worked towards Hall becoming the new Brewers centerfielder and then when that didn’t work, the new third baseman and then when that didn’t work, the newest Brewer on a different team.  That didn’t work so well for Hall, but fit the Brewers like a glove.  It was a sad story.  Perhaps had Hall just succumbed to the life of a utility man, things could have been salvaged for him, though his inability to produce offensively may have caught up to him regardless of where his was playing.

Ultimately, everyone has to be able to produce something offensively in baseball and the story isn’t all that different in basketball.  For all the great defense some players play, they have to have a niche on offense.  Some never find that niche and are banished to the ends of benches or losing teams.

No one wants to see Luc Richard Mbah a Moute banished.  He is just better suited for the utility role, just like Bill Hall before him.  Off the bench, Mbah a Moute can come in and defend multiple positions for a few possessions, even if he has to play out of position on offense.  That doesn’t kill Milwaukee’s offense, because it’s a fairly limited dosage.  But when he’s forced to be the corner release as a small forward in Milwaukee’s offensive sets, for more than 20 minutes a night as he has been lately, it’s nothing but trouble for the Bucks.  He’s clearly a guy who needs to be around the hoop on offense. Read more…

John Salmons has been abysmal.  Carlos Delfino has become the movie Fight Club since his head/neck injury (the first rule about Carlos Delfino’s injury: you do not talk about Carlos Delfino’s injury).  Andrew Bogut has been struggling to play through the effects of his arm explosion and now may be down for a bit with back spasms.  Only recently has Drew Gooden found his offense and Corey Maggette is still getting adjusted to his role off the bench and playing again after off-season ankle surgery.

And yet, I see another pressing concern for the Milwaukee Bucks.

The development, or lack thereof, of young players Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Ersan Ilyasova and, yes, Brandon Jennings. Through 13 games, all three of them are performing either worse than, or nearly exactly the same as, they did last season.

In the case of Mbah a Moute, he’s playing the worst offensive basketball of his career this season, which, for him, is saying quite a bit.  Now in his third season in the league, we have a good idea of what LRMAM is about.  He’s a great defender and has been able to finish at the rim the last two seasons.  This year, even that tiny spec of offensive ability has seemed escaped him, as he’s currently shooting a career worst 41.1% from the field.  And I say from the field generically, not honestly, as 27 of his 56 shot attempts this season have been directly at the rim.  Last year, that would have been a good thing, as he hit 62.2% of attempts at the rim, but this season, he’s down to 48.1% at the rim.  Away from the rim, he’s virtually the same player he’s been for three years now, hesitant and unsure of himself.

For whatever reason, LRMAM has gotten no better as an offensive NBA player and is not working out at the small forward position for the Bucks.  He does his finest work at the hoop and is incapable of creating any offense from the wing.  The injury to Carlos Delfino was extra costly, as not only did it remove Milwaukee’s finest shooter from their starting lineup, but it left them with their worst small forward taking his place.

We’ve all heard about his terrific work ethic and commitment to improving.  Just last season, Coach Scott Skiles had this to say about Mbah a Moute, “Whatever Luc’s high water mark as a player is going to be in the league he’s going to reach it.  When he’s done playing you’re going to say he’s gotten the most out of his ability.”  Perhaps he’s done that and the rest of us just expected too much of him offensively.

Of course, Mbah a Moute moving away from the power forward position for part of the game in theory opened up space for Ilyasova to get more minutes and recapture what he had last season as a stretch four.

Read more…

Recap/Box Score/Enemy

For once, the Milwaukee Bucks opponents could only sit and watch as one shot after another went in.  For once, the Bucks played with confidence on offense.  For once, offense wasn’t the primary concern at halftime.

For once, the Bucks got a big win.

Milwaukee’s offense was finally everything the front office dreamed it would be in the first quarter of their 107-80 win over the New York Knicks at home Tuesday night.  In that first glorious 12 minutes, the Bucks could not be tamed.  Milwaukee shot 15-22 (68.2%) from the field, 3-6 (50%) from 3-point range and 8-10 (80%) from the line.

After building a 22 point first quarter lead, the Bucks needed to do little more than hang on for the rest of the game.  And with a defense like the one Milwaukee has, hanging on to a big lead isn’t much of a problem.   Before the game, Coach Scott Skiles talked about the importance of keeping the Knicks from establishing tempo.

“What you want to do is limit their 3-point attempts if you can and try to make them shoot a poor percentage on those.  You cant get caught up in trying to slow the game down.  If team’s are shooting 3-point shots and missing those, those are almost always long rebounds that are coming down in guards or small forwards hands.

In the pros, you got to be able to come down and convert that.  That’ll be a big part of the game, can we make them miss some of those perimeter shots and get the rebound and get some perimeter baskets.”

1. Limit their 3-point attempts: Coming into Tuesday’s game, the Knicks were shooting 25 3-point shots per game.  Tuesday, they shot 19. Even better, they made just five.  Check.
2. Long rebounds: Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (masquerading as a three for some of the night) grabbed six defensive rebounds (eight total).  John Salmons had six defensive rebounds (six total) and Brandon Jennings had three defensive rebounds (five total).  Check.
3. Converting: Off Knicks 14 3-point misses, here’s the Bucks stat line: 2-5 FG, 2-4 FT, six points, eight rebounds and one turnover.  Not such a check.

Of course, when a team like the Bucks shoots 51.3%, they can live without piling up the easy points on the break off missed threes.
Read more…

Box Score/Recap/Enemy

Construction workers are trying to see if any positives can come out of the Bucks bricks over the first seven games.

“It’s starting to get a little bit ridiculous.” – Brandon Jennings

It really is, Brandon.  After another sub-40% shooting effort (38.6%) in their Saturday night 87-81 loss to the New Orleans Hornets, the Milwaukee Bucks saw their team shooting percentage fall under 40% for the season (okay, so 39.9%, but still).  More importantly, they saw the players who seemed to be coming around, regress.  Most importantly, they saw their record fall to 2-5.

Offense is first and foremost the biggest hurdle the Bucks have in front of them right now, but inside of this one, the Hornets were able to capitalize on a defensive match-up in the fourth quarter to hold onto their lead.

David West must have stopped somewhere in Wisconsin and picked up a deer hunting license for the way he was shooting down the Bucks Saturday.  He spent the majority of the game abusing smaller Bucks defenders in the post with incredible aggressiveness or killing them softly with an all touch fadeaway.  Before entering the game in the fourth quarter, West had already piled up 22 points on 10-11 shooting (he’d finish with 25, 10-12 FG 5-7 FT).  Out of other options, Scott Skiles went to Andrew Bogut on West in the fourth quarter .  New Orleans saw this as an opportunity.

As soon as Bogut picked up West, New Orleans planted him outside and saw the paint open up for them.  The Hornets scored eight of their 32 points in the paint in the final 6:32 of the fourth quarter after West checked in.  Hornets coach Monty Williams, saw an opportunity.

“As soon as they did that, Emeka posted up and got an and-1,” he said.  “If they take something away, we go to something else.  They didn’t want to double team tonight, I think because of our shooters.  We took advantage of what was there.”

Those shooters played a role in the quarter too.  The Hornets sandwiched threes from Trevor Ariza and Marco Belinelli around a Jennings three to maintain a seven point lead with under four minutes to go.  Milwaukee defenders repeatedly were beat off the dribble in the fourth quarter, forcing their teammates to collapse.  They could only watch helplessly as the Hornets hit two crucial, wide open threes. Read more…