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…

Recap/Box Score

Thankfully, Andrew Bogut was able to avoid a migraine Monday night.  That appears to have been the only thing that can stop him when he plays the Knicks.

Bogut thought he was on his way to a career night when the Bucks made their first trip to Madison Square Garden earlier this month.  He began that evening with six points and three rebounds in five minutes before he could no longer bare the bright lights and big city of New York thanks to a migraine headache.  The headaches occasionally leave Bogut feeling numb he says and are certainly nothing he play through.

The Knicks defense on the other hand?  Well he just plays right through them.

The Knicks, who play without a center, played like a team … that doesn’t have a center.  Bogut was able to get whatever he wanted inside when the Knicks weren’t rushing in with an immediate double team.  David Lee is a very good power forward, but at roughly 6’9 he had no answer for the 7’0 Bogut down low.  When Bogut wasn’t getting shots, he was hitting the glass on both ends to further frustrate Lee – the same David Lee that was picked over him as an injury replacement for the all-star game.  Correlation?  I’m sure the Aussie will downplay it, but do you know anyone who, if matched up with them, wouldn’t want to perform better than someone who earned a promotion they thought was rightfully theirs?

In the fourth quarter with the Knicks getting handled but hanging on to hope a comeback may be within reach, Bogut climbed over Lee’s back to tip in a shot.  Bogut was whistled for the foul and Lee furiously clapped his hands together and nodded in approval.  His cup had runneth over with frustration.  Can you blame him though?  Bogut would end the night with 24/20 and five blocks.  If I was guarding him, I’d be frustrated too. Read more…

Milwaukee Bucks (Scott Skiles) 26-28

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New York Knicks (19-35)

Date: 2/22/2010

Time: 6:30 (CST)

TV: None

Point Guard

Brandon Jennings vs. Chris Duhon

The last time the Bucks and Knicks met, Duhon had been relegated to the bench and Nate Robinson had made his triumphant return to the starting lineup.  Now Robinson has been traded and Duhon’s back in the saddle, which is of course a good thing for the Bucks.  Think of Duhon as Jennings, without the same play-making ability and no hope for the future.  Expect to see plenty of Eddie House and Sergio Rodriguez running the show next to T-Mac.

Advantage: Bucks Read more…

Box Score/Recap

(Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images) Hak' = Dunk

New York’s basketball team isn’t typically apart of my basketball viewing schedule.  They aren’t on national television very often and when they are I tend to look the other way.  I’m not big on teams that have gutted their roster in order to pursue free agents.    While I generally liked Mike D’Antoni’s Suns teams, I know the Knicks can’t be as efficient, mainly because they have few shooters and even less competent point guards.  Plus they play even less defense than those Suns teams did.  There’s a word that I can’t think of right now that would describe them aptly I assumed, but I had little proof since I never watched them.  But I had high hopes for the Bucks on Friday night coming into their game on Broadway.

Then Andrew Bogut got hurt.  So I went from hopeful that the Bucks would be able to leave the Big Apple with a win, to downtrodden that Bogut’s injury might be more than a migraine.  My thought process went something like this:

Migraine?  What?  He’s never had migraines before.  Didn’t he just take a charge a minute or two ago?  Is this another back injury?  Will we see Bogut again this season?  Is his career in jeopardy?

So that may have been an overreaction.  Call me a little snake bit after years of injury problems that seem to never end and spread across the roster.  Bogut walked out fine, no limp, no slouch, no teammates dragging his body to the locker room, so I’ll operate going forward under the assumption that all is well.  As for Friday night’s game, I thought of the word I was looking for and it isn’t even very fancy.  Simply put, the Knicks are defenseless. Read more…

Milwaukee Bucks (Scott Skiles) 21-26

Inactives: Francisco Elson, Joe Alexander and Mike Redd

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New York Knicks (Mike D’antoni) 19-29

Inactives: Eddy Curry, Cuttino Mobley and Darko Milicic

Date: 2/5/2010

Time: 6:30 (CST)

TV: FS Wisconsin

Matchups

Point Guard

Brandon Jennings vs. Nate Robinson

I guess Mike D’antoni wanted to spare the world the Brandon Jennings/Chris Duhon “who will miss more shots” matchup.  Robinson is taking over at the point guard spot beginning Friday, which is bad timing for Milwaukee.  If Duhon wasn’t the worst starting point guard in the league, he wasn’t far from the bottom.  I know Jennings has struggled shooting the ball for the majority of this year, but at least he’s young, what’s Duhon’s excuse?  Duhon and Jennings both shot 32 percent from the field in January, a frigid shooting percentage for a frigid month.  Robinson is electric offensively, but didn’t play for 14 straight games earlier this year, for no other reason than D’Antoni wasn’t feeling him.  He’s less of a point guard and more of a scorer, but he excels at that.

Advantage: Bucks Read more…