The part that stands out to me is how easily Blake tosses aside Ersan Ilyasova. Which makes sense, from a guy who trains with Mixed Martial Artists.  Check out the 1:15 point in the video below.

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Even if it was a game later than Bucks fans would like, the REAL Los Angeles Clippers showed up in Milwaukee on Tuesday night.  You know, the team that doesn’t (can’t?) defend, that takes bad shots and appears to go without an offensive strategy for significant portions of the game.  That’s the Clippers we’ve all come to know and love, that’s the Clippers that opposing teams love to see, that’s the Clippers Milwaukee got on Tuesday.  The results were predictable.

Using runs of 10-0 in the first quarter and 18-8 in the second, the Bucks never lost their double digit lead in the second half.  And that was before a dust-up renewed the Bucks interest in a game that they had been keeping at arms length.

That seemed to pique the interest of the Bucks and more importantly, drew the interest of a crowd that had been in and out of the game beforehand.  I’ve carried with me the vague memory of the Bradley Center crowd’s airline hangar noise level from the 2001 Eastern Conference Finals, but it’s hard to recall that.  That was nearly 10 years ago and rarely has there been much to get all that excited about since then.  So when a moment crops up that get the crowd more than just “involved” in the game, those are the best.  After the miniature dust-up, Squad Six began an “An-drew Bo-gut” chant.  Soon the whole crowd joined in.  Bogut noticed.

“That was pretty cool.  I haven’t seen the place rockin’ like that for a while, where the whole crowd got involved.  Hopefully we can encourage the rest of our fans out there to feel free to join in when Squad Six is chanting, it brings a great atmosphere.”

That atmosphere Bogut has been looking to recapture?  That’s called a playoff atmosphere.  It helped that Bogut’s Squad Six has been at it game in and game out, but Milwaukee has a history of stepping up in the moment.

And its basketball team is looking like they can play that game too.

Offense

As they often do in wins, Milwaukee was doing two important things: moving the ball and taking care of it.  Milwaukee had 27 assists to just seven turnovers.  In losses to Philadelphia and Miami, the Bucks were often allowing themselves to get trapped and continuously had the wrong guys taking difficult threes.  Milwaukee can be a very good three-point shooting team, so long as the right guys are shooting in the right situations.

Right guy, right situation: Brandon Jennings on a pass from a driving John Salmons or Charlie Bell.

Right guy, right situation: Jerry Stackhouse with time to set up and no one running at him.

Wrong guy, wrong situation: Stackhouse, in the last few weeks, any time he wasn’t wide open.

Right guy, right situation: Bell, in the corners (46-102 coming into Tuesday’s game).

Wrong guy, wrong situation: Bell, off the dribble

Right guy, right situation: Salmons, after a jab-step fest or on the catch and shoot.

Milwaukee continuously found themselves in the right spots on Tuesday night, which is an indication of how poor either A. the Clippers defense is, or B. their preparation is.

• Plenty of stars on the night for the Bucks: Ersan Ilyasova: 20 points (8-14 FG 1-5 3FG 3-4 FT) and eight rebounds.  Stackhouse: 16 points (7-10 FG 2-4 3FG).  Jennings 17 points (7-15 FG 3-5 3FG) six assists and five rebounds.

Defense

Looking for a reason as to why the occasionally chippy Steve Blake went off after a seemingly harmless, yet hard, screen from Andrew Bogut?  Try Jennings defense.  Not more than one possession before, Jennings snuck in and tried to steal the inbound pass from Blake.  He’d been harassing Blake all night, resulting in just one steal and fast break layup for Jennings, but an off night from Blake, and at that point Blake had seemed to have had enough.

After Bogut’s screen, he got into extra curriculars with the big man and then found himself face to face with Jennings.  Truth be told, Jennings stuck his nose where it didn’t really need to be, the situation had looked to be under control, but I think he’d had enough of Blake’s surly demeanor and general foul attitude.  The two went face to face and Jennings earned a T, as well as a little more hate around the league I’m sure.

But Jennings seemed to want to have his big man’s back.  And that’s what any team wants out of their point guard of the future.  Get on the front lines, be a leader and have your teammate’s backs.  It’s hard to be too disappointed with that.  And of course, it’s even better when he comes down right after on a break, fakes behind the back and finishes the layup.  Nothing like salt in an opposing team’s wound.

• The Clippers shot 36.8%.  Not too shabby Milwaukee.
• That Craig Smith I was worried about?  Not a point and an 0-3 night.

Final Thoughts

A double digit win in which Bogut and Jennings get to sit out the entire fourth quarter?  I’ll take it.  Now it’s on to Cleveland for a tough test.  If they lose, they lose; it’s not the end of the world.  Milwaukee’s game against Charlotte later in the week is the one that really counts.  For now, the Bucks finish their homestand 3-2, salvaging it after two disheartening losses.  Wins are wins this time of the year, so Milwaukee can feel good about getting a crisp game in before heading back on the road.

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vs.

Los Angeles Clippers (Kim Hughes) 27-46

Date: 3/30/2010
Time: 7:00 (CST)
TV: FS Wisconsin

Matchups

Point Guard

Brandon Jennings vs. Steve Blake

Baron Davis is not accompanying the Clippers on their road trip due to back spasms, leaving Blake at the helm.  This is significantly good news for the Bucks.  Davis is quite physically imposing and really played well the last time these teams met.  Blake is more of a fit in kind of guy, rather than a take over kind of guy.  He can hit threes and he runs an okay game, but he won’t be able to punish Jennings or harass him too much defensively.

Advantage: Bucks

Shooting Guard

John Salmons vs. Eric Gordon

Both are big scorers and both good defenders, with Davis out the Clippers will probably need a little more from Gordon to pick up the slack offensively.  If Delfino doesn’t play, Salmons may be spending some more time at the three again, as the Bucks had a lot of success using Luke Ridnour at the two and Salmons at the three against Memphis on Sunday.   Charlie Bell has really been struggling since moving to the bench and can’t appear to get in a rhythm like he once did.  If he’s not shooting well, he doesn’t bring a ton.

Advantage: Bucks

Small Forward

Carlos Delfino vs. Rasual Butler

Delfino didn’t play in the Bucks loss in L.A. and he may miss Tuesday’s game as well.  The Bucks need shooters and playmakers on the court if the Clippers fall into a zone as they did on March 15^th, so Delfino’s health could really have an impact on this game.  If he doesn’t play and Ridnour’s getting more minutes at the two, it puts the Bucks at a disadvantage defensively, as Eric Gordon’s going to have quite a mismatch on him.  If Delfino is playing and is hitting the three, the Bucks are infinitely more difficult to zone.

Advantage: Bucks (if Delfino plays)

Power Forward

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute vs. Drew Gooden

Gooden played well last game and has been pretty good overall as a Clipper, averaging a double-double since the trade deadline.  Milwaukee also struggled with backup power forward Craig Smith, as he was able to use his power advantage to toss around the lanky Bucks fours a little bit.  Milwaukee has had trouble with stronger fours that really dig in to their positions the way Smith did in the last meeting or how Zach Randolph did in the Memphis game.  Since they last met, Smith’s had a game of 25 points and 10 rebounds, so expect to see plenty of him on Tuesday night.

Advantage: Clippers

Center

Andrew Bogut vs. Chris Kaman

Bogut played nearly 45 minutes against Memphis on Sunday, so hopefully he’s still feeling spry after missing last Friday’s game against the Heat with a back issue.  He didn’t really make a big impact against the Clippers last game, especially when they went to a zone.  Coach Skiles thought that game was the first more passive game Bogut played, where he wasn’t really making quick decisions or taking it at his defenders.  He played much better Sunday against Memphis and Marc Gasol, so hopefully he can keep that up against Kaman and the Clippers.

Advantage: Bucks

Bench

Jerry Stackhouse, Luke Ridnour, Ersan Ilyasova and Kurt Thomas

Vs.

Travis Outlaw, Steve Novak, DeAndre Jordan, Bobby Brown and Craig Smith

Stackhouse has been pretty miserable as of late.  In his last five games, he’s 10-37 from the field and 2-19 from behind the arc.  Those are mid-season Jennings bad type numbers.  It’s unlikely that Stack is wearing down, as he didn’t come on till January, so this appears to be some different type of lull.  The Bucks are going to need to get a lot more out of him going forward though.  Thomas played a little bit of the four on Sunday and would be a nice option there against the Craig Smith’s of the world, but then the Bucks would have to go to Dan Gadzuric or Primoz Brezec as backup center, and that looks like something that just cannot happen.  Gadzuric hit the bottom of the rim with a layup on Sunday and I’m still tripping over Brezec falling down over his own feet in the lane on Friday.  Backup center is a position that will need to be addressed next season.

Advantage: Bucks

Prediction: Milwaukee 105 – Los Angeles 95

The Clippers are a brutal defensive team, but you wouldn’t have known it from the last Bucks-Clippers game.  That probably hasn’t sat well with Milwaukee and you know it didn’t sit well with Coach Skiles.  I’m sure he’ll be reminding the Bucks of their last game against this team and informing them that he hasn’t forgotten about how unacceptable their effort was.  If the Bucks win this one, they depart for Cleveland having gone 3-2 on this homestand, which was probably not what they were hoping for this time last week, having just beat the Hawks.  But winning homestands are winning homestands and they sure are a lot better than losing ones.  The Bucks have plenty to play for Tuesday night.

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(Likely) Inactives: Greg Oden, Travis Outlaw, Patrick Mills

at

Milwaukee Bucks (Scott Skiles) 10-11

(Likely) Inactives: Joe Alexander, Francisco Elson and Dan Gadzuric?

Date: 12/12/2009

Time: 7:00 (CST)

TV: FS Wisconsin

Match-Ups

Point Guard

Brandon Jennings vs. Steve Blake

Blake has retained the starting spot despite the off-season acquisition of Andre Miller.  Blake is a better shooter and can work off the ball a little better, which allows Brandon Roy to do a lot more ball handling, something he enjoys.  Blake’s primary requirement is to stand off the ball and get ready to shoot open three’s.  He’s having a slightly down year at 37 percent, but can knock them down with pretty good regularity on the right night.  Jennings had a strong game against Toronto and has performed very well at home this year.  The Blazers will likely look to contain him and are a pretty good defensive squad.  They held the high scoring Aaron Brooks to six points on nine attempts the game following center Greg Oden’s injury, so they’ve had at least some success against high scoring point guards this year.

Advantage: Bucks

Shooting Guard

Carlos Delfino vs. Brandon Roy

Roy isn’t a shooting guard.  He’s an everything guard.  He’s the prototype for successful combo guards.  He uses his handle and muscle to lead the Blazers in assists and rank fourth in rebounding on the team.  He scores 21 a night and shoots nearly one free throw for every two shots.  Translation: he likes to get in the paint and do work.  He hasn’t been quite as spectacular this year as he was last and part of the reason is, while he still does work inside, he hasn’t been getting to the rim as much.  He’s averaging two fewer attempts at the rim a night than he did last year.  If Roy only takes four shots at the rim Saturday night, the Bucks will be in great shape, but that may just be wishful thinking.  I’d look for him to attack the Bucks off the dribble and capitalize on Milwaukee’s tendency to foul everyone and everything.

Advantage: Blazers

Small Forward

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute vs. Martell Webster

Webster and LRMAM may be total opposites.  Webster makes his living shooting three’s and from what I understand, is an inconsistent defender.  LRMAM makes his living on defense and from what I know, is an inconsistent shooter.  Regardless, don’t expect to see these two matched up very often when Portland has the ball.  It’s going to be LRMAM who gets the call when Brandon Roy gets the ball.

Advantage: Bucks

Power Forward

Ersan Ilyasova vs. LaMarcus Aldridge

Aldridge may see some time at center when he’s on the court without Przybilla and that’s where he really can cause problems.  With his agility and shooting prowess he’s a mismatch waiting to happen.  Kind of like Kevin Garnett, or Chris Bosh. Hey!  The Bucks just saw both of them!  I’d think Ilyasova gets the call on him, but I thought that about Bosh too and Bogut saw a lot of minutes matched up with him.  Interesting to see how Skiles plays this one.  Ilyasova will have to be pesky and crashing the boards again Saturday to minimize the Blazers rebounding advantage.  Portland leads the league in rebounding differential at plus five.

Advantage: Portland

Center

Andrew Bogut vs. Joel Przybilla

What can I say about Przybilla?  He’s developed into exactly what Milwaukee hoped for when they drafted him in 2000.  Too bad he’s done it elsewhere.  With Oden out Pryz has seen an increase in minutes and a slight increase in rebounds, but hasn’t been the shot-blocker he’s shown himself to be in year’s past.  He may have dialed it down a notch knowing the Blazers are thin in the front court after numerous injuries.  If he gets into the foul trouble the Blazers are, well, screwed to put it bluntly.  Long, strong and athletic centers have been giving Bogut problems lately, so this is a good chance for him to show he can get it done more consistently regardless of who he is facing.

Advantage: Bucks

Bench

Luke Ridnour, Hakim Warrick, Michael Redd and Roko Ukic

vs.

Andre Miller, Juwan Howard and Jerryd Bayless

The Bucks will be faced with an interesting conundrum when filling out their lineup on Saturday night.  Now that Redd is back and Roko Ukic has earned a few minutes, the question becomes, who will be inactive?  Logic suggests Dan Gadzuric. The Blazers, while young, are a deliberate team and don’t play a style suited for Gadz to have a successful night.  Skiles did say last Wednesday that Ukic would get some time and Redd is reportedly going to make his re-re-debut on Saturday.  The Blazers have been struck upside the head with an injury two-by-four this year and are down to their free agent signing Andre Miller, the journeyman Juwan Howard and disgruntled second-year guard Jerryd Bayless.  The Bucks will be as deep Saturday as they’ve been all year.

Advantage: Bucks

Prediction: Bucks 94 – Blazers 86

You won’t see the Bucks hand the Blazers any tissue if they want to weep about their injury situation.  Not that they ever would with tough guy Roy and the hard lined Nate McMillan leading them.  But, the Blazers ARE sapped of healthy players and at the tail end of a four game road trip to the East.  The stars are aligned for the Bucks to pull this one off.  It’s practically an opportunity they can’t let slip by, especially given the two days rest they’ve had leading up to Saturday.

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