It seems like none of the Spurs ever slow down. Parker is again hitting better than 50% of his shots from the field this season, an incredible number for the average point guard, but typical for Parker, who once led the league in points in the paint. And he does his work all without the benefit of a 3-point shot, as he’s only eight of 28 from deep this season. He’ll cause problems all night if Dooling can’t keep him out of the paint, as he’s a very good passer and knows when to drop it off inside and when to keep it himself for a floater or layup. Bogut will have his hands full with both Parker and Ginobili penetrating.
Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. Okay, it probably was. The reality is though, that’s not a call most officials are willing to make. They want players to play the game and decide their own fate. Fate may not have been on the Bucks side on the final play, but once again, Milwaukee played like a team that wasn’t worried about fate, or anything else, for most of the second half. Confident teams don’t have to worry.
So while Manu Ginobili‘s jumper sunk the Bucks at the buzzer in San Antonio 92-90, Milwaukee can hold their heads high as they return home. When heading out to Texas, this was a group that looked like they may have been on the verge of something. Coming back to Milwaukee is a team that knows they can compete with the best. Their record may read one win and one loss this week, but this is no .500 team.
At least the team that dominated the second half is not. As they did in Dallas, the Bucks dug themselves quite a hole against a formidable opponent. Lacking ball movement and acceptable shooting, the Bucks stumbled into halftime down 16 points and staring at a box score that showed they made just 35.7% of their shots. This was certainly not the group that had snapped the Mavericks 12-game winning streak on Monday, despite some familiar faces. Chris Douglas-Roberts, Ersan Ilyasova and Keyon Dooling, all Monday heroes, were inserted into the starting lineup Wednesday, CD-R and Ilyasova due to performance and Dooling due to a John Salmons injury. Given Milwaukee’s rough first half performance, it didn’t begin as smooth as they had hoped.
Patience would prove virtuous though. Ilyasova’s jump shot was on active duty, keeping the Spurs honest and CD-R provided the offensive boost he was acquired to provide. Each scored nine in the third, including threes that cut the lead from a too big a mountain to climb 18 to a more manageable 12. Their presence around the perimeter opened up Milwaukee’s offense for Brandon Jennings to operate in the fourth quarter. Three of his seven assists came in the final quarter, as he and Drew Gooden alternated picking and rolling with picking and popping to get one open look after the next. Gooden thrived in this role with Jennings, playing his best ball since the pre-season in the fourth quarter. Gooden scored 16 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter and almost did enough to get the Bucks over the edge against the team with the league’s best winning percentage.
But it was not to be. Milwaukee botched their final possession and saw the Spurs execute on theirs. Fate may not have been on their side on that final shot, but at least the Bucks gave fate a run for its money. Read more…
(Probable) Inactives: Matt Bonner, Michael Finley and Marcus Haislip
at
Milwaukee Bucks (Scott Skiles) 12-15
(Probable) Inactives: Joe Alexander, Dan Gadzuric and Roko Ukic
Date: 12/26/2009
Time: 7:30 (CST)
TV: FS Wisconsin
Match-Ups
Point Guard
Brandon Jennings vs. Tony Parker
Parker has made a career out of blowing by defenders and finishing at the rim or in the paint. Jennings has shown the ability to do the first part of that, but hasn’t quite mastered the second half. Jennings is finishing on only 46 percent of his shots at the rim, whereas Parker has consistently finished between 64 and 65 percent of his over the past four years. But it wasn’t always so easy for Parker. He never approached 50 percent on overall shooting until his fourth season and, while I don’t have the numbers, it’s unlikely he was as successful at the rim early in his career either. The NBA paint is a tough place for smaller players, especially younger ones. But with development and smarts they can evolve, as Parker has.
A lot of negative things can be taken out of this one.
Virtually every weakness the Andrew Bogut-less Bucks have was exposed in their 112-98 loss to the San Antonio Spurs Monday night. Without Bogut, the Bucks had few answers for Tim Duncan inside and had to resort to double teams on him more often than not. In turn, the Spurs were able to work the ball around, find the open man and hit open three after open three. Sans Bogut, the Bucks struggled to keep the Spurs off the boards. Coming into this one, the Bucks were out-rebounding the Spurs 45.8-42.8. Sure, Bogut was gone, but the Bucks have still looked sharp on the boards even without the center. The Spurs absolutely crushed the Bucks on the boards (more on this later).
The Bucks certainly haven’t seen a team like the Spurs.
The Bucks have faced a pillow soft schedule thus far, fattening up on the dregs of the NBA. Bobcats, Grizzlies, Nets and Knicks are all no Spurs. They offer little in the ways of crisp ball movement. None of the teams the Bucks have been able to knock off has had a go-to guy like Tim Duncan. So a logical question to be raised after this particularly brutal defeat is, are the Bucks close to being as good as their record indicates? Read more…
(Likely) Inactives: Michael Redd, Joe Alexander and Andrew Bogut
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San Antonio Spurs (Gregg Popovich) 5-6
(Likely) Inactives: Manu Ginobili
Game time: 7:30 (CST)
TV: FS Wisconsin
Match-ups
Point Guard
Brandon Jennings vs. Tony Parker
Parker returned on Saturday after missing two games with a left ankle sprain. Tony Parker on a sprained left ankle is more dangerous than most guards on two healthy ones, so it’s not like he’ll be an easy guard just because he’s had some injuries this year. His numbers are down a little from a year ago when he had what was likely his best season ever. The fact that the question can seriously be posed as to whether he’s taken the reins on this team from Tim Duncan says a lot about his talent. Jennings has faced some talented point guards thus far, but hasn’t faced one with Parker’s scorer mentality. He gets in the paint and scores more than most. The back-and-forth battle between these two should be worth the price of admission, Jennings has been nearly unconscious all season long. It’s very safe to say he’s outperformed Parker even. In fact, this seems like the very type of game Jennings will bring just a little bit extra for.
