SB Nation - Hakim Warrick

Recap: Wizards 104, Bucks 102

Alex Boeder — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 04:30:00 -0000

More photos » by Alex Brandon - AP

Haywood: Last one standing. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

You don't need to jump ~~very high~~ to block Earl Boykins.

I am typing to you, not some giant NBA'er.

And so another rookie lesson learned. Brandon Jennings was caught with his feet off the ground, caught with his defensive judgment just off with a second to go in a tied game.

Whether a preseason-pessimest or offseason-optimist, we all figured it would be an up-and-down adventure on this Jennings ride, and it was just that in the final ten seconds of regulation: After all, the rook' had just nailed a clutch three to tie the game prior to his foul.

Still, on a night when he was outplayed by his backup (about him...), Jennings wanted the ball, the shot on his team's final possession. And he made it count.

But while much of the pregame focus centered on Washington's Big Three, Bogut, and Jennings, everyone looked right past and right over old friend Earl Boykins. So Boykins worked the fourth quarter pick-n-roll with Brendan Haywood into a win.

And just like that, one of the East's most pleasant surprises (9-8 Milwaukee) stand just a couple in front of one of the disappointments (7-10 Washington).

It's a long road, and to maintain that barely-winning record, the Bucks must find a way to win on the road. And stay on their toes or at least their feet on defense.

Three Bucks

Luke Ridnour. Three years ago, Ridnour was a dynamite player in both November and December. Just look at those game logs. A scorching shooter from inside and outside the arc, great passing, the Duck did it all.

But he never played quite like that before or after.

This is the closest thing.

After sitting out the second half of Monday's game with a sore hamstring, Ridnour returned very ready to roll. He had the runners, jumpers, and threes all working, and his passing was just as good. We'll take 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 0 turnovers each time.

Hakim Warrick. Scott Skiles went absolutely nuts after Warrick didn't get a foul call going up in the first quarter. Tossed out of the game in the first quarter. 'Twas a bad no-call, especially in the context of Charlie Bell getting whistled for sort of just hanging out near Caron Butler shortly before it all went down. Skiles wasn't afraid to single out Warrick when he started so poorly, but you never doubted that he would stand up for his men.

About Hak' though. He's playing about as well as anyone wearing green and red the past week and a half. And ~~don't~~ look now, but he's hanging out right around his career averages.

Tonight he combined with Ridnour off the bench as chief scoring options, and he was the only Buck able to get to the line, converting all eight. He finished with 20 points on 6-9 from the field.

Brandon Jennings. Picking Three Bucks has usually been difficult due to a surplus of candidates so far this season, but tonight was fairly rough after the first two. Not a prime performance among any of the starters.

Jennings continued his six-game-long shooting woes, during which time he hasn't eclipsed 33.3 % from the field in any game. And his defensive struggles, detailed in the lead, were again apparent. But he found open players (aside from on the fast break, when he never seems to dish) and finished with seven dimes and no turnovers. That game-tying three was nice, too.

Three Numbers

0. As noted, the point guard duo of Jennings and Ridnour didn't commit a single turnover. The Wizards aren't the best defensively, or really very good at all. But zero turnovers is zero turnovers, and they had 13 assists together.

1. Earl Boykins made more free throws in the final second of the game than all Bucks not named Hakim Warrick did the entire game. Warrick made 8-8 while the rest of his mates shot 1-4 at the free throw line. The Wizards made 25-34 at the stripe.

25. The Bucks (42-95) attempted 25 more shots from the field than the Wizards (38-70). Neither team did much work on the offensive boards (6-3 Milwaukee) so the field goal discrepancy was largely a product of... surprise, surprise: shooting far fewer free throws (34-12).

Three Good

Ridnour and Warrick. Worth reiterating. They were the stars against New Orleans, and they were the stars tonight. And if they hadn't played so very well in both of those games, these games would've something much worse than close, late-game disappointing, road losses.

Close? Three road losses (Philadelphia, San Antonio, Oklahoma City) weren't close, but it almost seems like bad luck to lose all of the other three.

The Bucks dropped to 2-6 on the road, but you can file this one next to games in Chicago and New Orleans as very legitimate opportunities to steal wins away from home. Some terrible late-game decisions and results in all three, but they are learning.

Skiles. Sort of conflicted on the ejection. On one hand, that technical free throw converted by, who else, Earl Boykins, loomed large in the down-to-the-wire loss. But I like the fire from Skiles, especially in light of the questionable officiating and on a night when his team came out looking like they needed motivation.

Three Bad

Defense. The Wizards shot 54.3 % from the field despite none of the big three really feeling it tonight: Arenas (10-24), Jamison (5-8), Butler (4-10). Post-game, Skiles had nothing good to say about the defensive performance, and I must say that I can't recall many big stops on that side of the ball.

Look at that little fella. He's got enough poison in him to kill an elephant. That's right. Of all people. Eleven points in the final ten minutes for the former Buck, who just ate up Milwaukee running the pick and roll. I was concerned about Jennings possibly guarding Arenas, but it turned out that first Nick Young and then Boykins made the most trouble.

Bogut vs Brendan. Neither Gadzuric nor Elson played in this one, and Thomas only saw nine minutes. So this one was all on Bogut down low.

And if he's all that serious about stepping up to an All-Star level then Bogut must find a way. The Aussie was actually quite good in the previous few head-to-head matchups with Haywood, but tonight was a different story. Haywood's wideness bothered Bogut, but that's not really it because even Andray Blatche defended Bogut with some success. We can't possibly expect him to play like he did against Chicago every time, but 4-14 and 8 points, let us do without that.

Recap: Magic 100, Bucks 98

Alex Boeder — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 08:14:56 -0000

More photos » by Morry Gash - AP

Jennings and Howard: Agony and ecstacy

Browse more photos »

Box Score

MILWAUKEE - They aren't the defending conference champs for a reason; they are the defending conference champs for many reasons. Unfortunately, 16,128 saw just enough of those reasons at the Bradley Center tonight, where the Bucks lost for the second time this season, for the second time in a way that hurts all the way home.

The Bucks hosted a road team that entered Milwaukee with wins in Boston, Atlanta, and Toronto (twice) already this season. Those three at home against other teams? 19-2.

Orlando wins the pregame matchups when everyone is ready to roll, but: Howard + Carter - Bogut - Mbah a Moute = Abject Inequality. Still the Bucks raced to a lead, and not just a lead, a double digit advantage that ballooned all the way to 17 in the third quarter before Jason Williams and Vince Carter popped that balloon with threes and dunks like it was 1999, or thereabout. The YouTube wonderbackcourt of years past combined for 16 points in the final six and a half minutes of the third.

A back-and-forth fourth quarter ended after Ersan Ilyasova and Luke Ridnour both missed shots with less than a half minute and the Magic up two. But Ilyasova and Ridnour were more heroic than scapegoats despite the misses, and the shorthanded Bucks were more impressive than anything else despite the loss...

Three Bucks

Ersan Ilyasova. Milwaukee's Man of the Match missed a free throw late and then a potential game-winning three with half a minute to go, but there's no faulting someone who earned a (partial) standing ovation for a single offensive rebound -- especially when it was one of seven reeled in off the offensive glass.

Ilyasova hauled in a rebound of a missed three pointer by Brandon Jennings in the third quarter, earning a roaring approval from the crowd as Milwaukee called for time. The Bucks missed five shots in a row in that series midway through the third quarter, but Ersan kept possessions alive all night.

His day in the late-game sun will come; he's too good of a shooter to keep coming up short in the clutch. But for now I'm fully satisfied with his Howardish 20 points and 16 rebounds and un-Howardish zero turnovers. Would anyone rather have Charlie Villanueva right now?

Luke Ridnour. The vet, backup point again outplayed Jennings tonight, but let's keep him coming off the bench, where he's thriving. I continue telling myself (and you) that he can't shoot like this forever, but Ridnour's aim remained very on for at least another night. He was easily the team's most efficient offensive player with 20 points on 9-15 from the field, and he made his only free throw and three pointer.

But like Ilyasova, he missed at the end. And that decision to shoot a tough, fadeaway jumper with a new shot clock available and 27 seconds remaining in the game was certainly questionable. But he wasn't worrying about degree of difficulty the whole night, and they were mostly falling until then. Both he and Ilyasova gained the confidence throughout to attempt those decisive shots, and that's nice. So is 20 points, 6 assists and a couple steals from the backup point guard.

Hakim Warrick. Four straight 15+ point games for Warrick, who is forming a rather sufficient power forward duo along with Ersan. Hak belongs around the basket. He can start his dunk from just about anywhere inside the perimeter and make it happen. That's high percentage, even if he misses a dunk, like he did once tonight (those two points would've been nice). And he usually has that one-track-dunk-mind. So it was a bit strange to see three falling-away jumpers look so very clean in the first half.

I like that he made those jumpers, but even on a good night like this one he only made 3-7 on shots outside the paint. Warrick is one of the few Bucks who is capable of getting to the line (led the team in making a modest 4-4 free throws tonight) and he gets there when aggressive. Diversifying the offensive portfolio is great, but right now he can drive to the basket with authority like no other Buck, so let's focus on that, cool?

Three Numbers

6. The Bucks committed just six turnovers in the entire game, the same number as Dwight Howard had all by his lonesome. The starting backcourt of Jennings and Bell combined for just a single turnover in 70 minutes.

8-9. Milwaukee made 8-9 three pointers to start the game, helping push them to an early lead. Ultimately they couldn't sustain shooting threes like that, or not-so-coincidentally the lead. But they still outshot the three-point-happy Magic from outside, making a marksmanlike11-19 in the game compared to 8-22 for Orlando.

56.0 %. A game after facing the league's most accurate from the line in OKC, the Bucks faced the NBA's worst free throw shooting team, and the Magic lived down to the billing by hitting just 14-25 (.560) from the line. Combined with Milwaukee's hot outside shooting, this one was ripe for the taking.

Three Good

Happy home. I don't know (or maybe I don't want to know) how close to .500 the Bucks can play on the road, but all indications are that they will post plenty of wins at home. The only two losses so far came against a very good Mavs team on a Dirk overtime buzzer-beater, and now tonight against the (improved) defending Eastern Conference champs by a couple points. Milwaukee had chances to win both games, and opponents haven't looked very happy following pre-game warmups at the BC this year.

Not a bad home performance yet among eight, and attendance reached a season-high 16,128 tonight... feelin' like a legit home court advantage.

Supersubs. Missing three usual starters in Bogut, Redd, and Mbah a Moute, Milwaukee's bench realistically shouldn't be so hot. Especially compared to a very good, deep team in better health. Ryan Anderson, J.J. Redick, and Brandon Bass lead one of the finest seconds units in the league, but the Bucks' bench was better tonight. The aforementioned Ridnour and Warrick were stars and scored a dozen more points (36) than the entire Magic bench.

And with Dan Gadzuric accurately deemed helpless against Howard (4 fouls in 4 minutes), Kurt Thomas assumed the unenviable task of guarding the superstar for almost 30 minutes. He slowed, even frustrated Howard some, and pulled down a few offensive boards in a solid run off the bench.

Care. Skiles has spoken often recently about the Bucks turning the ball over too much. Just six turnovers tonight. And after a couple weeks having trouble while facing tremendous defensive pressure and specific gameplans targeting him, Jennings didn't commit a single turnover against a good defensive team, ranked 5th in the NBA coming in.

Three Bad

Leads to losses. Going into this game, the Bucks had no business winning, but once you accumulate a lead as big as 17, it's yours to lose. And they lost it. The Magic are really good, and if this was something new, it would be more understandable. But after so recently blowing the Hornets game, it's not new at all. And they crashed pretty hard against the Bulls to start this month, too. I don't see the Bucks coming back from big deficits to win, so there is really no evening out here.

The Bucks led by 17 points with under three minutes in the first half after a three by Jennings. Even against a premier opponent like the Magic, that's a healthy lead. But Milwaukee quite quickly gave it up, as Orlando closed to within nine by halftime.

In fact, the Bucks closed quarters poorly all night. After allowing that game-high 17 point second quarter lead dwindle to nine, they finished the third quarter even worse. Up 70-58 with four and change left in the third, the Magic went on a 15-2 run to take a lead into the fourth quarter. And we know how that quarter ended...

The end. Skiles maintained that it was the correct decision to play straight-up defense down by two on the final possession.

"I would foul if it was a bad foul shooter, but we've got to be able to make a stop right there, get the rebound, take a timeout, and have another chance," Skiles said.

But with 27 seconds and thusly a three second difference between the shot and game clock, the Magic could and should have waited until the last second to shoot, which would have left maybe a second if the Bucks secured the defensive rebound... which obviously was never meant to be anyway. Not sure I'm comfortable with that defensive philosophy though. Okay, I am sure. That I'm not.

Hurting. If Redd was perfectly spritely the past few games, that would be a bigger problem than any. So it's reassuring in some ways that Mike is still hurting; at least we can assume he will eventually play better, which shouldn't be too difficult. But the fact the team's two biggest, pre-Jennings names never seem quite right is a real worry hanging over the franchise even while the rest of the club plays so admirably in their absence.

It doesn't help that Mbah a Moute, who was originally considered day-to-day, doesn't physically appear ready to return right away.

Orlando Magic 100, Milwaukee Bucks 98

Ben Q Rock — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 07:50:38 -0000

by Morry Gash - AP

View full size photo »

Dwight Howard and Vince Carter, who scored 25 points apiece, led the Orlando Magic to a 100-98 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks in a game in which Orlando trailed by as many as 17 in the second half. Rashard Lewis scored the winning bucket, a bank shot off the dribble after driving to his right, with 44.7 seconds left to punctuate a quietly effective night for him. The Bucks had plenty of time to respond to Lewis' bucket, and got a wide-open, three-point look for Ersan Ilyasova at the top of the arc, but it fell well short. Luke Ridnour corralled the long rebound and--apparently going for a two-for-one opportunity--put up a wild jumper almost immediately, but was well off the mark. The Magic needed to shoot, and Carter did. Howard tipped the miss off the glass, and Matt Barnes, inserted for defense on the Bucks' final possession, secured the loose ball to preserve the victory. It was, in short, a wild finish to an entertaining game that saw banner performances from several participants.

Team	Pace	Efficiency	eFG%	FT Rate	OReb%	TO Rate
Magic	88	113.2	55.8%	18.2	31.0	19.2
Bucks	85	115.4	47.2%	14.4	28.8	7.1
Green denotes a stat better than the team's season average; red denotes a stat worse than the team's season average.

Some nights, it's not your night. It's a sports cliche that's become cliched because it is, well, true. And when the Magic entered the Bradley Center locker room trailing by a score of 56-47, they might have felt that way. The Bucks shot an absurd 7-of-8 on three-pointers in the first half, and reserve forward Hakim Warrick roasted whomever guarded him inside with a variety of quick moves off the dribble; never before has Magic backup center Marcin Gortat, a stout defender, looked so overmatched. There's only so much a defense can do when it forces the opposition to take contested jumpers, and those jumpers wind up going in. The Bucks, without Andrew Bogut manning the pivot, had no inside game to speak of apart from Warrick's explosive drives. Their jump-shots, some of them wide-open, dropped and dropped and dropped all night, but particularly in the first half. Ridnour made all manner of runners and floaters in the lane, many times after absorbing contact but not earning the benefit of the whistle. The Bucks very much take on the demeanor of their head coach, Scott Skiles: they scrapped, fought hard, never gave up... however you want to put it. The point is they played impressively tonight, missing two of their best players (Bogut and Michael Redd), on the second night of a back-to-back, against the defending Eastern Conference champions. I can't say enough good things about them.

But the Magic were simply better in the second half, and they earned this win. Coach Stan Van Gundy was right when he told the press that the Magic's poor starts in the each of the last two games are causes for concern, but it's hard not to come away impressed with their effort in the second half. Howard avoided foul trouble the entire game and looked to take his D to another gear after intermission, recording all 4 of his blocks in the final 24 minutes, including 2 on 1 possession, and another late in the game when isolated against Bucks rookie point guard Brandon Jennings, who attempted to shoot a jumper over the 6'11" center, to no avail. That the Bucks converted a higher percentage of their three-pointers (57.9%) than their two-pointers (36.6%) is no surprise, given Howard's deterring presence in the lane.

Howard's offense, though, was even more impressive. 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting, with only one dunk and three layups. Everything else? Rolling hooks, from either side of the lane, with either hand, and soft touch. Put-backs. He looked like a refined offensive player, teasing impatient Magic fans with glimpses of an elite post game. Alas, tonight's showing is probably the exception to the rule as far as offense is concerned... but the Magic will, quite obviously, take the points any way they can get 'em.

Howard's emergence overshadowed a gutty performance by Carter, who needed 4 stitches to close a gash in his mouth sustained when Charlie Bell inadvertently caught him with an elbow. True to form, Carter proceeded to challenge Bell at every opportunity once he returned, and did so with excellent results. He, like, Howard, finished with 25 points, as I mentioned. He continued to attack the basket, as he's done more often in recent weeks, which can only be a good thing. He missed a few inside looks he should have made, which has been a season-long trend, but the point is he rarely settled for long jumpers. Progress.

The superstars' scoring inside opened the floor up for Lewis, who responded with his best game of the season. He sank 2 of his 3 three-point looks, but also looked to score from mid-range and at the basket; he was not a standstill shooter today. His 9 boards (4 offensive) made him the Magic's second-leading rebounder. A quiet, steady, encouraging game for Lewis, who had struggled with his shot earlier this year as he shakes the cobwebs that gathered during his suspension.

And how about Brandon Bass tonight? Playing for the first time in 10 days, Bass came on and showed why the Magic made him their top free-agency target this summer. In a shade under 9 minutes, Bass scored 8 points on 3-of-4 shooting, grabbed 4 rebounds (2 at either end of the floor), and blocked a shot. His D, which was one of the factors that knocked him out of the rotation lately, still needs work, as he let Warrick blow by him on the left baseline for a monstrous jam... which he missed, luckily enough. But 4 rebounds in 8 minutes, for a power forward who came into the game averaging just over 3 in 21 minutes per game, is tremendous, and the sign of someone who wants his job back. He outplayed Ryan Anderson (2 points and 2 assists in 7 minutes) tonight and showed that he can be useful against certain kinds of teams.

I've made a lot of this recap sound rosy, which is bound to happen when the Magic overcome a big deficit to win late. Still, there are several causes for concern. Defense, sure; Milwaukee shouldn't be able to score 115 points per 100 possessions on anyone, at least not with Redd and Bogut on the sideline. They made tough jumpers a lot of the night, which they had to do given their personnel. But the Magic should be worried that Ilyasova managed to grab 16 rebounds against them, especially 7 on offense. He's a fine player, but against great rebounders like Howard and Gortat, he should not be able to get free. Turnovers were also a problem for Orlando. Point guard Jason Williams played 34 minutes without committing any, against 10 assists, which is great to see. But Howard and Carter committed 9 themselves, of the Magic's 18 total. It's true that Milwaukee tends to force a lot of turnovers, so some of that is to be expected. However, under no reasonable circumstances should the Magic give the ball away once every five times down the court. That sort of offense won't get it done against the NBA's better teams.

The Magic wrap up this four-game, five-night, four-city stretch of their schedule tomorrow evening in New York. If they can hold off the fast-paced Knicks for their 8th win in 9 tries, they'll wind up turning a lot of heads. But they can't look ahead to hypothetical results, lest they get run off the floor in the first half, as they almost were tonight in Milwaukee and Thanksgiving night in Atlanta.

Bobcats Lose to Bucks 95-88; Highlights and Lowlights

David Arnott — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:09:50 -0000

More photos » by Jeffrey Phelps - AP

Browse more photos »

The Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Charlotte Bobcats 95-88, powered by a huge first quarter from Brandon Jennings and solid production from Hakim Warrick and Ersan Ilyasova.

We'll have more in the morning, but here are some highlights and lowlights:

BAD

-- Free throws are fast becoming the Cats' most important flaw. Tonight, they had a big advantage in getting to the line, but only shot 26-43 from the charity stripe. That's 61%, folks.

-- Three point shooting is still terrible. Yes, even if they're bad at it, they have to take threes, because otherwise the opposing defense can simply collapse into the lane, but the Cats are so bad at it they must consider severely reducing their three point attempts. 2-13 tonight.

-- The offense did not improve with an increased tempo and pace. (I'm guessing about that. It felt like the pace had increased, but I haven't confirmed.) Fewer possessions in a game provides greater variance in outcomes because each possession means more to the game; it's a reasonable strategy for poor teams to grind the game to a halt. However, increasing the offense's pace and tempo can create a greater advantage if it leads to easier baskets. The Cats seemed to increase the pace a notch, but it's not leading to easier baskets. It seems they're simply taking shots earlier in the shot clock.

-- I suppose it's hardly a bad thing that they couldn't contain Jennings, because few teams have contained him, but I'm still disappointed the Cats' defense has seemed to drop off from the excellent D of the first few games. In addition, Raymond Felton and D.J. Augustin were almost comically bad, a combined 1-7 from the field, and Felton had 2 assists. Was that Jennings's defense? Or was it more our guys' ineptitude? I'm not sure.

-- Boris Diaw is probably hurting. He didn't have his normal offensive game, and Warrick and Ilyasova were constantly pounding the Cats inside and outside, respectively. Perhaps it was just the matchups, but I'm concerned over whether or not Diaw's trying to play through a back injury that is hurting his game too much.

-- Gerald Henderson only got a few seconds in the game. What was the point?

GOOD

-- At times, the increased pace worked, and it seemed to benefit Gerald Wallace's offense most. He ended up with 22 points to go with his now-expected 10 rebounds.

-- Stephen Jackson played to the higher end of his abilities, scoring 22 and only turning it over twice.

-- Derrick Brown! 16 minutes for the rook is about 14 more minutes than I could have hoped for him. Awesome.

-- Mad props to the Milwaukee game day crew. I don't know if it was a malfunction or not, but sometime in the second half, I think all in-house sound effects stopped. The PA guy was still going, but there was no music, no chimes, no thumping beat during possessions. Just the sweet sound of a few thousand people cheering along the ebb and flow of a basketball game.

Mavericks Vs Bucks: Game 11 Preview

Phillip Baggett — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:01:25 -0000

Mavericks vs Bucks coverage

The Match-ups:

Point Guard

Jason Kidd: Kidd continues to be one of the most consistent players on the team, while this is not surprising it is definitely a plus. Kidd's consistency on the defensive end will be needed tonight, as Kidd's counterpart in Milwaukee went off for a rookie club record 55 point showing Saturday night.

vs.

Brandon Jennings: Jennings is not your average rookie, it appears there is no limit to this kids talent. He comes in averaging nearly 26 points per contest, and one must assume that with Michael Redd sidelined that his point totals would only increase. Keeping Jennings in check will be job one for the Mavs tonight.

Edge: Bucks

Shooting Guard

Rodrigue Beaubois: Roddy B continues to impress, yesterday in Detroit the Mavs rookie dropped in 14 points and 4 assists and best of all ZERO turnovers. As long as he continues to put in performances like this one, the Mavs coaching staff is going to have a difficult time keeping him out of the line up.

vs.

Charlie Bell: As a starter there is not much good to say about Charlie Bell, and lets be honest if not for the injury to Michael Redd, Charlie Bell and his 9.9 per game Efficiency rating would not be getting extensive minutes.

Edge: Mavericks

Forward

Shawn Marion: Marion has yet to have a big scoring game for the Mavs, but his defense has been everything we could have hoped for. As soon as he stops missing those close to the basket shots things will turn around quickly. I would like to see him attack the basket a little more, if for no other reason than to get himself to the line more than once a game.

vs.

Luc Mbah a Moute: With a +/- of +6 and an efficiency of 7.6 per game, this guy by no means should be a starter in the NBA. The Bucks however continue to play well with 3 of their 5 starters being sub par backups.

Edge: Mavericks

Power Forward

Dirk Nowitzki: Dirk is well on his way towards another run at MVP, and he has done this while struggling from the field. I feel sorry for whomever he puts it all together against.

vs.

Hakim Warrick: The third of three Bucks starters who should not be starters, will have his hands full tonight, and nothing to suggest that the Mavericks cannot win this battle.

Edge: Mavericks

Center

Drew Gooden: Where have you been all year? Finally against the Pistons, The guy the Mavericks thought they were getting in free agency this year made his first appearance. Gooden dropped in 11 points and 11 rebounds in his first start of the year, is this a sign of things to come? We can only hope so.

vs.

Andrew Bogut: As far as efficiency goes there are only two centers in the East better than Bogut (Dwight Howard, and David Lee). Bogut comes in averaging 16 points and 9.8 rebounds per contest, He and Brandon Jennings are the Bucks primary people, Gooden and the Mavs must keep Bogut quiet and force the Rookie to try to do it all by himself.

Edge: Bucks

Injuries/Suspensions

Milwaukee Bucks

OUT - Michael Redd

Dallas Mavericks

OUT - Josh Howard

OUT - Erick Dampier

Prediction: This has all the makings of a let down game for the Mavs. The deciding factor to this game will be the play of each teams bench. The Mavs have the clear advantage as far as bench play, but there 2nd game of a back to back play has been very suspect.

Mavericks - 92

Bucks - 95

Redd targeting return next week

Frank Madden — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 06:40:06 -0000

Charles Gardner and Jim Paschke reported after today's practice that while Michael Redd will again be in street clothes tomorrow against Golden State, he is targeting a return sometime next week. The Bucks continue their homestand through next Friday with games on Monday against the Mavs, Wednesday against the Nets and Friday against Charlotte. Until then, Redd will continue to rehab the patella tendon in his left knee, which he strained in the Bucks' home opener against the Pistons on October 31. Via Gardner:

Redd indicated he was able to do some running and jumping but he had not yet gone through a practice session with teammates. "I'm doing a lot more dynamic movements, testing it and putting it in positions it would be if I was playing," the Bucks veteran said.

The elephant in the room: how will Redd's return impact a Bucks team that has started firing on all cylinders since he went down?

Let's start with the obvious. I had Bogut pegged as the Bucks' most important/valuable/irreplaceable player before the season started, and Jennings' incredible start has allowed him to leapfrog Redd in that category as well. Part of that stems from Jennings' and Bogut's ability to impact the game in multiple ways, and part of it is a positional thing--center and point guard are simply much more important positions than off guard.

That said, I certainly won't go so far as to say the Bucks are a better team without Redd. As much as people underestimated the Bucks' personnel coming into the season, this is still a team that lacks reliable scorers and all the numbers back that up: 26th in scoring efficiency, 25th in eFG%, and 29th in FT/FG. Redd's ability to create his own shot and get to the line is exactly the kind of thing that could help the team play at an even higher level, even if it means some sacrifice on the defensive end (where the Bucks still rank 1st in efficiency).

The challenge for Scott Skiles is in making sure that Redd's return doesn't starve Bogut and Jennings of their touches. It's probably less of a concern with Jennings, who will still be able to pick his spots as the guy who brings the ball up the court every possession. The bigger concern is whether Redd's return stifles Bogut's touches. The big man has had 14 or 15 fga in each of the the past four games and he's responded by averaging 19.5 ppg while converting at a 60% clip. Heck, he's even made nine straight free throws over the past two games. But beyond his high efficiency, Bogut is also the Bucks' only low post threat, and he's even been commanding double teams at times. That kind of thing makes the game easier for everyone--Redd and Jennings included. And while I certainly wouldn't blame Redd for Bogut's lack of scoring against Philly and Detroit, there's obviously a tradeoff involved between getting each guy his touches.

For some time, the consensus on Redd is that he'd probably be best as the third banana on a good team. The consensus has also been that we probably wouldn't see that happen in Milwaukee. Could it be changing? Quite possibly. It's tough to extrapolate the success of six games against mostly mediocre competition over a full 82-game season, especially given how many injuries the Bucks seem to sustain each year. But the third banana part seems pretty real right now.

You might reasonably even suggest that the Bucks bring Redd off the bench a la Manu Ginobili in an attempt to better balance the firepower between the first and second units. We could certainly see it as Redd works his way back from his injury--he also came off the bench in his first game following his ankle injury last November. But it's still a bit of a leap to see Skiles go that route on a permanent basis, even if Redd could still get 30-33 minutes in a super sixth man role.

There are of course other ways of making the situation work, and the pressure is on Skiles as much as anyone to figure out the best route. For one he can focus on staggering his starters' minutes throughout the game, so that you minimize the amount of time both Redd and Bogut are resting. We saw that in the first half of the opener, when Skiles gave Redd a short rest midway through the first and then brought him back when Bogut sat down with a minute left in the period. Against Denver the Bucks played a combined seven minutes where neither Bogut nor Jennings was on the court, and going forward it's those kinds of situations I'd prefer to avoid.

Skiles could also move Hakim Warrick back to the bench and let Ersan Ilyasova take over as the starting PF, which shouldn't ruffle too many feathers. Kurt Thomas is still around as well, but he seems to have fallen out of favor with Warrick and Ilyasova holding down the PF spot and Gadzuric playing effectively at backup center. Warrick has plenty of experience as a sixth man and was largely expected to be the second unit's offensive sparkplug before Redd's injury helped convince Skiles to bump him into the starting five. Warrick may not be an elite scorer by any stretch of the imagination, but he gets to the line and you can at least run plays for him. That alone makes him pretty unique on the current roster.

Recap: Bucks 87, Wolves 72

Frank Madden — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 07:37:15 -0000

More photos » by Jim Mone - AP

Throw it down, big fella!

Browse more photos »

Box Score

Flashy rookies? High-scoring games? Who needs 'em. For the Redd-less Bucks, ugly might as well be the new pretty.

Following a lackluster first half, the Bucks turned the screws defensively in the third quarter and found their offensive rhythm long enough to turn a five point halftime deficit into a double-digit lead. Andrew Bogut easily outplayed Al Jefferson on his way to a second straight double-double (17/10, four dimes, two blocks, two steals), and Hakim Warrick and Luke Ridnour came up big in the second half to balance out the Bucks' attack..

The big story coming in was understandably the Brandon Jennings/Jonny Flynn matchup, but the two rooks were relatively quiet until Flynn (20 points on 17 shots, one assist, three steals, three turnovers) went off for 12 points in the final 7 minutes. Jennings (nine pts, 4/16 fg, six rebounds, three assists, one turnover) wasn't even in the game at that point, as Luke Ridnour's strong shooting night (6/9 fg, 16 points) allowed Skiles to rest his starter for the entire fourth quarter. Before that point, both rookies showed occasional flashes of their talent, but neither got into a real rhythm until the Bucks had put the game away.

Three Bucks

Andrew Bogut. The big guy typically feasts on undersized teams. and tonight was no different. Just as in Chicago, the Bucks tried to use Bogut in some different ways and it worked to good effect. Bogut took Jefferson and Ryan Hollins off the dribble as well as down in the post, and Jennings also found him for a couple easy buckets off well-devised back-screens. By the end of the game Minnesota was doubling Bogut every time he touched it, a welcome sign given how rusty Bogut looked in the opening two contests.

It was a bit less enjoyable watching Bogut take a couple hard falls in the process, but despite some pained looks he refused treatment from the Bucks' bench. And it also didn't stop him from taking a handful of charges as well. Just as importantly, Bogut helped the Bucks control the boards and did his part to keep Jefferson from going off on the other end.

Hakim Warrick. Despite a favorable matchup against Oleksiy Pecherov, Warrick was nowhere to be found in the first half. No shots. No free throws. But with Jennings' shot not falling, the Bucks needed somebody other than Bogut to provide a shot in the arm, and Warrick seemed to get the message with an 11 point third quarter (5/6 fg) that featured a flurry of dunks off nice looks from teammates. He made one more free throw in the final period, but overall that one quarter of energy and aggression was enough.

Luke Ridnour. Before the season started I had assumed we'd see Ridnour finishing off a decent share of games. Can't trust rookies, right? Then after three games that started to seem kind of ridiculous.

Well, the vet can still get the job done from time to time. Though Flynn lit him up in the waning minutes, Ridnour stepped up with 12 points late in the third and early in the fourth, stroking a series of jumpers that helped the Bucks' reserves improbably expand the lead after Bogut and Jennings sat down. And when we might otherwise have expected Jennings to check back in, Skiles opted to reward his vet with some more burn. Judging by Flynn's success against him it may have been time to give Ridnour a rest, but overall it's tough to complain.

Three Numbers

51. Even without Kevin Love, Minnesota looked far more active on the glass in the early going and grabbed six offensive boards in the first quarter. Fortunately, the Bucks got their act together, grabbing 17 offensive boards and winning the battle of the boards 51-38.

+2. Defending without fouling? Imagine that. The Bucks didn't get to the line much (12/18 ft), but Minnesota was largely content to hoist jumpers and never really tested the Bucks' mettle inside. Minny made only 4/14 from deep and shot just 39%.

29. No Buck cracked 30 minutes, which is a nice thing to see on the front end of a back-to-back.

Three Good

D'ed Up. The T'Wolves aren't exactly an offensive juggernaut, but holding an NBA team to 72 points is still something to be proud of. The Wolves were never able to generate consistent offense from any source, whether it was on the block with Jefferson or in PnR with Flynn, and the Bucks as usual managed to deflect, scrap and hustle their way into forcing 20 turnovers. Bravo.

Glass Crashers. The Bucks' loss in Chicago was largely a product of their inability to protect the boards, so it was encouraging to see a better performance this time out. Bogut led the way, but everyone else was active, as seven players had at least four rebounds.

Containing Big Al. Jefferson was consistently catching 15 feet away from the hoop, which was crucial to limiting his impact on the game. The Bucks also did well to avoid bailing him out with fouls when he chose to drive. Novel concept. Of course, even when Jefferson did get to the line he looked off, missing four of six from the stripe. It might have been a different story if Jefferson was at 100%, but whatever. Jefferson's been a double-double machine in recent years, so any night you hold him to single-digit points (8) and rebounds (8) on 12 shots, you've gotta be happy.

Three Bad

Brandon's shot...and Jodie's game. They're still rookies I guess. We knew Jennings would have a bad shooting night eventually, but we can take solace in the fact that it came on a night when Ridnour couldn't miss. For the most part he was getting good looks, but he still airballed a couple jumpers and rushed a couple early in the shot clock.

Jode Meeks also got his first extended minutes of the season, playing 19 minutes but mostly just showing why Skiles had been hesitant to give him any burn up until now (2/8 fg, 0/2 3fg, 2/2 ft, 5 reb, 3 to, 6 pts). He mishandled a couple passes in the early going before he scored his first hoop on a transition layup near the end of the first quarter, then missed a series of good perimeter looks. His only other field goal was an exceptionally difficult catch-and-shoot from the left corner that he buried while slightly off-balance and with a guy in his grill. Hopefully it was mainly just an issue of nerves tonight, because his perimeter shooting could be of real use with Redd out and Bell/Delfino misfiring.

Refs. They weren't as noticeable in the second half, but it seemed like the refs were determined to make sure neither team got into any rhythm in the first half. Lots of chintsy fouls, lots of makeup calls, and a million moving screen calls. It didn't seem to favor either team, but it still managed to take away from the game. Well done, Derrick Stafford, Brian Forte, and Gary Zielinski

Scorekeepers. Jennings had at least five assists by my count--ie passes that immediately led to dunks, layups or made baskets with no dribble or hesitation--but the Minnesota scorekeepers apparently aren't big on assists. They might not be biased, either, considering that the home side was credited with just 11 dimes. Fittingly, the live box score was also screwed up much of the night, and Jim/Jon reported inconsistent numbers coming from the arena stat system.

Recap: Bulls 83, Bucks 81

Alex Boeder — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:57:57 -0000

Box Score

The Bucks ever-so-narrowly missed the chance to win in Chicago for the first time in eight tries. And they did so by missing by a lot. Twice.

With 14 second to go in the fourth and the Bulls up 83-81, Brandon Jennings pulled up for a jumper just past the free throw line, but Derrick Rose blocked the attempt with ease. For Rose, the play provided a bit of sweet redemption because Jennings had forced him into a turnover and then floated a jumper over him just two possessions earlier.

Still, the block gave the ball back to Chicago with little time and less hope. But Joakim Noah (he of the absurd free throw form) spun consecutive free throws off the rim to give Milwaukee hope with 12 seconds to spare.

Unfortunately, the final try proved just as futile as the previous one. Jennings found an all-too-hesitant Ersan Ilyasova beyond the arc who fired a shot that hardly got closer to the rim than when Rose stuffed Jennings. Airball, out of bounds, game over.

The under-one-minute sequences underscored Milwaukee's thin late-game offensive options. Jennings was again very good, but after taking the previous three shots the Bucks had to figure the defense would cave around him. So they tried to spring free Ilysasova, who with the game on the line came up just as his final line (0-3 for 0 points and 3 fouls.) indicates: empty.

Three Bucks

Brandon Jennings. There is style (personified by God Shammgod here) and there is substance (think Tim Duncan since the first time you saw him play until further notice). Jennings shows both plenty of style and plenty of substance. And not just "for a 20 year-old" either. Case in anecdotal point: late second-quarter, Young Buck knifes down the middle of the lane and every-so-slightly darts left, helping draw attention away from Dan Gadzuric, who is cutting to his right. A simple around-the-back pass results in a~~n easy~~ dunk for Gadzuric. Style and substance, at once.

Jennings certainly more than held his own in an initial matchup with Derrick Rose, an accomplishment in itself. Unafraid to assume the desperately-needed role of scoring point guard on a team with limited firepower and without its best scorer, the rook' netted a cool 25 points. As such, he's led the Bucks in scoring in all three games. And he's fast showing a defensive character. Jennings led the club with a pair of steals, and he defended Rose into a turnover on a decisive play with less than half a minute in the game. In fact, he stayed in front of Rose pretty nicely for much of the game, and contributed to Chicago's point guard pretty pedestrian 5 assist, 5 turnover line. For Jennings, 25 points, 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers, some learning, and even more growing. Well-done.

Andrew Bogut. The defense was mostly steady, and though we could use a few more offensive bursts with Redd sidelined, Bogut stepped up on both ends of the floor tonight. 'Drew threw in eight straight in the second quarter, with all but one shot coming from one or the other baseline on running half-hook types. The Bucks again found Bogut for a few scores in the fourth, and he finished with 16 points, a delightful sum after the first two games.

Maybe you watched the second Bucks/Bulls preseason game, probably not. Bogut didn't play, which worked out nicely for Joakim Noah, who pitched in 23 points and 20 boards. With the Bucks' big man back in the middle tonight, Noahwas nearly nothing until an emphatic slam late in the fourth quarter. Not coincidental.

Charlie Bell. Far from a poor showing in a fill-in role for Redd starting at the two, Bell began the night by frustrating John Salmons, which led to a 3-12, 4-turnover night for Chicago's starting shooting guard. And while he couldn't replicate a Redd-like scoring punch, he did notch 11 points on 5-11 from the field and hit a big three in the fourth quarter to close the gap to 78-75. In sum, Bell played a great game off the bench, only he was forced into the starting lineup before that could happen.

Three Numbers

2. Players not named Brandon Jennings (who made 3-4) on the Bucks combined to make two free throws tonight in Chicago. Not a terribly efficient two free throws either, considering it required six attempts. The Bulls absolutely hammered the Bucks at the line, making 20-31 compared to 5-10. That major descrepancy tipped the final score scale in Chicago's favor.

5. The Bulls connected on their final five attempts from long-distance. And that came after an 0-6 start on threes in the first half. Jannero Pargo (2-3) and Brad Miller (1-1) delivered off the bench for big threes and combined for 23 points -- a whole lot more than the combined eight points Milwaukee got from six different reserves. And the Bucks' bench shot 0-6 on three-pointers, including Ersan's Air.

12. Rose's block on Jennings was the most memorable (and reminiscent of this one against Rondo in the playoffs), but it was just one of 12 for the Bulls. Noah led the way with five while Deng and Salmons followed with a pair each. Each Bucks starter was blocked at least once, and Jennings and Delfino were each stuffed thrice. This group isn't going to make that many shots in the first place; can't afford that many with no hope whatsoever of making it to the basket. Meanwhile, Bogut registered three of Milwaukee's five blocks.

Three Good

Super Tuesday. Like every election day, statisticians tonight projected that candidates won political elections far before all of the votes were counted. Mattero'fact, even before everyone voted, they drew conclusions by considering populations and samples. And they always are able to do this with (varying degrees of) confidence. This type of scientific, qualitative predictive analysis would typically caution against reading too much into even a purely random sample size of 3 out of 82. Even if the results are overwhelming. And it's fine (if not wise) to keep that general line of logic in mind when considering the early Brandon Jennings Rookie of the Year campaign. Then again, Jennings has every look of a top contender thus far. He surely has the attention of voters here and now. After a More-Than-Good Friday in Philly and Stirring Saturday in Milwaukee, this was a rather Super Tuesday in Chicago for Jennings. Looking forward to this ____ Friday in Minneapolis.

Bogut/Jennings. As noted above. With Redd out, this inside-outside duo will need to produce games like this for Milwaukee to have a shot to win. And like tonight, that might not even be good enough. But these two can give the Bucks a chance.

Up... The Bucks carried their momentum from the triumph at the BC on Saturday to the Windy City in a most excellent first quarter, stealing a 25-13 lead after the first twelve. And they fought through the second on the back of Bogut to carry a healthy 14-point lead into the locker room. Really inspiring stuff. They looked like a club coached by Scott Skiles, and I mean that in only the best way: on the ground fighting for loose balls, hounding defensively both inside and out, everyone passing the ball, and generally making the most of a very limited unit.

Three Bad

...and Down. But in stark contrast to the game before, the Bucks deflated in the third quarter, and they couldn't keep pace with a free-flowing Bulls attack that moved the ball quickly offensively. After holding the Bulls to an awfully silly 29 points in the first half, the Bucks allowed 54 after halftime. A two-point loss in Chicago on the heels of losing Redd isn't so bad, but when you have an 18 point cushion on the road, don't lose it -- because this team won't have that very often in the first place.

Eight too much. The divisional and geographic rivals continue to fatten up against their northern neighbors: The Bulls have run off eight straight wins on their home floor against the Bucks.

Defending Deng. Luol Deng, Man of the Match. 24 points, 20 rebounds, and if that doesn't explain his aggressiveness enough then the fact he made 9-11 free throws compared to Milwaukee's entire team making 5-10 free throw should give you a feel. The Bucks threw some different people at Deng, but that didn't much matter; not tonight.

Bad Ball

Stop-n-Pop — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 14:21:54 -0000

More photos » by Jim Mone - AP

about 1 month ago: Minnesota Timberwolves' Corey Brewer scores as Cleveland Cavaliers' Mo Williams looks on in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Oct. 30, 2009 in Minneapolis. Brewer scored 11 points in the Timberwolves' 104-87 loss to the Cavaliers. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Browse more photos »

Near the bottom of last night's comments a few important things were pointed out:

Anthony Parker

has 6 points from 2/7 shooting and was +23

That statistic has very definite limitations.

Judd: "...I've since watched some Steven Seagal movies and I realise that pressure points are no laughing matter.".

by Auswolf on Oct 31, 2009 12:08 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

...

Hey, everyone:

This was a game against one of the top 3 teams in the league, 0-2 start be damned.

I think we would all benefit by making literally no — not a single one ~~- definitive statements about the team after this game. Of course Flynn was going to have a terrible +/~~. Of course we were going to look bad. Do not worry about it. Hold your judgements for when we get blown out by a bad team.

Thank you, and good night.

by LoveTo on Oct 31, 2009 12:53 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

There are going to be a few things that we all need to keep in mind when discussing the Wolves this season:

They are going to put up some crooked stat lines.
+/- is going to be even more flawed than usual as a stand-alone stat used to gauge individual game performances. The Wolves are going to take it in the chin this year on more than a few occasions. That doesn't mean that individual players won't play well within any given blow-out (Brewer played decent during last night's atrocity). It also doesn't account for the roles that certain players inhabit (Ramon Sessions as a backup point; Sasha Pavlovic as a defender off the bench) or the fact that the team's two best players are either inactive or playing at 70%. +/- is a nice part of the equation but it will need to be downgraded this year as the Wolves, as a whole, are going to be going through some bumps and bruises beyond what was expected last year when they had the ability to trot out a relatively respectable and experienced lineup of Sebastian Telfair, Randy Foye, Mike Miller, Kevin Love, and Al Jefferson. Also, we're really, really, really early in the season and until we see how some of these lineups look over the course of 10-15 games, +/- is going to have some pretty hefty limitations and should be used in conjunction with other observations/stats. For instance, Jonny Flynn ended last night's game with a -23 in 25 minutes. This is a bad, bad number but it could mean that he was on the court with the team's most ineffective front court (Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, and Damien Wilkins) and LeBron James for a long period of time. It could also mean that Jonny Flynn is not an NBA point at the moment and while he can score until the cows come home, he has some fairly big issues facilitating the offense. Or, it could be a combo of the two factors. Either way, simply citing +/- isn't going to cut it with this team right now.
Al Jefferson is not anywhere near 100%. Yes, it looks like he has no business being in the new offense and he is the last person on earth you want directing traffic out of the high post, but a serious injury is still a serious injury and the Jefferson Discount should be taken into account when discussing his overall worth to the squad.

I'm sure we can come up with a few more gentle nudges for game discussion but these are the ones that have quickly risen to the top in the first two games of the season.

Enough about the Wolves for a second. The most notable thing about last night's game, for me, was the composition of the Cavs. This team is not as good as it was last year and it is not a championship contender. The most glaring issue that they have is that even with LeBron on the squad, they are the most unathletic non-Wolves starting-5 team I have seen in a long, long time. Shaq and Ilgauskus may be the slowest and most earth-bound frontcourt duo in the league and their non-LeBron wings stand around the three point line and do not crash the boards. This team will be taken apart by any other squad with two players who are both athletic and above 6'10" Witness Toronto, Orlando, and Boston. Witness the change in the game when Ryan Hollins entered the contest. Hell, even Nathan Jawai was able to change the pace of the game for a few moments. This team will always have a decent shot at winning any single game because of LeBron James (who I firmly believe is the best player in the world). However, any team that is thinking about giving 80-90 minutes of court time to a Shaq, Varejao, Ilgauskus front court trio doesn't have the top end to compete with the Bostons, Orlandos, and yes, even the Torontos of the world over a 7 game series. They don't need a Steven Jackson; they needed a Rasheed Wallace or a Marcin Gortat. Mike Brown will eventually take the heat for what happens to this squad but it's the damn Dukie who did the damage.

Let's wrap this up with a few bullet points:

There is no reason on God's green earth to front or double Shaq at this point in his career. This didn't stop Al Jefferson from trying the former and Damien Wilkins from attempting the latter (off of LeBron James, no less). Make them go over the top and if they beat you with Boobie Gibson, so be it.
The FSN game was apparently brought to us by Bret Michael's November appearances at Grand Casino.
The Wolves' starting front court (Jefferson, Gomes, and Wilkins) went 0-for-their-starting-stint. The first front court bucket was made by Ryan Hollins. Sasha Pavlovic was the next front court player to score followed by the White Hole himself, Oleksiy Pecherov. The starting FC ended the game on 9-28 shooting. This comes on the heels of their 9-30 effort against the Nets.
My first Wolves prediction of the year: Ryan Gomes plays himself out of his team option at the end of the year. David Kahn isn't going to pick up a $4.2 million tab on a guy who can't really play the 3 or the 4 in a year where guys like Josh Childress, Hakim Warrick, and Travis Outlaw could be on the open market.
Speaking of options, today is the day for the White Hole and Corey Brewer. Will their options be picked up by the team? I think Brewer gets his but my money is against Pech. Putting the last two points together, ESPN currently has the Wolves with between $8.9 and $12.5 million in 2010 cap space. This is with a cap projected between $50 and $53.6 million. According to the definitive Hoopus cap page, the Wolves are on the books for roughly $37.5 in pre draft pick 2010 salaries. If they decline the options on Pech and Gomes, they can reduce that number by roughly $6.5 million. In other words, by not picking up Pech and Gomes, the Wolves can be sitting at $31 mil at the start of the 2010 free agent without taking into consideration slotted 1st round draft picks. Could the Wolves be in the Mark Stein ballpark after it's all said and done with? Yes, but they also could be at the top of the heap with about $15-18 mil to spend even after all the draft picks are signed. We think Stein and ESPN underestimate the amount that the Wolves could have to spend at the end of the year, especially if Pech and Gomes are voted off the island.
How sad is it that we're already talking offseason cap space and draft picks? Yes, it will be a long year. An entertaining one at times, but a long one nonetheless.
There was a play in the 2nd half that really illustrated just how not-there Big Al is at times. The Wolves were about to enter the bonus when the Cavs got a fast break opportunity. Instead of making his way down the court to contest the shot, Al fouled the Cavs player at half court, conceding the foul and the trip to the line. If you are willing to give the foul and the trip to the line because of the bonus, why not contest the shot?
To say one good thing about Al, he did blow by Shaq on one play like Shaq was a 37 year old 360 lbs oaf....oh wait.
Corey Brewer played solid defense on LeBron when he wasn't spending time on the dangerous Anthony Parker. I know that LeBron can get his against anyone in the league but it would have been nice to see Brewer get a bigger crack against the guy.

Well, that about does it for the game wrap. What did you notice about the game? What guidelines will you have for critiquing the team's performances? Do you think Pecherov's option gets picked up? What about Gomes at the end of the year?

Until later.

Recap: Sixers 99, Bucks 86

Frank Madden — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 05:54:18 -0000

More photos » by Michael Perez - AP

Sammy and the Sixers towered over Bogut & Co.

Browse more photos »

Box Score / Recap

If you're looking for an explanation for the Bucks' opening night loss in Philly, just pick a stat. Really, any stat. Because if you compare the bottom lines in the box score you'll notice that Philly was better in every category save for offensive rebounds. The Bucks didn't shoot well, which isn't surprising. The Bucks also held to form in the foul department, sending Philly to the line for 15 more free throw attempts (which translated into 18 more points). And while the Bucks normally make a living forcing the other team into conceding turnovers and cheap points, tonight they were the more wasteful ones, turning it over 20 times and looking physically overmatched against a Sixer team that was faster, more intimidating, and more decisive.

Aside from a second quarter surge that saw Brandon Jennings (17 points, nine boards, nine dimes) quarterback the Bucks to a promising 47-41 halftime lead, every quarter went Philly's way, which shouldn't be a surprise. Andrew Bogut looked out of sorts and uninvolved (eight points on nine shots, six boards), while Michael Redd sputtered in the second half to finish with 17 on 17 shots. No one else aside from Jennings made much of an impact, though it's not really going to matter when Bogut and Redd are both off their game. While Philly's not a great team by any stretch of the imagination, they have the type of athleticism that will give the Bucks problems. More after the jump.

Three Bucks

Brandon Jennings. Could we have reasonably expected any more from the kid? The rookie's promising debut was the only thing that made this vaguely watchable from a Bucks' perspective, with five turnovers (a couple of them coming in the waning minutes as he started to press) being the biggest blemish on his line. And as we feared/expected, there were also a few moments where he was far too content to put up off-balance jumpers.

But for the most part Jennings let the game come to him, and was not surprisingly at the heart of the Bucks' two best spells of the game: an 18-4 run midway through the second quarter as well as a late 9-0 surge that briefly brought the Bucks to within five. There were a couple "wow" moments--coast-to-coast layups in the second and fourth quarters where his blinding speed was unmistakable--but mostly he was making solid decisions, taking what the defense was offering, and getting down below the foul line enough to pick up loose balls (I'd be somewhat surprised if he has another game all season where he grabs nine boards).

Lou Williams--himself still a youngin'--was a good first matchup since he was unlikely to punish Jennings' lack of physicality, and Jennings got the better of his counterpart for much of the night. But Williams scored 11 of his 16 in the second half, and Jennings could only watch after picking up his fourth foul with five minutes left in the third.

Ersan Ilyasova. Was Ilyasova good on Friday night? Um, that's overstating it. In truth there wasn't anyone beyond Jennings who stood out in a truly good way. Ilyasova was nothing if not uneven (11 points on 10 shots, four boards and five fouls in 18 minutes), looking dangerous in the pick/pop with Jennings one moment, dribbling out of control the next. Among his five fouls, at least two were on block/charge plays where he simply came to help too late; a third was when he blatantly took a foul at halfcourt to stop a break.

What's promising is that Ilyasova did show some good understanding with Jennings, working the pick/pop together to get Ilyasova some good looks that he'll hopefully convert more of from here on out. Interestingly, Skiles went small with Ersan and Hakim Warrick as his bigs on a couple occasions, including at the start of the Bucks' 18-4 second quarter run.

Michael Redd. There were some signs early on of the old Mike Redd, as he scored 12 in the first half along with some pretty respectable defense to pace the Bucks. Unlike Bogut, his movement appears pretty much back to where it was, which is good, because it's painfully obvious that the Bucks can't afford Redd to be off his game.

Three Numbers

29. The weirdest part of the first 24 minutes? The Sixers had only five free throw attempts, well below what we expect from an opponent of the hack-happy Bucks. Eddie Jordan must have noticed at halftime, because his gang came out looking to take it to the Bucks in the second half, and sure enough, they racked up 29 freebie attempts in the final 24 minutes. When you look at the two teams' personnel it probably shouldn't be that surprising, as the Sixers were simply too athletic and physical for the Bucks to handle in the second half.

15. Three quarters of the Bucks' 20 turnovers came in the second half, leading to plenty of transition opportunities and depriving the cold-shooting Bucks (40%) of much-needed possessions.

6. No Sixer particularly stood out, and Williams and Iguodala tied for the most shots with just 12 apiece. But what they lacked in star performances they made up for in balance, as Iggy led six Sixers in double figures with 19 points, nine boards and seven dimes.

Three Good

Young Buck. He's looked like the real deal ever since he first put on a Bucks jersey in Vegas, and tonight we finally saw him bring the goods in a real game. Take heart, Bucks fans.

Where games happen. Did I expect a win? Nah, not really, But on opening night just have a game to watch is something worth appreciating. Now we just need a good game.

Saturday Night Fever. The Bucks were the last team to start the season, so it's just as well that they only have to wait 24 hours to try to bounce back from a disappointing opener. Bring on the Pistons already.

Three Bad

Lacking Luc. Was anyone expecting Luc Mbah a Moute to only play 18 minutes? Starter Carlos Delfino was suspended. Joe Alexander is hurt (and apparently the Bucks have given up on him anyway). And the Sixers' swingmen seem like just the type of athletic, versatile players who Mbah a Moute would be especially useful against.

Apparently not. Luc came out trying to play like a small forward offensively, but had just three missed jumpers to show for it and Skiles seemed to lose faith quickly, opting instead to go with mostly three guard lineups. Considering that meant Charlie Bell getting 31 minutes and Roko Ukic playing nearly nine minutes, mostly as a two guard, I don't really get it.

Emo Bogut. I thought we'd retired this term, but as has too often been the case against Philly, Bogut just couldn't get into the game. On a handful of occasions Bogut fumbled quick interior passes from teammates, and he generally looked sluggish following a solid preseason. Some blame also goes on his teammates, who didn't provide him many post looks, but in general the Bucks need a lot more from Bogut than this.

Brickin'. This applied to a lot of things tonight. We'll see much worse from the Bucks than 40% shooting this year, but it wasn't a good start, as Kurt Thomas was the only guy who made better than 50% of his shots. And the line wasn't much kinder, as the Bucks converted just 11/19 from the stripe. Oh, and I'm officially giving up hope on the whole "Andrew Bogut becomes a respectable free throw shooter" dream.