SB Nation User Blog: Frank Madden

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Frank Madden — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:33:11 -0000

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Recap: Bucks 87, Wolves 72

Frank Madden — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 03:21:11 -0000

More photos » by Jim Mone - AP

Throw it down, big fella!

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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.

Game Thread 4: Bucks/Wolves

Frank Madden — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:28:32 -0000

1-2 (0-2 road)		1-4 (1-2 home)
	vs.
November 6, 2009 - 7:00 PM CT
Target Center
Radio: 620 WTMJ TV: FSN Wisconsin HD
Probable starters:
Brandon Jennings	PG	Jonny Flynn
Charlie Bell	SG	Corey Brewer
Carlos Delfino	SF	Ryan Gomes
Hakim Warrick	PF	Oleksiy Pecherov
Andrew Bogut	C	Al Jefferson
94.1 (29th)	Off	100.5 (23rd)
95.5 (3rd)	Def	106.4 (16th)
93.1 (15th)	Pace	94.3 (11th)

News/notes after the jump.

The Kids. Jonny Flynn and Brandon Jennings went head-to-head in a series of team workouts leading up to the draft, then faced each other twice in the preseason for good measure. Now, finally, it counts. We all know what Jennings has been up to, but Flynn also seems to be holding his own pretty well. Minny fans would probably prefer the assists come up (3.6 apg vs. 3.4 to) but like Jennings his shooting has been much better than expected (.500/.667/.905) and destined to fall off.

Needless to say, both guys will be itching to prove they're the better rookie, which makes for a nice little subplot. I'll just be glad that Jennings gets another game against a young PG rather than a Billups, Paul, or Nash. Over at the Star Tribune, Jerry Zgoda writes that the Wolves' triangle offense isn't helping Flynn's numbers.

Catching up with Sessions. John Hammond and co. took plenty of flak for letting Ramon Sessions and Charlie Villanueva to walk, especially after shipping Richard Jefferson out of town for salary relief. But at least in the very early going the Bucks haven't missed out on too much. Villanueva is averaging 11 ppg and 6 rpg on 39% shooting through Detroit's first five games. RJ is putting up 11.7 ppg and 2.7 rpg on 46% shooting. And Sessions brings averages of 5.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg, and 2.6 apg in 22 mpg into his first regular season matchup against the Bucks.

Perhaps most interestingly, Sessions has managed just five free throws in five games, a stark contrast to a year ago when he averaged nearly five FTA per game. I haven't caught any Minny games so I'm not sure what the explanation is, though Bucks fans probably aren't feeling too bad about swapping Sessions for Jennings. Sessions for Ridnour is still a different story.

Despite those modest numbers, Kurt Rambis has praised Sessions' discipline in running the triangle offense he imported from L.A., and there was at least some talk that Sessions could supplant Flynn in the starting lineup. It's technically not the first time Sessions has seen the triangle--you might remember Larry Krystkowiak made an aborted attempt to use some triangle in Sessions' first training camp in Milwaukee. The Bucks gave up on it fairly quickly, but I'd imagine it didn't hurt Sessions' ability to pick things up more quickly.

Stewie! Around the league, Oleksiy Pecherov seems to be known as much for his resemblance to the cartoon baby from Family Guy as he is for his game, but that might be changing. The ~~Russian~~ Ukrainian seven-footer is slated to make his fourth start tonight at PF following a career night (24 pts, 8 rebs in 34 minutes) against the Celtics on Wednesday. Now in his third season, Pecherov had his fourth year option declined on Monday, so he's playing for a contract now. Similar to Joe Alexander, aside from the obvious fact that Alexander was a much higher pick (8th vs. 18th) and the Bucks only gave him one year to prove his stuff. So not really that similar.

Pecherov's perimeter-oriented game will match up against Hakim Warrick, who's coming off a high-volume double-double (11 pts, 5/15 fg, 10 rebs) in his first start of the season in Chicago. While Pecherov was a good rebounder a year ago, he's no Kevin Love and that will be good news for the Bucks, who got manhandled by the Minny bigs in their preseason opener against the Wolves. Pecherov also has only 11 assists in his career, which is bizarre even for a guy who hasn't played all that much.

Gardner reports Kurt Thomas has fallen behind Dan Gadzuric in the center rotation as well. Given I always give Gadz the business, some kudos are in order for his early season play.

Canis Hoopus / T'Wolves Blog / Star Tribune

Everyone Loves Brandon Jennings

Frank Madden — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:26:38 -0000

I had considered putting together a post on this topic before the Bulls game, but figured that was just asking for trouble. Surely, having the gall to celebrate the opening weekend of Brandon Jennings' career was just begging for a 1/19 shooting night and complete embarrassment at the hands of Derrick Rose last night. What can I say? This is how being a Bucks fan for 20 years has trained me to think (and I haven't even written my thoughts on the Joe Alexander disaster yet).

Fortunately, I had nothing to worry about when it came to Jennings..

In any case, as you might guess this Jennings kid is attracting some buzz. As in, hoops diehards from outside the state of Wisconsin are apparently going out of their way to intentionally watch the Bucks, simply to figure out if the kid is for real. So far, so good.

Granted, we're setting ourselves up for disappointment if we expect 22.0 ppg and 50% shooting from deep to continue for 82 games. Jennings' year in Rome seemed to confirm he's anything but a consistent outside shooter, and even a year in Europe may not immunize him from hitting the rookie wall at some point. But no one has ever denied his talent, so we shouldn't have to worry about Jennings' first week being just the latest example of the Bucks perennially toying with our early season emotions. Hopefully.

In any case, we're not the only ones paying attention. Follow the jump for the beginning of what will hopefully be a season-long lovefest. I think Bucks fans deserve it, right?

Basketball Prospectus: Breaking down Jennings' game
Kevin Pelton's always one of my favorite reads and he offers a great scouting report on Jennings so far.

Sporting News: Jennings interview
Sean Deveney spoke to Jennings after the first two games. Among the highlights, Jennings discusses the extra time Scott Skiles has been putting in to help him.

He has been helping me out a whole lot, with watching film especially. We come in here early and watch film of all my shots, all the ones that were bad, all the ones that were good. He tells me certain things I can do when I am shooting, and I try to do those during the games. But it makes me want to take better shots, because I know he is going to go over it with me. It helps me out.

Yahoo! Rookie Rankings: Jennings #1
Like the title says.

ESPN: Rookie Rankings: Jennings #1
David Thorpe has had nice things to say about jennings since Vegas, but that doesn't mean he was expecting much from him early on. A week ago Jennings was ranked #13, behind such luminaries as DeMarre Carroll and Omri Casspi. The latter has played well, but come on!

It's hard to get mad at a player who so desperately wants to play well and does so with great effort. There are times when he's terrific at popping passes everywhere, and others where he over-dribbles and takes a horrible shot. He'll learn, and quickly, how to do more of the former and less of the latter.

But he's a terrific scoring threat, averaging 22.0 ppg on 50 percent shooting from 3 (and just under it overall). I've been most impressed with his ball-screen action -- no rookie attacks the screens better than him, and most are much worse.

Hollinger: From Rome to ROY?
Euro stats have never been so irrelevant, eh? Let's hope it stays that way.

Redd out at least two weeks

Frank Madden — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:00:11 -0000

More photos » by Michael Perez - AP

It's a familiar tune for Michael Redd

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Here we go again.

MRIs on Michael Redd's surgically repaired knee revealed a strained patella tendon today, shelving Redd for at least two weeks. Redd looked to be in discomfort after a breakaway sorta-dunk in the third quarter, though he continued to play for a few minutes. He didn't return for the final quarter with what was described as knee soreness. The injury is eerily similar to the one he suffered in January 2007, when he strained the same patella tendon on a late-game dunk against Cleveland. That injury ended up costing Redd six weeks on the sidelines.

Jim Paschke tweets that Charlie Bell will start in Redd's place, with second rounder Jodie Meeks expected to deputize. Meeks struggled to find his shot in the preseason and was inactive for the first two games, but shot the ball exceptionally well in Vegas. Considering he scored 23 ppg at Kentucky, the real question is whether he can defend well enough to win minutes over Bell, who hasn't been able to make shots for about two years now but can ably defend three positions. You can guess what Skiles cares more about. With Joe Alexander and Redd on the shelf for a while and Dan Gadzuric in Skiles' good graces for the moment, the Bucks will likely keep Francisco Elson as their only healthy player on the inactive list.

The Bucks claim Redd will be "re-evaluated" after two weeks, so there's no guarantee he'll be back anytime soon. It's a cruel blow for Redd, who worked diligently to come back after tearing his ACL and MCL against the Kings in January. Unfortunately it's also somewhat predictable at this point. Redd missed almost a month of action last November after what was initially thought to be a minor ankle sprain, and his penchant for injuring himself on attempted dunks has become something of a sad joke among Bucks fans.

Losing Redd's scoring ability should also have some ripple effects through the rest of the lineup. For one, Brandon Jennings will be relied on to continue his surprising scoring pace from opening weekend, and we'll likely see more two PG lineups as well. I really don't like the idea of Jennings playing shooting guard, and I'd prefer if he didn't feel the need to put up 20 shots every night. My guess is Jennings will remain the primary ballhandler whenever he's in the game, but he'll probably be shooting more to fill the void.

As the only remaining guy who can consistently draw fouls, Hakim Warrick will probably see even more minutes and could start if Skiles decides he needs Warrick's scoring more in the starting five than off the bench. Though Kurt Thomas started the first two games, Skiles decided to start Warrick in the second half against the Pistons and it paid major dividends as the Bucks ran riot over the Pistons in the third quarter. Then there's Andrew Bogut, who's taken just 16 shots in the opening two games. The Bucks need a lot more from Bogut even if Redd's around, but hopefully the latest news provides an opportunity for Bogut to become a bigger part of the offense.

Then there's the issue of how the injury affects Redd's trade value. It's one thing to pay Redd $35 million over the next two seasons if he's healthy--overpriced yes, but at least he would provide some much-needed scoring punch. Instead, Redd's durability has become an annual headache that makes his contract an even bigger albatross and almost impossible to deal.

Recap: Bucks 96, Pistons 85

Frank Madden — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 06:28:47 -0000

Box Score / AP Recap / JS Recap / GameFlow

With less than a minute to go in the first half of the Bucks' home opener, you would have been forgiven for getting that same old feeling about the Bucks. Down 49-33, with Andrew Bogut and Michael Redd offering little help for the second straight night, it would have been perfectly acceptable to start extrapolating a long, long season. If the Bucks sort-of-stars were MIA, how were they ever going to win games? Anyone see John Wall or Derrick Favors lately?

Fortunately, the Bucks apparently have a bit more up their sleeve than just Redd and Bogut. Namely, they have Brandon Jennings (24 points, 9/15 fg), who for the second straight night was the fulcrum of seemingly everything good that happened for the Bucks. The rook had a perfect third quarter, making all seven of his shots en route to 16 points that catapulted the Bucks from down 11 to up 11. And when Jennings wasn't getting it done, Hakim Warrick and the Bucks' role players were. Warrick scored 21 of the Bucks' 52 bench points, and his 15 free throws were representative of a more active, aggressive approach that provided a stark contrast to Friday night.

Three Bucks

Brandon Jennings. Remember when we were wondering if he would be able to win the starting job? Like, you know, a week ago? Apparently time flies when you're a hyper-talented 20-year old.

Like Friday night, Jennings drilled a three in the first couple minutes of the game, but unlike the Philly game it didn't foreshadow a big first half. Rather, Ben Gordon and Rodney Stuckey used screens and hot shooting (well, what you'd expect from Gordon) to eat Jennings up in the first half (he guarded both guys at times). It wasn't particularly bad defense, but this is the NBA. Working hard simply isn't enough to shut the other guys down.

Then in the third quarter something happened. The Bucks started spreading the floor, running more high pick/roll to give Jennings room to use his speed. And Young Buck found a bit of a zone, which shouldn't be too shocking for a guy that once made 13 threes in a high school game. It started with a floater in transition, the Pistons' disorganization in transition allowing the rook to dart into the paint. Down five. Two minutes later, Redd found Jennings for a no-hesitation, catch and shoot triple from the left wing. Still down five.

And then with just over five minutes remaining in the third came a one-man 9-0 run that turned a two point deficit into a seven point lead. Two mid-range jumpers, then the play that may well be the lynchpin of Jennings' early season YouTube mixes (see above). Jennings just took the ball from Kwame Brown near the foul line, and immediately launched himself down court, navigating around Rodney Stuckey with an around-the-back to his right before corkscrewing himself for a reverse lefty lay-in on the right side of the hoop. Pandemonium, or at least as close to it as you can get from the just-over 15,000 people in attendance. And he wasn't quite done. On the next possession he skipped around a high screen on the right side and buried another triple from the right wing.

Overall, 24 points and three assists would suggest Jennings was just bombing away for himself, but in truth he was pretty consistently creating looks for teammates, much like a night earlier. The big difference was the Bucks didn't seem able to convert consistently, especially in the first half when Jennings took just four shots.

Hakim Warrick. With the Bucks' big money guys misfiring, Warrick provided the crucial scoring to keep the Bucks in it early (11 points at the half) and added another 10 in the second half. And while he's a bit too eager to fire up his backward-leaning 18-footer, he made up for it and then some with his willingness to attack the rim regardless of how many Pistons were standing in his way. He even made 1/2 from deep, though it was out of necessity--the miss coming at the first quarter buzzer and the make coming on a shot clock-beater from the right corner.

Warrick also did well when he wasn't the one finishing. He's not really known as a guy who makes teammates better, but he and the rest of the Bucks' bench did well moving the ball even if their mediocre shooting kept their assist totals down. Charlie V hit some shots in the fourth to finish with an OK line (12 pts on eight shots and six boards) but Warrick was better by a mile.

And he doesn't have a $35 million contract. Nice.

Luc Mbah a Moute. A night after an invisible debut in Philly, Mbah a Moute looked more like the old Luc. Nothing huge, and his line barely registers in a quick scan of the box score. Still, he tied Bogut for the team lead with eight boards and just played. Less worrying about shooting jumpers like a small forward should; more playing defense, crashing the glass and using his work rate to get easy buckets.

Three Numbers

+8. The Bucks out-fouled the Pistons (29-28). No surprise there. But their aggressiveness paid off at the free throw line for a change, as they were +8 in attempts and +5 in free throws made. Most of the credit goes to Warrick, who accounted for 15 of the 33 attempts. The best part about Warrick is how fearless he is around the rack; he simply expects to put it down every time he gets it near the cup, and all the energy seemed to be contagious, as the Bucks hauled in 16 offensive rebounds, 12 by the bench.

36. The Bucks don't have the look of a team capable of explosive offense, and looked the part with 38 first half points. So the Pistons were probably a bit shell-shocked when Jennings and company came out in the third and started making everything. The end result was a 36-14 edge, the only quarter the Bucks won on the scoreboard.

4. How can the Bucks win when they get a grand total of 4/15 shooting from Redd and Bogut? In general, they won't (see below). Which is why the lack of production from the big guns is cause for concern.

Three Good

The kid. We probably shouldn't hand him the key to the city quite yet, but it's impossible not to be excited by what we've seen so far. His style is unmistakably that of a point guard, but tonight we saw he could also carry the team as scorer for stretches.

Scott Skiles won't be surprised; he alluded in the preseason that Jennings would have to play that role at times. That doesn't make him Allen Iverson, though the Bucks won't mind if Jennings score like him at times. And as much as Iverson has become a four-letter word in any discussion of point guards, the truth is that great points have to score at times. Paul, Nash, and Deron Williams do it.

Role players. Jennings and Warrick were the only double-figure scorers, but they didn't pick up the slack for Redd/Bogut alone. Ersan Ilyasova didn't really have his shot going but was active (nine pts, six boards, four offensive and +13) and combined nicely with Warrick, each setting the other up a couple times. Mbah a Moute picked up the slack for Carlos Delfino, who started the game with a great move to the cup but seemed too eager to launch 27 foot threes after that. And as much as I give Dan Gadzuric a hard time, he stepped up tonight (4/5 fg, five rebounds) and allowed Skiles to sit Kurt Thomas the final 43 minutes of the game.

Something to talk about. You can't fault the city of Milwaukee for being skeptical of the Bucks right now. They've been mediocre-to-bad for too long, and a summer of exodus won't win over fans, even if CV and RJ aren't nearly as valuable as many assumed. So it's crucial the Bucks win some games and do it in a way that people can appreciate. Jennings provides the flash, and he's clearly going to be a guy who gets people talking. But the hard work has to be a team effort.

~~Three~~ Two Bad.

Bogut. Bogut got into early foul trouble and never got on track for the second straight night, finishing just 2/7 from the field for six points and eight boards before fouling out in 27 minutes. I thought he looked slightly better than in Philly, but that's not saying too much. Bogut's had a penchant for slow starts over his career, and his long layoff following his back injury can't help.

But the Bucks can't afford to have Bogut this uninvolved for the next month. Part of that is on Bogut--he needs to get deeper position on the block, get more freebies off the offensive boards, and catch the ball when his teammates find him in the paint (more of an issue in Philly). But the Bucks also need to do more than throw him the ball in the post five times a game. More pick and rolls, more high post where he can face up. You're paying him to be a cornerstone player, and now play him like one, too.

Redd...and his knee. Redd scored nine on just 2/9 from the field, and left the game in the fourth due to reported soreness in his surgically-repaired knee. He appeared to come down a bit awkwardly after a right-handed breakaway dunk in the third (see video above), which probably shouldn't be surprising given he seems to get hurt every time he dunks. The good news is that Redd's departure is being termed precautionary and he's expected to be ready on Tuesday when the Bucks play in Chicago.

Game Thread 2: Pistons/Bucks

Frank Madden — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:16:07 -0000

1-1 (1-0 road)		0-1 (0-0 home)
	vs.
October 31, 2009 - 7:30 PM CT
Bradley Center
Radio: 620 WTMJ TV: FS Wisconsin HD
Probable starters:
Rodney Stuckey	PG	Brandon Jennings
Ben Gordon	SG	Michael Redd
Tayshaun Prince	SF	Carlos Delfino
Charlie Villanueva	PF	Kurt Thomas
Ben Wallace	C	Andrew Bogut
103.4 (16th)	Off	87.8 (29th)
95.3 (4th)	Def	101.1 (9th)
86.6 (30th)	Pace	98.0 (3rd)

The return of Charlie V. OK, so he was back in town just over a week ago as well, but the difference is that now it's for real. Charlie's first two games of the season haven't been anything to write home about, as CV has made just 6/19 shots for 15 points in 51 minutes. We've all seen that CV before, which was a big reason why the Bucks said thanks but no thanks this summer. Still, Villanueva's way too explosive not to have his breakout game soon, and if his hot nights against the Raptors are any indication, he certainly likes playing against his former teams.

One key question is who the Bucks will match up against Villanueva. I haven't seen anything yet about Kurt Thomas going to the bench for this game, but Warrick, Ilyasova, or Mbah a Moute would all seem like better matchups to start this one. Warrick might be the best choice since he can both keep up with Villanueva athletically while also drawing fouls on him on the other end. Skiles could also go with Ilyasova, who looked to have a nice understanding with Jennings last night, though he also had his share of shaky moments. And Mbah a Moute could be saved to chase Ben Gordon (23.5 ppg), who has been coming off the bench but will start in Rip Hamilton's absence. Starting a more mobile PF would also free up Thomas to backup Bogut and minimize the amount of time Dan Gadzuric is on the floor. Never a bad thing.

BJ vs. the world. Brandon Jennings' debut deservedly raised eyebrows around the league, but Stuckey/Will Bynum certainly looks like a tougher matchup than Lou Williams provided last night. Stuckey has a significant size advantage while Bynum also gave Jennings problems in the preseason.

Big Ben/Little Ben. Bogut will look to bounce back from a bad night in Philly against Ben Wallace, a guy he's historically seemed to struggle against. Perhaps more concerning is how well Bogut deals with playing 30+ mpg on a back-to-back.

But the real dangerman for Detroit is Ben Gordon, who always seems to kill the Bucks. Gordon has averaged 21.3 ppg in his career against the Bucks, nearly 3 ppg better than his career number, and put up 23 ppg last year with the Bulls.

Delfino Debuts. After serving his one game suspension last night in Philly, Carlos Delfino makes his Bucks debut tonight against the team he started his NBA career with, matching up against Prince, a guy he went head to head with in practice for two seasons. We know Delfino's not a world-beater, but watching Mbah a Moute brick jumpers last night underscored how much the Bucks need someone at the small forward spot who can be a credible scoring threat. Mbah a Moute could certainly start at some point, but he needs to show some consistency from 18 feet--or be surrounded by better scorers. I don't think we'll be seeing the latter anytime this season.

Recap: Sixers 99, Bucks 86

Frank Madden — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 01:38:10 -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.

The Brew Hoop Ecosystem: Game Threads, Twitter, Fanposts, etc.

Frank Madden — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:30:48 -0000

Before the season kicks off tomorrow in Philly, I just wanted to throw out some admin stuff related to the site and some ideas about how we're hoping to make the site even better in 09/10.

One of the best parts about blogging for Sports Blog Nation is the platform itself--the gang at SBN HQ have put together a terrific system that makes it ridiculously easy to share information, giving everyone a chance to have their opinions heard. Unfortunately, we've often been pretty lazy about encouraging its use and explaining everything you can do with it. That's our bad, and this year we want to put more of an emphasis on hearing what YOU have to say. Here's how:

Sign up for an account. There are lots of ways for you to interact with us, and most of it starts with signing up for an SBN user account. It's free, you won't get spammed, and you can even use your Yahoo! or OpenID account to do it. With it you can comment on posts as well as write your own stories (FanPosts) and posts links (FanShots) on hundreds of SBN blogs--including our in-state friends at Brew Crew Ball, Acme Packing Company, and Bucky's 5th Quarter.

Game Threads. For every game we'll try to have a preview (which we'll call a "Game Thread") up at least a few hours in advance, with up-to-date info on lineups, stats (off/def efficiency, pace, rebound rates), etc. That's what we've been doing for the past couple years, so no change there. If you have ideas for other things you'd like to see, just give us a shout.

This year we're also hoping to encourage more in-game commenting. Because priceless moments--you know, a Dan Gadzuric jumper, a smile from Scott Skiles--are more fun when you share it with other people, right? So stop on by as much as you want and let us know what you're thinking. SBN's comment threads also update automatically, so you don't even need to refresh. Score.

Twitter. I mentioned we had an account at twitter.com/brewhoop a long time ago, but only in the last couple months have I started to actually use it a bit. Aside from my inane banter, I also update our Twitter feed everytime we post a new story.

FanPosts and FanShots. I'm not sure we've ever explained this well, but here goes: FanPosts are the blog within a blog--anytime you have some thoughts that don't relate to a story that's already up, go ahead and put it in a FanPost. You can also throw a poll in.

FanShots are meant for links--to latebreaking news, funny/cool videos, or interesting stories you find. You can also throw in your two cents.

Contact us. If you have any other ideas or comments, by all means drop us an email (brewhoop(at)gmail.com), a tweet, or a comment.

It's official: Andrew Bogut doesn't own a Ferrari

Frank Madden — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:26:28 -0000

In the grand scheme of the universe, Andrew Bogut's spending habits really shouldn't be that interesting. Sure, he's an NBA player slated to make $10 million in the first year of a $60 million contract extension, so of course he's going to buy a lot more stuff than the rest of us. Fine, I would too.

Still, Bogut's controversial comments from a few years ago about NBA players' lifestyles--even if the Antoine Walkers of the world continue to legitimize them--earned him some bad press and haven't been forgotten by everyone. So when Karen Crouse mentioned in a New York Times article from earlier this week that Bogut drives a Ferrari, there were some who gleefully broke out their jump-to-conclusions mats. Shoals (tongue perpetually in vicinity of cheek) reported Bogut being "outed" as a "hypocrite." Some other site called Bogut a hypocrite, and then a liar when Bogut denied owning a Ferrari via Twitter. Because obviously if something is in the paper, it can't be wrong.

To be sure, I followed up with Crouse--whose story, by the way, is a very good read--and she got back to me quickly with confirmation that the Ferrari mention was based on an article by Michael Hunt from two weeks ago. Crouse wasn't able to follow up with Bogut while in Milwaukee to confirm it, and only after the story was published did she determine that the fine piece of Italian engineering belonged to Michael Redd. She noted a correction would be run, so that will hopefully put the matter to rest.

As for the original article by Hunt, he wasn't really calling Bogut out for it, though it's not clear where Hunt got the information (perhaps Charlie Bell playing a joke on him?) or whether a correction was issued (the original article is still up without one). It didn't really seem to generate much discussion among Bucks fans, since most of us assumed it was an error. Afterall, Bogut has never hidden his affection for collecting muscle cars, a natural hobby for the son of a mechanic and car enthusiast. A Ferrari just didn't seem to be his style. And sure enough, soon after the Hunt article ran, Bogut joked about the attribution on twitter to Charlie Bell.

The non-issue then got a second wind earlier this week with Crouse's article, which compared Jennings' shockingly reasonable Ford Edge to Bogut's Ferrari. The irony is that Crouse wasn't trying to single out Bogut per se; the idea was simply to contrast Jennings with your typical NBA player. But the NYT has a bit more reach than the JS, so the non-story suddenly became a story again. Bogut again denied via Twitter that he owned a Ferrari, sarcastically thanking Hunt for starting the rumor. Needless to say, Shoals continues to find humor in it all.

Meanwhile, I have one major question: did I really just spend an hour working on a post about this? Damn.

We really need the season to start.