If someone had told me that the weather could have been a close predictor of the outcome of this game, I may have agreed, thinking sloppy at best! But even I can be wrong sometimes.
Let me just set up the night for you: I leave the house running late as usual, get stuck waiting for a train, and then it starts to rain… Wisconsin has arguably the best snow drivers in the country, by rain is another story! One woman was driving on the wrong side of the street downtown and I was almost hit (slam on your breaks and scream naughty words kind of hit) 2 times! Then it’s late so my parking is gone, leaving me 5 blocks away with no umbrella, ugh!
So when the first quarter ends and the Bucks are winning 32 - 23 over Houston I think my luck has changed! They are playing as well as I’ve seen them play this season.
The Houston Rockets are known for many things, but the most noticeable when I walk into the arena is Yao Ming. I mean wow! I knew at 7’6” 310lbs he was super big, but when you’re right next to him it’s crazy; I think I maybe came up to his belly button. His poor mother! How do you give birth to that big of a head? Possibly one of the reasons we were winning by so much in the 1st is because he was on the bench over half of the time…
Coming into the game: Rockets (31-20), Bucks (24-29)
Score: 1st 2nd 3rd Final
Bucks 32 64 98 124
Rockets 23 58 76 112
Top scorers: Sessions- 26, Jefferson- 25, Villanueva- 25; Brooks- 23, Artest- 20, Scola- 20
With Bogut, Ridnour, and Redd out, the Bucks needed to start filling gaps in the roster. Newbie guard Eddie Gill, who the Bucks picked up on a 10 day contract did not play the 1st half. He went in for the 1st time with 30 secs left in the 3rd, then again for the last 5 minutes or so of the game scoring 2 pts. Keith Bogans, the guard acquired in the Feb 5th trade for Lue, definitely did play. He scored 13 pts in about 22 mins.
After the game I headed to the locker rooms for the 1st time and made the mistake of going into the Rockets room first. It was as if someone had died; totally grim. I tried to ask Yao Ming (who didn’t have a great performance with only 7 pts) a few general questions. Some had to be translated into Chinese which makes sense, but either way I didn’t get much after their loss…
If China had an equivalent to the NBA on all levels, would you stay here, or would you rather be there? Definitely China.
Do you feel like your teammates expect you to get more rebounds than most based solely on your height? Well I play the center position, so I should.
Do you have a ‘most memorable’ game? There are too many to choose one.
Do you have a favorite quote or song? Quote, no. And music is always changing so I don’t know.
I know it’s not much, but I’ll have to try again after they win one. I heard he is very talkative and even cracks jokes then!
Randoms
- February 18th is Soles 2 Souls Day! Bucks fans attending the Chicago game at Bradley Center are encouraged to bring new or slightly used shoes to the game. With their donation to the containers at Lobby A, B, C, D entries, fans will receive a discount ticket offer and a "I Shared My Sole" sticker to indicate support of the project. Shoes will then be shipped to New York to be included in the NBA Basketball without Borders effort that is working nationally to send shoes to Africa.
-Carl (Rockets) and Marcus (Badgers) Landry’s parents are a standout cheering section by themselves a few rows behind the Rockets’ bench. Must be nice to have their son play in WI for a change!
-Halftime show: A body contortionist who can shoot a bow and arrow with her legs! It started out a bit risqué, but when she hit the bullseye in the end I was sold!
- Sessions had a mysterious large red stain on the back of his shorts that was seriously distracting. I’m thinking red Gatorade. One timeout later and it was gone though. :)