Erstwhile Milwaukee Bucks shooting guard Michael Redd is "close" to suiting up and playing this weekend, Bucks coach Scott Skiles reported from Utah Wednesday, where the Bucks lost 104-95 to the Jazz.

"Michael is coming along, there's no question about it," Bucks coach Scott Skiles said before the game, referring to Redd. "He's able to go through shootarounds at speed, and he'll get a good shooting workout here (before the game), so he's close."

Or is he?  It sounds to me like Redd could have played against the Jazz and helped his teammates, who blew a ten-point lead in the 4th quarter. So what is Skiles saying?  Redd only does the shootarounds at speed but won't play or practice with the team since the injury? Why would you tell the media that the guy shoots "at speed", when we all know that's all Redd has done as a Buck - shoot?  Sounds like a slip-up to me, or an intentional knock. What am I saying here?

I think the cracks in the Redd front are showing. Redd's dogging Skiles. And he's dogging his teammates. This is last season, ACT II.  UPDATE: Redd out five more games.

The Jazz were playing without All-NBA point guard Deron Williams and Williams' backup, Brevin Knight -- remember him from the Bucks-Pacers playoff series' in 2000 the Cavs in the late 1990's (that was Travis Best with the Pacers). With Bogut getting 16 points and 20 rebs, this is a game that slipped away ... Playing their 2nd game in two nights, the Bucks simply ran out of gas in the 4th quarter.

But Redd didn't suit up and missed his ninth game since suffering a high ankle sprain against the Knicks Dec. 2. So on Thursday the Journal Sentinel reported that Redd could be out for "days" or a week ... or two, using Skiles qoutes from before the Bucks headed out to Denver and Utah. Seems Skiles shouldn't have said what he said to Charles Gardner in Utah about that shooting at speed thing.

Which is it?  We go now to Racine and Gery Woelfel, who surmised last week that Redd could be out as long as four weeks.

Nothing.   I don't know if anybody hits these links but try the next one, it's good ...

Maybe Supersonicsoul knows something we don't know in Milwaukee. Sure enough, they do.  Seems attendance is down all throughout the land of Stern which suggests that maybe, just maybe, Stern was wrongfully picking on Seattle when those lyin' Cowboys were allowed to wrangle the Sonics to Oklahoma City. Supersonicsoul reveals that the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL are knockin' the 76ers teeth out at the ol' Philly Spectrum gate this season.

But nothing on Michael Redd.

Coach Skiles isn't too worried about it, though, and doesn't think there will be a problem working Redd back into the mix. This from the latest story at JSOnline:

“I don’t know how much longer its going to be,” said Skiles earlier this week. “If it’s another two weeks, then maybe…but I’m not real concerned about it. He obviously a very, very good player, a veteran player, he knows everything we’re trying to do so I don’t think it’ll be too much of a problem.”

And from the same story, a hint that Skiles may bring him off the bench. 

Last season, Redd missed four games due to a thigh bruise, and later missed six games because of a knee strain.  After missing the four games, he came off the bench in one game before returning to the starting lineup. After missing the six games, he returned right away to the starting lineup.

It remains to be seen how the Bucks will handle this one.

“The high ankle sprain is a tricky injury,” said Skiles. “So we want to be smart about it.”

No coach. There's nothing really tricky about ankle sprains, high or low, the most common and routine of basketball injuries. Redd's $91 million contract, however, was tricky and it's too late for the organization to be smart about it. The trick is how Skiles is going to keep point guards Luke Ridnour and Ramon Session on the floor together with max contract Redd back expecting his 37 minutes per game and looking to play the way he always has?  Something has to give.

The question is, what will it be?  At 29-years-old Redd's not the player he was at his peak in 2004. Maybe it's time he accept a reduced, more specialized role on the team and find his next life as an NBA player. This remains to be seen.

The reality here is that the Bucks are in no position to try the patience of the fans they have left, which makes these mixed signals about Redd's injury strange. The good in all this is that the team has been competitive without Redd against some of the best the league has to offer; Redd's absence has allowed fans to see the young players, the new players and the new coaches in action at the BC for next to nothing. (Nearly all upper level tickets are $10, kids, for the rest of this month and next.)

One thing is almost certain: Charlie Villanueva, who's been out with a strained left hamstring for four games hopes the Jazz loss was the last game he'll miss and will probably play against the Knicks tonight (Friday). They'll need him -- big forward Zach Randolph is too powerful for rookies Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Joe Alexander. The Knicks play PF David Lee on the front line as well, another tough matchup for the Bucks rookies. Lee's had a lot of success against the Bucks in the past, though not so much in the last game, the Bucks easiest win of the season. That's the game where Redd left with his ankle injury as the Bucks ran up a 16-point lead on the Knicks in the 3rd quarter.

The Knicks are 6-5 but have played a soft schedule. The Bucks are 5-8 and have played a brutal schedule. This is a good early season test for the Bucks, Redd or no Redd (I'd bet no Redd).

UPDATE: Redd out five more games.

The Knicks are in Milwaukee for a 7:30PM tip-off at the BC.  Upper level tix are just $10. Bucks then head to Charlotte for a 6:00PM CST tip. It's the Bucks third of four straight Friday-Saturday back-to-backs on this ridiculously frontloaded schedule. The Bucks will play their 20th game to open December, with 4-and-a-half months left to play the final 62.

I just noticed that I have the basketball-reference stat page for Dan Gadzuric open on my desktop and I can't remember why I pulled it up. I can tell you this: Gadz was picked 5th in the 2nd round of the 2002 NBA draft (33rd taken overall) by the Bucks, thank you George Karl and Ernie Grunfeld. I can also tell you that you can sponsor the Dan Gadzuric page for just $10 a year to help basketball-reference pay for its service.