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December 2008 - Posts
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 They were almost "the same old Bucks" in San Antonio.
They had been up by 11, 78-67 late in the in the 3rd quarter. But over the next 8 minutes they saw that lead disappear as the San Antonio Spurs outscored them 19-6 to take an 86-84 lead with 6:47 left in the game.
Michael Redd was hot in the first half (16 pts) but hadn't hit a shot in over 12 mins. He was 0-3 in this 8-minute stretch. Richard Jefferson had missed a 3-pointer; so had Charlie Bell. Charlie Villanueva had his jumpshot blocked by Ime Udoka, a post move blocked by Tim Duncan, and had plain missed a third jumper.
They had lost control of the game and looked a lot like the Bucks of the last five years -- settling for jumpshot after jumpshot and unable to get stops as the game slipped away. Point guard Luke Ridnour, who had missed two 3-pointers of his own, had to find a way to get this #h$t under control. Last possession, Luke had made sure Bogut got the ball, easy two on a layup ... it was the first shot Bogues had taken in almost five minutes ...
Then Manu Ginobili stole the ball from Ridnour and Roger Mason dunked it on the break. 88-84 Spurs, a 21-6 run.
Bucks coach Scott Skiles called time out with 6:30 left, and there it was: Who was going to play this game? The old Bucks, with their mental lapses and untimely jumpshooting -- the Bucks who showed up in Detroit Saturday? Or the Scott Skiles Bucks?
The Scott Skiles Bucks took the court. Ridnour started it off draining a three off a Michael Redd pass. After Duncan missed against Bogut, R.J. found Bogut free in the lane for a dunk and the Bucks had the lead back, 89-88. ... They would not give it up, outscoring the Spurs 15-5 after the time out to take a 99-93 lead with 36 seconds left on a Bogut feed to Bell for a layup. That should have been the game. Things got a little nerve-wracking after that but the Bucks held on for a 100-98 win.
This was a team win, orchestrated by Ridnour, in which sharing the ball was crucial in crunch time. Bogut scored 8 of the Bucks last 18 points and finished with 20 pts and 14 boards, outplaying All-Pro Duncan. ... Bell had 4 pts during the game-winning run, Ridnour and Redd 3 apiece (R.J. didn't take a shot). ... Redd led the scoring for the game with 25 pts, shooting well the first 30 mins of the game, but only 1-6 in the final quarter-and-a-half. He also had 10 rebounds (when's the last time he had double figures in rebounds? - not this season) and 4 assists.
Redd's 4th assist was the one that mattered most, coming as it did when the Bucks needed a hoop after the Skiles time out. In all, five of the Bucks last seven hoops were assisted, with Ridnour (2), R.J. (1), Redd (1) and Bogut (1) ringing up dimes.
In my last post, I wrote that "the Bucks are a team in transition to the Skiles era, a new place where tenacious, consistent D and ball movement are religion. ... against the Jazz at the BC (Dec. 23), the Bucks could say that the qualities of the new era overcame the lax defense and sluggish, selfish offensive tendencies of the old." Then came the miserable game against Detroit Saturday in which the old Bucks showed that they're still around.
With this win against the Spurs the Bucks can again say that the Scott Skiles team of the new era is here, too, and that the better qualities of the new once again overcame the tendencies of old, and did so convincingly against one of the league's top teams. This was the Bucks' best win of the season, and would have been a great way to end 2008.
Instead, they'll take it to Houston for a New Year's Eve matchup against Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady and the Rockets (no, the Charlie V for Carl Landry trade rumors didn't pan out, see below). Gametime is 6:00pm. We'll see which Bucks team prevails tonight, knowing that those habits of old have a habit of showing up even when the new Bucks have had the last word.
Ridnour finished with 21 pts, 4 rbs and 6 assists.
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If Joe Alexander gets enough fan votes to win the rookie slot in the All-Star weekend dunk contest, Dwight Howard will NEVER top this dunk:
He's got my votes!!!
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TRADE RUMOR UPDATE
I wish there was a definitive way to tell whether a trade rumor was just a rumor. The rumored Charlie Villanueva - Carl Landry trade with the Rockets never panned out; the Tyronn Lue for Chris Mihm trade remains a Lakers pipe dream; and the speculation about trading Charlie V and Lue for one of the Oklahoma City Thunder's big forwards still looks like nothing more than speculation -- unless that forward is Nick Collison, the one the Thunder doesn't want to trade.
But here's the latest from the Racine Journal Times' Gery Woelfel on Michael Redd, more or less what Woelfel said on WSSP Sports Radio 1250 after the Pistons game Saturday. It's the third item on the list:
"There is a growing speculation among NBA officials that it’s only a matter of time before the Milwaukee Bucks trade star shooting guard Michael Redd. That would be unfortunate for Redd is an even better person than he is a basketball player."
So now the referees are trying to trade Redd? It's time to get some more substantive sourcing behind these rumors and speculation. And there really isn't much reason to couch terms about trading a basketball player ... is there? What would TMZ do? ...In any case, it sure does sound like Woelfel's a bit biased against a Redd trade, doesn't it? Maybe he hasn't noticed the luxury tax crunch the Bucks will be in this offseason, partly due to Redd's $17.04 million 2009-10 salary?
It's becoming widely known that Bucks GM John Hammond wouldn't balk at a move that would improve the roster, despite the team's public stance that it isn't interested now in roster moves. This from Yahoo Sports' Bucks team report:
"While Bucks officials insist they don’t have any trades in the works, they also claim to be far from content with their roster. [With the trades for R.J. and Ridnour, and the drafting of Luc Mbah a Moute] three-fifths of the Bucks’ starting lineup is new. There is growing speculation [Bucks GM] Hammond could make another significant move: trading star shooting guard Michael Redd."
There's that word again: speculation. But the speculation of Woefel's "NBA officials" and others isn't much more than common sense. The main unknowns are whether the Bucks will look for salary cap room for this summer now (the most likely scenario) or wait to deal with next season after July 1; and how much cap room they're looking for.
It is only a matter of time before the Bucks find a trade for a shooting guard or big forward who can play some D and would a good fit for Skiles' uptempo offense. The trouble is finding a team that 1) Needs a scorer like Redd; and 2) has the right mix of pricey expiring contract(s) and player (s) to help the Bucks improve.
If not, there's always Tracy McGrady. Rockets fans are beginning to call for a McGrady-Redd trade (or something) and the Rockets want to contend for the title this season. McGrady doesn't seem to be up to it. This should only be acceptable if the Rockets also take Dan Gadzuric and the $17 mill or so he's due the next 2-and-a-half years. I realize the Rockets just signed Mutumbo Mutombo, but who can resist a three-headed international center combo? China, the Congo, Netherlands represent! And with an Argentinian power forward ...
What the Rockets need to challenge the Lakers, to beat the likes of Deron Williams and the Jazz; Manu and Parker and the Spurs; Chris Paul and Hornets is a better outside game -- they've got the paint covered. I would think they would be very interested in Redd, if they could ignore that he's nothing more than an average three-point shooter. Maybe this is where Damon Jones comes in handy in a trade. ...
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 I do know that Chris Mihm, will not become a Milwaukee Buck this season, and that's a good thing. The Lakers reportedly have had a standing offer on the table to trade little-used center Mihm to the Bucks for Tyronn Lue. The Bucks, however, have little interest in Mihm, who had two foot surgeries last season.
Enter the Rockets, looking for a center to back up Yao Ming, or so the rumors go. The Rockets would have traded Carl Landry and a reserve guard to the Bucks for Charlie V; the Bucks would send Lue to the Lakers; and the Lakers would send Mihm to the Rockets.
That won't happen now because the Rockets on Tuesday brought center Dikembe Mutombo back to the team on a veteran minimum contract. Looks like the rumored Bucks-Rockets trade was always contingent on whether or not the Rockets could lure Mutombo out of retirement (he retired after last year). Had the Rockets not convinced Mutombo, a three-way trade with the Lakers and Bucks may have been the plan B the Rockets were considering. According to Mutombo (see the linked story), the Rockets pursued him heavily over the weekend, so that's one indication that Houston wasn't too hot about the Lakers-Bucks option.
Now the Rockets don't need Mihm, the Bucks don't want him and apparently the Lakers don't either. But that doesn't mean that the Lakers or the Bucks should stop looking for a team that does. Lue played a solid NBA finals for the Lakers against Allen Iverson and the Sixers, and Phil Jackson wants him back, obviously. Lakers backup point guard, Jordan Farmar, just had knee surgery. The Bucks could pick up a worthwhile young player, or even a bench contract and a 2nd round draft pick if somebody wants Mihm badly enough.
Not that the Bucks should be too interested in trading Lue. Ty from downtown is on the Bob Boozer Jinx Christmas list, which should be an important consideration for the Bucks in any moves from here on out. He's shooting 52% from 3-point-land this season, and has moved past Redd this season into the top 20 career 3-point shooters in the league. He's 44th all-time in the NBA, taking aim at Jon Barry, Danny Ferry, Hersey Hawkins, and, yes, Reggie Miller too if he keeps shooting at his current clip.
Note: Damon Jones is right behind Lue on that list at #47. This may become important as the Feb. 19 trading deadline approaches, as I've noted above. Any number of contending teams could be interested in Lue or Jones because 1) They are veterans with playoff experience; and 2) The ability to hit from downtown is a potential edge in the playoffs. And there's so very little separation among most of the top 12 teams in the league.
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The Bucks game at the BC Saturday night against Allen Iverson, Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace and the Detroit Pistons was in many ways a test of Scott Skiles and the new era Bucks.
Coming into the game, the Bucks had yet to win a game against a team the caliber of the Pistons -- not one with its parts relatively in place (it's rare to find a team at full strength in the NBA this time of year).
They still haven't. .
If it was a test, the 87-76 loss should quiet Bucks' playoff talk. For a few days at least. The 14-17 Bucks have beaten only three teams with winning records and two of them were missing a pair of star players (the Spurs and the Jazz).
The Pistons game went bad quickly in the 3rd quarter, so badly that Skiles pulled his starters. With the exception of rookie Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Skiles left them on the bench for the final 16 minutes of the game. The home crowd boos that descended on them in the 4th Quarter should be a loud enough local protest to trail the Bucks to Texas, where this week they play a Tuesday-Wednesday back-to-back against West contenders San Antonio and Houston.
The Bucks are a team in transition to the Skiles era, a new place where tenacious, consistent D and ball movement are religion. In their most recent win against the Jazz at the BC Tuesday, the Bucks could say that the qualities of the new era overcame the lax defense and sluggish, selfish offensive tendencies of the old. The Skiles Bucks, led by point guard Luke Ridnour, took charge in the final four minutes against the Jazz with good defense and team play, and won the game. Yet the depleted Jazz, playing without All-Stars Carlos Boozer and center Mehmet Okur, played a lackluster game that Utah coach Jerry Sloan said looked to him "like streetball."
The Pistons were also missing an All-Star, leading scorer Rip Hamilton, but there wasn't anybody in a Pistons uniform handing out streetball passes Saturday. After the Bucks scored the first four points of the 2nd half to take a 48-46 lead, the Pistons D forced errant Bucks shot after shot and hustled the Bucks misses into a 21-3 run. It happened quickly, over the course of 5 minutes or so.
The only Bucks points in that run were a 3-point play by Andrew Bogut, who was productive with 17 pts and 10 rebs, but he too found himself benched toward the end of the 3rd quarter with Michael Redd (who finished with just 4 pts on 2-11 shooting) and Richard Jefferson (10 pts and one of his worst games as a Buck).
"It felt like Mbah a Moute and Ridnour were the two guys that stood out as being ready to play and to have that winning-type energy you need," Skiles said.
Ridnour had to fight off the effects of the flu to play Saturday. It must have irked Skiles to no end to watch Luke's teammates reward his perseverence by playing as if they were sick. I have a feeling this contributed to the benching of the Redd, R.J. and Bogut.
The message was clear: The Scott Skiles Bucks have not yet arrived in Milwaukee; and the coach was in no mood Saturday to pretend that his starters could mount a 20-point comeback playing anything other than Scott Skiles basketball.
So what was wrong with the Bucks Saturday? A few things, and more. But before I get to that, it's time to go out and have a smoke:
INTERMISSION
You gotta love The Rim Rockers Milwaukee's own flying basketball circus. Here's the Rockers setting a couple of world record for the Guinness Book Saturday, Dec. 20 at the BC.. Thanks go to eric for sending in this clip.
END INTERMISSION
 What was wrong with the Bucks Saturday? To be fair, the Iverson Pistons are a bad matchup for the Bucks. The Chauncey Billups Pistons played closer to the walk-it-up pace of the Michael Redd Bucks of the last five years. As a result, the Bucks had some past success against Detroit, even a win last season. Those days are over. Iverson plays the game in a gear known only to Iverson, and he has players like Rodney Stuckey, Prince and Hamilton (when healthy) to run with him.
The Bucks are playing a faster pace, too, part of the uptempo Skiles approach. Problem is, this team is not built for it: The feet of Redd, Bogut, and the two Charlies don't move that fast and it's something Skiles has had the team working on. Skiles addressed the tempo issue this weekend in raving about the job Ridnour has been doing at the point:
"[Ridnour]'s been good on the break. As I've said a couple times, we need to help him more by getting up the floor with a little more thrust. We've done that the last few games (before Detroit). The past six or seven games he's been very, very good."
Point being, if the Bucks need to be reminded not to fall behind Luke Ridnour pace, how can they keep up with Iverson's pace? They haven't done it yet. They've lost two games to the Pistons and neither one has been close.
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Focus is another problem. The Bucks apparently lost it in the days off Skiles gave them Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. They obviously lost it in the 3rd Quarter Saturday, which raises questions about the mental tenacity of this team. This is another lingering trait from the pre-Skiles Bucks, and the mentally tough Pistons exposed this on the Bucks home floor. It'll be interesting to see how the aforementioned starters - the "stars" - respond to being benched.
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Personnel shortcomings: The Pistons have been the Team of the 2000's in the East, but they've been struggling since the Iverson trade, and came into the BC with a 12-11 record with the Answer. In fact, on the night the Pistons played the Bucks, an Arizona Republic writer asked in an NBA Insider column, "Pistons better off without Iverson?"
Rasheed Wallace is past his prime and the younger Pistons are still growing. Stuckey, who recently became the starting point guard, is only in his second year. Young big men Amir Johnson and Jason Maxiell are still developing. Forward Antonio McDyess missed more than a month after the Iverson trade (he was traded for Iverson but obtained a buyout from Denver and returned). Former Buck Michael Curry is their 3rd coach in five years and this is his first year as a head coach.
Despite all this, the Bucks haven't gained ground on the Pistons. Bogut is still the only Buck who would start on Detroit. R.J. and Luc Mbah a Moute (eventually) would fare well in Detroit and find PT. And Sessions? But the rest of the Bucks?
Of course it's no shock to anybody that the Pistons roster is better than the Bucks. Or that the Bucks core of R.J., Redd and Bogut is simply no match for the Iverson/Hamilton, Prince and Wallace core. But the bench edge goes to Detroit too, especially when they go big in the starting lineup and bring Hamilton off the bench.
These are not the defending champion Pistons of 2005. They are the 5th-in-the-East Pistons looking up in the standings at the Atlanta Hawks. The Bucks are tied for 8/9th with Chicago. This was not just "one bad game" for the Bucks. It was an illustration of how far they still have to climb to compete in the East.
The Richard Jefferson trade has improved the Bucks, yes, and so has the coaching change. And Mbah a Moute. Ramon Sessions is an improvement. Ridnour is coming along under Skiles. There's a lot to talk about. Yet STILL there is a huge talent and performance separation from the East's 5th place Pistons to where the Bucks are in 8/9th. Based on what I saw last week in the home games against the Jazz and Pistons (with three days off prior), I don't believe this Bucks roster can close the gap. It's not in all of them.
When does Bucks GM Hammond wake up and realize that there is no point in holding off on major, long-term looking moves. To do so only holds back the players who can play Skiles basketball.
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.... Which brings us to another possible distraction for the Bucks on Saturday:
 TRADE RUMORS
(read at your own risk - these are mostly rumors, which makes me a rumor mongerer, for better or worse)
The Bucks camp was rife with them through the X-mas holidays, including word that Michael Redd is back on the trading block.
On the Sports Radio WSSP AM-1250's postgame show, Racine Journal Times Bucks columnist Gery Woelfel, reported that a number of teams have contacted the Bucks to inquire about Redd, and that the Bucks are listening. Charlie Villanueva and Tyrone Lue have also come up in trade scuttlebutta within the last few days. Only one Buck is untouchable: Andrew Bogut.
Woelfel didn't say which teams have inquired about Redd, though he did mention that NY was interested last summer. (Hey Gery, why didn't you report it then?) The Knicks have made two big trades since, so a trade with the Knicks is now likely lost opportunity. (And of course, Cleveland pursued a Redd trade until settling for Mo Williams; the Cavaliers are out of the trade market for now, standing pat with their title hopes and a 26-4 record.. for now).
The Bucks took Redd off the market after acquiring Richard Jefferson in June and, as recently as November, the word around the NBA was that the Bucks were not actively working the trade market on any player. GM John Hammond's stance has apparently changed in recent weeks. The trade deadline is just seven weeks away.
It's encouraging (to say the least) that with Redd's lavish contract ($45 mil over 2.5 yrs), his recent poor play and absence the entire month of November, teams are still interested. Redd has struggled in Skiles' system and seems to have an aversion for the quick pace that is Skiles basketball (he had the same problem in the Olympics playing Team Redeem's relentless pace, and his shooting suffered ... a lot).
Redd is leading the Bucks in scoring at 18.5 pts per game, but his shooting has plunged below 40% from the floor; .337 from 3-point land. If the lousy shooting persists, the other parts of his game -- his poor defense and passing, along with his overall poor decision-making on the court -- become pretty big liabilities to a team trying to implement a system of constant defensive pressure and up-tempo ball movement. Oh, and then there's that aversion to running the floor.
(If there are any scouts reading this, a BIG if I know, just keep moving -- there's nothing to see here. Everything's fine in Milwaukee with Michael and we think he's a good candidate to make a return to the All-Star game this season).
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Moving right along. The most tangible trade reported this weekend again came from Gery Woelfel, in his Woelfel World of Sports column Friday. The Lakers are looking for backup help at point guard now that Jordan Farmar's left knee will require surgery, and Woelfel says they're offering little-used center Chris Mihm for Tyrone Lue, who played for Phil Jackson on the 2000 and 2001 Laker championship teams.
The Los Angeles Times reported that, yes, Lue's agent has been in contact with the Lakers, though neither the Bucks nor Lakers have confirmed that a Mihm-for-Lue deal is on the table. Mimh is a stiff who's had two ankle surgeries in the last couple of years. No wonder Hammond won't pick this one up off the table.
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The trigger for much of the speculation about a move for Lue was Damon Jones joining the Bucks over the weekend. Jones and Lue are both backup point guards specializing in 3-point gunning, and with Lue potentially gone, the good-shooting Jones would fill a role off the bench. Jones was acquired in the Mo Williams-Luke Ridnour trade last summer but he and the Bucks agreed that he wouldn't report to the team while the Bucks sought a trade. Hammond found no takers.
But Jones' addition may have more to do with necessity than Lue's future. Starting point guard Luke Ridnour (3 games lost to injury) has played hurt for much of the year and so has Redd's backup, Charlie Bell (7 games missed). That leaves Michael Redd (14 games missed, ankle) and Ramon Sessions as the only two healthy guards on the 15-man roster.
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Charlie Villanueva, being a big forward with offensive versatility, generates a lot of trade interest around the league. He's the subject of rumors involving Houston forward Carl Landry and more speculation (Woelfel again) about another trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Thunder are looking to trade at least one of their three power forwards, Chris Wilcox, ex-Buck Joe Smith and possibly Nick Collison. I still can't figure out why OK City would want another one in Charlie, or how they expect to acquire a player with Charlie's offensive skills when bringing any one of their PF contracts here would require that the Bucks send a second player. (Tyrone Lue again). If I do figure it out, that probably means the trade has already happened, somehow. Collison has a 3-year, $19m deal.
 The rumored trade of Charlie to Houston for forward Carl Landry, 25, born and raised in Milwaukee and an alumnus of basketball powerhouse Vincent High, was good while it lasted but seems to have fizzled out. Neither the Journal Sentinel or the Houston Chronicle has confirmed that a deal was or is in the works, while other sources (realgm.com/bucks) believed trade to be imminent over the weekend. The Bucks and Rockets have been silent.
What I do know is that Charlie played about as poorly as Charlie can play against Detroit, and that he may be a bit sensitive about being the subject of all this trade speculation, especially over Christmas. Villanueva for the rebound-hungry (and cost effective) Landry was discussed on NBA fanboards all over the country this weekend, and may have even invaded his iPod.
The absence of a denial about the trade from either team as the Bucks head for Texas does raise questions about whether the trade is only on hold because of Rockets injuries.The Rockets rested both Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest in separate games over the weekend. The Bucks will be in Houston Wednesday.
The Bucks were rumored to also be seeking a Rockets guard in the trade. Luther Head, one of the guards mentioned, started in place of McGrady Saturday night. The Bucks would send Tyronn Lue to LA in the Mihm deal and Mihm would go to the Rockets.
However, that end of the deal is off, because the Rockets on Tuesday brought center Dikembe Mutumbo back to the team on a veteran minimum contract. The Rockets don't need Mihm, Bucks don't need him and apparently the Lakers don't either.
Landry averages 8.7pts, 5.1 rebs in 20 mpg. He has two years left on his contract after this season, and the last year is a player option.
Charlie's averaging 12.6 pts, 6.6 rebs in 22 mpg -- the best rebounding year of his 4-yr career. The one rebound more per game than Landry that Charlie is grabbing is on the defensive end. CV's a restricted free agent after this season and could end up costing twice as much as Landry.
Would the Rockets do a straight up Charlie for Landry deal? It's difficult to see why they would.
Disclaimer: It's nuts to anticipate a rumored trade based on the absence of the rumor's denial; in no way am I endorsing or encouraging this sort of thinking, unless we're talking politics. Nuts.
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 Yes, they do have Christmas in Australia, but that doesn't mean Andrew Bogut has to like it. Bogut dispensed his views regarding Christmas on his blog Sunday, which happened to be the day of the Winter Soltice:
"I’m not big on Christmas, Birthdays or New Years really. I think Christmas isn’t celebrated for the right reasons, but mainly for a money driving machine. A lot of children probably wouldn’t know what Christmas is about besides receiving cool presents and getting what ‘I’ want. I mean I don’t dislike it don’t get me wrong, but the whole decorating for Christmas and putting up a tree doesn’t really give me a thrill. I think I left it behind when I was about 12 and realized the truth about Santa and his Reindeers."
Don't get him wrong? Just about everything Bogut wrote is manifesto for those who think the Christmas magic left when Rudolph got busted for vagrancy. Maybe Bogues was in the locker room when the Energee! dancers were doing their Santa routine at the Bucks-Clippers game Saturday ....
 There's more on Bogut's blog, about friends and family being more important than gifts, and plenty of Aussie comedy videos and other stuff he finds for his fans back home. It's really one of the better NBA player blogs out there, and he has a new post up already in which he reports that his dad feels the same way he does about X-mas. He also says that a "present we didn't expect" may be in the works this week to help the Bucks. (This turned out to be the arrival of exiled long range gunner Damon Jones, which I confess never crossed my mind as anything that would be considered a gift.)
I empathize with Bogut's negative feelings about X-mas, I do, but I've been imbued with enough holiday spirit this week to wonder what the Bucks might leave under the Christmas trees or 'round Hanukkah menorahs and Kwanzaa kinaras of Bucks fans everywhere. (A kinara's a candleholder, much like a menorah, and you wouldn't want to put gifts under either of those burning things).
Never let it be said that one can't find culture here ... or fire safety tips. But enough of that ... Let's get to those gifts ...
 1) How about a win against a quality, winning opponent that isn't missing a key player or two? The Bucks don't have one of these wins this season. I give you Ball Don't Lie's NBA power rankings this week in which the Bucks were ranked 17th: "You beat the Clippers by a ton, at home. I'm ... proud of you?" Oh, the truth hurts. ... So Tuesday night vs. the 17-12 Jazz was a great opportunity to beat a solid, winning team on the home court, right? Wrooong. The Jazz's hottest player, center Mehmet Okur, scratched with back spasms. Despite this fit of good fortune, the cold-shooting Bucks and Michael Redd nearly bricked their way out of the game until some solid Bucks D and point guard Luke Ridnour saved the day. After the game, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said his team looked like they were playing "streetball."
A relatively healthy 15-11 Detroit team, with Antonio McDyess back in the fold, comes to the BC Saturday and the Bucks have three days off before the game. Allen Iverson is day-to-day with an injury suffered Tuesday against the Bulls but that's fine -- Iverson often plays better when he's hurt, as Bucks fans know too well (I'm supressing 2001 playoff flashbacks now). Detroit is 11-11, including a win vs. the Bucks in Detroit, since trading Chauncey Billups to Denver for the Answer. The AI record should be 12-11 after the Pistons play the OK City Thunder on Friday. Beating Detroit would qualify as the Bucks best win of the season.
2) A bottle of Andrew Bogut's "magic pain pills." Bogut goes into excruciating detail on his blog about his ailing back and the "magic pain pills" that have allowed him to play the last four games. Seems a couple of his vertabrae are "stuck" and causing severe pain. He says he needs a wheelchair in the morning and feels like he's "a hundred years old." Ouch. But these magic pills do wonders: since Bogut started taking them, his free throw shooting is better than ever at 69.1%, and the Bucks have won three or four.
3) Some magic pills for Charlie Bell. Charlie, who played hurt through the 14 games that Michael Redd missed during his sloooww recovery from a high ankle sprain -- and then missed six games himself -- went down again Tuesday vs. the Jazz. This time it's a sore knee, just when it was beginning to look like Charlie was returning to his 2007 form. The Bucks could use some good health in general, though nobody around the NBA is going to throw them a pity party. Malik Allen, who had been starting at power forward, has missed the last eight games with a rib injury.
 4) This is where I post the Sports Illustrated photo at left of Richard Jefferson and his Trinidadian supermodel wife, Teresa Lourenco, in hopes that you read this Bob Boozer Jinx post from last week (no, this is not a shallow attempt to spice up this post with a pic of a hot supermodel). R.J. has become somewhat of a forgotten man in Bucksland, except when fans notice that his box score line doesn't always look as good as some think it should (the warped analysis of a certain ESPN stat guy comes to mind). Stats are not R.J.'s game -- the intangibles are, and those are part and parcel to the attitude R.J. brought to the Bucks via the trade with the Nets last summer. There's no question coach Scott Skiles appreciates his forward -- he keeps R.J. on the floor more than any other Buck. As of this writing R.J. is 3rd in the NBA in minutes played and the Bucks chemistry on the floor looks better than it has in years. Plus, R.J.'s hitting the three.
5) More about Teresa Lourenco? It's the least I could do. But is there no style page in this town to take these burdensome supermodel responsibilities from the Bob Boozer Jinx? Maybe now that Packers season is winding down, our local culture vultures can get on the Lourenco beat, if she's around at all. A little gemutlichkeit has never killed a supermodel from Trinidad, has it?
 6) A "rookie curb" for Luc Richard Mbah a Moute to hop instead of a "rookie wall" like the one Yi Jianlian hit last February. Early on this season, Journal Sentinel's Michael Hunt wrote that the defense played by the Bucks' Cameroonian prince was remniscent of the D Sidney Moncrief played in his rookie season (1979-80). That's colossal praise when you consider the NBA more or less invented the Defensive Player of the Year award for Moncrief. After an impressive start, the #37 pick in the draft became a fan favorite, then seemed worn down for a couple of weeks before last week picking it up against the Knicks, Clippers and Jazz. Mbah a Moute can guard three positions but has played most at power forward; he's contributing a solid 8.5 pts, 6.5 rebs per game ... All-Rookie honor roll so far.
7) Bucks first round pick at #8, Joe Alexander, remains a mystery. Joe's got some ups and can knock a shot down, but he looks lost on the court -- night and day compared to Mbah a Moute, who is so often in the right place at the right time. The Dalai Lama, who I found on my pilgrimage to Tibet, wasn't able to tell me why the Bucks drafted Joe, other than to say "maybe he's a good Joe" and went on to ask a lot of questions about Brett Favre. Maybe Santa knows, and some insight into why Bucks GM John Hammond drafted Joe will emerge over the holidays.
Joe and the Bucks this week did crank up a campaign to vote Joe into the All-Star Game dunk contest. Joe says you gotta vote Joe and that he's going to beat the champ, Dwight Howard. That's not the draft explaination I was looking for from Santa, but here's Joe delivering his dunk contest hype:
I don't see an Emmy in the kid's future, but the Mandarin Chinese bit should sway the far East electorate.
8) More Tyronn Lue from 3-point land!!! Lue is shooting 65% from downtown this season and is easily the Bucks best shooter. Lue is now 15th on the active NBA career 3-point percentage rankings, and its great to see rainbow jumpers by a Buck hitting nothing but net. (Unfortunately, the Lakers have noticed too). With Luke Ridnour and Ramon Sessions getting most of the Bucks point guard minutes, however, PT has been hard to come by. It'd be a nice gift if Skiles can find some creative ways to get more shots for Tyronn.
9) Ramon Sessions was more or less benched last week in Philly and NY, and the point guard responsibilities have rested on the shoulders of Luke "Frodo" Ridnour (who, in addition to point guard burdens, has more nicknames than any Bucks player). Here's hoping Sessions and coach Skiles stay on the same page and that Ramon finds his way back to the major role he played while Redd was out. Frodo won't get very far without Sam.
10) I had hoped to write an item here about Michael Redd continuing his recent passing and ball-sharing ways after the holidays -- but it was not meant to be. If anything was obvious to fans who watched the Bucks nearly hand a home game Tuesday to the depleted Utah Jazz, it was that Redd is not the guy who'll deliver the team from the land of NBA mediocrity. Oh, those 27 pts he scored looked good in the boxscore but if you watched the game (or were there) you know that Redd nearly shot the Bucks into a loss in the 4th quarter. But this isn't about one game; it's about an end to an era; an end to a selfish, no-defense style of play that Bucks fans have seen far too much of these last five-plus years.
This era is ending under coach Scott Skiles but as Tuesday showed, it's not ending soon enough -- though the Bucks did win the game, thanks to some solid defense and team play in crunch time, a very encouraging sign. In many ways, the Utah game was a microcosm for the transition that the Bucks are making this season: the better qualities of the new era have begun to overcome the deficiencies of the old.
Oh but it's Christmas, after all, no time for brooding contemplation and the weight of future (gotta leave something for the new year). The Bucks and most of the NBA are merrily into a holiday break, and that's where I'm headed, alright ...
The Celtics and Lakers play Christmas day,
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.
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 HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!! And thanks for stopping by in the Milwaukee Bucks-o-sphere during this busy week of festivities (hope yours isn't too hectic). While I'm making a list and checking it twice for my "gifts the Bucks can give their fans this Christmas" blog, check out this firsthand injury update Bucks center Andrew Bogut provided Sunday on his blog.
Bogut feels like he's "a hundred years old" due to some very painful lower back problems he's been having since last Wednesday -- bad news for the Bucks as they prepare to take on the Utah Jazz at the Bradley Center tonight (tip off at 7:10pm). Bogut describes in excruciating detail the nature of the injury, the treatment and the pain, which began in Philly as he was waking up in his hotel bed.
After receiving chiropractic treatment later that day, Bogut learned that "a couple" of his vertabrae were "stuck together." This is causing severe pain from his lower back down through his hips. Bogut was sluggish in the Philly game and had trouble getting to loose balls and rebounds but appeared to do a better job battling through the injury Friday and Saturday against the Knicks and the Clippers. The credit, Bogut writes, goes to the Bucks training staff:
"I was lucky enough to be able to play through the last 3 games with it, mainly because our trainers did a great job of getting me warm and loose enough to go out there and perform, oh along with some sort of magic pain pill which works wonders. The only problem is waking up the next morning and needing a wheel chair for the first hour or two."
Did you say "magic pain pill" Bogues? If it works wonders, has it had an impact on your free throw shooting? Bingo. Including the Utah game (won by the Bucks 94-86), Bogut's 9 of 13 from the line (69.3%) in his four magic pill games. That's a big improvement over the 52.1% he was shooting this season and better than the 58.9% he had shot in his career pre-magic pill. May this magical wonder never cease.
Note: The link to 'Drew's website takes you to an entrance portal where you'll be asked to register. It's worth the while, and I wish I'd posted about the site back in September (sorry about that -- I was undercover trying to find out why the Bucks drafted Joe Alexander; as you know, I came up with nothing but a lot of grumbling about Brett Favre and the Brewer bats). From here on out, you'll find a link to Bogut's site in my blogroll in the panel to your right. The guilt is killing me.
Bogut blogs fairly regularly as far as NBA blogs go, mostly to give his Australian fans a window into the life of an NBA player. He also features interviews with other Australian ballers playing around the world. He's promised an update soon on Brad Newley (Houston Rockets property currently playing in Greece.) You may remember Newley from Bogut's Australian National Team. Note to John Hammond: The 6' 6" Newley's the basketball version of a U.S. Marine and is perhaps the best all-around Australian player in history. He can also knock down a shot and would be a great fit on Skiles' Bucks.
Bucks vs. Jazz: As I wrote on our fan message boards here at Sportsbubbler, I'm not yet sold on the Bucks ticket to the playoffs, despite the blowout wins against the Knicks and Clippers over the weekend. The only teams with winning records the Bucks have beaten so far are Miami without big forward Udonis Haslem and the Spurs without Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker.
Of course, the Bucks have had plenty injuries of their own. Michael Redd missed 14 games making a long, slow recovery from a high ankles sprain; Charlie Bell was playing hurt the entire time Redd was out and has missed 6 games since Redd's return; Luke Ridnour started the season with back trouble and has missed 3 games; and Charlie Villanueva has missed 4 games.
The Bucks went into Atlanta without Bogut after he smashed his knee taking a charge defending Dwight Howard (Bogut missed three games) and still came within two in the final minute. But that's life in the NBA -- 18-10 Atlanta isn't exactly formidable without its rugged forward, Josh Smith, and he was out that game too. The Hawks are 11-5 with Smith in the lineup but a still-respectable 7-5 without him.
More than anything, the meltdown in the 4th quarter against Philly last week kicked some of the sand out of my optimism about the Bucks. Did the loss in Philly tell us more about the Bucks than the blowouts against the Knicks and Clippers? When do the Bucks start looking to making a trade (or two) that might help vault the team from the land of NBA mediocrity?
These next four games vs. Utah tonight and Detroit Saturday at the BC; and games vs. the Spurs and Rockets in Texas next week should give Bucks fans the answers to questions about the team. All four teams have winning records, though the Pistons have played sub-.500 ball since acquiring Allen Iverson -- a fact that isn't so relevant for the Bucks because Iverson is a nightmare matchup for the Bucks guards. The Answer killed the Bucks off the bench in the Bucks-Pistons first meeting.
The 17-12 Jazz and 15-11 Pistons have beaten the Bucks once apiece this season, in their buildings. The Bucks beat the 18-10 Spurs at the BC in November while Ginobili and Parker were recovering from ankle injuries. The Bucks have not yet played the Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady, Milwaukee native Carl Landry and the 19-10 Rockets.
Tonight the Jazz will be playing without All-Pro power forward Carlos Boozer (no relation to our Bob Boozer). Even without Boozer, the Jazz are a hardnosed playoff team with a great coach in Jerry Sloan. In Boozer's absence big forward Paul Millsap has been a force, filling the void by averaging 15 pts, 9 rebs so far this season.
The Jazz are playing the last game of a 5-game road trip East tonight, but the Bucks can't bring their Philly game and expect to earn their first win against a playoff-tested opponent. Bogut's back problems won't make the task any easier.
Well, now the latest from the BC is that Utah Center Mehmet Okur will not play due to back spasms. It does pay sometimes to have a tough Aussie in the post, and a bottle of magic pain pills.
Suddenly, the Jazz game is one the Bucks should win in front of the home fans.
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 Wow, these guys may be one of the greatest shows on earth. The Rim Rockers, Milwaukee's own amazing flying basketball circus, set a number of world records Saturday during halftime of the Bucks-Clippers game. An official from the Guinness Book of World Records was on hand to record it all.
Unfortunately, the folks who run the Bucks website are not so amazing. I can't give you the link to the video of the Rim Rockers gravity-defying performance because the so-called link to it on the Bucks official website goes to video highlights of the Bucks' Scott-Skiles-aggravating meltdown in Philly last week.
This dunk in the Bucks.com photo at left was one for the Guinness book: It was the highest 360-degree backflip dunk in the history of recorded trampoline-aided backflip dunks.
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 What a schizophrenic week it was for the Bucks on the road in the East.
After perhaps their strongest performance of the season in Miami Monday, the Bucks showed that old habits die hard two nights later in Philly, losing 93-88. The starters in particular looked sluggish, uninspired and out-of rhythm -- and in the 4th quarter looked as though they had no clue how to win the game. They also shot like middle schoolers, hitting only 2-18 shots in the 4th.
Then the Bucks arrived in New York, where they continued their mastery over Mike D'Antoni's ever retooling Knicks, and won 105-81. The Bucks have played NY three times this season (won all three) and faced a different Knicks team in each game. Last time, at the Bradley Center, the Knicks were down to seven players after (on gameday) dealing guard Jamal Crawford to the Warriors for big forward Al Harrington; and on the same day, PF Zach Randolph to the Clippers for guard Cuttino Mobley and ex-Buck Tim Thomas.
Mobley was forced to retire after the trade when doctors diagnosed that his heart condition had worsened to the point where playing would have put his life in danger. Mobley is just 33-years-old. The Knicks could have voided the trade, but were content with the salary cap relief they had gained in dealing Randolph and his $47 million contract.
This time, Harrington reportedly got stuck in traffic on the way to the Bucks game and didn't get there until mid-first quarter. Apparently coach D'Antoni wasn't too upset about it -- he put Harrington into the game shortly after Al arrived on the bench.
Thomas played 6 minutes in the first half and scored 4 pts but then left the bench in the 2nd quarter with a stomach virus and did not return. Timmy of course came to the Bucks in a trade with Philly during the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season and was traded mid-season 2003-04 to the Knicks for Keith Van Horne -- one of many of ill-fated moves by ex-GM Larry Harris, and possible source of Timmy's tummy ache.
This is 31-year-old Thomas' 2nd stint in NY and 2nd stint playing for D'Antoni, who brought him to Phoenix for the Suns 2006 playoff run. Thomas, 31, thrived for 40+ games in D'Antoni's run-and-gun system, then signed on with the Clippers as a free agent.
The Knicks key player, point guard Chris Duhon -- who's not only been playing well but playing more than any player in the league, with 994 minutes in 25 games, a 39.8 per avg. -- reserved his second worst game of the season for the team of his old coach Scott Skiles. The Knicks acquired Duhon in the offseason from Chicago, where Skiles was Duhon's coach for the young point guard's first three-plus NBA seasons. Duhon is 2nd in the NBA in assists this season. His worst of the game year? The first Bucks game in NY against his old coach.
I sense a trend here, of course. So I put the question to some Knicks fans. Is Skiles implementing a special anti-Duhon defense that only he knows about? Or is it ...
A) The recurrance of repressed memories induced by the barking tone with which Skiles yells at his players;
B) Skiles' ridiculously fearsome forehead;
C) Skiles' menacing glare;
D) The ever-present, ominous Skiles scowl which usually precedes A above.
I'm still waiting for the Knicks fans at realgm.com to realize that I'm not necessarily joking. I think Skiles has some mojo going against Duhon; it's almost as if Duhon reflexively thinks that if he makes a mistake, Kirk Hinrich will appear in a Knicks uniform to take over the point and his job.
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The Bucks got a taste of the Skiles treatment after the Philly game, as the coach laid on his harshest criticism of his team so far this season, saying:
“We had a bunch of guys who looked like they didn’t feel like playing from the opening tip. We were just heavy-legged, slow-footed. We couldn’t get up and down the floor and had tremendous trouble guarding them. We got exactly what we deserved.”
“I’m bewildered by my team,” Skiles added. “I’ve got a really bad taste in my mouth. It was a very poor all-around effort by us.”
Old habits dying hard in red. The team that played Philly looked nothing like the Bucks of just 48 hours prior in Miami. In fact they didn't look like the Bucks at all in those new red road uniforms. And when I saw Michael Redd make a genuine effort to move the ball on offense (he had six assists), I wondered if I had missed THE BIG TRADE. When Redd also hit the glass more than usual, I called ready reference for a reality check on the state of things. The librarian assured me that it was still 2008 and that Milwaukee still had an NBA team called the Bucks. Yes, Richard Jefferson is a Buck, she said. "And Obama won the election, didn't he?" I asked.
"Sir, where are you?"
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After a relatively invisible game in Philly, our forgotten man, Richard Jefferson hit from downtown against the Knicks -- three 3's to get the Bucks going. Michael Redd led the Bucks scoring with 21 pts and again showed interest in moving the ball, finishing with six assists. (Yes, there's a trend shaping there Mike -- sharing is caring and this does apply in the NBA.) Andrew Bogut also had six assists to go with 13 boards.
Bucks are 3-0 vs. the Knicks this season, after going 1-3 last year and needing overtime at the Bradley Center to get the one win. They also won the road trip, winning two out of three and are now 12-16 and in 10th place in the East. Win the Philly game and the Bucks would have been in the 8th and final playoff spot in the conference despite their grueling schedule (which can no longer be used as an excuse, per se, but can still be generally referred to, I hope).
As of today, the Bucks have played more games (28) than any NBA team except the Trailblazers (28) and have played more games on the road (18) than any team. Beginning with the Clippers game at the BC tonight, seven of the Bucks next ten are at home.
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Clippers come to town Saturday night at the Bradley Center, gametime 7:30pm. As for what follows here, I made none of it up, and in no way altered the photo of Clippers center Chris Kaman.
At the game, the Bucks Game Operations Department will attempt to set nine separate Guinness World Records, according to a Bucks press release. There will be an official Guinness judge on hand, and below are the records Game Ops is after:·
 Longest time to spin a basketball on one finger, using one hand (current record: 37.46 seconds)
· Most basketball half-court shots in one minute (current record: 4)
· Highest forward flip trampoline slam dunk (current record: 10 feet, 9 inches)
· * Most slam dunk bounce passes in 30 seconds (current record: 21)
· * Furthest forward flip trampoline slam dunk (current record: 19 feet, 2 inches)
· Most basketball forward flip slam dunks in 30 seconds (current record: 17)
The asterisks mean: both those records are held by the Milwaukee Bucks Rim Rockers, set on February 14, 2008, at the NBA All-Star Jam Session in New Orleans.
Here's more from the press release:
"In addition to the six records listed above, the Bucks will also attempt to set three records that have never before been recorded. A member of the dunk team will attempt to complete the first-ever double front flip dunk on record during halftime. The final two record attempts will not be disclosed until Saturday night, but there are currently no official records on file for either one ..."
Sounds like a fun night to be at the Bradley Center. Remember, I made none of this up, not even that stuff about Skiles and Duhon.
Clippers center Chris Kaman will also be on hand, which ought to make Andrew Bogut's night interesting, if not necessarily graceful. SCRATCH THAT - Kaman's not playing tonight. I can't take Kaman seriously as an NBA center, despite the fact that he loaded up on rebounds in Western Conference paints last season in PF Elton Brand's absence. But Kaman has Marcus Camby and Zach Randolph to back him up these days, and Randolph has been lighting up scoreboards in the West (25.1 ppg) since he was traded by the Knicks.
The Clippers are 8-18 but have won four of their last five, with three of those wins coming on the road. The Clips are at the end of a 4 game road trip and beat Indiana in double OT Friday after losing in OT to the Bulls on Wednesday.
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