Milwaukee Bucks Blog - The Bob Boozer Jinx : Marques Johnson

Joe Alexander to start at small forward?... Happy Independence Day

J.D. Mo — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:19:00 GMT

Ever since I was a kid, one of my favorite holidays has been the 4th of July. The food, the weather, the lazy summer vibe of the day, yes, there's a lot to look forward to this weekend. But what I've always liked most of all is the history imbued in the day. During my formative J.D. Mo years, I even had a glass-framed copy of the Declaration of Independence parchment hanging over the desk and typewriter in my room. In my pantheon of heroes, Thomas Jefferson was right up there with Marques Johnson, Cecil Cooper and Mike Caldwell.

To close our 233th year of Independence and get the 234th off to a good nose, let's raise a toast-and-snort to the end of tyranny & throw one back for old Tom, who drained a few mugs of beer himself in Philly taverns whilst drafting the Declaration ... probably because the tavern was one place he knew he could find refuge from one Ben Franklin (no barfly, that poor Richard), whose persistent pestiness, well intentioned though it surely was, did little kindness to the writing process. ...

Happy Independence Day, Bucks fans!!!

Now for our Bucks item of the weekend ...

Bucks plan to start Joe Alexander at small forward

According to Dunkin' Joe Alexander himself, the plan is for Joe to start at SF next season, filling the vacancy created by the RJ trade.

The news comes to me from Bob Boozer Jinx street squad member Nicholas Wallk, who got a chance to talk to Joe this week at the Home Depot on Holt and Chase, where Nick works. Joe was waiting in line at checkout, shelving materials (or the like) in his cart, when Nick approached and said hello. When Joe gave a friendly hello in response, Nick thought he'd ask a couple of questions. Here's how it went.

Nick: Since Richard Jefferson is gone to the Spurs, are you going to be the starting small forward next season?

Joe: That's the plan.

Nick: Is that your plan or the Bucks plan?

Joe: That's the plan.

This may not come as a surprise to some Bucks fans, considering the trade of RJ to the Spurs left a gaping maw at the small forward position -- and because Scott Skiles likes to have his defensive stopper, Luc Mbah a Moute, ready to guard as many as four positions on the court, as well as the flexibility to start Luc or bring him off the bench. But it does come as a surpise to me after Joe's uninspiring rookie year. Sure, he played some impressive ball off the bench, in spurts, in the 2nd half of the season, and he showed he's got some range on his jumper. But progress was slow, and he still looked lost out there at times, something that should never be seen out of a pro ballplayer 50-plus games into the season.

I like the potential upgrade the Bucks have going for them at power forward with Ersan Ilyasova and Amir Johnson, but at small forward -- it would be good for the Bucks to keep veteran forward-guard Bruce Bowen and his great defense around at least up until around the trading deadline. Bowen is reportedly considering retirement, though he would undoubtedly prefer to find his way back to the Spurs by playoff time next season. If the Bucks do convince Bowen to stay, they will be on the hook for his $4.1 million salary (as opposed to $2 million if he is released) but the Bucks have from now until next February to make moves that will keep them out of luxury tax territory. Bowen has a lot of trade value, particularly to teams looking for veteran help in the playoffs ...

HOWEVER - the trend in the NBA is to make arrangements (Antonio McDyess, Joe Smith) that allow veterans to return to the teams of their choosing rather than ship them around as trade chips. Which brings us back to Joe ...

If Joe's right (no reason for him to jive our man Nick) and the plan is to give him his shot as the starter, more power to him and the Bucks youth movement. While there are questions about whether Joe's starting small forward stuff, let's find out. Bowen would help, but why spend the $2 million if he'd rather be elsewhere. As a fan, I'll gladly wait a year or two more for winning if the Bucks make a genuine commitment to their under-24 players. Joe will be 23 in December; Mbah a Moute, 23 in September; Amir Johnson, turned 22 in May; Ersan Ilyasova's 22; Andrew Bogut, the old man of the group, will be 25 in November.

It's uncertain which of the veteran big men behind them will be around next season, but it may not matter. Roll the ball out there and let this athletic, versatile young frontcourt of five loose. Forget the Bucks pr bull about winning now. It's time to build the future on young legs, win or lose in 2009-10.

Whatever happens, Joe made a he*! of an impression on our man Nick, who said Joe was a great guy, easy to talk to. Nick then issued the following statement for media release:

"I will make this commitment: I will buy the Joe Alexander jersey and wear it to games. I will also keep it in my locker at work in case I see him again."

When asked what prompted this investment in Joe, Nick was sure:

"I'm buying the jersey because I met him and he's a cool guy."

Pretty cool, Joe. And cudos to you, Nick.

Bucks search for mental toughness after Charlotte defeat; Bogut day-to-day to play

J.D. Mo — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 12:35:00 GMT

Things have been awfully quiet on the Bucks front since the Charlotte Bobcats blew them out Saturday night less than 24 hours after the Bucks trashed the 'Cats at the Bradley Center, 103-75. The final Saturday was 102-92, but don't let that fool you: the Bobcats (12-22) were up 98-77 with 4 minutes left in the 4th when the benches were cleared for garbage time

The Bucks (16-19) were playing their fourth game in 5 nights, each game in a different city; and they played without Andrew Bogut, who sat out with back spasms. The Bucks are now 0-4 without Bogut in the lineup this season. Bogut's back has been bothering him since Dec. 17th in Philadelphia, but he hadn't missed a game until Saturday. According to the injury report, Bogut could play tonight at the BC against the Raptors, and is listed day-to-day. (He didn't play).

With or without Bogut, the big concern coming into Saturday's game was whether the Bucks would muster the mental toughness to beat a team on consecutive nights. The answer was an emphatic NO. The Bucks were lethargic, sloppy, and didn't move the ball (only 15 assists despite shooting 50 percent) or run the floor well. Point guard Luke Ridnour never seemed to have control of the game. Turnovers were a key (led to 29 Charlotte points), and the Bucks increasingly consistent defense took the night off.

Bad taste in Skiles' mouth: Needless to say, coach Scott Skiles was more than a little unhappy about the Bucks lack of tenacity, among other things, and for the second time this season said: "I've got a bad taste in my mouth right now." (The first time was after the Philly game Dec. 17). "... this kind of game is not how we wanted to represent ourselves. We clearly still have some things that we need to address."

Michael Redd led the team with 5 assists (and 17 pts) but they lost this game with both Redd and Richard Jefferson (19 pts) on the floor. After scoring 27 Friday night, Charlie Villanueva scored just 5 on 2-6 shooting and gave up a five-point play.

How to give up a five-point play? Charlie did it the hard way. First he committed a flagrant foul on 'Cats forward Gerald Wallace. Wallace hit two free throws, Charlotte ball. On the ensuing play, Villanueva was called for another foul on Wallace and was hit with a technical foul arguing to the call. Wallace made two more free throws and Matt Carroll swished the technical. Before getting too upset with Charlie, note that the Bucks were down 16 with 4:30 to play when this chain of events occurred. At that point, it was a fitting expression of the Bucks futility; it's okay to laugh. The degree of difficulty in singlehandedly giving up a five-point possession is impressive. Skiles cleared the bench.

Bucks vs. Raptors, 7pm, Bradley Center: The Bucks now begin a stretch in which they play 16 games in the next four weeks, on a weekly Monday, Wednesday, Friday-Saturday schedule. They begin with three games at home this week, first up the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors beat the Bucks in the final minute of the Bucks home opener Nov. 1. Remember that one? Bucks had a chance to tie with 16 seconds left when Redd decided the shot to take was a fall-away going out of bounds with a defender in his face, plenty of ticks on the shotclock. Bucks point guard Luke Ridnour (bad back) didn't play in that one. Since then, the Raptors have struggled and fired coach Sam Mitchell. Jay Triano, a Mitchell assistant, took the reins.

The Raptors (14-20) have won two straight against tough competition, beating cold-shooting Houston Friday and Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic Sunday in Toronto. Against the Magic, the Raptors shooters went off, led by long-range gunner Anthony Parker (26 pts) and All-Star forward Chris Bosh (23), to win (108-102) -- without starting point guard Jose "I made T.J. Ford Expendable" Calderon and center Jermaine "Trainer's Table" O'Neal. Neither Calderon or O'Neil will play tonight against the Bucks, and rookie point guard Roko Ucik will start in Calderon's place.

The Raptors are poised, it seems, to turn their season around, regardless of whether the stars suit up (the trade of T.J. Ford for O'Neal hasn't worked out as planned, obviously).

It shouldn't matter. The Bucks, for all of their relapses to the bad habits and disjointed pace of the pre-Scott Skiles era, have been a good bounce-back team. After a tough trip west early last month, they turned it on in the 4th quarter for a much-needed win at home vs. the Pacers. After the last "bad taste" in Skiles mouth game (in Philly), the Bucks blew out the Knicks in NY (Ok, it was only the Knicks); and after the debacle at home against Detroit Dec. 27, the Bucks gritted out a tough win in San Antonio against a full strength Spurs team.

Yes, it's time for another statement of commitment from the Bucks, less than a week after the last one. This is the week to make it stick for at least a few games, as their competition for the bottom rung playoff spots (the Raptors, Sixers and Nets) visit the Bradley Center. I'm not so sure, however, that it's a good idea for the Bucks or Bucks fans to think about the playoffs just yet.

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Meanwhile, ...deep within the bowels of the Bucks central command center, Charlie Bell prepares to use the photocopier ...

To vote Joe, go to SeeJoeDunk.com ... I know it's not why the Bucks drafted him (or is it?) but this campaign of his to get to the All-Star dunk competition is d*** good for morale.

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Michael Redd scores his 11,000th point as a Buck: I never thought I'd see the day. Michael Redd on Friday moved past Marques Johnson into fifth place on the Bucks’ all-time scoring list with 31 pts in the Bucks win against Charlotte Friday. On Saturday, Redd scored 17 more to top the 11,000-point milestone and has now tallied 11,004 points in his Bucks career. At his current 19.4 ppg scoring pace, Redd will surpass Bob Dandridge (11,478) and Sidney Moncrief (11,594) into 3rd place on the points scored list. Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson (12,010) at # 2 will have to wait until next season, and Kareem Abdul Jabaar (14,211) atop the list? That could occur in the 2010-11 season, the final year of Redd's contract. More on this topic later; it deserves a post of its own.

Catching up with Landry: When the Bucks were in Houston Wednesday, Journal Sentinel scribe Tom Enlund checked in with Milwaukee Vincent High alumnus Carl Landry, Rockets backup power forward. Landry, 25, in his second year with the Rockets, was recently the centerpiece of a rumored trade to the Bucks involving Charlie "5-point play" Villanueva and Tyronn Lue. The trade talk was not confirmed past the rumor stage, and Enlund doesn't mention it in his story (Journal Sentinel Bucks writers didn't publish the rumor). Instead Enlund reports on Landry's progress since last season, when, as a rookie, he hit the offensive glass at a remarkable rate, muscling his way into the Rockets rotation. Rockets coach Rick Adelman is a Landry fan; it doesn't sound as though Landry's going to be wearing a Bucks uniform anytime soon.

Someone please tell Journal Sentinel that Richard Jefferson is not an All-Star

J.D. Mo — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 11:37:00 GMT

Why do those who run Milwaukee's daily newspaper seem to believe that bullshitting Milwaukee Bucks fans will bring us back to the Bradley Center next season?

Gary D. Howard, Journal Sentinel Sports Editor, fouled out in the first few paragraphs of the column he wrote in yesterday's paper, a blatant yet well-meaning attempt to make his readers feel good, really good, ecstatic even, about the acquisitions of pitcher CC Sabathia by the Brewers and forward Richard Jefferson by the Bucks.

Sabathia, who won his first game as a Brewer last night, has the Brewers bouncing around the clubhouse about their postseason prospects. Howard, however, is a basketball guy, and his column was about making Bucks fans feel as good about Jefferson as the Brewers fans feel about Sabathia.

He does this by:

1) Starting out the column talking about Brett Favre, a big no-no, irregardless of how good Sabathia or Jefferson may be;

2) Describing both Sabathia and Jefferson as "all-stars" as if there was some parallel between the two athletes.

Sabathia's no mere "all-star." He won the Cy Young last year, a declaration that, in 2007, he was the best player at the pitching position in Major League Baseball. The NBA equivalent is to be named 1st Team All-NBA. This makes Sabathia parallel to, say, Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic, the center on this past season's All-NBA 1st Team.

The last Buck to be named 1st Team All-NBA was Sidney Moncrief in 1983. Marques Johnson made the 1st Team in 1979, the year before the advent of Bird and Magic; also the year Marques shot at will and averaged 25.6 points per game and only 3.0 assists per game. True, Marques' shots were good ones -- he shot 55 percent from the floor before the dawn of the three-pointer -- but the team finished 38-44 and did not make the playoffs.

(Michael Redd take note: the last player in a Bucks uniform to be allowed to shoot at will and control the ball the way you've been allowed to these last five years was Marques in 1979 -- and look how the team finished. Marques never played that way again after that season, and never again averaged more than 21.7 points a game in his career, while his assists rocketed up to 4.6 per game and the Bucks became a 50-60 win team. I realize that comparing you, Mike, to Marques Johnson is completely unfair to you, but ... just saying.)

But that's it for the Bucks in the last 30 years -- only two, count 'em two, Sabathia-equivalent players: Sidney and Marques. Honorable mention goes to Terry Cummings (2nd Team All-NBA 1985).

So what does this have to do with Gary Howard's column? Everything ... because Richard Jefferson has never been an All-Pro, period. Not 1st, 2nd or 3rd Team.

In fact, Richard Jefferson has never made an NBA All-Star team. Not once in his seven-year career. Look it up.

Jefferson was a Top Ten scorer in the league last year, averaging more points per game (22.6) than All-Pro Marques Johnson ever did except for the 1979 season in which the Bucks failed to win. Last season, only five players in the NBA scored more points than Jefferson. Yet RJ did not make the All-Star team. His team, the New Jersey Nets, finished a disappointing 34-48.

So how did Richard Jefferson become an All-Star in the eyes of the Journal sports editor? Nobody knows. Maybe Howard figures that anybody in the Top Ten in scoring is an All-Star in his book.

But we know how that goes in Milwaukee. Michael Redd's been in the Top Ten in NBA scoring four of the last five years yet his team has never won. He did make the All-Star team once - in 2004, the year the Bucks almost won and finished 41-41. He was also 3rd Team All-NBA that season. 2004 also happens to be his lowest scoring year of the last five (21.7 pts avg) and the only season in Mike's career that he averaged five rebounds per game. Redd was All-Star, and the Bucks almost won. That now seems like a long time ago.

The trend is fairly clear. Getting into the Top Ten in scoring doesn't necessarily make a player an all-star or a winner. For many players, including Redd and Jefferson, if you're scoring in the Top Ten, chances are you're hurting the team, pursuing what Bucks center Andrew Bogut late last season called "individual accolades." Wonder who he was talking about?

Oddly enough, Jefferson hasn't pursued individual accolades all that much in his career (when the Nets were winning, Jefferson was scoring much less, often a third option) but things began to change for the Nets in 2007, going sour as Jason Kidd all but gave up on the team and asked for a trade. Suddenly, Jefferson's scoring went up. To me that's a bad sign.

The Bucks now have two guys who like to score the ball a lot, drive to the hoop and get to the line, but couldn't win games in the Eastern Conference last season playing the way they did. One has been an All-Star. The other, the new guy, has never been more than a 2nd-Team All-Rookie selection (2002) in the NBA. Sounds to me like a concoction that will give Scott Skiles headaches all year if it's allowed to suit up for the Bucks.

So why again am I and other Bucks fans being told by the editor of the big daily in town that the new guy is an All-Star?

You got me. Nobody knows. For the record, it's not coming from the Bucks organization or John Hammond. (Click here for the full transcript of Jefferson's news conference Monday.)

To be fair, Howard's not the only one in local media saying or writing "all star Richard Jefferson" since the trade. But as an NBA fan who supposedly respects Bucks fans/his readers (and therein may be the problem) Howard should know enough not to publish jive.

Phantom Net Defender Pokes Redd in Eye

J.D. Mo — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:47:00 GMT

While Muhammad Ali has claimed he hit Sonny Liston so fast and so quick that the cameras missed the punch, the pictures do tell us that Ali's right cross was right at Sonny's face when Liston went down.

The film crews at the Bradley Center, however, faithfully trained to the ball and Michael Redd as Redd drove past one Net and into another on his way to the basket in the fourth quarter Saturday night, were unable to find a hand anywhere near Redd's face on the play. Yet somehow he crumbled to the floor clutching his eye and left the game whincing as though one of Nets had stuck his finger in it.

The guy sitting next to me at the bar where we had negotiated a switch to the Bucks telecast (yes, Bucks fans often have to negotiate to get the game on the toob at many local establishments these days), saw it too. I should say, he didn't see what I didn't see. If you watched the game, you probably didn't see it either.

A little while later, I met up with a friend who had also watched the FSN broadcast, and when I mentioned the play, she was already ahead of me: "There was no hand anywhere near Redd's face," she said. I took this as evidence that I was not crazy or suffering from a hallucinatory form of Bucks fan depression. I realize that this may have been presumptuous on my part.

I've seen NBA players fake the poked-in-the-eye injury before, but always to get a free time out -- and most of that was years ago, before the rules committee added the 20-second time out. I recall Marques Johnson faking a charley horse to get a time out, and dribbling the ball off his foot and out of bounds at what always seemed like the most inopportune moments - no, I'm not suggesting it was ever intentional, really.

I've seen plenty of other crazy things during Bucks games (we did have Sam Cassell for four-plus seasons). I once saw Ray Allen intentionally miss a free throw during a Bucks-Knicks game in 1998 so that he could glare at Tyrone Hill, who missed a lot of free throws. I was sitting behind the basket Ray was shooting at with my pal Nick, and turned to him and said, "Did Ray just miss that on purpose?" Yeah, he did. Then he did it again and said something nasty to Hill as they ran back on defense. (Yes, the Bucks did win the game and the festering chemistry problem was solved when George Karl traded Hill).

In Saturday's game, the Bucks first in front of new GM John Hammond, there was no apparent strategic purpose to Redd's flop, other than to get himself off the court. In the late 3rd and early 4th quarter, the Bucks had struggled to stay in the game, and with Redd on the bench, had pulled back to within seven points of the Nets with about seven minutes left to play.

Coach Krystkowiak had let Redd sit for a long stretch when the cameras finally panned over to the bench to find him, arms crossed and glowering at the court, upset about something or other. With the new GM on hand for the first time, Redd seemed to be pouting. I assumed he was upset because he wanted to be in the game.

A minute or so later, Krystkowiak sent Redd in, with plenty of time left to make a run at winning it (c'mon, it's happened a few times this year). Moments later he was back on the bench, in agony over a poke in the eye that no one seemed to have seen. The Bucks broadcasters couldn't find the source of the injury but just let it go. No comment.

"It didn't seem like he had the usual energy level," Milwaukee coach Larry Krystkowiak said of Redd in the AP game story. That's pretty bad timing, considering it was Hammond's first game as GM, and that Redd has the captain's C stitched to his jersey.

We can only speculate on whether Hammond will try to trade Redd in the offseason. He's indicated that he'll explore every way possible to make the team better. He did say "yes" when a reporter asked him Saturday if he considered Redd a cornerstone, but what's he supposed to say? "No" on his first day, before he's even met with Krystkowiak? Who asked that question, anyway? As far as reporters tricks go, not too sneaky.

If Redd does want to stay in Milwaukee, as he's said, he had better hope Hammond was in the men's room when the phantom poked him in the eye. Or that the culprit magically materializes. If not, the new GM just might begin to ask a few questions about the leadership methods of his team captain, if he hasn't already.

From the angle I saw, the leading suspect in the eye-poking incident may in fact be the captain's "C" on Redd's jersey. It had a guilty look about it as Redd rushed himself and it back to the bench.

Milwaukee Bucks Blog - The Bob Boozer Jinx : Marques Johnson

Joe Alexander to start at small forward?... Happy Independence Day

Bucks search for mental toughness after Charlotte defeat; Bogut day-to-day to play

Someone please tell Journal Sentinel that Richard Jefferson is not an All-Star

Sponsored by: Trade Michael Redd

Phantom Net Defender Pokes Redd in Eye