Milwaukee Bucks Blog - The Bob Boozer Jinx : Rajon Rondo

Bucks Weekend: VIDEO Jennings rains 55 on Nellie's Warriors; Bon Voyage to Carmelo and the Skipper

J.D. Mo — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:07:00 GMT

Bucks (4-2) vs. Golden State Warriors (2-5). Saturday, 7:30 pm @ the Bradley Center This must be ex-coaches old home week for the Bucks. First Skipper George Karl and the Nuggets of Carmelo's Island shipwrecked at the BC to end their Eastern conference...(read more)

Eastern Conference Preview

J.D. Mo — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:30:00 GMT

The NBA Eastern Conference got better in the offseason, and is probably stronger top to bottom than the West. Our Bucks, unfortunately did not improve for the short term. This is the inescapable Bucks reality as the 2009-10 season gets underway. Playoffs...(read more)

Playoff Props: Celtics-Cavs Game 7

J.D. Mo — Sun, 18 May 2008 12:10:00 GMT

Celtics-Cavs Game 7 today, just as Al in Ohio would've predicted if he had made a prediction that didn't give him an out.

For Game 7, Al's going out on a limb:

"I'll take the Cavs and the points!"

There's that Cleveland optimism again. The Celtics are giving eight to the spread.

This game is a tough call. Can the Celtics and the ghost of Red Auerbach pull out another defensive gem in a second consecutive Game 7? Can Lebron finally shake Paul Pierce and dominate? Which Rajon Rondo will show up? When will Ray Allen detonate and have a Ray Allen game? (If he does it's over).

The best thing the Celtics have going for them is Kevin Garnett and Cavs guard Daniel "Boobie" Gibson's separated shoulder. Gibson, the Cavs best three-point shooter, is out, leaving it up to Cleveland's starting guards, Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West, to make up the difference. (Note: Gibson's injury probably isn't serious enough to rule out the Michael Redd trade.)

"With Gibson out and the Celts seeming to have figured out how to control Z, I'm not sure LeBron can do it himself on the road," Al says.

Lebron's done it before, last year against the Pistons, and that's where Cavs fans place their hopes. But they also have a wild card that could flip the Cavs way -- Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo. Doc Rivers has completely ignored my advice to play Sam Cassell when the offense is struggling -- in fact, he's done the opposite and went so far as to bench Sam in Game 6. Look what happened -- the Celtics went nine minutes without a bucket -- that's right, NINE minutes, spanning the last six minutes of the first half and the first three of the second.

The Cavs outscored the Celtics 24-2 in that stretch, which began when Doc rested Ray in the second quarter and continued until Ray hit a layup in the third. The Celtics never recovered. It was a replay of the game in Atlanta when the Celtics went eight minutes without a field goal in the fourth quarter, yet Doc stuck with Rondo until the final minutes of the game when he pulled him for Cassell, too late.

True, this Doc Rivers version of the Muhammad Ali rope-a-dope (Doc's version doesn't work) seems to be a road phenomena. But if it's sink or swim with Rondo again today, Doc Rivers and his point guard may be the next best thing the Cavs have going for them after Lebron.

Lakers almost RULE!!! The Lakers were one better than the Celtics, Cavs, Spurs and Hornets. Kobe and friends avoided game seven and won a game on the road. Lakers fans will now demand that commish David Stern cancel the rest of the playoffs and declare the Lakers champs. Why? Because its OVER!!! LAKERS RULE!!! I hate to admit it, but the Lakers do seem to be separating from the rest of the pack in the West.

To me the reason these series' have been so close (including the Pistons-Magic series, which was much closer than 4-1) is the obvious one: there's not much of a gap separating the top eight teams from one another. Top 10 if one includes a healthy Houston Rockets and the Phoenix Suns. The Jazz were very close to pushing the Lakers to game seven, and only needed to shoot a little bit better than a terrible 33% in Game 6 to get there.

The boo birds were out in Utah, with Andrei Kirelenko (passport-gate) and Carlos "brick shot" Boozer taking the brunt of it. (Boozer reminds me so much of Terry Cummings - including the bricks - that I wonder sometimes if it isn't the 1987-89 Bucks I'm watching during Utah telecasts; Okur plays like a lot like Jack Sikma, and Kirilenko's a dead ringer for Fred Roberts; it's kinda scary).

Still, I'm sticking to my week-ago rant about Bucks fans forgetting the Jazz as a Bucks trading partner. Utah's nearly on par with the Lakers now, and I don't foresee Jerry Sloan messing with a good thing in the offseason. Sloan's not one to panic - and he doesn't have a history of making big trades.

Playoff Props - What's up Doc?

J.D. Mo — Mon, 12 May 2008 00:19:00 GMT

After another surpisingly out-of-synch playoff performance on the road by the Boston Celtics, Celtics coach Doc Rivers finds his team in a difficult situation with its starting point guard, 21-year-old Rajon Rondo. Rondo finished with zero assists in Game 3 against the Cavaliers on Sunday and was thoroughly outplayed by the Cavs' Delonte West.

Rondo's not ready to help the Celtics win it all; that was all too clear Saturday night. On Doc's bench is the answer: the clown prince of NBA guards, Sam "I Am" Cassell, offensive genius. Yet Rivers has been slow to pull Rondo when things are going badly.

At one point in the 3rd Quarter of Saturday night's game, the ABC cameras found West on defense, playing one of the saggiest one-man zones I've seen in the NBA. He wasn't even guarding Rondo, clogging the paint instead to make life difficult for KG and Paul Pierce. As the minutes passed, the Celtics struggled to cut the lead to 15, then watched it fall back to 20. No team in the NBA would dare to not guard Sam Cassell. Yet Sam sat. Rivers finally went to Cassell at the start of the fourth quarter and the Celtics pulled to within 12, but could get no closer.

With Rondo in the game, Paul Pierce fought for shots and Ray Allen scarcely shot at all, turning playmaker when he did get the ball. Unselfish play by Ray, but that's what Rondo should have been doing, instead of driving the ball at Big Ben Wallace, Z-Ilgauskus and Lebron James. Is Rivers worried about deflating Rondo's confidence in the playoffs? Or is it a team chemistry thing because Sam is the new guy? Whatever the case, Rivers has been far too much of a players' coach where Rondo is concerned, and it's part of the reason the Atlanta series went to seven games.

It doesn't seem to matter when the Celtics are playing in the Garden, but on the road, Rivers has to be quicker to go to Sam when the offense is struggling. If Sam, at 38, wears down, go back to Rondo, but don't give Rondo the reins in the 3rd Quarter on the road -- unless Doc is willing to sacrifice a championship for an "experience" playoffs for Rondo. If the Celtics fall short of the NBA Finals (they're by no means a shoe-in for conference finals) Rivers failure to make game adjustments will be the first thing called into question.

Trust in Sam, Doc. You won't be sorry.

Steady rollin' Joe The Celtics-Cavs series is THE one for Bucks fans. There are future Bucks to watch in Cleveland's Danny Gibson and Wally Szczerbiak ( I finally spelled it right - I think) -- How you doing on that Michael Redd, trade, Lebron? And there are ex-Bucks to watch in Ray and Sam "I Am", and, coming off the Cleveland bench, Joe Smith (Damon Jones is on that bench too, but rarely leaves it).

Joe had a steady-rollin' game Saturday - 24 minutes, 17 points on 7/8 shooting, 6 rebounds, 4 fouls. Smith made a couple of more shots than he normally would, but as Bucks fans know, his game was not that different than it ever was. Smith doesn't force anything, takes good shots, rebounds, plays D and gives his team a chance to win, though he won't be "the guy" winning it.

Smith, 32, came to the Bucks from the T-Wolves in the 2003 trade for Sam Cassell and Ervin Johnson. It was Ernie Grunfeld's last trade as GM, which coincided with the drafting of point guard T.J. Ford. Two weeks later, the woeful era of GM Larry Harris began. Smith started at power forward for two years, averaging 11 pts., 8 boards per game (which makes him one of the more productive power forwards in Bucks history). The following year, Smith came off the bench behind Jamal Magliore and Andrew Bogut, but was hobbled with injuries for much of the year - no doubt the effects of the Bob Boozer Jinx at work again at the Bucks PF position.

"Slickless" Larry eventually traded Smith to Denver for forward Ruben Patterson in Aug., 2006, trade #5 in a series of six dubious Larry trades that left Charlie Villanueva as the only player resource standing. Apparently Harris, never known for his patience, didn't feel like waiting for Smith to fully rehab his knee. The Bucks let Patterson go to the LA Clippers as a free agent in 1997.

In other words, in true Slickless style, the Bucks got nothing for Joe Smith. By the transitive property of the tradelines, this also means the Bucks got nothing for Sam Cassell, who, when he was traded for Smith in 2003 was under contract with the Bucks for another three seasons (at about $6 million per year) -- and should not have been traded at all.

What if the Bucks kept Sam? Instead of drafting T.J., the Bucks draft a forward in 2003 (say, David West). Terry Porter, in his first year as coach, has a leader on the floor in Sam (who was 2nd Team All-NBA 2003-04), and a developing big forward instead of injury prone Smith. Michael Redd's development as a scorer is more natural and team-oriented, and Redd never becomes the black hole or the $51 million, three-year contract problem that he is now. Sam controls the offense; Redd's contract extension doesn't get insane. Tim Thomas is happier (for a while anyway), the Bucks win more and there's less for Slickless Larry to foul up in 2005. Terry Porter keeps his job. Let's stop there, as it's beginning to look like this topic would be better as a post of its own.

In the meantime, Sam "I Am" fans have the Celtics-Cavs series, and Joe Smith and Ray Allen too.

And there's this, which I found whilst surfing around today. It's samcassellonline.org, the unofficial Sam Cassell website, created by a few of the LA Clippers faithful. Now that's good stuff.