Milwaukee Bucks Blog - The Bob Boozer Jinx : Ray Allen

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)

NBA Playoffs: Garnett not ready for prime time... Round 1 previews & related mumbo jumbo

J.D. Mo — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 12:43:00 GMT

The cold north wind shifts south at last in Milwaukee ... the sewers sing spring to their gratings ... taxes have been (almost) filed as those WE Energies trucks and vans start rolling up and down the block ... the Bucks count their lottery balls. ...

The neighborhood kids don't care; they're warm enough to take the pill outta hibernation and dribble down to the schoolyard, where they can be Kobe one day, Lebron the next ... Superman when feeling tall, D-Wade taking it to 'em all,

Ray Allen when shooting the three, saying where's my main man, KG?

Chris Paul just stole the ball.

Winter seems finally ready to leave, and the NBA playoffs have arrived, not a day too late. This is the best time of year for basketball in the world: the best players on the planet, going at it for nearly two months;

the best coaches (not counting Vinnie Del Coacho in Chicago, Michael Curry in Detroit and "that guy" the Sixers replaced Mo Cheeks' with);

the best refs (well, they really are better than the college refs, knowing the difference between a charge and a block, and the vast majority of what they call makes sense -- and when they screw up, NBA refs make college refs look like mere misdemeanor criminals);

and a Dark Lord Commissioner, David Stern, who'd like nothing more than the smaller market teams to lose to the bigger market teams, in 7 games, please. Tiny Portland, you're in for an uphill battle against the Houston Rockets. Chicago, this will not help you against the ever-popular Celtics. In the end, everybody knows that in these tough economic times, the best possible marketing scenario for the NBA is a Kobe vs. Lebron Finals showdown. It would also be the best NBA Finals since ... the 2008 Celtics-Lakers final.

The NBA is back, and the league is better than it's been since Jordan left Chicago for the last time. Getting to the 2009 Finals is going to be an intense drama-rama, especially in the East ... which brings this preview first to Boston -- where the playoffs tip-off Saturday, 11:30 am central -- and the Kevin Garnett injury saga.

Round 1 Previews - The East

Bulls vs. Celtics: Do you believe Doc Rivers when he says KG might not play at all in these playoffs? I don't. But we can, with most assurances, believe that KG won't play against the Bulls. In Boston, they're calling it a long shot that he'll play at all. This is good news in Chicago, of course, where Blog-A-Bull thinks Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah can find a way to not be intimidated by the other Celtics bigs, Kendrick Perkins and Leon Powe. Sorry Blog-A-Bull, but the Bulls frontcourt is weak, even with the addition of Brad Miller -- and don't underestimate the Celtics bench. Celtics in 5 ... 4 if Ray gets hot.

Pistons vs. Cavs: Just checked in on all my favorite Cleveland blogs, and guess what? Not a scratch about the Pistons series. Lebron, if you're still reading, just get Rip Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace out of the playoffs ASAP. They've been the epitome of whiny, basketball selfishness all year and made the most of blaming their woes on Allen Iverson, who's done for 2009. The Pistons era in the East is over. Cavs sweep.

How about this quote on the Cavs chances from Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck:

"They earned home court, they earned the best record, they are clearly a championship-quality team, and in my opinion they have the best basketball player on the planet right now . . . Mo Williams."

Heat vs. Hawks: The battle of NBA Sodom vs. NBA Gomorrah for visiting teams. South Beach, Miami, vs. Atlanta nightlife. D-Wade vs. Joe Johnson.... Udonis Haslem vs. Josh Smith. ... Mike Bibby vs. who? ... Bucks killers Daequan Cook and Jamario Moon? The Hawks are banking on experience they gained in the 2008 playoffs in 7 games against the Celtics. The Heat and Hawks played four tight, low-scoring games this season. The avg.score was 84.5 to 82.5, three of the games won by the Hawks. But I don't think they can beat D-Wade in a 7-game series. And let's not forget South Beach and the Heat dancers, who deserve a nice, high profile in Round 2 against the Cavs. Heat in 7. Winner to play the Lebrons.

Sixers vs. Magic: Dwight Howard & the Magic may stumble a bit in this series, but the Sixers aren't playing very well. They earned the 6th seed by beating the Cavs in Cleveland Wednesday, on a night when Lebron James, Mo Williams and Zydrunas Ilgauskas all sat on the sidelines. Still, the Delonte West-Boobie Gibson-led Cavs came closer to beating the Sixers than our Bucks ever did this season. The Sixers needed OT to take the game.

One, that tells you how good the Cavs are these days -- all of them. Two, the Sixers are struggling, and admitting it. Andre Iguodala isn't happy. Hey John Hammond: Royal Ivey's in the playoffs for the first time. Magic in 5 ... make that 6. Call it a feeling. I think Iggy and Sixers get a little happy before the Magic finish them off.

West Previews still to come ...

Things to watch in the Bucks final six games... Land of Reggie bombs...

J.D. Mo — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:42:00 GMT

Oh, it's been over since the trading deadline, some had claimed. No, it was over last week in Toronto. Or was it over when Skiles pulled the starters in Detroit after X-mas? Not to remind those (such as our GM) who still think things were going along just swimmingly swell until Bogut and Michael Redd got hurt.

Sure, the playoffs are all but out of reach now, unless the Bulls (36-40) self destruct at home and the Bucks (32-44) somehow catch Charlotte (34-41). That could happen, and it wouldn't come close qualifying as a miracle ... but then the Bucks are currently looking up at Indiana too, after allowing the Lakers to escape the BC with a 104-98 win.

Still, there's plenty to watch for in these final few games, beginning tonight in Philly (6pm start-time) where the Sixers are fighting for the rights to avoid the Celtics and Magic in the 1st round of the playoffs.

Defense and ball movement: The Bucks are at their best when they're playing uptempo offense, moving the ball quickly and playing tough defense. These are the foundations of Scott Skiles basketball, the rules of the new culture in Milwaukee. True, making the playoffs and establishing a winning culture was a stated goal of the Bucks this season, but establishing the Skiles foundations came first. The work is still being done on this foundation in the last few games. The playoffs were never the point. Establishing Skiles' principles, both offensively and defensively, is what the Bucks are about these final games of the 2008-09 season.

Ramon Sessions: Bucks fans, meet your starting point guard. When the Bucks embarked on their recent 4-game road trip, they started in Toronto without Luke Ridnour, who was banged up again. Sessions didn't fare too well against the Raptors, who are finally playing well, far too little too late.

But Sessions turned it on in Florida last weekend and has averaged a near triple-double since: 13 pts, 7.7 rebs, 10.7 assists -- culminating against the Lakers in his first career triple double .

Here's a recent featured chat with Ramon at Bucks.com. Says his favorite class in school was English and he enjoyed writing papers. File under trivia you didn't know you were desperate to know (or forget).

See Joe play: The rookie has logged 75 minutes of PT in the last three games, and he's doing everything: scoring, moving the ball, making hustle plays, blocking shots, having his shot blocked, turning the ball over, rebounding, stealing the ball and causing havoc for other teams with some good D. Joe is bringing the energy off the bench, and looks like he may eventually justify his status as a lottery pick.

Joe's average line in the last three games: 25 mins, 10.3 pts, 3 rebs, 2.7 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2.7 turnovers, including a career high in points scored (16) and fouls (5)against the Nets Monday. Good work, Joe, six games left to build toward next season.

Remember the first Laker meeting: Perhaps the most devastated Skiles has been in postgame interviews, questioning the motivation of his team. In fact he even called around looking for help. The Bucks were embarassed. It was a bad trip, after which he came to the conclusion that his team hadn't yet learned how to win in the NBA, a shot at the holdover Bucks from last season (Redd, Bogut, Charlie V). Charlie Bell wasn't with the team on that trip, dealing with lingering ankle problems.

“We don’t yet get how hard you have to play and how focused you have to be for a period of time to win an NBA game. This is a good group of guys, and we just have to learn that toughness."

Mental toughness would become a theme for the Bucks after that road trip west, and probably still is. But after last night's Lakers game, nobody was questioning the Bucks motivation. Lakers coach Phil Jackson:

"They did a great job fronting us, and we threw the ball away a couple times trying to go inside there. They work real hard defensively, and it paid off for them tonight. They outhustled us in many situations and made the game much closer than it should have been, probably."

What a difference a few months makes. Skiles even handed out some individual praise after the Lakers game.

"I always hesitate to talk about a single guy after a loss, but I thought Richard (29 pts for RJ) was good and Ramon was good. Our defense was not great tonight from beginning to end, but it was OK."

Gadzooks: Count me as one who's not too impressed with Dan Gadzuric's recent good play. He's done this before. Unfortunately, his stellar game against the Lakers last night is not a sign of things to come -- though it does show how he got that 6-yr, $36 mill. contract out of our last GM. What a killer that contract's been.

Maybe Gadz wants to be a Laker? Phil Jackson, looking for a backup center? Gadz is much better than Chris Mihm, coach.

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Bombs from the land of Reggie

Kobe man love for Michael Redd: Oh no, and Kobe's offering Redd personal training services as Redd recuperates from ACL surgery.

“He is like a brother to me," Kobe said after Redd was presented with his Olympic ring in a pregame ceremony. He’s really cool and I’m just going to be there for him and make sure he gets back to 100 percent for next season.”

Last thing the Bucks need is Kobe furthering Redd's well-documented belief that he is the 2nd coming of Kobe offensively. Now, if Kobe wants to school Redd on some defensive principles this summer, maybe ....

Here's a guy Kobe doesn't like: It's Ray Allen, saving the day last night in Boston. Ray wasn't having one of his better games against the Charlotte Bobcats last night, but once overtime began... First Ray forced the 2nd OT with a three. Then he hit two more, including the game winner (and threw up an airball for good measure) in the Double OT as the Celtics beat the 'Cats 111-109.

Selection day for the Badgers: Bend over for the NCAA anthem... BUCKS beat Boston!!!

J.D. Mo — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 15:19:00 GMT

Did the Badgers earn an NCAA tournament berth? The short answer is NO. The Badgers needed a win in the Big Ten tournament to lock up a bid. They didn't get it.

The long answer has something to do with the bad feeling I woke up with today. I just don't think it's going to be a stellar day for Wisconsin sports, and it has nothing to do with the Bucks, badly in need of a win and playing the NBA champs in a few hours at the BC.

It doesn't have anything to do with the Marquette, either. The Gold's a sure bid, with chances of making the Sweet Sixteen look as good as anybody's, as long as Buzz WIlliams remembers to keep the ball in the hands of NBA-ready Jerel McNeal.

No, the feeling is definitely about the Badgers... The Badgers and The Committee, that board which decides who's in, who's out, who goes where and who plays whom. That committee which has never been kind to the Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball program -- less so it seems since Dick Bennett's Badgers went west nine years ago and cruised to the Final Four by simply being the only team in the West Regional familiar with a defensive crouch.

So the Badgers made a shamockery of the college game once upon a time. The Committee has foiled them ever since with ludicrous seedings, "home" games in Milwaukee and Elite 8-type matchups in the round of 32. And in true "Rollerball" fashion, all the Committee has ever asked of anyone is that no one interfere with its decisions. Please rise for the NCAA anthem and bend over for another free-gym-bag investigation.

This season, however, the Big Ten has played right into The Committee's natural bias against cold-state basketball. The Badgers (19-11), Michigan (19-12) and Minnesota (21-9) are grouped together in the mediocrity zone of the power rankings, ranked 42-45. Much like the 6 teams battling for 8th place in the NBA East, no team has managed to distinguish itself above the others and they tend to beat each other up in no particular rhythm or rhyme. ...They are a combined 15-28 against Top 50 RPI teams.

Sure, the Badgers finished 4th in the Big Ten. But how will the committee justify sending the Badgers to the Big Dance when Minnesota beat them twice? Send the Badgers and Minnesota and snub Michigan, and how would that square with Michigan beating Minnesota twice in Big Ten play and beating #4 Duke in December?

(EDIT: And let's not forget 22-11 Penn State, a lowly 70th in the power rankings but somehow tied with the Badgers and Ohio State at 10-8 in Big Ten play.)

In Michigan, the talk is that the Wolverines locked a bid by beating Iowa in the prelim round of the Big Ten tournament. They may be on to something. Nevermind what they did or didn't do in the Big Ten or that the Wolverines lost to the Badgers twice. Remember, they beat Duke.

The simple solution for The Committee is to file the obvious bids for Michigan State, Purdue, Illinois and Ohio State, then give the Big Ten its due by berthing Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota into the tournament -- a total of 7 bids for the conference. And Penn State too for a record 8?

There's that feeling again. Somebody in the Big Ten is going to be very unhappy when the selections are made today, and it'll probably be one or two of the teams that didn't beat Duke.

Given the Badgers history with The Committee, those two losses to the Gophers are looming large.

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The Bucks are officially 9th in the NBA East standings, thanks to the Bulls whupping Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets last night in Chicago. It was about time somebody in the East did this to the Hornets, who've had it coming for a couple of weeks. Too bad it had to be the Bulls. Ben Gordon reignited after an off week, and led the Bulls with 27 pts.

It was an interesting run for the Hornets against the East. One, two, three, then four narrow escapes against the teams fighting to get out of the mediocrity shuffle -- first the Pistons, then the Bucks, Nets and Philly. They followed that up by blowing out Dallas and the Thunder to move into the fight for home court in the West before dropping a tough one to the Hawks, beating the Wizards and stealing another one from the Bucks.

The free throw line: A theme from Friday's loss to the Hornets was the refs tendency to bail Chris Paul out and send him to the line, particularly in the 2nd quarter when the Bucks were threatening a double digit lead. The Bucks didn't catch those breaks, a topic coach Scott Skiles addressed yesterday. The Bucks shot a season-low seven FTs against the Hornets, but also spent a good portion of the game firing away from 3-point land.

Skiles is still looking for a complete defensive game from the Bucks, but liked what he saw Friday:

“We felt like their defense was very good and we felt like ours was good for a large portion of the game. They were eliminating most of our penetration, making it a jump-shooting game, and we were doing the same to them."

Ray and the Celtics: They'll be without Kevin Garnett (strained knee) for about another week but Leon Powe and Kendrick Perkins have stepped up. Ray likened Garnett's influence on his teammates' defensive habits to the good housekeeping example his sisters set for him. He really did.

Celtics injury report: Rajon Rondo started Friday after missing a week with a sprained ankle. Big Baby Davis, also nursing a sprained ankle, ~~did not but may play today against the Bucks.~~ (Big Baby's home in Boston). Big forward Brian Scalabrine (concussion) will miss the rest of March.

Rebounding: The Bucks, who've been routinely outrebounded since Andrew Bogut went on the DL, will need a big game in the paint from Charlie Villanueva against Perkins and Powe. Garnett or no, the Celtics still have a power game. Powe scored 30 and grabbed 11 rebs vs. Memphis Friday.

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The Pacers, a notoriously bad road team, are getting blown out in Toronto. A loss will drop them to 28-40, on the verge of planning for the lottery. Andrea Bargnani had the hot hand for the Raptors today, with 27 pts on 9-11 shooting.

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BUCKS BEAT BOSTON

A lot of tough defense and not too much good shooting at the BC today. The Bucks simply made more shots in the 4th quarter, winning 86-77. Plays of the game: The Celtics came out of a time out with 1-1/2 minutes left, Bucks up 81-77. Paul Pierce missed but grabbed the rebound, got it to Eddie House for a 3-pointer from the wing - House missed. The Bucks took it down the floor, ran the shot clock down, and with less than 1 second left, Charlie Bell threw in his first field goal of the night, a three from the left side after nearly losing the ball. Bucks 84, Celtics 77 with 48 seconds left. That was game.

The Bucks were due for a win, and had played the Hornets tough Friday. I never would have thought they could get away with shooting 32.6% (29-89) from the floor and beat the Celtics but the Bucks played four quarters of defense. The Celtics shot 37.7%, including 1-12 from downtown. Ray Allen gave the Bucks a break with a poor shooting game: 2-11 from the field and 0 for 5 from the land of Reggie.

Charlie Bell was 0-5 for the game and 0-2 from downtown until his game-breaking 3 with 48 ticks left.

Rebounding: Bucks held their own on the glass, giving up a 48-47 rebounding edge to the Celtics. Keith Bogans, all 6'-5" of him, led the Bucks with 12 boards. Luc Mbah a Moute (15pts) and Charlie Villanueva (19 pts) added 7 boards apiece.

Team effort with four players scoring in double figures. Charlie V played a strong 2nd half before fouling out in the final minutes, and led the Bucks with 19 pts. Richard Jefferson had 17.

Here's the JSOnline Bucks page.

And here's coach Scott Skiles' take:

"I felt it was one of our better defensive games. It's not too often when you shoot a little over 30% and win the game. I thought we played hard from beginning to end on the defensive end. We were locked in and really moving our feet on the defensive end of the floor."

Stealing/borrowing this JS photo (and correcting the caption). Luc Mbah a Moute (not Charlie Bell) tangles with Ray Allen in the lane Sunday. That's a foul, Ray.

The Bob Boozer Jinx, your home for photo cap correctitude.

Bucks Weekend: When the basketball gods lifted the lid in New Orleans... Marbury in Boston... Sunday notes

J.D. Mo — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:51:00 GMT

Bucks (28-32) @ New Orleans Hornets (34-22), 7pm, NBA (Raptors) TV

Bucks vs. Washington Wizards (13-44), 7:30pm @ Bradley Center, FSN

That's when it happened. Something happened. It was as if the basketball gods lifted the lid off the Bucks basket and stuck it on the Hornets hoop. Maybe it was the advent of Damon Jones into the game, because Chandler missed both Hornets free throws and Jones promptly drained one from downtown. Gadzuric blocked a David West jumper, then Bogans hit a three. Suddenly it was an 8-point game. A West jump shot made it ten with 2:20 left. There didn't seem to be enough time. ...

As you can see in this photo, Chris Paul is a bit miffed that ESPN snubbed tonight's Bucks-Hornets game to again broadcast to NBA fans just how much better the Orlando Magic are than the free-fallin' Detroit Pistons.

The Bucks-Hornets game had been pegged as tonight's featured game and was the only national game scheduled for the Bucks this season. But earlier this week, ESPN changed its mind.

Obviously, ratings are a factor and Milwaukee and New Orleans are two of the league's smaller markets. However, given the network's modus operandii when it comes to stirring up controversy, peddling rumors and pandering like a supermarket tabloid, this decision can't possibly be about ratings.

Nor is it about the rise of the Orlando Magic in the East. As fun as it is to watch Paul and the Hornets, CP3 is last season's story. Dwight Howard and the Magic are this season's story. Snubbing CP3 and the Bucks, however, is not about the Magic. If it were, then it could be said that this decision was made for basketball reasons, and that's just not ESPN's style.

No, the decision to broadcast the Pistons and Magic is all about Detroit's 8-game losing streak and the endless supply of controversy brewing in Motor City. What's wrong with the Pistons? Has Allen Iverson destroyed the Pistons precious team chemistry? Will coach Michael Curry be fired? Is Rasheed Wallace in decline and should he even be playing tonight? The NBA rescinded two early season Sheed technicals after he reached the suspension limit Wednesday in a loss to the Hornets. How does that work? Ask Commissioner David Stern.

As the NBA turns. For Bucks fans, the important thing is that if our scrappy team can keep up with CP3 and steal a game in the Big Easy while the Magic are making the Pistons disappear, the Bucks will move ahead of Detroit into 7th place in the East standings.

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Sorry about the blackout today. From what I gather, some renovations are occuring over at sportsbubbler HQ and the word is "all systems go" for another Bucks back-to-back and NBA weekend.

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Is the Pistons nosedive from the top tier of the East into the battle for the 8th spot a bigger story than the injury-challenged Bucks' ability to hold their own in the battle for the 8th spot? That's a tough question. The Bucks can't compete with the Pistons fan recognition, obviously, plenty of reason to give Detroit the nod in the media.

But the flip side of this is that the Pistons are bad news. The NBA thrives on good news and success stories, not failures. Eventually -- if the Bucks can stay in the playoff hunt -- this will raise their profile. The Bucks are not a boring team by any definition of yawning.

The Pistons tumble? It was inevitable, whether they had made the Billups for Iverson trade or not -- and what did Detroit GM Joe Dumars expect of his rookie coach, Michael Curry? It's old news, bad news on repeat, which brings us full circle back to questioning ESPN's values as a sports news organization.

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A tale of two coaches: One a first year coach, Michael Curry in Detroit, who hasn't been up to the task of managing his team and may lose his job; the other, Scott Skiles, a determined veteran proving again that he can unify a team and win games despite unusually bad luck with injuries and no stars. Skiles' uptempo offense and in-your-face defensive basketball is a great equalizer, and Skiles is a bonafide Coach of the Year candidate.

That said, the Pistons played a great game in Orlando and are about to win it, while the Bucks are conducting a "How Not To" shooting clinic in New Orleans and trail by 21 in the 3rd quarter. The score is 66-45; the Bucks are 19-58 from the floor. That's 32.7%. I didn't think that was possible for an NBA team.

Thankfully, this is the last Western Conference road game for the Bucks this season. The Bucks would be 11-13 against the West with a loss tonight, with home games against Golden State, New Orleans, Portland, the Lakers, Memphis and Oklahoma City ahead. They'll have to beat at least one West playoff team to do it, but it's easily conceivable that the Bucks could split (15-15) against the West this season. Quite an improvement over last season's 8-22 mark vs. the West.

In the East, on the other hand, where the Bucks are 17-20 ... whoa - hold that thought.

The thrill of agonizing defeat If there is such a thing, the Bucks pulled it off in New Orleans. I had written this game off twice, and then a third time when Skiles cleared the bench with 3:30 to play. But each time the Bucks refused to quit. Down 21 in the 3rd, Luke Ridnour and a suddenly tough defense led by Charlie Bell, Keith Bogans and Richard Jefferson, began cutting into the Hornets lead. This went on for about 12 minutes, until Ridnour's third 3-pointer in the push pulled the Bucks to within 10 with six minutes to play.

Unfortunately, the Bucks let the Hornets slip away --or so it seemed. Peja Stojakovic hit a three, Skiles benched Charlie Villanueva after a turnover, the other Charlie misfired, and the Bucks found themselves down 89-72 with about four minutes left. Then Ridnour hit his fourth 3-ball since mid-3rd quarter and the Bucks sent Hornets center Tyson Chandler to the line. Skiles had seen enough and cleared his bench. Enter Damon Jones, Dan Gadzuric and Malik Allen to finish the game with Bell and Bogans.

That's when it happened. Something happened. It was as if the basketball gods lifted the lid off the Bucks basket and stuck it on the Hornets hoop. Maybe it was the advent of Damon Jones into the game, because Chandler missed both Hornets free throws and Jones promptly drained one from downtown. Gadzuric blocked a David West jumper, then Bogans hit a three. Suddenly it was an 8-point game. A West jump shot made it ten with 2:20 left. There didn't seem to be enough time.

Then Charlie Bell went nuts. Bell was 3-13 in the game until this point and a big part of the reason the cold-shooting Bucks had dug a double-digit hole to climb out of. But in the next two minutes, Charlie bombed the Bucks out of the hole and into the lead, scoring 11 points on three jumpers from the land of Reggie and a putback. The Bucks took the lead 94-93 with 10 secs to go on Charlie's third 3-pointer.

Then Skiles lost his senses. Since Gadzuric had entered the game with 3:30 left, Gadz had blocked a shot, grabbed a defensive rebound and scored on a tip-in, and the Bucks had not allowed the Hornets a single 2nd-chance shot. But Skiles had subbed Gadz out for RJ for the offensive possession that gave the Bucks the lead. Now that it was New Orleans ball and timeout to draw up their final shot, Skiles subbed Ridnour for Malik Allen and Luc Mbah a Moute for Damon Jones, leaving Gadz on the bench.

When the Bucks forced a miss by West, there was no one to keep the 7-footer, Chandler -- who spent the better part of three years with the Bulls in Skiles' doghouse -- away from the rebound-tap.

Hornets 95, Bucks 94. What Skiles had done was put his four best defenders on the floor -- Mbah a Moute, Bell, RJ and Bogans -- and assigned Ridnour to pester Chris Paul. But he had ignored a key basketball truism -- you can't defend height. For perhaps the first time this season, Scott Skiles beat the Milwaukee Bucks.

RJ led the Bucks with 22; Charlie B scored 21. Chris Paul was credited with 20 assists and West, a first-time All-Star this season, led everybody with 28 pts and 12 boards. Here's the box score if you don't believe me. ...

Shame on ESPN for taking their cameras to Orlando.

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Shaq scores 45: The Suns, fighting for their playoff lives without Steve Nash (sprained ankle) got a monster game from the Diesel at home to crush the new look Chris Bosh-Shawn Marion Raptors, 133-113.

"I think I'm the only player," Shaq said postgame, "who looks at each and every center in the league and says, 'That's barbecue chicken down there.'"

Shaq, what does that mean? Maybe that's a question for Andrew Bogut.

Marbury is a Celtic: Stephon Marbury signed on with the Celtics for 1/4 the veteran minimum ($1.3 million) yesterday, suited up and played 13 mins in the Celtics 104-99 win against the Pacers. Everybody's happy in Boston, except Kevin Garnett and Brian Scalabrine who are out with injuries. They're a bit too happy for the rest of the NBA's well-being, I'd say. Marbury says he feels "rejuvinated", "wanted" and excited to be playing.

So what's it like to be a Celtic? "Defense," Marbury said. "They play defense. That's all they talk about. Defense. Offense takes care of itself."

Ray Allen, who led the way against the Pacers with 30 pts, doesn't look so sure about that last point. After the game, reporters directed questions to the glare offa Ray's head:

NBA SUNDAY

Pistons snap out of it: After losing 8-straight, Detroit beat the Magic and the Celtics on the road this weekend, playing a near perfect game to win in Boston Sunday. Does that even make sense? Well it does to some who think Allen Iverson has thrown the Pistons chemistry out of whack and that inserting Rip Hamilton into the starting lineup made the difference. I don't buy it.