Recap: Bucks 95, Jazz 87
by Alex Boeder on Mar 13, 2010 1:13 AM CST
in Recaps
12 comments
MILWAUKEE -- Four and a half months into the season, and the Bucks have reached a new high point.
No one predicted the Bucks to start 8-3, the first three weeks were magical, but we had read that book before, seen that movie, and it didn't end well.
Remember 15-9 in 2005-06? 40-42 by the end. The 7-7 beginning in 2007-08? Finished 26-56.
The nice start was just something that happens every two years, and this was year two. Happens, and then we move on to reality, to a losing season, a lost season. In a way, you couldn't be too surprised to be happy -- it was November. Check back in December or January, it never took long.
And there the Bucks were, 12-18 leaving December, worse than the year before. From five games above .500 to six below in barely more than a month. It felt so wrong, but sadly, it felt all too right. Sure, it was hard to write the recaps of the piling losses, but it was also easy. I wasn't new to this, there was a template.
So this is new. This incredible recovery to not only get back to where they were in November, but to reach even higher than 8-3, now six games above .500 at 35-29. Five wins in a row, 11 out of 12, the only loss in overtime in Atlanta, a game that looked like they had won in regulation and overtime.
Tonight's game against Utah just sort of felt like a loss before tip. As hot as the Bucks were, they used a lot of energy to beat a LeBron-less Cavs team, a reeling Boston club, and you figured they would top the hapless Pacers on Sunday. You cautiously assumed the Bucks would at some point lose another game in the future, and this one, against such a complete, in-form team and tough matchup, looked like the one.
And so of course that didn't happen. What did happen: Brandon Jennings outplayed Deron Williams, Ersan Ilyasova was clutch-as-can-be, and the Bucks managed to win with a good-but-not-great game from Andrew Bogut.
The defense, at this point, is just remarkable. Five games into March, and these 87 points are the most that they have allowed.
35-29. The highest point.
So far.
12 comments | 0 recs |
Game 64: Jazz/Bucks
by Alex Boeder on Mar 12, 2010 7:39 AM CST
in Previews
82 comments
| 2009/2010 NBA Season | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| 42-22 (15-14 road) | vs. | 34-29 (21-9 home) |
| March 12, 2010 | ||
| Bradley Center |
||
| 7:30 PM | ||
| Radio: WTMJ AM 620 TV: FSN Wisconsin HD |
||
| Probable starters: | ||
| Deron Williams |
PG | Brandon Jennings |
| Wesley Matthews |
SG | John Salmons |
| Andrei Kirilenko | SF | Carlos Delfino |
| Carlos Boozer |
PF | Luc Mbah a Moute |
| Mehmet Okur |
C | Andrew Bogut |
| (6th) 110.7 - OFFENSE - 104.5 (23rd) |
||
| (8th) 104.8 - DEFENSE - 102.7 (5th) |
||
| (19th) 92.2 - PACE - 92.7 (17th) |
||
Coverage
82 comments | 0 recs |
Respecting Skiles, NBA beginning to fear the deer, Salmons' spirituality
by Frank Madden on Mar 11, 2010 2:30 PM CST
in Daily Notes
5 comments
CNNSI: Skiles the league's most underappreciated coach
Frank Hughes gives Scott Skiles some well-deserved respect...no argument here. If you want to talk about John Hammond's best moves as a GM, I still say it starts with hiring Skiles as his partner in crime. It's not always ideal for the coach to play a major role in personnel decisions, but Hammond and Skiles seem to have developed a good understanding about what kind of players they need to win games--and how to get them on a reasonable budget. Thankfully the rest of the league seems to be noticing as well. Skiles won East coach of the month honors in February and the always-on-point Kelly Dwyer has him narrowly ahead of Jerry Sloan and Scott Brooks for COY honors.
One NBA insider said Skiles comes up with some of the most creative play-calling in the league and has a firm handle on the mismatches that give Milwaukee an advantage. He has handled Jennings masterfully, even as the rookie has struggled with his shot for a while. And Skiles has Andrew Bogut playing so well that he looks like the league's next great center.
5 comments | 1 recs |
Playoffs? Yes, we're talking Bucks playoffs
by Frank Madden on Mar 10, 2010 12:21 PM CST
in News
24 comments
I could watch this over and over (h/t BLKOUT)
I still tend to start sweating and look around nervously when the words "Bucks" and "playoffs" are mentioned in the same sentence, but after yesterday's win it's hard to avoid thinking about what April might hold. A crushing collapse of epic proportions? A shocking upset of a first round Goliath? I'll play it safe and say it'll probably be something in between, but that's certainly not a bad outcome all things considered. Rome wasn't built in a day, and the Bucks' metamorphosis from lottery fodder to legit contender won't happen in a single season either. It's OK--we're having fun anyway.
24 comments | 3 recs |
Recap: Bucks 86, Celtics 84
by Alex Boeder on Mar 10, 2010 12:43 AM CST
in Recaps
32 comments
MILWAUKEE - Last March, right around this time, the Celtics came to town, the fans made Ray Allen feel right at home, and the Bucks scored 86 points, enough for a win.
Those are the similarities. But this is about differences. The mighty big changes in pro basketball in this city.
Because while the name still reads the same on the front of the jersey, they are just about all different on the back. The starting lineup from the March 15, 2009 win over Boston? Try Ramon Sessions, Luc Mbah a Moute, Richard Jefferson, Charlie Villanueva, and Francisco Elson. The only remaining starter, The Principal, went from shooting guard to power forward. Yeah.
So maybe we shouldn't be so surprised that it's March and the Bucks are still good.
After all, they are still the Bucks, but with Brandon Jennings, John Salmons, Carlos Delfino, Ersan Ilyasova, Luc Mbah a Moute, and this Andrew Bogut, they aren't quite like anything we remember. And try as we might to forget, we do remember.
We remember five straight last place finishes, and the players remember how it was supposed to be six straight. Even a teenager half a world away last year was apparently briefed about the past and the expectations, or lack thereof. After the game, Brandon Jennings:
I know a lot of people doubted us in the beginning of the season, had us almost last. But we are here too, we are fighting for a spot in the playoffs too. So don't forget about us.
So now we have something we actually want to remember. And the latest is a Bucks win over the Celtics, chiefly the result of magnificent play by Bogut, and magnificent plays by Bogut. The center started the game as strongly as ever, picking up right where he left off in Boston about three months ago. But as the Bucks moved away from him, the Celtics moved into the lead. Not coincidentally, Boston won its only period in the second quarter when Bogut was scoreless.
The Bucks trailed entering the fourth quarter and didn't score during the final 2:41 of regulation, but they did enough in between to make it work. Namely, Bogut carried the team on both ends while the sickly Delfino hit his fifth three of the game, Salmons popped in five quick ones, Ilyasova was eternally right-place/right-time, Jennings scooped in a floater for the final points, and the defense, oh, the defense.
Up two in the final moments, Milwaukee took a foul with 3.9 seconds to go. A good idea, but also just enough time for Ray Allen to sink his first shot of the game, a three pointer of course. But the ball went to Pierce, and, well, the Bucks defended just like they had all game, all month, all season. Still could have gone in, we know that and that. But not this time.
This was a chippy affair, a game that looked more like late-April than early-March by the time Glen Davis barreled into Jennings on a fast break, earning technicals for each.
And if this keeps up, we will soon get to watch games that are late-April instead of ones that just look the part.
32 comments | 1 recs |
Game 63: Celtics/Bucks
by Frank Madden on Mar 9, 2010 9:01 AM CST
in Previews
109 comments
| 2009/2010 NBA Season | ||
|---|---|---|
| vs. |  |
|
| 40-21 (22-10 home) | 33-29 (20-9 home) |
|
| March 9, 2010 | ||
| Bradley Center |
||
| 7:00 PM CT |
||
| Radio: 620 WTMJ TV: FSN Wisconsin |
||
| Probable starters: | ||
| Rajon Rondo | PG | Brandon Jennings |
| Ray Allen |
SG | Carlos Delfino |
| Paul Pierce |
SF | John Salmons |
| Kevin Garnett |
PF | Luc Mbah a Moute |
| Kendrick Perkins |
C | Andrew Bogut |
| 106.9 (8th) - OFFENSE - 104.5 (23rd) |
||
| 101.9 (1st) - DEFENSE - 102.8 (3rd) |
||
|
91.6 (22nd) - PACE - 92.6 (15th) |
||
Linkage:
CelticsBlog / Celtics Hub / Red's Army / Loy's Place / Bucks GameDay
News/analysis after the jump...
109 comments | 0 recs |
It's March...and the Bucks are still good?
by Frank Madden on Mar 8, 2010 4:53 PM CST
in News
23 comments
I normally only get to do one "Whoa, the Bucks are actually good!" post per year, and unfortunately it's usually in November. You probably know the drill: the Bucks jump out to a semi-promising start; nervous optimism ensues; plane crashes into mountain about a week later.
But hey, at least there's been consistency. Since we started this website/self-help group in 2007, the first month or two of the season have always provided at least some mostly misplaced hope. Believe it or not, November 2007 offered an opportunity to say nice things about Larry Krystkowiak's coaching (they were 7-4!), while in 2008 we still had some good feelings in late December (one game out of the playoff hunt!).
So it was only natural for the Bucks to offer us some early-season optimism back in November, though the Brandon Jennings Effect meant more talk about Jennings than the Bucks' 8-3 start to the season. But as Scott Skiles told Charles Gardner this week, the Bucks' reaction to their early season success probably wasn't the real story--instead, it's how the Bucks handled the slump that saw them drop 15 of 19 games between November 23 and December 30.
"Sort of the M.O. of our franchise the last several years has been to get down, fall behind a little bit and boom, just cave. And the season's over by now.
"To sum it all up, we didn't quit, and at least we've given ourselves the opportunity to have a very good season. And now we have to take advantage of that with a quarter of the season left to play."
And so here we are, a whopping 62 games into the season and the Bucks are not only in the playoff race, but among the league's hottest teams at 33-29, the fifth seed in the East, and winners of nine of ten. How'd we get here anyway?
23 comments | 0 recs |
Recap: Bucks 92, Cavs 85
by Frank Madden on Mar 7, 2010 3:35 AM CST
in Recaps
7 comments
Box Score
Let's start with an important disclaimer about the Bucks' win over the NBA's best team: LeBron James, the NBA's best player, didn't play thanks to a sore ankle. So to all those little munchkins who showed up on Saturday night in #23 jerseys hoping to watch LeBron beat up on their home team: sorry (ask your mom what sarcasm means).
But as much as the Bucks may have been hoping to legitimize their recent hot streak with a win over the current title favorites, let's think about the big picture. Last time I checked, the Bucks' biggest concern is still winning games--not proving that they're better than any individual team or showing that they can contain any individual player. That stuff is great and makes for nice copy, but the Bucks can do all the respect-gaining they want against the Celtics and Jazz next week.
And despite some hot three point shooting by Brandon Jennings (sporting a red stripe on his dome) and Carlos Delfino, the Bucks didn't exactly bring their A game, which means they should probably just be happy to have pounded out another win against the NBA's best team. The Bucks shouldn't be thrilled with their overall performance, but they can still be satisfied to see a win chalked up against a team that had beaten 78% of its opponents coming into the game.
7 comments | 0 recs |
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