Box Score

I probably don't have to tell you where Andrew Bogut's absence hurts the Milwaukee Bucks. Mostly because every answer to that question is the right answer.

With their big man out of commission, the Bucks got hammered on the offensive boards and struggled to contain Derrick Rose all night. The Bulls boast a talented and physical front line that abused Milwaukee's patchwork defense to the tune of 20 offensive rebounds. Chicago grabbed 40 percent of their own misses. While Drew Gooden racked up his own numbers under the basket (15 total rebounds), Brandon Jennings was Milwaukee's second-leading rebounder, perhaps a telling fact in itself.

Yet for a team that supposedly hangs its hat on defense, the Bucks trailed by just one point at halftime and clawed back into the game late in the fourth quarter despite routinely getting torched by the reigning MVP. The Bulls currently boast the 2nd-best defensive efficiency in the NBA, but they had no answer for the hot-shooting Brandon Jennings in the first half. It was a point-guard duel wrapped up in a clash of styles, as both Jennings and Rose kept the pressure on in their own trademark fashions.

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2011/2012 NBA Season
	vs.
7-10 (3-8 away)		16-4 (8-1 home)
January 27, 2012
United Center
7:00 PM CT
Radio: 620 WTMJ TV: FSN Wisconsin
Probable starters:
Brandon Jennings	PG	Derrick Rose
Shaun Livingston	SG	Rip Hamilton
Carlos Delfino	SF	Ronnie Brewer
Luc Mbah a Moute	PF	Carlos Boozer
Drew Gooden	C	Joakim Noah
(21st) 100.2 - OFFENSE - 108.0 (3rd)
(17th) 102.2 - DEFENSE - 96.6 (2nd)
(9th) 92.9 - PACE - 89.3 (26th)

On the Bulls: Blog-a-Bull / Bulls by the Horns / Bullsville

A day after learning that Andrew Bogut will be out indefinitely with a fractured ankle, the Bucks will be looking for their fourth straight road win in Chicago against the East-leading Bulls on Friday.

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Bucks GM John Hammond gave an update on the status of center Andrew Bogut on Friday. Bogut suffered a fracture to his left ankle on Wednesday night in Houston when we was attempting to block a shot and landed on another player's foot during the first quarter of the game.

"This morning in Milwaukee, Andrew had additional diagnostic tests performed on his left ankle. The results of the testing confirmed a left ankle fracture which will keep Bogut sidelined for a period of 8-to-12 weeks," Hammond announced on Friday.

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John Hammond announced this afternoon that Andrew Bogut suffered a left ankle fracture during Wednesday night's game against the Houston Rockets. Bogut underwent an MRI this morning which revealed the fracture.

Bogut landed on the ankle of Houston's Kyle Lowry after attempting to block a shot in the first quarter. He immediately limped off the court and returned with a protective boot and crutches for support.

Bogut, who has been plagued in the past by back and elbow problems as well as occasional bouts with migraine headaches, has played more than 70 games in a season just twice in his NBA career.

With Bogut out, the Bucks will likely start Drew Gooden at center as they address whether a more permanent solution is necessary. Bogut's absence should also mean more regular minutes for youngsters Jon Leuer and Larry Sanders, both of whom have found minutes increasingly difficult to come by with the Bucks at full strength. And while discussions regarding the backup center position have cooled since the offseason, there are a number of free-agent big men who could be targeted by Milwaukee to fill the role until Bogut's return, including the much-discussed Joel Przybilla and former Jazz big man Kyrylo Fesenko.

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Box Score

You can call the Bucks many things: frustrating, dysfunctional, mercurial, improving, regressing. Just don't call them predictable.

Two nights after slumping to a home defeat against the Hawks, the Bucks resumed their winning ways on the road with a bizarre come-from-behind win over the previously red-hot Rockets, snapping Houston's seven-game winning streak while extending their road streak to three games.

Unfortunately, part of what made the Bucks' win so unlikely could also spell bad news going forward. After helping the Bucks streak to a 12-0 start, Andrew Bogut sprained his ankle after landing awkwardly following a challenged shot. Though the big man limped off to the locker room under his own power, he was quickly ruled out for the rest of the game and his status remains unclear for Friday night's tilt in Chicago. Here we go again?

But let's ignore the potentially bad and focus on the good for now. After watching Kevin Martin (29 pts on 22 shots) help the Rockets surge to a 51-42 halftime advantage and lead by double-digits in the third quarter, the Bucks suddenly found their touch--and then some--at the end of the third. Riding the hot hands of reserves Mike Dunleavy (18 points on 11 shots) and Stephen Jackson (20 points on 16 shots), Milwaukee reeled off an absurd 20-0 run to lead by as many as 17 in the fourth before hanging on in the final minute.

And while Brandon Jennings (20 pts on 16 shots, 6 ast, 1 to) quietly outdueled Kyle Lowry (6 pts on 16 shots, 10 ast, 8 reb) in the game's marquee matchup, this win was really about the Bucks' depth outlasting the Rockets' superior starting five. Milwaukee's eight subs outscored Kevin McHale's short three-man bench by a staggering 66-15 margin, including 48-4 in the second half as the Bucks outscored the Rockets overall by a 63-48 margin.

It was neither predictable nor pretty, but for a Bucks team just trying to survive a brutal January? Just call it a win.

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2011/2012 NBA Season
	vs.
6-10 (2-8 away)		10-7 (7-1 home)
January 25, 2012
Toyota Center
7:00 PM CT
Radio: 620 WTMJ TV: FSN Wisconsin
Probable starters:
Brandon Jennings	PG	Kyle Lowry
Shaun Livingston	SG	Kevin Martin
Carlos Delfino	SF	Chandler Parsons
Luc Mbah a Moute	PF	Luis Scola
Andrew Bogut	C	Samuel Dalembert
(24th) 99.6 - OFFENSE - 105.4 (9th)
(17th) 102.1 - DEFENSE - 104.5 (21st)
(9th) 92.7 - PACE - 91.2 (18th)

On the Rockets: The Dream Shake / Houston Chronicle / Clutch Fans

After losing their first eight road games of the season, the Bucks head to Houston looking for their third straight road win. It won't be easy though--while the Bucks slumped to a disappointing 97-92 loss against the Hawks at home on Monday, Houston has now won seven in a row and have lost just once in eight home games this season.

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The Bucks tried 23 different starting lineups last season. Just one of them won more than four games, and that one had a losing record.

I asked Scott Skiles on Media Day whether he hoped, for the sake of consistency, to settle on a starting lineup this season.

Skiles: "Be nice. Be really nice."

As a natural follow-up, I asked Skiles if he had a starting lineup in mind for this season.

Skiles: "No. Not yet."

Through 16 games this season, the Bucks have already tried seven different starting lineups. With the team now at full strength, I asked Skiles after the loss to Atlanta if he feels any closer to finding an ideal starting five.

Skiles: "You know, I am not sure. That is a tough question to answer. You typically would like to base that on the players sort of showing that to you based on consistency and how they perform. And that has been difficult for us so far.

It is not so much about just who starts or just who finishes, but it is so, so much about who plays together. So who is really playing together and playing together, and who is playing together, and not playing together?

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