Game 67: Bucks/Kings

by Frank Madden on Mar 19, 2010 1:50 AM CDT in Previews Comment 298 comments

Kid is too smooth

2009/2010 NBA Season

23-45 (17-17 home)	vs.	36-30 (13-21 away)
March 19, 2010
Arco Arena
9:00 PM
Radio: WTMJ AM 620 TV: FSN Wisconsin
Probable starters:
Beno Udrih	PG	Brandon Jennings
Tyreke Evans	SG	John Salmons
Donte Greene	SF	Carlos Delfino
Carl Landry	PF	Luc Mbah a Moute
Spencer Hawes	C	Andrew Bogut

(19th) 105.9 - OFFENSE - 104.4 (23rd)
(24nd) 110.1 - DEFENSE - 102.6 (2nd)
(6th) 94.3 - PACE - 92.5 (16th)

Coverage

Sactown Royalty / Cowbell Kingdom / Sac Bee Blog

JS: Carlos' ankle. As Charles Gardner reported yesterday, the hope is that Delfino will be available after missing the Bucks' loss in L.A. on Monday--I've got him listed in the starting lineup, though that's largely because I believe in the power of positive thinking. It's no secret the Bucks are much better off with Delfino starting ahead of Charlie Bell, though it's not like the Bucks should be hopeless without him either. The problem was that Salmons was the only wing player who did much of anything against the Clips, which makes Delfino look all the more invaluable.

He underwent a magnetic resonance imaging exam immediately on Sunday night and another MRI on Monday. After the second test was taken, Delfino's worst fears were relieved and the injury was termed a bone bruise.

"It's getting better day by day," Delfino said. "It's nothing big. I'll be surprised if I've got to miss another game.

"At the beginning we were crossing fingers. We had the first MRI on Sunday but then we had another test and it was just a bone bruise, not the worst-case scenario."

StR: Tyreke the King...of Layups
The gang at Sactown Royalty break down the numbers behind the most obvious thing about Tyreke Evans: he's really, ridiculously, incredibly good at getting to the rim. Bucks fans are especially aware of it given that's how Evans beat the Bucks in December--by stutter-stepping past Andrew Bogut for the game-winning layup with a second to go.

According to Hoopdata, Tyreke averages 8.3 attempts at the rim, about .7 more than the player in 2nd place, Zach Randolph. He's also 1st in the league in makes at the rim at 5.0 a game (tied with LeBron). More attempts and makes than every single big man in the league.

And what's even more unique about Tyreke is how much his scores at the rim are unassisted, unlike big men and explosive players like LeBron who throw down alley oops on a regular basis. Tyreke is only assisted on 24.7% of his makes around the rim, while LeBron is at about 48.1%. The only other player in the top 40 of Attempts at the rim with less % of his makes that are assisted is Russell Westbrook at 21.2% (Attempts 5.7 FG at the rim a game).

JS: Clipper zone troubles Bucks
A major source of discussion in the game thread and recap was the Bucks' struggles against the Clippers zone in the fourth quarter. Despite going with their reserves against the Bucks' big guns, Kim Hughes' Clips stifled the Bucks' offense, denying inside looks and allowing the Bucks to fire blank (0/7 threes) from deep. It's not the first time Milwaukee's struggled with the zone; off the top of my head it seemed to play a major role in losses in Toronto and (if memory serves me correctly) Atlanta, while Miami had some success with it in Milwaukee before the Bucks' three point shooting eventually did them in.

"We've struggled against zones a couple games this year and a couple games we've played real well against zones," Bucks center Andrew Bogut said. "It's just a matter we couldn't get into the paint, and when you can't get into the paint with a zone, it's playing into their hands."

Kings' Lineup Evolution
Jason Thompson was a big part of the Kings' win in Milwaukee, but he's lost his starting job to deadline acquisition (and Milwaukee native) Carl Landry--who ironically made his mark in Houstn as one of the league's best sixth men. Landry's minutes are way up since coming to Sacramento (27 to 37 mpg) and his numbers are marginally better (16.9 ppg, 7.1 rpg on 51% shooting), which isn't a bad thing considering how hyper-productive he was in Clutch City.

Meanwhile, the departure of Kevin Martin has cleared the way for Beno Udrih to start at PG and allow Tyreke Evans to move over to SG. It hasn't hurt Evans' game a bit, and over the last four he's been doing some silly stat-stuffing: 20.8 ppg, 10 rpg, 8.5 apg. I'm not sure why anyone is even making up arguments about who might challenge him for rookie of the year anymore--Steph Curry's recent hot streak has made him the 2010 Brandon Jennings in terms of playing second fiddle in ROY hype, but why even bother? As a Bucks fan, I'm excited Jennings has been a quick study while playing point for a playoff team, but I've never seen record as the ultimate trump card for the rookie hardware. It's a great tiebreaker if two guys are neck and neck, but I think Evans is far enough ahead on personal merit that everything else is irrelevant.

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long way to the top if you want to rock n roll

its kinda another reminder of where Fear the Deer is actually at…..we are playing Sac….and im worried that we need to rush Delfino back instead of having him properly rested for the big fish…Denver…….right now its more like ‘be wary of the deer if its fully awake and riled’

by ILIKEBJ'S on Mar 19, 2010 3:20 AM CDT reply actions

Sacramento is one of my favorite teams to watch....

Should be a good game… Jennings vs. T-Evans is what is going to be highlighted even though I’m not sure they will be guarding eachother most of the time…

Bogut should ABUSE Spencer Hawes in this game….

by Superelkman on Mar 19, 2010 10:02 AM CDT reply actions

Seems like Hawes and Thompson are splitting the center minutes right now. Thompson gave Bogut some problems down the stretch in December and Hawes can space the floor a bit with his jumper, which is a problem considering the Bucks will want Bogut in the paint to try to help contain Evans. Obviously Bogut’s a better player than either guy, so it will be interesting to see how much the Kings defend him one-on-one.

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Game 67: Bucks/Kings

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