- NBA basketball is (kinda sorta) back! The Bucks kick off their six game preseason schedule tonight in Canton, OH against the Cavs, who opened their preseason on Monday night with a 91-85 win against Italian team Siena.
- As usual, don't expect FS WIsconsin TV coverage of any preseason games, though Ted Davis will be calling the game on WSSP 1250. If you are after a video feed, FS Ohio is carrying the game in HD and it should be carried as part of Directv's free preseason League Pass offering.
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JS | Harris a starter in preseason opener? Looks like it
It's not worth stressing too much about the lineups in preseason games--I always think back to Dan Gadzuric starting next to Andrew Bogut a few years back--but based on Charles Gardner's latest it does sound like Tobias Harris will get the starting nod tonight. Cue Scott Skiles keeping him humble:"He's trying to go from a poor defender to a mediocre defender to a good defender," Skiles said of the 6-foot-8 Harris. "Those things take time. The 3 men (small forwards) at this level are moving at all times, they're coming off screens. They're on the board. They're doing all kinds of things.
"He's gotten better at it. Hopefully in these exhibition games he can get some minutes and get better at it."
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Fox Sports Wisconsin | Bucks hope additions add depth they've lacked
Speaking of defense, Ryan Kartje (who's churning out good stuff left and right, btw) reports that the coaching staff has been pleased with Brandon Jennings defense in camp so far, though it's probably not worth breaking out the jump-to-conclusions mat quite yet."He's got to compete and keep his man in front of him," Skiles said. "On our team defensive things, he's always been pretty good. It's just a matter of kind of competing. … Obviously, every night, he's got a pretty tough cover. There's some of the best players in the game at his position. If you want to be known as one of the best players in the game, you've got to out-compete those guys. That's just the way it is."
Bouncing back to the JS, Gardner writes that Jennings is trying to do his part:
"I'm containing more, being more aggressive and just bringing it every day in practice on the defensive end. That's why I'm doing it, so I can carry it onto the court in the real game."
Talk is of course cheap, though without any games that's basically all we've had until now. Time to start proving it on the court, eh Brandon?