Pistons 88, Bucks 80: Milwaukee Caught Flat-Footed In Detroit

by Frank Madden on Feb 4, 2012 12:46 AM CST in Recaps

Well that was disappointing.

Two days after a thrilling win over the Heat and a day before a big home game against the Bulls, the Bucks came crashing back to earth. Or in this case: Detroit.

Having already dropped two games to the Bucks in the last month, the Pistons came out the more energetic side while the Bucks never seemed to shift out of neutral, finding few opportunities to run and struggling to execute anything in the halfcourt. Brandon Jennings did his best to carry the Bucks in the first half by making his first five shots, but Brandon Knight (26 points on 23 shots, 7 ast, 0 to) held his own early and clearly bested Jennings (20 pts, 7/19 fg, 1 ast, 3 stl, 3 to) over the final three quarters.

Then again, at least Jennings had one good quarter. That's more than you can say about his teammates, who were mostly outplayed across the board. The Bucks couldn't make shots against one of the league's worst defenses and managed a mere 10 assists on the evening, all too often looking hurried and out of control offensively. Scott Skiles was not pleased.

Just a very poor effort, one of the worst I've seen. Our execution was sloppy. Defensively we had no will. We had no will on the board. We gambled for steals.

We still had a chance to try to steal it, but even our last several possessions, there wasn't any quality in them.

The Bucks twice closed to within four in the final three minutes, but Knight responded both times: once on a P&R floater and another by driving left and finishing with his off-hand past Jennings. The Bucks then came up empty on clean three point looks by Jennings and Drew Gooden in the final minute and could only watch as free throws clinched it for Detroit.

Three Bucks

Ersan Ilyasova. Another big night on the boards for Ersan, who grabbed 12 rebounds in 21 minutes on a night when no other Buck grabbed more than five. Sadly, that alone was sufficient for the top honors among the Bucks tonight.

Shaun Livingston. Livingston started the second half with seven quick points as the Bucks narrowed the Piston lead to five, but there was no getting over the hump for Milwaukee. Still, an efficient night for Livingston (4/6 fg, 14 pts, 4 rebs) on a night when no other Buck made better than 50% of his shots.

Tobias Harris. The rookie provided a much-needed shot in the arm late in the third, helping the Bucks claw back from a 13-point deficit with eight points and five boards in 11 minutes.

Three Numbers

10. After five straight games of 20+ assists, the Bucks looked short on focus and lacked the polish we've come to expect of late, managing a season-low 10 assists.

25-15. The Pistons' strong second quarter was all they needed to take the lead and never look back.

7. The Pistons snapped a seven game losing streak, while the Bucks saw another chance at a four game streak go by the wayside.

Three Bad

Tanked. The Pistons are essentially tanking this season for a top draft pick, but they were clearly the better side against a Bucks team theoretically getting its act together.

Inverse Jennings. After carrying the Bucks in the final three quarters against the Heat, Jennings was outplayed by a rookie in the final three stanzas in Detroit and failed to score in the game's final 13 minutes. After his hot start, Jennings missed his final seven threes and made just 2/14 shots to close the game as Knight thoroughly outplayed him--just a few days after the rookie went scoreless in Milwaukee.

Looking overly concerned with his one-on-one duel, Jennings also did little to help out his teammates until the fourth quarter, managing just a single assist against three turnovers. The symbolic play of the night: Jennings blew a 2-on-1 break in the third by throwing an errant around-the-back bounce pass wide of Beno Udrih. One of those nights.

Better lucky than Gooden. Drew Gooden was abysmal: often out of control (OK, not unusual), inaccurate (1/8 fg), ineffective on the boards (4 rebs) and mostly overwhelmed by Greg Monroe (19 pts, 11 rebs). We've been a bit spoiled by Gooden's strong play since Bogut went down, but tonight offered an unfortunate reminder of how harmful Gooden can be when he doesn't find a way to contribute offensively.

Two Good

Bulls on tap. The giant-slaying Bucks seemed to be looking past the Pistons to the Bulls on Saturday, so they won't have any excuses against Derrick Rose and company. Hopefully that means a strong effort, though the problem with a likely-to-be-sold-out Saturday night tilt with the Bulls is that you do actually have to play the Bulls.

Ice Ice Baby. Vanilla Ice played at halftime.

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Comments

It would be so awesome

if we actually had someone on this team other than Jennings that shows up every night. Id love to see Jennings play with a wingman that shoots 50% from the floor. I’d really like to see Tobias to start or get 25 mins every night, he looks like a legit young talent.

by Blazza18 on Feb 4, 2012 1:07 AM CST reply actions

Agree with all the acknowledgements you make

…and Skiles made, on how poorly our team played. But as I’ve been saying, the loss is just one tile in the season’s mosaic. An ugly tile, but it shouldn’t stand out in the larger pattern.

Was a pretty graphic demonstration that if the Bucks don’t make shots, then all the stuff we’ve been digging about the style and energy with which they play shrivels up like you know what in a romantic moment gone terribly wrong.

by unklchuk on Feb 4, 2012 1:09 AM CST reply actions

Do we think Jennings gets his "mojo" from...

1. His internal competitive spirit?

2. From the special situations he finds himself in?

It’s been seeming to me that Jennings doesn’t access his “mojo” or power to influence games by consciously deciding to turn it on inside himself to secure a victory. He does some of that. But the most powerful mojo I’ve seen in him comes from outside himself.

When he feels he’s in a prime situation then he glows like a neon lamp in one of those electric fields you see at science fairs. (Or used to.) The energy courses through him.

Put him in NYC and he’s got mojo. NYC is like the church of his hoops faith. Holy. Put him against LeBron, Wade, Bosh and the Heat and he’s got power. Wants to prove himself against the best.

Put him against the lowly Pistons, and he tries to turn it on and finds it wanting.

A. That could be youth.

B. It could be that his heart belongs in the bright lights.

by unklchuk on Feb 4, 2012 1:17 AM CST reply actions 1 recs

Please be A, please be A, please be A

I found this comment to be enlightening.

http://twitter.com/WhalesLarry ...but only if you want to see someone still trying to figure Twitter out.

by Mitchell Maurer on Feb 4, 2012 1:56 AM CST up reply actions

If you'll allow my stubbornness....

I’ll readily admit it was an ugly, ugly game for Jennings after the first quarter. But I would be remiss if I didn’t point out how many wide-open looks his teammates bricked off of his passes, or the couple of passes he had that led directly to fouls.

Can’t defend his second-half shooting or defense, just felt it should be noted that he made an effort to set guys up. Granted, most were jumpers from mid-range, so it’s debatable how much credit he should really get.

www.BrewHoop.com

by Dan Sinclair on Feb 4, 2012 1:20 AM CST reply actions

The world isn’t always talking about me. You probably weren’t here. But in case your stubbornness was partly in reaction to what I said about Jennings, I think I’ll try to clarify. I missed more than half of the game by intention. So I didn’t judge Jennings, but I felt he was closer to useful on the court than his decaf teammates.

But what his teammates needed in their torpor was a leader to galvanize them. The missed bunnies, the bad passes, a hundred little things said they weren’t up to the task of playing good basketball. A leader (I’ve felt the lack of a leader for some time) could have lifted them. Broken that pack mentality.

You have to be a pretty damn good player if it’s fair to fault you for not doing what Jennings couldn’t do tonight.

by unklchuk on Feb 4, 2012 1:36 AM CST up reply actions

Tobias

Should have had him in there the entire fourth. The kid came to play. Eventually Skiles will let him loose.

by Van Halen on Feb 4, 2012 2:03 AM CST via mobile up reply actions

I agree Tobias was a dynamo last night...

but the problem with him is that with all his youthful enthusiasm he frequently forgets he has teammates to pass to and tries to take on multiple defenders in the lane himself. He needs to improve his court vision and decision making, which should come with experience.

by Brick's house on Feb 4, 2012 9:25 AM CST up reply actions

Haha, I was actually writing my comment as yours went up, Chuck! I have the same concern about Jennings’ inconsistency, although there have been plenty of other times where he lit up bad teams.

www.BrewHoop.com

by Dan Sinclair on Feb 4, 2012 11:14 AM CST via Android app up reply actions

Becoming a good leader

doesn’t happen overnight. Or in Jennings case, 4 years. Still have to give him some slack as he didn’t have the privilege of attending college and everything else that has gone with that.

by RedHopeful on Feb 4, 2012 12:11 PM CST up reply actions

Critical plays

I might be mistaken this time, but…

When Bucks were deep in a hole in the mid 4th, they did put Delfino on Knight. It helped. We got to 4 point deficit. Then suddenly two possessions in a row it’s BJ on the rookie. He just had it going against BJ.

Why not implement what’s working?:) Knight really was off against Carlos, though I’m getting tired of him bricking wide open 3s:)

by Mr.Lithuania on Feb 4, 2012 3:50 AM CST reply actions

Wishing we had Monroe

I’m not sure he has a weakness other than youth. Midrange j, post moves, face up moves, free throws, inside touch, too big, too strong, coordinated, high iq, avg athlete. Not sure there is another big in the league with his skill set, closest thing maybe LMA, but either way by 25 this guy will be unstoppable.

by FearTheDeer on Feb 4, 2012 6:58 AM CST via Android app reply actions

had to know games like this would happen

nothing is automatic in the NBA

"He always plays like he's a pit bull that hasn't been fed in about a year and that you've got pork chops in your pockets and that's the basketball." Of course, he's Canadian

by CanadaBucks on Feb 4, 2012 11:07 AM CST reply actions

Exactly

The loss sucks, but the reason we’re all so bummed about it probably has something to do with its proximity to the last few big wins.

Not that we should ever accept an awful performance against a bad team like the pistons, but I’m still impressed by what the Bucks have been doing lately.

Beating Chicago will make everything better!

www.BrewHoop.com

by Dan Sinclair on Feb 4, 2012 11:18 AM CST via Android app up reply actions

A win over Chicago

should secure Jennings spot in the ASG or another 30 point game before the coaches decision.

by FearTheDeer on Feb 4, 2012 11:55 AM CST reply actions

Tough Loss

As you all know games like this happen. We’re a better team than the Pistons but all those “intangibles” favored them. Even Skiles said before it was a trap game. Well even though we all knew it was a trap game, it turned out to be just that. Its human nature. Throughout every season things externally lead to the other team. Like when we beat Miami down there a couple Sundays ago. Miami was lethargic that night just as we were yesterday. Big game tonight though. Hopefully we will ride a little extra motivation to a win. We due to get the Bulls.

by CHAController on Feb 4, 2012 1:53 PM CST via mobile reply actions