- A lot of preseason discussion centered on who should start. Yi Jianlian or Charlie Villanueva? Desmond Mason or Bobby Simmons? Coach Krystkowiak's decision to go with Yi and Mason was somewhat surprising, but it's worked out well so far considering their expectation-exceeding starts. But with Villanueva and Simmons rounding into form, it will be interesting to see if the Bucks stick with the same lineup. Krystkowiak seems intent on doing so, but if Villanueva and Simmons continue to make cases that they are top five players, the debate will be fueled. Krystkowiak's anti-hierarchical approach aims to please Villanueva and Simmons by claiming there is no difference between starters and the bench. That's a tough sell, but the concept is nice, and surely the recent heavy fourth quarter minutes are going a long way to satisfy the big bench guys. Tom Enlund of JS Online writes about the rotation and recent success of the bench.
Sure, the same five players (Michael Redd, Mo Williams, Andrew Bogut, Yi Jianlian and Desmond Mason) have started every game. But there is an expression in the league that it's not who starts that matters, it's who finishes. So it's interesting that reserve forward Charlie Villanueva has played the entire fourth quarter in the last two games and bench running mate Bobby Simmons has played all but 8 seconds of the fourth quarters of those two games.
- The Bucks’ passing prowess keeps drawing praise. Charles Gardner writes about the positive relationship between big assist numbers and winning. Gardner adds that Villanueva sat out of practice Friday. Something in the turkey, Charlie? Hope you feel better, we need you on the court.
The Bucks practiced for about an hour and a half today after returning from an off day on Thanksgiving. Forward Charlie Villanueva sat out due to a bout of food poisoning, and Krystkowiak said Villanueva would be evaluated again on Saturday.
- The NBDL season is now underway and Ramon Sessions is making the most of his opportunity. He started and played 38 minutes for the Tulsa 66ers in an 88-80 win on Friday. He led everyone with 27 points and nine rebounds. He also dished out four assists and had two steals, but committed eight turnovers. Aside from the turnovers that's quite a game.
Filed under:
Saturday Bucks Notes
By
Alex Boeder
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