- Last week's losses stung, but it's a new week. And if this season has taught us anything it is that this team takes on a new identity, for better or worse, on a weekly basis. Also, Michael Redd, who got used to winning with Team USA over the summer and then helped vault the Bucks into first place, doesn't appreciate the recent losing, and isn't making any excuses. SI.com's Chris Mannix writes about the up-and-down season.
But they are relatively young and overwhelmingly inexperienced. Against the Knicks, the Bucks abandoned the fluid offense that helped them build a seemingly insurmountable lead and became an isolation team.
"What are they doing?" asked a scout seated nearby. "They're just pounding the ball into the floor."
- It's time for Charlie Bell to start earning his new contract, as JS Online's Tom Enlund writes that Coach Krystkowiak wants to cut down Mo Williams' minutes. Bell led the Bucks in assists in each of the first two games of the year, totaling nine assists and just one turnover. Hopefully he'll focus on passing and getting to the hoop rather than chucking from long range, where he is 1-12 in the last five games.
"I need to give him more rest, for sure," Krystkowiak said. "It's a heavy dose of minutes. But I think he's doing a good job of running our club"
- Charles Gardner of JS Online writes about the Bucks' pregame Tinseltown plans, and a team meeting after the loss to the Pistons.
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TrueHoop's Henry Abbott talks to Bucks Assistant Coach Tony Brown. Yes, get Bogut touches early in the game!
HA: There was a play against Dallas -- you had a missed a free throw late in the game, and he was a big part of corralling the offensive rebound. When I saw that play, it was just a gritty, gritty play. I thought wow, he looked great doing that. This is what everybody wants out of him ...
TB: Yeah, absolutely. With his length and his timing he should be making plays like that a lot in games. He's just the tip of the iceberg, Andrew. He's a kid that wants to be better and wants to improve his team. It's just a matter of time. Hopefully, we can continue to get him touches early in ballgames to be more aggressive.
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Bloggers from 15 websites combine to rank Michael Redd 11th in MVP voting and Yi Jianlian third in ROY voting. Here's the ballot I submitted:
MVP: 1. LeBron James 2. Dwight Howard 3. Chris Paul 4. Kobe Bryant, 5. Kevin Garnett 6. Steve Nash 7. Carlos Boozer 8. Tracy McGrady 9. Michael Redd 10. Manu Ginobili
ROY: 1. Kevin Durant 2. Sean Williams 3. Al Horford 4. Yi Jianlian 5. Juan Carlos Navarro - SI.com's Drew Packham places Yi third in his weekly Rookie Rankings.
- SI.com's Marty Burns ranks the Bucks 17th in his latest Power Rankings. And this ranking is as good as it gets...
- The Bucks are ranked 18th after dipping eleven spots in Marc Stein's latest ESPN Power Rankings. This returns them to Stein's preseason ranking.
- John Hollinger's formula rates the Bucks 23rd, sandwiched between the Trail Blazers and Bulls.
- The Bucks are also ranked 18th in John Schuhmann's NBA.com Power Rankings.
The Bucks are clearly this week's "We were just kidding" team. The Warriors might come down to earth at some point, but they're on quite a run right now, setting up what should be a fun game tonight against the Magic.
- Brett at The Bratwurst breaks down last week's misery, focusing on the lineup rotations.
- Radio play-by-play man Ted Davis answers questions in this week's Bucks.com mailbag.
- And another Basketbawful mention. Not many are spared in this edition, but the Bucks are pretty high up with a relatively big blurb. We'll try to promote more positive news when there is positive news to report. Tonight? Hmm...
Filed under:
Tuesday Bucks Notes
By
Alex Boeder
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