Charlotte Bobcats vs. Milwaukee Bucks Game Thread (Dec. 7)

The Charlotte Bobcats (7-10) are bad news for the Milwaukee Bucks (8-9)**. I don't know why, but that's how I feel. The Bobcats won just seven games last season (7-59), but the Bucks were the first team to fall -- they lost a nail-biter on opening night in 2011-12 by a score of 96-95. This season, Milwaukee jumped out to a nice 6-2 start and then they lost to Charlotte on Nov. 19. It sent them into a 2-7 skid that puts them under .500 heading into the rematch on Friday night.

Nothing good can come from a game against the Bobcats**. If the Bucks win, they are doing what is expected by fans holding them to a playoff standard. If they lose, it's a crushing psychological loss to a team clearly in rebuilding mode. Yes, Charlotte is much better this year -- they have already matched their win total from 2011-12 -- but they aren't talent rich by any means. It's all about youth. If the Bobcats knock off the Bucks again tonight they will move past Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference standings. It's a scary thought.

**HOWEVER, most of the recent troubles against the Bobcats have come on the road. This game will occur in the friendly confines of the BMO Harris Bradley Center, where the Bucks have been quite good against Charlotte teams:

Milwaukee’s current 8 game home winning streak against Charlotte is its longest active streak against any opponent at the BMOHBC. #MILvCHA

— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) December 8, 2012

Visit Rufus on Fire for more on the Bobcats. Here's a bit from a recent piece on former Buck, Ramon Sessions:

Ramon Sessions is having his least efficient scoring season ever.

Yes, it's true. His effective field goal percentage, which takes into account that three-pointers are worth more than twos, is at a poor 39.8%, his worst since either of his first two years in the league with 44.9% eFG.

His FG% at the rim is a decent 50.5%, which is also his worst ever - by far. Last season he converted 59.5% of his shots at the rim, and his previous lowest was 53.3% his rookie season (via basketball-reference.com). To make matters worse, he's upped his confidence in his three point shot, taking 2.7 per game (most of his career) while making a dreadful 19.4% of those. Most times they're open threes and would be fine shots for other guards, but teams are willing to leave him open for these to back off and prevent him from penetrating to the interior where he's more effective.

Sounds brutal, right? Poor Ramon. Now try to pick his True Shooting percentage for 2012-13 out when I line it up next to those of Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis:

Player A: 47.2 TS%

Player B: 49.8 TS%

Player C: 49.3 TS%

As for the answer: does it really matter? (ask me in the comments if you must know)

Steve's Song of the Day