Doron Lamb scores 12 in D-League debut

Looks like Doron Lamb's shooting struggles have followed him to Fort Wayne.

The Bucks' 2012 second round pick came off the bench in Fort Wayne's 104-102 win over the Los Angeles Defenders, but his D-League debut wasn't exactly one to write home about. Lamb shot 4/14 shooting from the field, 0/3 from deep and hit all four of his free throws to finish with 12 points, two rebounds, an assist and turnovers in 27 minutes. I wouldn't read much into a single game, particularly given it's Lamb's first time playing with the team, but the hope is that regular minutes will allow Lamb to rediscover the touch that saw him hit an exceptional 47% of his threes at Kentucky. The former Wildcat combo guard has struggled with his normally reliable jumper this year, hitting just 34.7% from the field and 25% from deep for the Bucks in a rookie season that has in many ways paralleled that of former Bucks' second rounder Jodie Meeks.

The challenge for Lamb is to become a consistent shooter without the benefit of major minutes, something that has derailed plenty of good college shooters/scorers before him. And while Lamb got used to being a complementary player while playing alongside a slew of first round picks at Kentucky, so far we've only seen glimpses of the shooting and scoring which made Lamb such an essential piece of Kentucky's 2012 national championship team.

Lamb is the first Buck to appear in the D-League since 2010 second round pick Darington Hobson made a couple visits to Fort Wayne last season, and you may recall that Larry Sanders also made two appearances for Fort Wayne back in the 10/11 season. Slowed by dual hip surgeries that cost him the entirety of his rookie year, Hobson didn't impress in Milwaukee or Fort Wayne and was eventually waived in early February of last year. He's hoping to eventually make it back onto an NBA roster, but he's currently underwhelming with Santa Cruz of the D-League. In other words, let's hope Lamb's career turns out closer to Sanders' than Hobson's.

There's been no indication of how long Lamb may be in Fort Wayne, though any injuries to the Bucks' thin backcourt would likely result in a recall to the big club. Lamb split time between both backcourt positions in the opening months of the season, but new head coach Jim Boylan has reverted to a tighter backcourt rotation of Brandon Jennings, Monta Ellis, Beno Udrih and occasionally Marquis Daniels since taking over for Scott Skiles.