Phoenix Suns vs. Milwaukee Bucks Game Thread (Jan. 8)

Welp, the Milwaukee Bucks and Scott Skiles have parted ways, and the Jim Boylan era is here! Boylan will coach the team for the balance of the season, and Hammond is now in talks with Herb Kohl regarding an extension. If you need to catch up this news, be sure to hit up our complete Skiles situation storystream. Now on to Tuesday's game.

The Milwaukee Bucks (16-16) dropped back to .500 for the first time since Dec. 3 after losing their fourth-straight game on Saturday, but their opponent for Tuesday night is in even worse shape as a squad. The Phoenix Suns (12-23) started the season with a semi-impressive 11-15 record in the Western Conference, but they have lost eight of their last nine contests and now they own the second-worst record in the West. The conversation is turning to the NBA Draft over at SB Nation's Suns blog, Bright Side of the Sun.

Milwaukee is the first stop on a four-game road trip for the Suns, and at Bright Side Of The Sun Dave King has provided a nice primer on why the Suns have struggled so much in recent weeks:

Gone are the days of the easiest schedule in the league, which was the case in the first 20 games of the year based on their opponents' current winning percentage on the season. The Phoenix Suns have beaten only one team that is still above .500 right now (the Memphis Grizzlies).

But they have beaten 6 teams that were above .500 at the time of the game. So there's that. And they've played nearly every game down to the last few minutes of the fourth quarter, only to lose at the end.

"We've got to play with a little more confidence," he said yesterday in reaction to Luis Scola's comment that the team is almost expecting the worst now. "Not looking for the bad thing that's going to happen. As coaches, management, and as players, it all starts with confidence."

The first two lines of the initial comment in King's story reminds me of the wisdom often dished out by unklchuk on this blog, so that should make you smile.

Steve's Song of the Day (my imagined meeting between Skiles and the Bucks as the cross paths in a few years):