After yet another Buck free All-Star Weekend the Bucks head to Detroit to begin the “second half” of the season. Watching the introductions to this game I can’t help but notice the once again expressionless face of Tim Duncan. Dwight Howard did a dance, Lebron did a dance, KG did a dance, almost everyone did something, but Duncan looked up stone-faced as ever and nodded his head. I’m sure Bill Russell was proud. Shaq had quite a routine with the Jabbawokies (I think that is their name). I think he stole a lot of that from his jam session dance-off with Dwight Howard last year, but I’ll still give him an A for effort.
I’ve grown accustomed to not having anyone to root for on these occasions, but miss the days when the Bucks were vying for three all-stars with Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson, and Sam Cassell. Perhaps next year at this time I’ll be beaming as Andrew Bogut catches a lob from Ramon Sessions while representing the finest the Eastern Conference has to offer.
If the Bucks can resign Sessions.
There have been some rumbles that the Bucks are interested in making a deal with Portland involving Richard Jefferson and Luke Ridnour. This would be a coup for the Bucks, as it would free up enough cap space to allow them to bring back Sessions and Charlie V. assuming their contract demands are reasonable. I wouldn’t hold my breath on this one though; I just don’t see why the Blazers would be that interested in making that deal. Does it make them a contender this year? No. Does it push them to the next level next year? No. They could use the benefit of RJ’s expiring contract in a few years when some of their young guys are up for extensions, but that seems like an unrealistic reason for a deal getting done.
Over at Brewhoop Frank Madden does a great job of breaking down the Bucks cap situation with an eye on how to avoid the luxury tax.
The week ahead is a very central themed week for the Bucks. Starting with a trip to Detroit, the Bucks follow with home games against Chicago and Cleveland. Without further ado…
February 17th Bucks @ Detroit (27-24)
I hope I’m not jinxing this, but Detroit is only three games ahead of Milwaukee in the standings. I almost want to start thinking these new look Bucks could make a run at them…and then I remember that these are the same Pistons that deal the Bucks heartbreaking losses time and time again. The most recent was especially difficult. The Bucks had chances to put away the Pistons, but for every free throw or lay-up by Ramon Sessions there was a Rasheed Wallace three waiting on the other end. Past successes being as they are the Pistons are still a shell of their former selves. Rodney Stuckey looks pretty good, but Wallace has had far fewer standout performances this year, and the acquisition of Iverson leaves them missing something defensively. The Pistons still have been too much for the Bucks this year, and I don’t expect a lot to change this week. That last sentence may or may not have been an attempt to reverse jinx the Pistons. I’ll decide that Tuesday night after the game.
February 18th Bucks v. Chicago (23-30)
I made two points about Chicago when I was looking at the Bucks playoff chances near the end of January. My first point was that Chicago was terrible on the road and their seven game road trip would destroy their playoff chances. Wrong. They somehow went 4-3 and easily could have gone 5-2 if not for a heartbreaker against Minnesota. The Bulls were a miserable road team before this, so how’d they get their act together for a midseason seven game roadie? That takes me to my other point – Tyrus Thomas. I said it was foolish for the Bulls to not throw minutes at Tyrus Thomas and see if he could be anything. Over the road trip Thomas averaged 32.5 minutes and responded with 14.7 points and 9.7 rebounds a game. Thomas seems like the perfect running mate for Derrick Rose, that is, unless Amare Stoudemire comes to town. Thomas is the Splenda to Stoudemire’s sugar. The Bulls now look like they’ll be making a serious run at that last playoff spot. At least they aren’t the Cubs.
February 20th Bucks v. Cleveland (40-11)
King James comes back to Milwaukee. I actually found the ball from the shot Ramon Sessions put up that James rejected rolling down my street a few weeks ago, so that was cool. Mo Williams will be fresh off his first (and I’ll bet only) all-star appearance. Mo is putting up similar numbers to the ones he had last year, just with a far superior team. He’s pretty much in a perfect role for himself, a complementary player responsible for hitting shots and keeping the ball moving. It’s mysterious how his defense has managed to improve so greatly though, it must be something in that Cleveland water.
Showing posts with label Rasheed Wallace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rasheed Wallace. Show all posts
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
The Week Ahead (February 1st-7th) (Going Streaking Edition)
Look out in the gymnasium because the Bucks are coming through the quad, yes you guessed it…
THEY’RE GOING STREAKING!!
Bring your green hats because it is 2 in a row as of today. I never thought I’d see it again this year, but riding the force known as Charlie Villanueva, the Bucks are on a roll. The return of Andrew Bogut has been a welcome sight. In limited minutes he has fortified the defense and allowed the wings to stay out and cover the three. Bogut’s return obviously came at a great time with Redd having just gone down, but it always comes at a time when the Bucks schedule takes a turn for the better. In the up coming week the Bucks have only two games, with one coming on three days rest. Yes, three days rest. That should give the creaky backed Aussie plenty of time to be ready to log at least twenty minutes for a home game against Detroit, assuming he suffers no setbacks beforehand. Oddly enough the last time the Bucks were afforded three days rest this year was before the Detroit debacle at home where Coach Skiles pulled the plug early and went with a motley crew for the entire fourth quarter.
In the recent surge (Yes I’m calling consecutive wins a surge. That’s what happens when the supposed franchise player goes out and the team hasn’t won back to back games in more than a month.) Skiles has been in playoff mode, adjusting his bench to an eight man rotation. The losers in this: Joe Alexander, Dan Gadzuric, and Tyronn Lue. All of them have gone from guys who looked like they’d be the beneficiaries of more playing time due to injuries to guys who will be relegated to a mop up role for the rest of the year. The message from top down this year in organization de Bucks has been PLAYOFFS…in big capital letters like that. I have a feeling Skiles has been told, or maybe just knows, that burning his guys out just to get there is okay. Welcome to Milwaukee, where planning ahead is no longer the plan because the Bucks may not be in Milwaukee soon.
Regardless, Charlie V. for one has responded well to a consistent role. Ramon Sessions is looking like a good partner for Luke Ridnour in the back court, outside shooting be damned. Two point guards mean lots of ball movement and chances for open looks. Boy, two wins sure can change an outlook fast. Last week a friend asked me if the Bucks would win ten more games all year, and with the way it was looking for Bogut I was not sure. Now I’m getting ready to plan my approach to securing tickets for playoff games.
Onto this week’s games…
February 3rd @ New Jersey (21-27)
New Jersey has cooled of late but someone forgot to mention that to Brook Lopez. I didn’t think much of him coming out of Stanford, the twins act was not so successful when done by the Collins’, but he has been a force as of late. His scoring has improved every month and he’s blocking nearly two shots a game on the year. This guy is a force. His quickness could very well give Andy Bogut some serious problems. We might see a lot of time spent horizontally on the sidelines for the Australian while the Zombie and maybe possibly Gadz get some cracks at slowing this guy down. New Jersey is stockpiling some serious potential post guys. Lopez, Ryan Anderson, Josh Boone, Easy Yi, and recently D-Leagued Sean Williams all have some skills and could really develop. I guess they figured usually guys don’t work out, but if they get enough some of them probably will and they can just axe or trade the rest. Rod Thorn is a pretty good GM. Just ask Dallas. Devin Harris did make the all-star team by the way, no word on whether or not Jason Kidd will suit up for the skills competition.
February 7th vs. Detroit (25-21)
It just cannot be as bad as last time. The Bucks shot thirty percent and had few answers for anything the Pistons did. Boos rained down from all corners of the BC that miserable December night. Coincidentally that is also the last time the Bucks had a winning streak. Things are getting a little eerie. The Pistons have always been a tough match up for the Bucks so this would likely be a pretty big confidence booster if the Bucks were able to pull it out. The Pistons have been nothing special in the months since the Iverson trade, often times forcing bad shots and having their once intimidating defense sliced through. If anyone could let me know why Jason Maxiel doesn’t play thirty minutes a game I would love to get a reason. I’ve never seen him do anything wrong and I’ve been watching him since his Conference USA days. Another thing about Detroit is Rasheed Wallace. Wallace is the prototype for a guy who has everyone's ultimate respect and admiration simply because of what he is capable of. You rarely here anyone question the fact that Wallace puts up pretty average numbers every year and really doesn't win all that many games for them. I have two opinions on this guy though. When I see the team rally around him before games I think, wow he's worth so much just by being the team's emotional center. But then I see him have games of 4 points and 5 boards and don't understand why he doesn't dominate. As much as everyone says his emotion helps things I think he lets it take him out of games more often than it gets attributed. He's the ultimate enigma.
THEY’RE GOING STREAKING!!
Bring your green hats because it is 2 in a row as of today. I never thought I’d see it again this year, but riding the force known as Charlie Villanueva, the Bucks are on a roll. The return of Andrew Bogut has been a welcome sight. In limited minutes he has fortified the defense and allowed the wings to stay out and cover the three. Bogut’s return obviously came at a great time with Redd having just gone down, but it always comes at a time when the Bucks schedule takes a turn for the better. In the up coming week the Bucks have only two games, with one coming on three days rest. Yes, three days rest. That should give the creaky backed Aussie plenty of time to be ready to log at least twenty minutes for a home game against Detroit, assuming he suffers no setbacks beforehand. Oddly enough the last time the Bucks were afforded three days rest this year was before the Detroit debacle at home where Coach Skiles pulled the plug early and went with a motley crew for the entire fourth quarter.
In the recent surge (Yes I’m calling consecutive wins a surge. That’s what happens when the supposed franchise player goes out and the team hasn’t won back to back games in more than a month.) Skiles has been in playoff mode, adjusting his bench to an eight man rotation. The losers in this: Joe Alexander, Dan Gadzuric, and Tyronn Lue. All of them have gone from guys who looked like they’d be the beneficiaries of more playing time due to injuries to guys who will be relegated to a mop up role for the rest of the year. The message from top down this year in organization de Bucks has been PLAYOFFS…in big capital letters like that. I have a feeling Skiles has been told, or maybe just knows, that burning his guys out just to get there is okay. Welcome to Milwaukee, where planning ahead is no longer the plan because the Bucks may not be in Milwaukee soon.
Regardless, Charlie V. for one has responded well to a consistent role. Ramon Sessions is looking like a good partner for Luke Ridnour in the back court, outside shooting be damned. Two point guards mean lots of ball movement and chances for open looks. Boy, two wins sure can change an outlook fast. Last week a friend asked me if the Bucks would win ten more games all year, and with the way it was looking for Bogut I was not sure. Now I’m getting ready to plan my approach to securing tickets for playoff games.
Onto this week’s games…
February 3rd @ New Jersey (21-27)
New Jersey has cooled of late but someone forgot to mention that to Brook Lopez. I didn’t think much of him coming out of Stanford, the twins act was not so successful when done by the Collins’, but he has been a force as of late. His scoring has improved every month and he’s blocking nearly two shots a game on the year. This guy is a force. His quickness could very well give Andy Bogut some serious problems. We might see a lot of time spent horizontally on the sidelines for the Australian while the Zombie and maybe possibly Gadz get some cracks at slowing this guy down. New Jersey is stockpiling some serious potential post guys. Lopez, Ryan Anderson, Josh Boone, Easy Yi, and recently D-Leagued Sean Williams all have some skills and could really develop. I guess they figured usually guys don’t work out, but if they get enough some of them probably will and they can just axe or trade the rest. Rod Thorn is a pretty good GM. Just ask Dallas. Devin Harris did make the all-star team by the way, no word on whether or not Jason Kidd will suit up for the skills competition.
February 7th vs. Detroit (25-21)
It just cannot be as bad as last time. The Bucks shot thirty percent and had few answers for anything the Pistons did. Boos rained down from all corners of the BC that miserable December night. Coincidentally that is also the last time the Bucks had a winning streak. Things are getting a little eerie. The Pistons have always been a tough match up for the Bucks so this would likely be a pretty big confidence booster if the Bucks were able to pull it out. The Pistons have been nothing special in the months since the Iverson trade, often times forcing bad shots and having their once intimidating defense sliced through. If anyone could let me know why Jason Maxiel doesn’t play thirty minutes a game I would love to get a reason. I’ve never seen him do anything wrong and I’ve been watching him since his Conference USA days. Another thing about Detroit is Rasheed Wallace. Wallace is the prototype for a guy who has everyone's ultimate respect and admiration simply because of what he is capable of. You rarely here anyone question the fact that Wallace puts up pretty average numbers every year and really doesn't win all that many games for them. I have two opinions on this guy though. When I see the team rally around him before games I think, wow he's worth so much just by being the team's emotional center. But then I see him have games of 4 points and 5 boards and don't understand why he doesn't dominate. As much as everyone says his emotion helps things I think he lets it take him out of games more often than it gets attributed. He's the ultimate enigma.
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