Krause's Corner
with Dennis Krause

GREEN BAY THRILLER
As preaseason games go, Thursday night's double overtime loss to Charlotte was as thrilling as they come. Two buzzer-beaters in the same game. Ersan Ilyasova with a three at the end of the first overtime and Othella Harrington to win it for the Bobcats at the end of the second overtime. It was a fun game to broadcast and great for the coaches and players to be able to work on late-game situations. The great Bucks fans in Green Bay got their money's worth.

LAMBEAU VISIT
The Bobcats visited Lambeau Field during their stay in Green Bay. Several Packers attended the game at the beautiful Resch Center, including Donald Driver, Bubba Franks and Nick Barnett.

KRYSTKOWIAK ENJOYS RETURN
He was a fan favorite as a Bucks player and when you watch Larry Krystkowiak work now as a Bucks assistant coach, you can tell that he's back in a comfort zone. Before the preseason game in Green Bay, he was enjoying a spirited session with Brian Skinner, urging the big man to be strong in the post. Krystkowiak was lured back to Milwaukee after a successful head coaching stint at his alma mater, the University of Montana.

"I wasn't really actively pursuing opportunities," Larry told me. "I certainly wasn't sending out resumes and trying to find an NBA job. Through talking with my agent, Terry (Stotts) and Senator Kohl, it was a place I was really comfortable with, having played in Milwaukee for five years. I've never been one to question fate. Things kind of lined up. The opportunity became available and it seemed like a great time to make the move."

I asked Larry if he's haunted at all by his career-altering knee injury in the playoffs against Detroit or if he wonders what might have happened if not for the injury. "I wouldn't say it haunts me. Certainly I would have been really curious to see how life would have played out had that not happened. We were talking about doing a pretty substantial contract. In fact, just a few weeks prior to getting hurt I remember my agent calling and saying that Senator Kohl wants to wrap you up for long-term, should we get this done now? I was playing the best basketball of my career and I said I don't really want to be distracted with any kind of contract talks, I'd just assume do it in the summer. Honestly, the first thought when I went down in the Bradley Center was how bad things hurt physically and the second thought was 'oh man, there went all that money.' But, I've been blessed. One of the benefits to having gotten hurt was being a free agent. The three years after I left Milwaukee I went to Utah, Orlando and Chicago, each for a year. I wasn't the type of player that I was prior to the injury, played for three great coaches, met some great players and I don't know that I would have gotten married, a lot of the things that have fallen into place. It makes you wonder if I would have been that fortunate had I not gotten hurt. I had all the answers. It's good to get a little correction from time to time and I grew up an awful lot after getting hurt. Short of wondering that I really thought, I had some untapped potential basketball-wise and how I could have maximized that, I feel pretty fortunate and pretty blessed."

ERSAN MAKING A CASE
With Andrew Bogut out for the start of the regular season, Brian Skinner will have to help man the center position. That leaves some minutes at power forward behind Charlie Villanueva. Ersan Ilyasova is making a case that he's ready for some playing time. Ilyasova scored 10 points and grabbed 9 rebounds in Saturday night's 119-108 victory over Denver at the Bradley Center.

Ilyasova looks like a different player this year. Last season, he understandably looked like a scared and skinny kid. This month in the preseason, Ilyasova is showing a little more muscle and a lot more confidence. He's still not a prototypical "power" forward, but he also has the versatility to play some at the small forward spot. He has confidence in his outside shooting and also made some impressive moves inside during the MACC Fund Game. I look forward to continuing to watch Ersan develop, with the next opportunity coming Thursday night in Green Bay against the Bobcats. We'll have the broadcast on the Bucks Radio Network. Look for me Thursday afternoon on I-43 heading north. I'll be the guy driving Ted Davis.

BUCKS DEAL WITH ANOTHER INJURY
The news that Bobby Simmons will be out at least a month with a heel injury, coupled with the leg injury to Andrew Bogut, leaves the Bucks without two starters to open the regular season. While these are significant setbacks, I don't believe they are blows that the Bucks can't handle.

Larry Harris built a deep roster and I'm confident that Ruben Patterson and David Noel can perform well until Simmons gets back. Both are talented defenders and Patterson is a proven NBA player who is very capable of scoring double digits. I'm very impressed with the maturity that Noel brings to the party. He's one of those rookies who you meet for the first time and you get a good feeling about. He acts like he belongs--not in a cocky way, but in being up to the challenge. My gut tells me he's going to make a positive impression with this early opportunity.

Noel hopes to follow in the footsteps of several other Bucks drafted in the second round, most notably Michael Redd. "We were sitting around the back of the bus the other day and a bunch of the guys were talking about how they were second round picks and how good the NBA has been to them. Hopefully my career will be just as good as theirs."

David won a national title at North Carolina and feels that winning pedigree will serve him well in Milwaukee. "It helps a lot because in every situation you want to win and that is what this organization is all about. It's about winning, making the playoffs every year and becoming a consistent winning team. That's kind of what I'm trying to bring to this team is my winning attitude."

BOGUT EMBRACES REHAB
It was encouraging to see Andrew Bogut walking around Saturday night at the Bradley Center. You hope that he can come back in closer to six weeks than eight. Andrew told me he's committed to "do the right things in rehab. I don't want to rush it but I want to push it so that there won't be any more pain."

Bogut is anxious to play his more natural center position this season after working at power forward as a rookie. "The only difference now is I'm going to be guarding someone stronger now as opposed to someone quicker. Defensively, I'm going to have my hands full every game."

One thing about Andrew. He's very honest. When I asked him about the season ahead for the Bucks, he mixed optimism with realism. "It's going to be tough. We're either going to sink or swim. We're very talented and very young. We're very inexperienced. As long as we don't get our heads down, the younger guys when they start losing games in the grind. We're gonna hit the wall at some stage of the year and go through our struggles, our losing streaks. It's how we bounce back from them. I think we can definitely try to get to the second round and further. That's definitely the goal this year but it's going to be tough because we're so young."

ADVERSITY HITS EARLY
The loss of Andrew Bogut for 6-8 weeks with a torn ligament in his lower left leg is painful for the Bucks. It doesn't have to be fatal for their playoff hopes. Larry Harris has constructed a deep roster that will be tested during Bogut's absence. The injury creates a large opportunity for Dan Gadzuric and Brian Skinner. I mentioned several weeks ago in this space that Gadzuric was the forgotten man in the Bucks off-season. He's not forgotten anymore. A focused and consistent Gadzuric can be very effective. His ability to run the court blends with the Bucks desire to push the ball upcourt quickly. Skinner is solid and tough. He's a different player than Gadzuric and that's a positive. They should complement each other. Terry Stotts will be able to mix and match Gadzuric and Skinner based on the opponent. They are two very competent pros. You can't sugarcoat that the Bucks will miss Bogut's passing, court savvy and competitive fire. But Gadzuric and Skinner are good enough that the Bucks shouldn't lower their sights or adjust their goals for the season. If you want to try to find blue skies in this disappointing news, the timing could have been much worse. After all, now Bogut gets a chance to freshen up from the World Championships. More importantly, Terry Stotts and the coaching staff still have three weeks and all of the preseason schedule to adjust. It would have been much worse to lose Bogut late in the preseason and have to make adjustments during the difficult month of November when the games count. Bogut will be missed. But the reality is that you have to move on and handle the adversity. All good teams do.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Some notes from around the league. Jim Paschke isn't the only guy who can use three dots ... How long will the Pacers let Stephen Jackson destroy the declining goodwill with their loyal fans? ... Former Bucks General Manager Ernie Grunfeld was given a contract extension by the Washington Wizards ... Former Bucks forward Vin Baker is getting yet another chance--this time with Minnesota ... The war of words in the media between Ben Wallace and his former coach Flip Sanders should make Bulls-Pistons games very entertaining this season ... Milwaukee native Mike Wilks is in Sonics camp ... Golden State coach Don Nelson will use Mike Dunleavy as a point forward. Nelson has been impressed with the comeback efforts of Dujuan Wagner ... Speaking of comebacks, former Bulls guard Jay Williams is trying to make the Nets roster ... It's almost impossible to root for either side in the Knicks contract dispute with Larry Brown ... Interesting timing for Phil Jackson to have his hip surgery. He had all summer to take care of the problem but waited until training camp ... Houston's signing of Bonzi Wells makes them an intruiging sleeper in the West. They're looking at using Shane Battier at power forward to match up his defensive skills with the likes of Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett. I won't be totally sold on the Rockets until they upgrade at point guard ... There's some concern in Phoenix about Amare Stoudamire's knee. His minutes will be watched closely ... David Stern has always been a marketing genius. Maybe the new ball controversy was designed to get people talking basketball during the baseball playoffs and the NFL season. Probably not--but it worked.

TRIVIA TIME
Q: Which Bucks player played high school basketball with Luol Deng of the Bulls?

A: Charlie Villanueva. They were teammates at Blair Academy in New Jersey. Now they're divison rivals so bragging rights will be on the line.

REDD THE LEADER
Some of the discussion at Monday's Media Day was on Michael Redd becoming more of a leader. While I certainly think that Michael can grow in the area of vocal leadership, there are many different ways to be a leader. Like conducting yourself in a professional manner on and off the court. Like taking the pressure shot in the final seconds. Like playing hard even when your team is being whipped in an elimination playoff game. Michael has already passed all of those tests with A's. Could he be more vocal? Could he not be so nice all of the time? Sure, but just because a guy isn't "nasty" doesn't mean he's not a fierce competitor. Bart Starr comes to mind. So does Robin Yount. Michael is who he is and I'm fine with that. Besides, Andrew Bogut has already shown that he isn't afraid to speak his mind and be the "rough" to Michael's "smooth."

THE NOVEMBER CHALLENGE
The Bucks would love to get off to a fast start. A look at the November schedule shows that it won't be easy. Road games at Detroit, Chicago, Washington, New Jersey, Indiana and the L.A. Lakers will provide major tests for a team that will be getting used to several key new pieces. That doesn't even count a game at Toronto that will be emotionally charged for Charlie Villanueva and T.J. Ford. The three "swing" games that could make the difference between a solid and so-so month might be home contests against Sacramento, Houston and Indiana. I think if the Bucks can finish November at 8-6, they should feel pretty good.

REMEMBERING RON
Ron Taylor died on Monday. Radio "stringers" aren't very glamorous. Ron was a fixture in locker rooms in the state for years, gathering sound bites to distribute to stations around Wisconsin. While his name may not mean much to the casual fan, people in sports media and with teams knew Ron. We spent many dinners together in the Bradley Center media room talking and laughing. Ron hadn't been well the last few years. He now has peace. He'll be remembered.

TRIVIA TIME
Q: Who is the Bucks all-time leader in assists?

A: Paul Pressey with 3,272. Paul was reassigned by the Celtics from assistant coach to advance scouting this year. He is living in Florida.

Krause's Corner Archives