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6th Fan Blogger: Bucks vs. LA Clippers

Last night I was resting my noggin on the sleep sack when my mind started to run. Maybe it was the heavy dose of Kid Cudi, or the glass of Diet Mountain Dew on the rocks. I don’t know. Either way, I couldn’t fall asleep. I was out of my typical routine. No matter what I tried, I just laid there staring at the ceiling and I began to wonder what the Bucks were thinking as they too drifted to sleep.

Brandon Jennings thought back to his childhood elementary school where he would assist his teacher in making sure that each students Crayola box contained the correct colors. Even then he demonstrated a preternatural ability to dish out the correct items with minimal mistakes (at the time he held the record for most consecutive correct placements of Jazzberry Jam - 89 - without a mistake unduplicated until the great Max Cable 9 years later.

Mike Dunleavy Jr.,after ensuring his knee was elevated, had just finished being tucked into bed by his father before their typical story time. Mike Sr. would beguile stories of his time with the Trailblazers and how he had tamed the mighty Rasheed Wallace, a mythical beast of the NBA past whose top tier potential was limited only by his middle tier effort. Sure, Mike Sr. may have had to stretch the truth to some extent, but he was compelled to make sure his son would always play up to his own abilities.

Larry Sanders has been able to block out any semblance of the dreams he had the previous night since he was 4. If you ask him, he slept like a rock.

Meanwhile, Monta Ellis was tossing and turning. He was having another dream. In his mind he was already at the game. Jennings was dishing the ball with authority, Ersan was hustling all over the floor, and Luc Richard Mbha A Moute was throwing down solid defense. Monta was even able to generate a steal in the faux-game’s third period, and had a wide open court to dazzle the BMO’s fans with something special. He left the floor at the free throw line, and was about to throw down a dunk for the ages when the hoop morphed into Blake Griffin who swatted the ball into the stands knocking out Bango. Monta quickly snapped to and a smile crept over his face. After all, he knew that no mortal man could injure Bango.

Game Recap:

I wish that I had sweet introduction music playing every time I entered my job. It’s not that I currently do poorly there, I just think that it would be sweet if a bunch of pyrotechnics and loud music played every time I sat at the chair in my cubicle. Maybe a pressure trigger in my chair would do the trick.

As the game was starting you could feel the sense of energy in the air. Yes the Bucks had won four straight coming into the game, but this was a different kind of opponent. They had a city named after them.

Two free throws down, and Larry Sanders along with the Bucks were on the board for a 2-0 lead to start the game. The next few minutes flew by in a flurry of Bucks half court action and LA Clipper agility. It was with about 7 minutes left into the 1st Quarter that I thought about how not too long ago the only Clipper fans I could think of were Frankie Muniz (Malcolm in the Middle) and the old Dr. guy that was at the games (I only know of this guy because I watched MTVs Diary of Frankie Muniz when I was in grade school and lonely). Anyways, after the first quarter the score stood at Clippers 28 Bucks 15. The bucks were struggling to decipher the Clippers Man-to-Man and I needed a Hot Dog.

During the break I went to the bathroom and grabbed some chow. When I got back the Bucks had pulled within 10 and it looked like I might be 2-0 as the 6th fan - then again, I may have spoken too soon. With two minutes left in the half, the Bucks were struggling to guard the isolations that the Clippers were able to run with their Big Men.  In order to win this game, the Bucks need to figure out a way to prevent the second chance points the Clippers are getting. At the end of the first half Clippers 55 Bucks 35. We have work to do.

At the start of the second half, the Bucks needed to change something - perhaps the team can get their hands on an old Wheaties box? They needed to generate some energy on the offensive side of the ball. If one thing was apparent at the end of the first half, it was that they would need more than 70 points to beat the Clippers. Through the first 11 minutes of the third quarter it appeared that this hadn’t happened. So I threw on the santa cap that I brought with me (who in their right mind travels during Christmas without a Santa Cap?) and prepared myself to will the Bucks to victory with the rest of the crowd. At the end of three it was Clippers 79 Bucks 62 - a large deficit to be sure, but not one that was insurmountable.

The fourth quarter started and it dawned on me that Ronny Turiaf is still in the league, I needed to go home tonight and make immediate modifications to my NBA 2K7 team simulations. The Bucks were still looking for a way to change the momentum of the game and they were running out of time. Try as they might, tonight was not their night. The athleticism of the Clippers was just too much for the Bucks to handle. Even the ghost of Lamar Odom was able to sink the three in the waining minutes of tonights contest. Whatever the Clippers did - worked, and whatever the Bucks did - didn’t, except for Marquis Daniels, he had a nice game for Marquis Daniels. Clippers 111 Bucks 85.

The four game win streak was gone - maybe the Bucks just didn’t get a good night’s sleep? Hopefully they can go home tonight and erase the game from their minds. Tomorrow is a new day, and the I still feel the league has more to see from the team in MKE.   #RunwiththeStags