GAMEDAY: Milwaukee at Charlotte - 12/26/11

Head Coach Scott Skiles

On the third quarter
“We had a pretty respectable first half and finished strong. They (the Bobcats) took it to us in the third quarter and we had a hard time responding. They got all over the offensive glass and we were flat-footed. They were quicker and more athletic. They outplayed us in the third quarter and took control of the game.”

On changing the line-up in the fourth quarter
“We didn’t feel like we were getting any traction on our conventional line-ups. Stephen Jackson was the biggest guy in the game at that time until he went out. We had to play with three small guys and Andrew Bogut. That is when we finally got something going.”

On Shaun Livingston’s play tonight
“We were trying to get some switches and get their point guards on him, and he was able to shoot right over them.  He is very good at that.”

On Gerald Henderson
“Gerald is a proven player.  There is no question about that.  He has great size and he can shoot the ball well.”

Bucks forward Stephen Jackson

On tonight’s game
“It was tough.  We had good looks to win the game, the ball just didn’t go our way.  I think we executed well.  We’ll see what happens tomorrow.  We’ve got another one tomorrow.”

On getting acclimated to his new team
“I’ve been with the team for a couple of weeks now, so it’s good.  We’ve just got to continue to play together to make sure we’re on the same page.”

Bucks guard Shaun Livingston

On the loss
“I think we’ll be fine.  Guys are going to make shots and guys are going to miss shots on any given night, we’ve just got to find a way to get it done and find a way to make plays.”

On whether he tries to take advantage of smaller guards
“Definitely.  You’ve got to make them pay if they’re going to put (shorter) guys out there.  You’ve got to try to exploit mismatches.  We were able to do that a little bit in the first half, but in the second half we weren’t able to make enough plays to stop the run.”

THREE THE KEY? – After ranking 24th in the league last season in three-point percentage, the Bucks added two prolific marksmen this offseason in Mike Dunleavy and Stephen Jackson. The eight returning Bucks this season (Bogut, Brockman, Delfino, Gooden, Ilyasova, Jennings, Mbah a Moute and Sanders) have combined to hit 889 treys over their respective careers, while Jackson alone has nailed 1,156 threes in the NBA (including eight straight years of 100+ threes). With 771 career threes, Dunleavy also nearly matches the combined total of his new teammates. Jackson's 1,156 threes rank him 40th on the NBA's all-time list, while Dunleavy (107th) is poised to climb into the top-100 this season.

• Tonight marks the 27th consecutive year that the Bucks have opened their season on the road (14-12 over that span). Overall, the Bucks are 24-18 in season-opening games, 21-21 in road openers, and 19-13 when opening the season on the road.
  
  
• Tonight marks the first-ever meeting between the Hornets and Bobcats on Opening Night, though it's the second time in 43 seasons that the Bucks will open against a Charlotte-based franchise. The first, coincidentally, came during the last lockout-shortened season when the Bucks opened the 1998-99 campaign with a 113-107 (OT) victory over the Charlotte Hornets on 2/6/99.
  
  
• The Bucks finished the 2011 preseason with a 0-2 record. Overall, their preseason record is 178-162.