A Stormy Month Lies Ahead - 12/01/10

Bucks at Nuggets
The first of December marked the first significant snow fall of the season. That's not all, though, as it also marked the start of what will likely be Milwaukee's most difficult month of the season. Considering Milwaukee's current injury situation, it probably couldn't have come at a worse time... Read Full Article

Scott Skiles - Bucks Head Coach
“We had a decent first half. It was 60-44 in the second half. They came out and had their way with us. Their offense scored 31 in the third. That put us back on our heels a little bit. We had 15 assists at halftime and only 6 in the second half. We started holding the ball a little bit. We made threes in the first half that we didn’t make in the second half. There were things that we didn’t do as well as we did in the first half. That is a good club and they took advantage of it. We did a lot in the first half. We moved the ball really well, we stepped into our shots, we knocked them down and we got a little stagnant in the third quarter. It started in the first few minutes and we had a hard time getting out of it. We can’t afford, right now, being short-handed to not be sharp on both ends, especially if they are happening at the same time.”

Brandon Jennings – Bucks Guard
“(Up by 4) We just lost the lead. (To contain JR in second half) Tonight he played big for them. He came in with a lot of energy; he was running the floor in transition and things like that. The main thing was to get Melo of that court and of course that happened. Then other guys on their team stepped up. (Personal performance affected by altitude) The first two couple minutes, after that I feel like they were trying to hard on the pick-and-roll situations so I was trying to get the ball out of my hands. I wasn’t able to get in to my pick-and-rolls and do what I can. They played good tonight. They kept trying to get the ball out of my hands.”

Corey Maggette - Bucks Forward
“(How did you feel physically) It was alright, just one day at a time. (IS losing getting old) It was old after the second loss. The biggest thing is to trying to keep our team to stay together as a unit. We can’t get down. We still have a lot of games and the Bucks were in this situation last year where they lost a lot of games and they made a hell of a run. We just need to stay together as a team. Just continue to execute on the things we have to do and just try to get ready for next game. We still have guys out. One of our best players is out. That’s a big key for us in rebounding and scoring and things like that. Larry [Sanders] did a great job stepping in tonight. He had 8 blocks tonight; a great job stepping in filling in for Bogut. Drew gave the go tonight even though he wasn’t 100 percent. We just need to get our guys healthy. That is a big key for this team.” 

DAUNTING DECEMBER – Welcome to December, where 11 of the 13 Bucks games this month feature opponents that have records of .500 or better and those 13 opponents combine for a 131-84 record (.609). If you take out Houston (5-12) and Sacramento (4-11), the combined record is 122-61 (.667). Including Monday’s game against Utah, the Bucks play five-straight games (@ Utah, @ Denver, vs. Orlando, vs. Miami and vs. Indiana) against opponents who are currently .500 or better. After the Bucks play Houston, the team then has another tough fivegame stretch, at Dallas (13-4), at San Antonio (14-2), vs. Utah (14-5), at Portland (8-8) and at the Lakers (13-4), who have a 62-23 (.793) record combined. Despite the tough schedule, the Bucks have fared better against teams at or above .500 so far this year (4-6) compared to teams below .500 on the day of the game (2-4).

OFFENSIVE OPPONENTS – The Bucks opponents this month are also some of the best offensive teams in the league. Eight of the 13 opponents rank within the top 15 in the league in scoring, including the league-leading Lakers (109.5 ppg), San Antonio (third, 107.2), Denver (fifth, 106.0), Houston (sixth, 103.6), Chicago (T-9th, 101.6), Utah (T-9th, 101.6), Miami (12th, 101.6) and Atlanta (15th, 100.2). Milwaukee is fourth in the league in opponent points per game (92.9) and has held 12 of its 17 foes to under 100 points.

BUNCHES (OF SCORING) FOR BRANDON –Point guard Brandon Jennings has been scoring in bunches for the Bucks, averaging 22.1 points over the last seven games, which includes two 30-plus point outings. In the last three games, Jennings has put up 25, 32 and 27 points for a 28.0 ppg average. On the season, Jennings is averaging a team-best 18.4 points per game and has scored in double figures in 15 of the Bucks 17 games.

NEARING NUMBERS – Earl Boykins reached a personal milestone Monday by playing his 600th career. A few more personal milestones are on the way for Bucks players. Ersan Ilyasova needs two 3-pointers (currently at 148) to reach 150. Andrew Bogut (482) is 14 blocks away from passing Kareem Abdul- Jabbar (495) for fourth in franchise history. Carlos Delfino (249) is one steal away from 250 for his career and (346) needs four threes to reach 350. Drew Gooden (445) is five steals away from 450 and (394) six blocks away from 400. The Bucks franchise (1,796) is four wins from 1,800. That’s 14th among active franchises, but their .524 winning percentage (1,796-1,633) is eighth among active franchises. Only Phoenix (1,922 wins) has been in the NBA as long as the Bucks among teams ahead of Milwaukee in wins. All other franchises joined the league before Milwaukee.

• The NBA has partnered with Greater Than AIDS to mobilize fans, teams and local communities in response to AIDS in the United States and reduce the stigma associated with the disease. You can learn more at http://www.greaterthan.org/nba/
  
  
• Guard Chris Douglas-Roberts made his Bucks debut Saturday night against Charlotte and has scored in double figures in each of his two games since missing the first 15 games of the season with a right eye injury. In his first two games, he’s averaging 15.0 points on 50.0 (9-18) percent from the field and 57.1 (8-14) percent from 3-point range in 26.5 minutes off the bench.
  
  
• Ersan Ilyasova has also increased his production over the last two games as a starter. During that span he’s averaging 17.5 points on 50.0 (11-22) percent from the field and 50.0 (5-10) percent from 3-point range, grabbing 7.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals. On the season, Ilyasova has averages of 7.8 points, 39.2 percent shooting, 32.5 percent from 3-point range, 5.2 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 0.9 steals.
  
  
• Despite averaging just 29.0 rebounds over the last two, Milwaukee still ranks seventh in rebounding (42.9). The Bucks are second in the NBA in rebounding percentage, collecting 52.5 percent of the rebounds that are available in a game. The Bucks have a 77.3 defensive rebounding percentage, which is tops in the NBA.
  
  
• Milwaukee continues to rank second in opponent points in the paint, allowing just 35.2 points per game. Orlando is tops in the league, allowing 34.3 points in the paint. The Bucks are sixth in the league in opponent second-chance points, allowing 11.5 per game.