GAMEDAY: Milwaukee at Sacramento - 1/5/12

Scott Skiles, Bucks Head Coach

“They were able to get on the boards and rebound tonight. We had an excellent first half, and a not so good second half. They started to drive right by us in the second half. They were able to draw some fouls on us and get to the free throw line.”

“Brandon (Jennings) played with a ton of energy. He was trying to get us going. He had a couple of steals for us as well. We were man-handled in this game and we had some pretty poor closeouts. I don’t want to take anything away from their performance, but I feel we should have won the game. This has become a trend for us and we have to find a way to solve it.”

“We were getting enough shots in the first half and built a lead, but I thought we were settling for too many jump shots in the second half. We have been able to build nice leads, and then we go away from what we do and this happens. We are having trouble acknowledging those types of problems, and we need to fix those types of problems.”

Stephen Jackson, Bucks Forward

Last shot…
It was a tough shot but I didn’t have any rhythm at all. I took a tough shot. It felt good. It felt like it was going in. I think it went in and came out but it was not the shot I wanted.

Kings Head Coach Keith Smart…
He’s a great coach. He’s going to be good for the young guys because he going to be one of those guys that will do a great job of communicating to players and guys are going to respect him because he’s going to be straight up. He’s going to be upfront. He’s not going to sugarcoat anything. At the same time he’s going to give them the respect they deserve and the young guys are going to respect that.

Drew Gooden, Bucks Center

Playing down the stretch…
You have to play both sides of the ball. You have to play both defense and offense. It seems like we’re not consistent. We’re not doing both at the same time consistently in the fourth quarter down the stretch when we need to come back. It’s either or. Either we’re playing good offense and bad defense not rebounding the ball or playing good defense and can’t score. We have to get on the same page offensively and defensively down those stretches.

ONE AND DONE – With the shortened schedule this season, the Bucks will face 12 Western Conference teams just once, with many of those matchups coming early in the year. Milwaukee has already played its lone game against Minnesota and Utah, and will not see Sacramento and the L.A. Clippers again after this road trip. Looking ahead to the end of January, you can add San Antonio, Dallas, Denver, Houston and the L..A. Lakers to the list of teams the Bucks won't see again until 2012-13.

JACKSON FOR THREE – Stephen Jackson has hit at least one three-pointer in all five games this season, and in each of his last 10 appearances dating to last year. The effort is the 12th time in Jackson's career he's compiled a streak of 10+ games with a trey, and first since early in the 2010-11 campaign. Jackson's career-best streak is 27, when he averaged 2.1 threes per game on 56-of-134 (.412) shooting from behind the arc from 12/17/08 through 3/4/09.

BOARD REPORT – Tuesday night at Utah the Bucks grabbed 23 offensive boards – a single-game high this season and most by the team since 2/18/09 when they had 23 in a 113-104 loss to Chicago. Currently, Milwaukee ranks 5th in the NBA in offensive rebounds per game (13.2) and 10th in total rebounds per game (44.0).

OUT OF THE GATE – The Bucks have not been slow starters this season, racing out to a lead after the first quarter in all four games and topping 30 points in the opening frame in each of the last three. Milwaukee is averaging 31.3 points in the first quarter this season, a full seven points more than the 24.3 it allows in the opening period. The Bucks are also shooting 52.6 percent from the field in first quarters this season.

KID CAN SCORE – With 80 points through four games, Brandon Jennings already ranks among the top scorers in the league (T-11th), though that's a list that includes seasoned veterans like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dirk Nowitzki. Amongst scorers age 22 or younger, Jennings trails only Blake Griffin.

• The Bucks continue to rank among the elite defensive teams in the league, including top-7 marks in fewest points allowed (89.6, 6th), opponent FG% (.413, 5th) and opponent 3P% (.289, 7th). The Bucks are also second in the league in forcing turnovers (19.2)..
  
  
• Tonight marks just the second game of the season that is not part of a back-to-back, with Milwaukee posting a 21-point win over Washington on the last such occasion.
  
  
• Tonight also marks the second time already this season that Milwaukee will face an opponent playing its third game in as many nights. The Bucks lone back-to-back-to-back of the season is slated for March 22-24.
  
  
• Brandon Jennings scored 20+ points in three consecutive games to open the season, matching the longest streak of his career. He currently leads the Bucks in scoring at 17.6 ppg (21st in NBA).
  
  
• Drew Gooden's first start of the 2011-12 NBA season on Tuesday night at Utah also marked his first doubledouble (24 points, 12 rebounds) of the season. The 24-point performance also tied Gooden with Jennings for most points in a game this season by a Bucks player.
  
  
• Carlos Delfino has now swiped at least one steal in all three games this season, and in four consecutive outings dating to last season. With just one turnover on the year, Delfino's 5.00:1 steal to turnover ratio ranks as the league's best thus far.
  
  
• Bucks guard Darington Hobson, assigned to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants on 12/29, appeared in three D-League games, averaging 11.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg and 2.3 apg. He was recalled on 1/4.

LRMM joins Bogut and Dunleavy as unavailable tonight.Still a question on Udrih.Tough tonight, but still a winnable game vs Sac.

— jim Paschke (@Paschketball) January 5, 2012