POST GAME MILWALKEE

The Bucks are a better team than when we faced them last. No Jackson, Bogut was out anyway, and they have Ellis and Udoh. Still not a very good team, not one that has been together long enough to develop chemistry, but better than they were. They had a 6 game winning streak coming in and that's not bad. Especially for a team with no center on the roster.

We outscored them in 3 out of 4 quarters. We had a 35 point 1st quarter. Man, can we bottle that? They had a consistent half offensively, with 29 points in each quarter, but they fell apart in the 2nd half. They ran, though, they did run. 25 fast break points for Milwaukee. That's a lot. Every time that got the ball they tried to run. Makes sense, if you're small you have to run away from the other team. What's weird though is that they had 50 points in the paint vs only 36 for us. This is, in part, because we were 7-17 from 3, so we were bombing away from distance, but for a team with no center to score 50 points in the paint? Ilyasova.

1. Pierce felt it last night. Not that he did everything right, he committed a couple of offensive charges, but he was aggressive and attacked. I can live with some charges if you're driving the defense back. He has been in a cold spell, so this is very welcome. We need him to ride this for at least one more night. We need him to attack Iggy and take away his game.

2. What I liked about Pietrus' game is that he actually put the ball on the floor and attacked the rim. Comically, the first two times he tried to do that, he walked. It has been so long since he's done anything besides take a 3 he forgot you have to dribble first. Then he got the hang of it. It makes a big difference when an athletic 6'6" player drives. One more game out of my doghouse. Keep it up and we'll have something here.

3. I really like Ilyasova's game. Very good rebounder for his size, he always seems to be around the ball.

4. Ray Allen couldn't throw the ball into Lake Michigan, but neither could Monta Ellis. The difference is that Monta didn't figure that out. 6-18 for the ME-baller from GSW vs 1-8 by Team player and future HOFer Ray Allen. Would I like to see Ray go on a tear? Sure (starting tonight would be nice) but if he just erases his opponent, I'm ok with that too.

5. Another body resurrected from the dead was Keyon Dooling. He actually played well last night. He hit his shots, he played some D, he actually didn't make me want to puke. I guess he got tired playing behind a 2nd year player.

6. Rondo frustrated me last night. He attacked the basket in the first half but was very sloppy with his ballhandling. Careening through traffic, throwing up horrible off-balance shots. There was one play, though, that made me understand a little better why Ainge was shopping him. He brings the ball over halfcourt and is dribbling near halfcourt. A Buck (I thought it was Udrih, but I don't see him credited for a steal) was on him. Rondo just diddled out there, for a long time, burning clock, daring the Buck to steal it from him. A poke and the ball went the other way in a hurry. Maybe it was Udrih and it was called a Rondo turnover instead of a Buck steal. Even so, he's very frustrating. Statistically, he had 14 assists and only 3 TOs, which is amazingly good, but sometimes I just gotta wonder about him.

6. A unit made up of mostly bench (Dooling, Bradley, Steamer, KG and Pietrus) did a good job of building a 2 point lead up to around 7. Man, if we could do that consistently we'd be soooo tough.

7. A fantastic game by Steamer. He had 2 blocks in his first time out on the floor and probably twice that many altered. He challenged everything. 5 blocks, ok we know he can do that, but 4 steals? He made a nice baseline and under layup for 2. We know he can't bang like Perk, but he does other things better. Let's be honest, who would you rather see the ball in the hands of, in the field or at the line, Perk or Steamer? When Perk plays, the offense is 4-on-5. Steamer is good enough the defense can't just fall off him. Does Steamer give up too much ground underneath? Yes, and he'll need to spend a lot of time working on his lower body strength this summer, but he also has a very good feel for defense. The shooters come to him, and then he blocks them. That's different than just muscling them away. Let's also remember this kid is an NBA rookie who was supposed to be #4 on the depth chart (JON, Wilcox, KG and then Steamer). He's doing yeoman work out there. Perk is a starter, he's supposed to be better, but how much is he really?

8. Solid game by Bass. My heart was in my throat when he went down and stayed down until play was stopped. 10 rebounds. Boy, do we need rebounders. We are NOT going to get that from Ryan Hollins, unfortunately. Bass has turned into a very good defender. Drew Gooden just could not get anything done last night. 2-12 with 3 rebounds? Great job of defense by Bass. Sometimes it's not about how many times your name gets called but how few times your mans' name gets called. A blue-collar player. MUCH more reliable than Baby. I realize I'm starting to sound like a broken record about Bass and Steamer, but they have been fantastic surprises for us this year and I think they're both only going to get better. They're only 26 years old and coming into their primes.

Screw this "brotherly love" crap. Payback is a bitch.

bob

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