State of the Bucks – 1/18/11

State of the Bucks – A Weekly Review and Preview for the Milwaukee Bucks

 

Last Week’s Results:

 

The Milwaukee Bucks, fresh off their first home loss of the season, now sport a 2-8 record in the year 2012 and 4-9 overall. They show flashes of something resembling a sustained level of talent, but it comes and goes far too rapidly.

The Bucks have demonstrated the ability to be very physical around the basket, especially on the defensive end. And with that defense, they often find a way to hang around in most games, only to succumb eventually. Milwaukee still seems to be seeking out that leader who rallies the troops at the worst of times. It’s not the only thing they need, just one off the list.

Player of the Week:

We’ll go with one of the more reliable scorers of the last week plus, rookie Jon Leuer. His minutes have slowly been rising as he proves his ability to crash the basket with guts, something a lot of rookies want to build a reputation for. Coach Scott Skiles always has a soft spot for those types of fighters.

Highlights of the Week:

Drew Gooden, at least in short spurts, is finally being the player fans hoped he would have been all last year.

Jon Leuer had a good week. Did I mention him already? He went to Wisconsin, ya know?

Disappointment of the Week:

Dallas…..disappointment.

You got the sense that each time Denver sprinted down court, the Bucks were thinking “oh yeah, I forgot Denver keeps doing that.” Hustling back on defense, they suffered too many lapses in the transition. Denver’s quick attack worked well because Milwaukee was too delayed in making any kind of adjustment.

This hasn’t been the norm for the Bucks this year. Especially along the perimeter, Milwaukee has typically done well rotating with the ball against quick passing teams. Perhaps the defense is fatiguing them out of games, which has been an occasional discussion point about Skiles’ teams of the past. That’s just one more thing to pay attention to.

 

This Week’s Games:

 

Final Thoughts:

Now that their perfect record at home is broken, they’ll have to start taking a few on the road if they want to be a .500 or better team. The game at New York could be their best chance for a while; the Bucks are 3-3 against under .500 teams, and 1-6 against winning teams. Maybe Milwaukee is taking its time to establish a winning chemistry. Maybe Milwaukee doesn’t know what it is taking its time for.

The Bucks can be thankful they are in the Eastern Conference once again, as their current 10 seed in the East would only be 15 on the other side. That’s at least one victory we’ll happily take.

Player of the Week Count:

 

 

 

Tags: Drew Gooden, Jon Leuer, Milwaukee Bucks, Scott Skiles, State of the Bucks