Bogut with a steal, outlet, and gets it back for the slam. Then next posession bounce pass to Sessions for the lay-up.

They have been a lot of fun to watch lately. Defense looks good again tonight.

Ridnour has been playing better than I thought he would.

I really don't think this team is better than 8th in the East, but a couple of things...

1) Is it just me or is the fact that the teams the Bucks are playing are getting awfully chippy by the end of the game a sign of how much the Bucks improved D is starting to rattle their opponents?

2) Since the beginning of the season they have really turned the free throw discrepancy around. Their free throw attempts have been on par with their opponents just about every night now.

Nice to see the improvement of this team especially with the injuries.

I just returned from my first (and likely only) Bucks game this year, and I was sincerely impressed with the way this team played tonight. The hawks are a better team, but you would never have known it tonight.

Villanueva was impressive, but I thought more impressive was the way the Bucks ran their offense. They moved without the ball, they slashed, cut, and distributed the ball, and consistant;ly got good looks. There was a stretch during that bust out to 18 points that they had the Hawks running in circles. It just shows that the Bucks are getting there. Skiles has a plan, they are coming into it.

Defensively, they were fortunate that the Hawks were missing shots, but they also played tough inside. I worry about Bogut's back- after a post up where he got fouled, we never saw him again and was walking around gingerly. That back issue may not go away this year, and that would be bad for this team. Bogut really is this team's toughness identity. He plays with more swagger now than he used to, and he physically is starting to be able to really impse his will. I still complain that he is too unselfish, and that he should look to get his scores more, but overall he is proving that he's not just another guy. Marvin Williams is just another guy. Solid, skilled, but nothing that you really have to worry about. Bogut is the emotional leader, and the team's play reflects that.

The officiating was atrocious tonight. RJ gets smashed in the face on a breakaway, loses the ball OB, and lands on the scorers table- Hawks ball. Then Bogut is so pissed about it, he gets T'd up to boot. It was a pretty bad sequence. The crowd was spirited, and they lost it on that play. I don't know how many "benefit of the doubt" calls the Hawks got, but the Bucks came up on the short end too many times tongiht- it kept the Hawks in the game, to be honest.

I am pretty happy that a Bucks team without Redd took down a Hawks team that they just don't match up with very well. They took control of the game early, slipped a bit, but never gave up the lead. They are most certainly better than they have been. You can sense it. Players are getting better, more involved, and they're starting to show positive signs. They still have a long way to go, but it's very encouraging.

Williams didn't get any looks tonight and disappeared in the offense. That is his biggest problem right now. Part of that is his fault, but it also has something to do with the team around him; Smith, Johnson, and Bibby have the ball in their hands a lot of the time and then you have Flip Murray who hasn't seen a shot he doesn't like. I have seen a few games where they work to get Williams the ball much better and he hits the 18-20 foot jumper as well as anyone in the NBA. He also gets to the line well for someone who only takes 10 shots a game. He is a good defender. He will not turn 23 until next summer.

He isn't quite where I thought he would be by now, but I would consider him a pretty good SF that just needs to get involved in the offense more as I see him as their second best offensive player on that team. It was a knock on him at UNC that he was a bit passive in the offense and it is the same now. If he ever gets more aggressive in looking for his shot, I think he would be good for an easy 22+ pts/game while continuing to shoot at a good percentage and getting 6+FT a game. If he continues to be passive I think he will settle in at about 17-18pts/game, he isn't that far from that now if he would just get 12-13 FGA/game instead of 10.0 which is where is at now.

I'm not taking the bait...

Wanna fight?

I know the media loves to think that this team is all Mike Redd but in reality it's Drew Bogut's team. By that I mean there is a much bigger dropoff when Bogut isn't in the lineup than Redd.

Last night was another good example. Sessions and Bell combined for almost 40 points. They also didn't allow a team like ATL to go for like 120 which would have happened if #22 was in there.

quote:

Originally posted by brosto1:
Wanna fight?

I'm the one with the smoke...

I would never have a tramp stamp.

quote:

Originally posted by brosto1:
I would never have a tramp stamp.

May as well put a target on your back.

Tramp stamp? Actually, that's back hair!