The Bratwurst - Milwaukee Bucks Blog

The Bucks have been terrible in crunch time this year.  I have a few thoughts as to why.

• Terry Stotts never makes any line-up changes to interject fresh legs in the final minutes unless he has to because of foul trouble.  If your team ain’t scoring Terry you need to change something. 
• Mo Williams always plays regardless of the situation.  Steve Blake needs to play when the team is ahead, he has the right mentality for playing with the lead.  He is a pass first player that is well-suited to look for Bogut and Redd in crunch time.  He can’t score like Williams, but I have more faith in him as a decision-maker.
• Michael Redd dribbles way too much.  They need to develop crunch time plays, not crunch time time 1-on-5 situations like happened tonight vs the Pacers.  Both on-the-ball picks should be happening for Redd and off-the-ball picks by Andrew Bogut so that he can role to the basket.  This is not street basketball and Michael Redd is not Kobe Bryant.  Terry Stotts needs to teach and preach X’s and O’s.
• Ruben Patterson often doesn’t play in the final minutes in favor of Charlie Bell.  If the Bucks are winning Patterson should be on the floor.  He is the Original Gangsta and plays like a mad man on defense.  It should be made clear to him that on offense he only shoots if it is a dunk and that on defense he is needed on the court so that he can assault the opposing players with his  Jermaine-O’Neil-jacking-the-fan-on-the-court type anger.  It is far too often that players get easy layups on the Bucks late in games.
• No one should score against the Bucks on an easy layup.  You do not get to dunk or lay the ball in against the Bucks.  This is the NBA.  You will to get fouled and you will get fouled hard.  This is how good teams control the tempo late in games.  Fear.  Right now it’s a cake walk, and it’s sickening.
• Dan Gadzuric should never touch the ball on offense in a close game.  Come to think of it, why isn’t Brian Skinner on the court?
• Ersan does not in any circumstance belong on the court late in a close game.  In the event that he would need to come into the game a random fan shall be selected from the crowd to take his place.  He does not have pressure experience in the NBA yet and this isn’t the time for him to learn it.  He needs a good 1,000 minutes of regular season experience before I would even consider putting him in late in games.

In summary when the Bucks are winning they need Steve Blake and Ruben Patterson.  They also need to tighten up the defense and foul people hard if they try to lay the ball in.  They either dunk it over Andrew Bogut’s head or settle for jump shots.  Bucks defenders need to develop the “Over My Dead Body” mentality in the final minutes of a close game, because right now they are a pathetic basketball team in the closing minutes.