I knew something was seriously wrong with this game tonight when I saw that Vegas had the Knicks as 2 to 3 point favorites.
Think about it — there was absolutely no reason to bet on the Knicks. They were playing the second of a back-to-back. They suffered a 45 point loss the night before. They would be playing in front of a hostile home crowd. The Bucks had a night off and were in town a day ahead of the home team. There was simply no reason for bettors to take New York in this game. And yet the Knicks were favored going in.
Vegas was just begging people to take the Bucks.
And when that happens it always means that you have to go the other way. And think of a reason why Vegas felt that New York was going to take this one.
It turned out that Yi/Villanueva vs. Randolph was the problem tonight. It’s funny, looking at the box score this was a very even game. Both teams made the same number of baskets, had the same number of rebounds and same number of turnovers. Redd’s production was equaled by Crawford while Williams and Marbury had identical games. Curry was awful and Bogut was moderately better. Mason was a little better than Richardson, but Simmons was pretty lousy.
The problem was Zach Randolph having his way with Yi and Charlie V.
Randolph went for 25/8 on 10-16 shooting while Yi and Villanueva combined for 15 and only 6 rebounds on 5-12 shooting. I know there will be growing pains with Yi, but it’s frustrating to see him start so well and then really struggle.
The funny thing is that it seems like Yi plays much better against better competition, which might not be all that surprising.
We all know that Yi’s goal has been to make the NBA for a long time, but while living in China he probably didn’t see all that much NBA basketball except for the dominant teams. So I bet he’s spent plenty of time thinking about how he would handle a matchup against Dirk Nowitzki, but probably has no clue about Zach Randolph’s game or has even heard of Reggie Evans or Al Horford. So maybe his inconsistency against bad teams is to be expected.
But it still bugs me. I want to see him get more touches, demand the ball in the post, put it on the floor more and draw more fouls. Remember, we have to assume that this guy is 24 years old, not 20, and we can’t wait around very long for him to get more assertive if he is going to fulfill his potential.
2 responses so far ↓
1 ry // Dec 1, 2007 at 8:48 am
I disagree that this game was played so evenly and that Randolph was the x-factor. The Bucks would have had this game wrapped up by the 4th if the brought their 1st quarter energy for all 48 minutes. The Knicks actually missed some very open looks after the first quarter as the Bucks looked as though they would win this game after their convincing 1st quarter. Yi needs strength before he can take it to the rim consisitantly; build his confidence from long range since he has such a sweet stroke from 20 feet, work on his upper body strength and opposing forwards will absolutely have to respect his jumper opening up the world for him to take it to the hoop for lay-ups, dunks and fouls. I would like to see a stat on how many rebounds have been ripped from his hands since the season started - upper body strenth is what he needs! I enjoy reading your blog and agree with much of what you write but this loss is chalked up to arrogance and lack of effort for the long haul - all the Bucks had to do was play hard for 48 minutes (like they did in the 1st) and they would have gone home with a W!!! Also, sitting starters (like Bogut in this game) for long stretches does nothing for someone initially playing well (Bogut made Curry looks silly a couple of times and really was the best center for this game - Curry was looking larger than usual and way out of shape). This whole bomb squad needs to go because 11 man rotations just don’t work for 48 minutes; guys get too hot and cold and that’s what role and bench players are for. Simmons needs more time as a 6th man to build his confidence because Villanueva has always been streaky, Bell was good last year (before he made the conscious decision to cash it in this year), Gadzurich will always be, well, just Gadzurich, and, though Ivey has shownsome signs of live offnsively, he will probably always be just a defensive specialist.
I’m not ready to cash it on these guys yet despite their effort (even during thier winning streak effort and, too often, open shots for the opponent were issues) - once a Bucks fan always a Bucks fan . . . unfortunately.
2 Brett // Dec 1, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Thanks for your input.
I guess I really meant that his was an even game after it all was said and done — but it’s true, dominating for 36 minutes and then getting dominated for 12 against a horrible team is really kind of worse than playing a horrible team even for 48.
You also touched on two points that I’ve been working on writing about; namely that the rotation is way too deep and Bell has been horrendous.
It was especially clear in the Atlanta loss — at the NBA level, mass substitutions don’t work. You can’t bring in a second platoon of players and expect them to consistently show positive results. The talent level is too deep, and when NBA players who are warmed up face NBA players who aren’t, the warm players dominate most of the time.
As for Bell … well … my feelings about 5 more years of him are probably already plenty clear. Matching his contract was dumb. You can get guys like him for cheap, so let him get paid somewhere he wants to be. Let Miami deal with him when he’s 32.
I wanted to wait until after Saturday’s game before bringing this stuff up, but the weather has conspired against me, so I won’t be there to see how the team handles this losing streak against a good team.
Leave a Comment