The Bratwurst - Milwaukee Bucks Blog

Oh, was it nice to watch the Bucks head into Miami and control the second half of a game for once.

And was it satisfying to see Charlie Bell and Bobby Simmons play well.

Lets not forget that it was only the Heat that the Bucks took down. Miami has the second worst home record in the league, Wade is not quite back to the level where he was, and the Heat, without Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning, were down to only 3 frontcourt players (Udonis Haslem, Mark Blount, and Earl Barron). But it was still nice to see the Bucks win a road game that they really should have won; especially since the failures in Denver, Chicago and Detroit are still in recent memory.

Finally the Bucks weren’t killed by Simmons and Bell.

I think it’s pretty clear now that Simmons must not be 100% healthy and only can handle 15-20 minutes a game, because if there was ever a night when he should have played more it was last night. Miami spent a good portion of the 4th quarter using a 4-guard lineup, and Redd had already taken a seat, so I have to assume that the only reason Simmons wasn’t still in is because he was tapped out. Simmons shot well and while it kind of looked like he was struggling defensively, I think a closer review shows that most of the breakdowns around him weren’t his fault.

For example, Ricky Davis blew by him for one layup, and Krystkowiak immediately called a timeout to chew out Yi for not rotating. Then Davis got another layup on a play where Simmons left Davis to cover Bogut’s man under the basket, because Bogut had left to double Wade. Great pass by Wade, not a bad play by Simmons.

Charlie Bell was even better than Simmons, as he shot well (5-9) and also added 5 rebounds (3 offensive). During the game broadcast last night, Craig Cashun related some quotes from Bell about the difficulty of getting out of his shooting slump because practice time is so limited once the season starts. While this is a very valid point, it also illustrates how Bell should have been benched a long time ago. If he was coming to the arena every night knowing that he would only play 5 minutes a game instead of 30, then it gives him the time to use his energy practicing his shot pre-game, rather than needing to conserve himself for the game. Hopefully last night’s game will prove to be a turning point for him. If he shoots 50% the rest of the season then his totals will wind up right around his career averages, and this disasterous first third of the season can be forgotten.

Another point from the broadcast last night was that Redd — who only scored 8 points and left the game after the 3rd quarter with the Bucks only up 4 — has been fighting a bad cold since Christmas. This coincides with some pretty poor games from him, and could also explain why his game — shot selection and energy level — seems to have regressed in a big way since the Denver game.

Of course, this has led to some people thinking that the Bucks are better without Redd (read the comments section in the Journal-Sentinel Bucks Blog). This is ridiculous.

The reason the Bucks won last night was that they simply dominated the glass — a 41-28 rebounding edge — and everybody except Redd (and Ivey) had a good night shooting the ball. You can’t count on 7 of the 9 players who took a shot to make 50% or more every night. The Bucks offense looked so great in the 4th quarter because nobody was missing shots — 71% shooting in the 4th — but they were still turning the ball over as ferociously as with Redd in earlier (5 times in the quarter, 20 times in the game) and when it was all done they had only outscored Miami by one point in the 4th. Without Redd’s ability to draw fouls they had a hard time slowing down Miami’s furious run to end the game. The Bucks need Michael Redd to take a lead role in the offense — a bad stretch of 5 games doesn’t change that.

It was only Miami, but at least it was a win. There was some good stuff happening on the court on Wednesday, and hopefully it continues.