The Bratwurst – Milwaukee Bucks Blog

An enjoyable, energetic Bucks-Jazz game was ruined by a true clunker of a 4th quarter. After shooting 57% through three quarters, the Bucks managed to shoot 2 for 18 in the fourth, turning a close game into an 11 point loss.

When Andrew Bogut had shot 8-11 going into the 4th, how does he only get one shot in the final 12 minutes?

Why does Charlie Villanueva play 8 minutes, meaning that Charlie Bell has to guard Matt Harpring for half of the quarter and Andrei Kirilenko for the remainder? The most perplexing thing about this decision is that Villanueva actually played his 8 minutes at small forward, just like I’ve been asking for!

There was no way that the Bucks would win this game with Mo, Redd, Yi and Bell combining to shoot 1-16 in the quarter. They probably wouldn’t have won had they shot closer to 7-16, because Utah is pretty good and was getting to the foul line at will (22 free throws in the 4th). But I just don’t see how the team is going to get anywhere by pinning one of their 5 best players to the bench more and more.

Stories abound about how Villanueva’s practice habits are a major problem, and I’m sure that’s what’s going on here. However, it seems to me that the best way to get him in the flow would be to play him more, not less. I know that Krystkowiak’s whole M.O. is defense, energy, hard practice gets you game time. But you have to treat these guys like men — give them some responsibility and a reason to go out and work harder. Some people simply don’t respond as well to that “practice well and the rewards will follow” stuff. But this isn’t college — you are stuck with the players you have, so you have to reach them all in different ways.

Krystkowiak also used the “all-bench” lineup for a bit in the second quarter, but I’m certainly not going to complain about it at all today. The altitude probably makes it a bit of a necessity (I notice that Jerry Sloan used it as well), and Krystkowiak only used it for 4 minutes while the Bucks also played well during that stretch. But most of all, I was glad to see that Gadzuric was part of that lineup.

While Danny G didn’t really fill the box score — 2 points, a board, two blocks, a steal and 3 turnovers in 10 minutes — he also forced two Jazz turnovers by taking charges. One of his turnover was on the classic Gadzuric offensive foul — he sets a screen and “rolls” to the basket by turning his back to the hoop, holding both of his hands up, (probably screams out to the defense “I’m not looking where I’m going!”) and starts chugging backwards. This sequence ends with him looking surprised at the fact that (a) a defender jumped in and took a charge or (b) he ran over a defender that wasn’t looking. You’d think that after 10 years of NBA and college ball that Dan would have learned that this move doesn’t work, but I guess not. That’s why he should be playing power forward and working on the baseline where he can attack for offensive rebounds, not being a part of the offense as a center.

Yi’s game was kind of hard to figure out. Only 6 points on 2-8 shooting and only 3 rebounds, but 4 blocks and 2 steals made him a helpful piece of the puzzle. He also cross-matched onto Okur and did well against him, harassing him into 3-11 shooting. Between that matchup being a push and Bogut-Boozer being even as well, (23-10-3 vs. 21-10-3), it was nice to see the Bucks get a draw against one of the best frontcourts in the league.

All things considered, an 0-3 road trip against the Lakers, Suns and Jazz isn’t so bad, especially since the Bucks didn’t get blown out in any of them (and with the incredible disappearing Michael Redd being pretty poor in two games). But 8 minutes for Charlie V? That’s no way to win.