Remember in my season preview I made a remark about how the Bucks were sunk if they lost Andrew Bogut for a long time? Well, looks like I was right.
While Bogut’s overall production has been a little disappointing this season, at least he has been a rebounding beast. With 20, 17 and 17 boards in the three games before the injury, Bogut was averaging a rather stellar 0.347 rebounds per minute — the 6th best rate in the league among players averaging over 20 mpg. Of course, the cynic says that Bogut had better rebound like that since he’s the only rebounder the team has. That is a good point.
In the three games he has missed (all losses) the Bucks have been outrebounded by 24. That was a major problem in the loss to Cleveland, which was able to use the triumvirate of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Ben Wallace and Anderson Varejao to simply hammer the Bucks on the boards all night. That game was a hard-fought effort until the Bucks simply ran out of gas (to the best team in the league — 5 straight double digit wins).
It worried me when John Hammond did nothing to bolster the front line behind Bogut, but it is true that dominant rebounders are not all that easy to come by. So what can the Bucks do?
Play Dan Gadzuric until he fouls out every night. It may make you shudder to hear this, but Danny G is a much better player than Francisco Elson. Why would Gadzuric only get enough minutes to pick up a total of two fouls in the last three games?
Free Charlie V! Face it, he is a lousy defender, but he scores in bunches and actually rebounds very well (0.32 per minute). The Bucks need him on the floor. Mbah a Moute is a very effective player, but why have him playing power forward on a regular basis where he gives up 3-7 inches to every opponent?
Go big. Ramon Sessions may be the Bucks most effective point guard, but when you have the chance a lineup of Gadzuric-Villanueva-Moute-Redd-Jefferson may work for a brief stretch. If that team has a hard time getting the ball upcourt (likely) then Sessions will have to come back in, but a big lineup might create some mismatches — and if it doesn’t then it gets Jefferson (38 mpg) a little rest.
Will it work? I don’t know. But Scott Skiles needs to do something to keep the boards clear while Bogut is on the shelf.
2 responses so far ↓
1 jimmy // Dec 6, 2008 at 10:37 am
I didnt know that there was actually a Bucks Blog. I had the pleasure of sitting courtside with another member of the BTB staff last evening, and I understand the importance of having Bogut on the floor. He is a beastly rebounder. His offense is what it is, but it is the other things he does that make him an effective Buck. I think they can hit the 45 win mark this year.
2 foolonthehill // Dec 7, 2008 at 8:47 pm
Just turned the Lakers game off and I’m disgusted. It’s really time that Milwaukee just sell the Bucks and this comes from a 50 year old die hard Bucks fan whose first game was in 1968 when I was a cub scout. I’ve stuck with them through thick and thin and could probably name more coaches and players than 99% of the Bucks fans out there. I’m done.
It is never more apparent than when we play a team like the Lakers, a team in a huge market, with a huge market coach, the best or second best player in the league, a team that when they lose their center, goes out and gets one that’s as good or better and now has both, a team that can play like crap for a half and come out and just open up a can of whoop-ass and we stand there with our fingers up our asses. It’s pitiful.
On paper, we’re close to as good. Bogut and Gasol are close to a wash with Gasol being more offensive and Bogut a better rebounder and defender. At the 4 they have Bynam i guess-if Gasol is the center, and Charlie V. or Malik lose that matchup. At the 3 they have Odom or Radmanovic and we have Jefferson and Mbah a Moute, pretty even there on paper too. At the 2….please, Redd’s an Olympian true but they have Kobe so forget it. Then at the 1 we have Ridenouer who has been playing well and they have Fisher who is just the consummate professional. Blah, blah, blah, so when the game gets going we just smell and so do they; no one can hit a thing; it’s ugly. We cannot shoot. at all.
I’m just sick and tired and sick and tired of expecting good things year after year, going to games, watching them regularly on tv and just being disappointed more often than not. I really thought that tonight they would send a message to the NBA. They had almost their full arsenal and had just won two against easy teams. They showed their true colors tonight, as they usu. do in big games…..lousy shooting and call it a game at half time.
Herb, just sell the team. The Lakers will always be the Lakers and do what it takes to remain that way. The Bucks will always be a shoulda, coulda, aw man, team and they need to go somewhere else and just change their name, their image and their culture. I’m done watching and wasting my time.
I had high hopes with Hammond and Skiles and Jefferson and Alexander and Mbah a Moute; I’ll scan the papers for a couple of weeks and see what happens, if they can rip off some wins but if not, I’m really done. It’s just a waste of time and I’m done wasting it on an organization that is not dedicated to winning.
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