Milwaukee Bucks Links: Let’s Play Two Edition
Nov 24, 2012; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Brandon Jennings (3) is helped off the court after being injured during the fourth quarter against the Chicago Bulls at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. The Bulls defeated the Bucks 93-86. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-US PRESSWIRE
Twitter.com: Brandon Jennings twisted his ankle in the final minute of Saturdays’ game against the Bulls and had to be shouldered off by Drew Gooden and Samuel Dalembert. He took to Twitter later in the night to assure Bucks fans that it was only a sprained ankle and not a more serious injury.
Jennings made the trip to Chicago and is officially listed as questionable to play tonight.
If Jennings doesn’t start, expect Beno Udrih to take his place.
One thing to consider, however, is Scott Skiles’ tendency to favor his top subs staying as top subs. Skiles completely eschews starting Mike Dunleavy, even though he has been the best small forward on the roster last season and this one. When Skiles benched Samuel Dalembert for the last game — evidently for arriving late to the arena — he skipped over Larry Sanders, the most obvious choice, in favor of Joel Przybilla. While Udrih is the obvious choice, that doesn’t mean he’s the only choice. Skiles could easily try Marquis Daniels or Doron Lamb too.
Racine Journal Times: Give kudos to Drew Gooden for being a pro’s pro. While he didn’t come out to the bench during his first game as an inactive player in Washington, all reports since point to him handling his new role quite well. Gery Woelfel surprises zero people with a rumor (or would that be scuttlebutt?) that the Bucks are trying to trade Gooden.
The veteran power forward has said nary a negative word about his demotion. What’s more, he’s been constantly encouraging his teammates in practices and games. Sunday afternoon, after all his teammates and coaches had left the premises, Gooden spent nearly a half hour mentoring young big man Larry Sanders.
“I’m not a selfish person and I’m not a selfish teammate,” Gooden said. “I’ll do whatever I can to help the team. Right now, I’m trying to help the team vocally in any way I can.”
The Bucks don’t comment on trade speculation but the scuttlebutt around the league is the team is trying to move the 31-year-old Gooden, who is being paid $6.68 million for this season and the next two seasons as well.
Seeing as the Bucks still owe their 15th man roughly $20 million over the next three years, it’s a grand understatement to say that Milwaukee would be willing to trade him. The bigger question is: how much of a contract problem would the Bucks need to take back in order to trade him?
(Photo credit: Twitter.com)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Rookie John Henson likes to fish.
Attention fellow fishermen: If you receive a telephone call from Milwaukee Bucks rookie John Henson, don’t hang up.
“They might be like, ‘Nah, quit playing,’ ” Henson said. “But it’s something I like doing and it’s a hobby of mine. I fish all the time. I love doing it. Even if I don’t catch any fish, just to go out there and relax, be to myself or with a family member or friend. It’s fun.
“I looked up charters here and all type of stuff, and I found a few things that interest me. As soon as I have a little time, I’m definitely going to check it out.”
I’m not sure why it would a surprise that Henson fishes. As documented here, we have picture proof of a number of Bucks fishing, including one of Monta Ellis from this summer in a “We Believe”-era Warriors shirt. Now we can add one of John Henson.
Brew Hoop: Steve von Horn notes that while it’s completely predictable that the Bucks play at a frenzied tempo with their current roster, the fact that they have done it without yielding an inch on the defensive glass is rather surprising.
Bucks are easily the NBA’s fastest team, and they are surprisingly the league’s best defensive rebounding group. If you’d told me before the season that a team led by Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis would play at the league’s fastest pace (98.59 possessions per 48 minutes), I would not have been impressed by your predictive skills. However, if you had told me the Bucks, Cavaliers, Raptors, Warriors and Trail Blazers would round out the top-5 in defensive rebound rate, I might have phoned in for the authorities to come and get you — but you would have been correct!
That’s a strange group that sits atop the NBA, because I don’t spot a single legitimate center in the bunch, but it’s an encouraging sign that Milwaukee can roll out lineups with the Tube Men (Larry Sanders, Ekpe Udoh, John Henson) without fear of giving up too much on the glass.
In his metric, the Bucks (6-5) rank 12th in the NBA, and fifth in the Eastern Conference. Right behind them in the 13 spot is tonight’s opponent, the Chicago Bulls (6-6).
The Bucks need a win to prevent all sorts of standings from flipping back in the Bulls’ favor.