May 10, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors center Andrew Bogut (12) defends San Antonio Spurs power forward Tim Duncan (21) during the fourth quarter of game three of the second round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Silicon Valley Mercury News:  Andrew Bogut collected 18 rebounds in Golden State’s overtime win yesterday.  Not only is he leading the NBA’s postseason (despite ranking 25th in minutes played), but his 118 rebounds gives him a full 21-rebound lead over second-place (Joakim Noah has 97).

Bogut was slowed after picking up a bunch of first-half fouls for moving screens in the high pick-and-roll, but once he got into the flow of the game in the second half, he made all the difference. His defense frustrated Tim Duncan into a 2-for-12 shooting performance in the second half and overtime.

“He’s a great defender, he’s a great rebounder, he’s a great rim protector. We were missing him,” (Mark) Jackson said. “But he’s played lights out, and he certainly has elevated his game in the postseason.”

Regardless of how Monta Ellis performed after the trade, it was silly to trade Bogut for Ellis. Bogut was a number-one overall pick, a rare gem of a defensive center in a league with few. Ellis was a scoring guard in a league full of scoring guards.  Of course, Bogut asked to be traded.

But saying ‘no’ was a viable option, no?

The Bear Insider:  Luc Mbah a Moute helped his brother, Roger Moute a Bidias, choose California from among several basketball scholarship offers.  Moute a Bidias, on picking Cal’s Golden Bears:

“I just went with my heart and my family was with me on that, too, so that’s why I made the decision.

“My brother did a lot of research and made a lot of calls to kind of back up the way I felt and he and the family feel like it will be a good place for me, too.

“We both feel like it’s a place where I could really evolve as a player and as a person and I’m looking forward to it.” 

The 6’7″, 190 lb. forward picked from a list of schools including Marquette, Cal, Iona, Valparaiso, and George Washington.  When asked about the prospect of bulking up in college,

“I hope to be bigger than my brother. You always hope to pass your your brother. I hope one day I can talk a little smack to him if I pass him up,” said Moute a Bidias, with a chuckle.

CBSSports.com:  Remember when Vivek Ranadive swayed the NBA’s committee on relocation by agreeing to forgo an luxury tax payments in an attempt to keep the Kings in Sacramento?  The tactic paid off as the group voted to recommend Sacramento unanimously.  But now Chris Hansen, chair of Seattle’s group, upped the ante in a desperate attempt to get the NBA’s owners to reconsider when they meet to vote on May 15.

The Hansen-Ballmer agreement to purchase 65 percent of the team from the Maloofs would now be based on a valuation of $550 million, an increase of $25 million. Now, Hansen has sweetened the pot again — increasing the franchise valuation by another $75 million as part of a backup plan to buy 20 percent of the team from the Maloofs if owners formally reject relocation on Wednesday in Dallas.

Oh, and as part of this backup plan, owners are being offered a relocation fee of $115 million — approximately $4 million per owner — in a nearly four-fold increase of the $30 million fee that owners received when the SuperSonics moved from Seattle to Oklahoma City in 2008, league sources confirmed to CBSSports.com on Sunday.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:  The Bucks interviewed Houston assistant coach J.B. Bickerstaff on Friday.  In his nine seasons as an assistant coach, his teams have averaged 26 wins per season.  Forgive me for being skeptical about an assistant whose teams have won 32% of their games over the course of nine seasons.  Or for having questions about whether a younger assistant — one who got his first job from his dad as a 25-year-old — can be the strong locker room presence reportedly coveted by the Bucks.

Apr 23, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat center Chris Bosh (1) drives to the basket against Milwaukee Bucks small forward Ersan Ilyasova (7) during game two in the first round of the 2013 NBA playoffs at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports

If the Bucks were to lose because of the play of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade or Chris Bosh, then that would be an issue. But when the Bucks lose a game because of the play of Chris Andersen and Ish Smith, then it’s a matter of an entirely different magnitude.

The Bucks played on par with the Heat for three quarters.  Then in a two-and-a-half minute blink, it was over.  The Heat ran off twelve straight points and lapped Milwaukee in what had previously been a back-and-forth affair.

Desperate to buy a breather for his starting guards, coach Jim Boylan turned to Smith to run the point at the start the fourth quarter.  In fact, the full five-man lineup was Smith/Brandon Jennings/Mike Dunleavy/Marquis Daniels/Ekpe Udoh.  Where do we begin with the problems here?

Let’s start with REBOUNDING.  Ekpe Udoh defends well, rebounds poorly.  He’ll box out and help his team get rebounds in other ways, but he himself won’t chase many rebounds down.  Chris Andersen, on the other hand, will pummel the offensive glass.

Daniels can do marvelous things as a defender.  He can match up with any small forward in the league and do it well.  But asking him to play power forward, and having him guard the best player in the league AND asking him to rebound might be a bit much.

Throw in the fact that LeBron was allowed to do this to him, and getting rebounds got that much more difficult.

Dunleavy had rebounded well all game, but when he’s out guarding Battier at the three-point line, he’s not in position to get defensive rebounds.  Smith and Jennings aren’t noted rebounders either.

The net result?  Miami got the first 12 points of the fourth quarter, but they got them in large part because they got the first seven rebounds of the quarter over that same stretch.

On the other end of the floor, Ish Smith failed.  He directed a directionless offense that lacked structure and rhythm.  His missed floater turned into one Miami fast break.  His turnover and subsequent foul stopped another potential fast break and gave the Heat two free throws.  Any potential rest Monta Ellis might have gained was completely negated by the fact that his team now needed to come back from a 15-point deficit and not a three-point one.

Where was J.J. Redick?  Who knows.  He didn’t play in the second half.  Aside from the obvious loss of trade Tobias Harris, getting Redick was doubly damaging because he needed to plug the hole in the guard rotation left by Beno Udrih.  Without Udrih, and unwilling to use much of Redick, Jim Boylan only had three guards to turn to.  And one of them clearly wasn’t ready for the big stage.

All the foibles of 150 seconds of bad basketball masked the amazing achievements that the Bucks’ starters put together for the first three quarters.  They made the extra pass to find the open man — both for layups and jump shots.  They double-teamed on defense when it was needed, and they charged out fiercely to contest corner three-pointers.  They rotated to stop shots at the rim, including an amazing rejection of LeBron by Larry Sanders.  Seriously, watch the developments on that block.  LeBron did everything he could on that play:  squared himself up, leapt off two feet, double-clutched to make space.  Sanders still blocked it.

Most importantly, the Bucks looked like they belonged in the series, as if they were a worthy opponent for a defending champ.  Suddenly and for the first time in months, the season was worth prolonging.  And yet, the result put the Bucks that much closer to their summer vacation.

Ersan Ilyasova found his jump shot on his way to a team-high 21 points.  On one fourth quarter sequence, he caught an offensive rebound on the baseline that had fallen behind the backboard, dribbled out to the corner, and nailed a three-point shot.  He also made a number of crisp defensive reads, even though he isn’t always skilled enough to contest shots on those rotations.

Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis combined to make 5-of-22 field goals.  Normally, that level of success carries the lede in a Bucks’ loss, but the team played well and few of those shots felt forced.  They just didn’t go in.  Ellis, in particular, defended well in the first half before tailing off a bit in the second.

Apr 23, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Milwaukee Bucks center Larry Sanders (8) collides with Miami Heat small forward Shane Battier (31) during game two in the first round of the 2013 NBA playoffs at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports

Larry Sanders gave the Bucks the rim protector that they didn’t have in Game 1.  He picked up five fouls and only blocked one shot, but his challenges influenced a number of other misses.  He also made 6-of-7 shots — a few finishes near the rim and a few short and smooth jumpers.  Sanders also “contributed” five turnovers, including two horrific entry passes.  He needs to handle the ball less.

In the fourth quarter, Sanders fell and twisted his leg under Shane Battier in a scary collision. But Larry re-entered the game moments later and noted in his post-game press conference that he thought he would be fine with nothing more than “ice and treatment”.

The two teams meet again Thursday in Milwaukee.