Milwaukee Bucks: 1-1
The Milwaukee Bucks, coming off an encouraging win against the undermanned Detroit Pistons, have just learned some sobering news of their own - they will be without last year's leading scorer Michael Redd for 2 weeks. This is rather unsurprising, as Redd has become an injury prone player over the last 2-3 years, but it is especially discouraging for the team right now as Brandon Jennings is making a strong case early on for Rookie of the Year. The guy's shooting ability, combined with his court vision, are a sight to behold, and more encouraging is that former Bulls coach Scott Skiles, known here for his "short leash" and "quick benchings" to a number of players while here in Chicago, is letting him thrive. While Andrew Bogut, who got his payday last year as the former #1 pick of the much maligned 2005 draft, is slowly adjusting to being back on the court and fitting in with the new offense under the rookie, the new/old big man Ersan Ilyasova from Turkey, who did a stint with the Bucks way back in '06-'07, has thrived in his first two games here, and seems to be playing well alongside Jennings. It is hard to say if the Bucks will make the playoffs this year - a lot of it depends on the injury status of Redd and Bogut - but a lot more is going to depend on just how NBA ready Brandon Jennings really is. If he continues to put up the kind of numbers he's putting and keeps his head in the game, and the coach continues to show confidence in him, this team will make a strong push at the 8th spot (provided the other pieces are healthy). For the first time in a long time, Bucks fans should have a bright future and a great young piece to build around going forward.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Bulls are coming off a disappointing road trip featuring a blowout against the at-full-strength Boston Celtics, followed by a loss to the Dwayne Wade led Miami Heat. While Luol Deng and John Salmons played poorly in one game and picked it up in the next, many Bulls fans are concerned by the slow start of last year's ROY Derrick Rose. It certainly did not help that Rose suffered an ankle injury during preseason, but what is more concerning is that he may still not be at 100%. Meanwhile, Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas continue to play hard, but their contributions seem to be for naught as the lineup shuffling by coach Vinny Del Negro is costing the Bulls continuity on the floor and allowing defenses to take advantage of the untested Taj Gibson and the aging Brad Miller. Kirk Hinrich continues to chip in from the bench, but he is just as inconsistent as anyone else on the team. It is especially discouraging to see that the Bulls #1 draft pick, James Johnson, has received almost no playing time, making one wonder why he was selected if he wasn't going to be seeing playing time. Despite all this confusion and pessimism, the Bulls came out in unbelievable fashion on opening night and stomped over the Western Conference contender San Antonio Spurs, limiting everyone but Tim Duncan to horrible games. The Bulls hope to regain that sort of effort tonight--this game will provide Bulls fans an early test of how well the team responds to adversity. But provided Rose can stay with Jennings and John Salmons and Kirk Hinrich can take advantage of Milwaukee's depleted backcourt, the Bulls should be able to pull this one out on their home floor.
Starting Lineups:
Milwaukee
PG - Brandon Jennings
SG - Charlie Bell
SF - Carlos Delfino
PF - Kurt Thomas
C - Andrew Bogut
Head Coach:
Scott Skiles
Chicago
PG - Derrick Rose
SG - John Salmons
SF - Luol Deng
PF - Tyrus Thomas
C - Joakim Noah
Head Coach:
Vinny Del Negro
