Oct 31, 2001 10:27 AM EST
For openers, they very much resembled the Milwaukee Bucks, vintage 2000. And that, even Anthony Mason would agree, was a good thing indeed.
Creating defensive stops only when absolutely necessary and making all seven of their field-goal attempts in overtime Tuesday night, the Bucks followed the familiar script that carried them to the brink of the NBA Finals last year. It was good enough then and it was certainly good enough for a stimulating 119-112 victory against the Utah Jazz in the season opener.
"A Milwaukee Bucks game," said coach George Karl, who has certainly seen enough of these by-the-seat performances to know. "Don't come close to stopping anybody until it's almost too late and then make shots. It's us. It's what we do."
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Oct 31, 2001 10:26 AM EST
Ray Allen often gets a nervous feeling before tipoff and wonders if he'll score at all. Usually, though, it means he's ready for a big game.
He was Tuesday night, finishing with 32 points, and the Milwaukee Bucks rallied in the fourth quarter then beat the Utah Jazz 119-112 in overtime.
It wasn't just Allen as Glenn Robinson had 28 points and Sam Cassell added 25 for the Bucks, who hit all seven shots from the field in the overtime.
"It was the first game and I just had this fear in my stomach," said Allen, who was 11-of-21 from the field. "I said to myself, 'I wonder if I'm going to make a basket, just any basket.' Well, I made a couple of baskets."
So did his teammates, especially in the extra five minutes.
"We need to make shots, and we do," Milwaukee coach George Karl said. "At the end there, we were just making jumpers."
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With Anthony Mason, the Milwaukee Bucks have spent $21 million on the supreme high-risk, high-return investment
Evidence of whether this venture eventually goes bust or pays off in an Eastern Conference championship or better will begin to make itself known Tuesday, when the Bucks, opening against the Utah Jazz, begin one of their most anticipated seasons in franchise history.
Before their pursuit of Mason, the Bucks were already a very good team. They finished one game from the NBA Finals last season on the strength of perhaps the league's finest perimeter offense. Yet they were soft in their artistry. What they didn't have was consistent rebounding, aggressive defense, an inside offensive presence and the kind of fierce edge characteristic of champions.
Those are precisely the skills Mason, 34, has developed during a 13-year career that culminated in his first all-star season last year in Miami, where he averaged almost 16 points and 10 rebounds per game. At least on paper, Mason is the ideal fit for the Bucks, the missing piece to make their title chase whole.
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Bucks Oct 2001 Archive
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| Oct 30, 2001
You have to like Amal McCaskill's perseverance.
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| Oct 30, 2001
Are the Milwaukee Bucks capable of taking the next step? Have they improved enough to not only advance to the Eastern Conference finals, like they did last year, but win the Eastern Conference championship, like they didn't do last year?
Could they even win it all? Could they conceivably capture just their second-ever NBA championship, their first and last coming in 1971 with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson leading the way?
Those questions, and others, were posed to several NBA experts.
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| Oct 30, 2001
The Milwaukee Bucks placed forward Darvin Ham on the injured list, and waived guard Jason Hart and center Aleksandar Radojevic to reach the 12-man roster limit Monday.
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| Oct 29, 2001
Frank Hughes of the Tacoma News Tribune reports: The Sixers, inundated with injuries, went back to the past, trading with the Charlotte Hornets for Derrick Coleman, who wreaked havoc in the City of Brotherly Love for four years before being let go.
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| Oct 29, 2001
For the Heat front office, the Anthony Mason saga these past few weeks has been a non-issue.
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| Oct 29, 2001
Anthony Mason will probably start Tuesday against Utah.
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| Oct 29, 2001
In Karl's mind, the Bucks have made strides, especially during last season's playoff run.
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| Oct 29, 2001
Tuesday night, when the Bucks play their regular-season opener against Utah at Salt Lake City, Allen will be ready for work.
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| Oct 28, 2001
N
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| Oct 28, 2001
The addition of hard-headed Anthony Mason, one of the league's poster boys for bad judgment, could push the already unpredictable Milwaukee Bucks into a season of turmoil.
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| Oct 28, 2001
The guess here is that Sam Cassell will eventually take the three-year, $17.
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| Oct 28, 2001
The Bucks have three marquee players, a fourth who is paid like one and a recently hired gun from Miami imported with the intention of putting the team over the top.
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| Oct 28, 2001
"I think we're an elite organization," Karl said.
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| Oct 28, 2001
Anthony Mason's debut with the Milwaukee Bucks will have to wait until the regular-season opener Tuesday night at Utah.
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| Oct 26, 2001
A three-month pursuit to fill what they think is the missing piece to a possible championship season came to a conclusion late Thursday afternoon for the Milwaukee Bucks when they signed all-star forward Anthony Mason to a four-year deal worth almost $21 million.
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| Oct 25, 2001
NBA.
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| Oct 25, 2001
Whether he's here for another day, another week or an indefinite stay, 7-foot-3 center Aleksandar Radojevic joined the Bucks on Wednesday for his first practice with the team.
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| Oct 25, 2001
"They were a game away from playing for the championship," Barkley said Wednesday in a teleconference to promote Turner's season, which opens on Tuesday.
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| Oct 25, 2001
Mason, a free-agent all-star forward, remained unsigned Wednesday because of contractual details.
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| Oct 24, 2001
Well, it is finally official.
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| Oct 24, 2001
Although Ervin Johnson had another year before his contract expired, the Milwaukee Bucks thought it was important to take care of their captain now.
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| Oct 24, 2001
While contract details kept Anthony Mason out of a Milwaukee uniform Tuesday, the all-star forward could sign with the Bucks as early as Wednesday.
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| Oct 23, 2001
The Milwaukee Bucks cleared about $3 million in salary space to sign free-agent forward Anthony Mason late Monday night by trading forward Scott Williams to the Denver Nuggets in a three-way deal with Houston.
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| Oct 23, 2001
Ham, who went for a second opinion in Indianapolis, had arthroscopic surgery Monday morning to remove loose particles and repair the torn lateral meniscus in the knee.
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| Oct 23, 2001
Scott Williams packs his bags for Denver
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| Oct 21, 2001
Glenn Robinson, who has yet to play in any of the Milwaukee Bucks' four exhibition games because of soreness in both ankles, said he hoped to be 80% to 90% recovered by the time the regular season opens on Oct.
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| Oct 19, 2001
Bitterly disappointed that he had not been taken until the second round of the draft, Redd was bothered by a sense of "what if" during his rookie year.
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| Oct 18, 2001
The greeting was predictable.
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| Oct 18, 2001
The Bucks did not seem concerned that Sacramento made a run at free agent Anthony Mason.
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| Oct 17, 2001
The Milwaukee Bucks are about to become road warriors.
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| Oct 17, 2001
Frustration was apparent in Milwaukee Bucks coach George Karl this past weekend, when five players missed all or parts of practice because of nagging injuries.
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| Oct 16, 2001
Harvey Fialkov of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports: While the Bucks continue to drag their heels for the services of Heat free agent forward Anthony Mason, the Sacramento Kings may be in the market for a low-post presence after losing All-Star forward Chris Webber for 4-6 weeks with a sprained left ankle.
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| Oct 16, 2001
Ideally, a team would like to use an exhibition game to gauge its training-camp progress.
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| Oct 14, 2001
Though the Milwaukee Bucks have 16 players on their training-camp roster, they struggled to maintain a scrimmage quorum Saturday.
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| Oct 12, 2001
Harvey Fialkov of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports: The Bucks may have earned a significant victory before their exhibition game against the Heat even began Thursday night at Teco Arena.
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| Oct 12, 2001
Though the Milwaukee Bucks couldn't get through their first game without getting someone hurt, they don't believe the damaged left shoulder and left ankle suffered by center Ervin Johnson during a 92-89 loss to the Miami Heat Thursday night are serious injuries.
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| Oct 12, 2001
The man who last coached Anthony Mason said he would have no problem recommending the free-agent forward to the Milwaukee Bucks.
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| Oct 11, 2001
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| Oct 11, 2001
Another day, and another bi-zarre twist in the saga of the Mil-waukee Bucks' attempt to sign Anthony Mason.
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| Oct 11, 2001
Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports: Agent Don Cronson said Wednesday the Bucks still appear the most likely landing spot for his client.
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| Oct 11, 2001
Anthony Mason and Larry Johnson.
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| Oct 10, 2001
Scott Williams missed a second consecutive day of training camp with back spasms and is not expected to accompany the Milwaukee Bucks when they open exhibition play Thursday night in Fort Myers, Fla.
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| Oct 10, 2001
Milwaukee Bucks coach George Karl realized a professional dream Tuesday when he was selected to lead Team USA in the 2002 World Basketball Championship.
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| Oct 10, 2001
Jason Caffey goes full bore when he runs up and down a basketball court these days.
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| Oct 10, 2001
George Karl took a large step toward accomplishing one of his professional goals Tuesday.
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| Oct 9, 2001
Ray Allen didn't exactly shock the world Monday when he admitted, "We've pretty much played zones before.
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| Oct 9, 2001
Nobody overachieved more in the NBA playoffs last season than Ervin Johnson.
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| Oct 8, 2001
With Sam Cassell mentally distracted and Glenn Robinson physically limited, the Milwaukee Bucks are searching for star-level leadership in training camp.
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| Oct 8, 2001
Karl knows where to find a good bargain
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| Oct 8, 2001
So whose fault is it now that Cassell is fuming about the deal that still has two years to run with Milwaukee? Accountability certainly doesn't lie with the Bucks.
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| Oct 7, 2001
Damn the CBA, says Mason's Agent
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| Oct 6, 2001
Milwaukee point guard Sam Cassell, who is unhappy with his contract, sat out the Bucks' three-hour scrimmage Friday.
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| Oct 6, 2001
There was a time when owner Herb Kohl was adamant that the Milwaukee Bucks would not subject themselves to the National Basketball Association's upcoming luxury tax.
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| Oct 6, 2001
The Milwaukee Bucks are willing to pay a luxury tax to sign Anthony Mason.
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| Oct 5, 2001
If Scott Williams had been associated with any more trade talk this summer, he could have changed his name to NAFTA.
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| Oct 5, 2001
"Mark Pope is our best defender," Bucks coach George Karl said, "and the zone could make him even more effective.
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| Oct 5, 2001
Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports: For now, the Heat will not sign a veteran point guard.
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| Oct 4, 2001
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| Oct 4, 2001
While the looming luxury tax appears to be an insurmountable object in their pursuit of free-agent forward Anthony Mason, the Milwaukee Bucks say they have ruled nothing out.
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| Oct 4, 2001
Sam Cassell met with the media for the first time this season Wednesday morning, and, in typical Cassell fashion, wasn't afraid to speak his mind.
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| Oct 4, 2001
The Milwaukee Bucks have offered the maximum extension allowable - about $17 million spread over three years - to Sam Cassell, the point guard and team officials confirmed Wednesday.
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| Oct 4, 2001
The 6-foot-5 shooting guard has been a good player throughout his five-year pro career, a star even.
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| Oct 3, 2001
By missing the first training-camp practice Tuesday morning, Milwaukee Bucks point guard Sam Cassell subjected himself to the league's mandatory maximum fine of $2,500.
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| Oct 3, 2001
Aftereffects from Glenn Robinson's off-season surgery to clean up bone spurs in both ankles will not allow the all-star small forward to go full speed in training camp for at least the rest of this week.
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| Oct 2, 2001
With a largely intact roster and a rotation that is not expected to substantially change from last season, when they came within a game of the NBA Finals, the Milwaukee Bucks will open training camp Tuesday with several minor adjustments in mind.
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| Oct 2, 2001
The player who could shift the balance of power in the NBA Eastern Conference has been a regular at the Cousins Center lately, teasing the Milwaukee Bucks with his low-post presence in pick-up games.
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| Oct 2, 2001
Sam Cassell's absence from media day raised eyebrows during the unofficial opening of training camp Monday but the Milwaukee Bucks said they did not consider their fiery point guard's no-show to be a preliminary strike in a salary dispute.
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| Oct 2, 2001
Grunfeld was on the phone again Monday afternoon talking to Don Cronson, the agent for free-agent Anthony Mason.
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| Oct 2, 2001
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| Oct 1, 2001
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| Oct 1, 2001
Cassell is happy about the start of camp but still wants a raise.
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