The Bucks' rough week came to a rough close Saturday night, as not even the return of Michael Redd and a night on their home turf could prevent the Bucks from dropping their fourth straight, 97-85 to the red-hot Cavaliers.  Redd came off the bench and shot just 5/16, but still led the Bucks with 20 points in 35 minutes.  Mo Williams was fairly quiet in his first game back at the BC, scoring 13 on just 6/20 fg, but LeBron James (32/7/5) and Zyrdrunas Ilgauskas (23/17) brought the goods for Cleveland.  As usual the Bucks hung tough for most of the game, but a late 11-2 run by the Cavs sealed it.

Three Bucks

• Ramon Sessions.  Though he shot just 6/17 from the field, Sessions generally outplayed his former mentor with 16 points, eight dimes, and just one turnover in a team-high 44 minutes.  Still lacking a consistent jumper, Sessions manufactured most of his points by making good cuts through the lane or knifing past defenders off his own dribble.
  
• Richard Jefferson.  It's difficult to expect anyone to contain LeBron James anymore, so the bright side of James' 32 points is that Jefferson (and Mbah a Moute) made him take a lot of shots (12/27 fg) to get there.  Otherwise Jefferson provided about what we expect from him: 19 points (7/14 fg), six board, three dimes, and a block.
• Luke Ridnour.  Starting next to Ramon Sessions for the first time, Ridnour tallied just one assist but made up for it with 16 points on just nine shots to go with six boards. 
  

Three Numbers

• 53-38.  Coming into the game the Bucks hadn't been outrebounded since November 8 against Phoenix, but Cleveland absolutely dominated the boards with a +15 edge overall and a huge 19-7 edge on the offensive glass.  Ilgauskas singlehandedly matched the Bucks with seven offensive rebounds, while Ben Wallace didn't score but half his 10 rebounds come off Cleveland misses.  Given the Bucks regularly score less efficiently than their opponents, those extra 12 Cleveland possessions gave the Bucks little chance.
• 0.  The best Buck in +/- terms was Joe Alexander, who played just 30 seconds and wasn't on the court for any points by either team.  In contrast, Mo Williams (+15) led three Cavs +10 or better.
• 5.  The Bucks totaled 18 turnovers compared to just 19 assists, with Luc Mbah a Moute contributing a whopping five of those in just 22 minutes.  In contrast, the Cavs turned it over just 10 times.

Three Good

• Redd's back.  Redd looked a bit rusty--most obviously in the second quarter, when a three point attempt from the left wing flew out of his hands as he was loading up, landing a couple rows behind him.  Still, Redd was aggressive (8/8 ft) and did a pretty good job of finding open teammates off his drives.  The final score tonight didn't show it, but the Bucks are at least inching back to health. 
  
• New ideas.  It didn't have much effect either way, but kudos to Skiles for trying to shake things up with a new-look starting lineup.  Luc Mbah a Moute has slumped a bit and Charlie Bell's shot hasn't been right all year, likely due in part to his bum leg.  They made way for Sessions and Charlie Villanueva, who was actually a question mark after reaggravating his hamstring injury last night.  Perhaps that was partly why Malik Allen saw so much more time than CV.
  
• (Pass).  Like last night, I'm boycotting my third bullet here.  I'm getting sick of looking for silver linings. 
  

Three Bad

• Shot in the dark.  After watching the Bucks suffer through another sub-40% shooting effort, I wondered when the last time was that they made 50% or better of their field goal attempts.  Answer: April 14, 2008 against the Bulls, making it 20 games and counting.  Yeah, it's been a rough year offensively.
• Outworked, for once.  It's not that Bucks weren't trying, but the Cavs' dominance on the glass translated into a 22-7 edge in second chance points--which happens to be the primary way the Bucks have been overcoming their perpetually cold shooting.
• Z's J's.  Ilgauskas did the dirty work with his 17 boards, but his silky smooth jumper set an early tone, capitalizing on the Bucks' collapsing defense to calmly nail jumper after jumper.  Though Ilgauskas' penchant for jump shots has translated into a not-great-for-a-big 48% career field goal percentage, he's up over 53% this year and made 11/17 tonight.

Redd and the Bucks wouldn't mind a repeat of this

Cavs (13-3, 4-3 road) @ Bucks (7-11, 3-3 home)

Gametime: 8:00 p.m. central time (FSN-W)

Injuries:

Bucks: Andrew Bogut (knee) is out.  Charlie Villanueva (hamstring) is day-to-day.  Michael Redd (sprained ankle) is listed as probable.

Cavs: Eric Snow is theoretically still on the team but out with a knee injury.

08/09 Series:

Nov 11: @Cavs 99, Bucks 93

08/09 Advanced Stats:

Cavs: Offense: 1st (115.4 points/100 possessions) Defense: 8th (103.4)  Pace: 25th (90.1)

Bucks: Offense: 25th (102.4 points/100 possessions) Defense: 10th (104.4) Pace: 16th (91.7)

Three points:

• Redd returns?  Scott Skiles described Michael Redd as "probable" before yesterday's game in Motown, opening the door for Redd to return four weeks and 14 games after sustaining a high ankle sprain in New York.  Without him the Bucks have slumped to 25th in the NBA in scoring and gone 5-9, though their defensive effort has at least kept them competitive. 
  

• Mo vs. 'Mon.   Mo Williams' numbers are about where they were last year, both good and bad.  While his assist numbers are predictably down with LBJ handling the ball much of the time (4.7 apg vs. 6.3 apg last year), Mo's scoring proficiency (15.9 ppg, .563 TS%) is carrying him to a healthy 16.90 PER, just below the 17.23 mark he posted last year.  Unfortunately for the Cavs, his defensive numbers have actually gotten worse despite playing on a much better defensive team.  Opponents this far have registered well above PERs against Mo--20.6 as a point guard and 22.5 as a shooting guard--meaning that for all his productivity he's still letting his opponent outproduce him night in and night out.  Last year Mo opponents had a 19.4 PER.  Still, the Cavs are first in offensive efficiency and a more-than-respectable eighth in defensive efficiency, so on the whole there's not much for the Cavs to be complaining about.
  
  The man who has benefited most from Williams' departure is his former protege Ramon Sessions--and by most metrics he's actually been better than Williams, too. Sessions thus far has averaged 15.6 ppg, 5.7 apg and 3.8 rpg in 33 mpg, good for a team-leading 18.00 PER. He's also improved on defense, where he's conceding opponents a below-average 12.8 PER. That number surprises me a bit because Sessions still has his defensive lapses, but it's not like we have much else to go on defensively.  The irony is that many Bucks fans always wished Mo could be used as a scoring combo guard off the bench, but the politics and economics of moving a $52 million point guard to the bench are obviously a bit...complicated. Fortunately, Sessions is now providing exactly what Bucks fans hoped from Williams--and for only $711,000. A secondary question is how long Skiles will be able to keep Sessions out of the starting lineup--with Redd returning there will be about 35 fewer mpg available for Sessions, Bell, Ridnour, and Lue to share. Sessions has easily been the best among that group so far, though Skiles could opt to continue starting Ridnour while using Sessions as a bench scorer who also closes out games.
• LeBron's future.  It's a weird time to be a Cavs fan.  On the one hand your team has been nothing short of awesome, racing to a 13-3 start and blowing most teams out of the water.  Yet all the while the media seems more interested in talking about LeBron possibly bolting for the Big Apple in 2010.  Fortunately it doesn't seem to be distracting the Cavs, who have won four in a row and 12 of 13 overall.  The last time the Cavs won by fewer than 11 points?  When they beat the Bucks by six on November 11.
  

Coverage:

Fear the Sword / Bucks.com

The Bucks string of tough-luck losses came to an end in Detroit--but sadly it wasn't because of a Milwaukee win.  Allen Iverson was banished to the bench because of his practice no-show yesterday, but once he shed his warmups he looked like a man on a mission, scoring 17 along with seven assist and five boards to lead a balanced Detroit attack over the shorthanded Bucks, 107-97.  While the Bucks were within six early in the fourth, Iverson's driving and Walter Herrman's shooting (16 points in 18 minutes) helped balloon the lead to as many as 15.  Adding injury to insult: Charlie Villanueva reaggravated his strained hammy in the fourth.

Three Bucks

• Ramon Sessions.  The Pistons prevented Sessions from creating for teammates (four assists/four turnovers) but couldn't keep him off the scoreboard.  Sessions was again a huge factor offensively, tallying 21 points on only 12 shots and doing his best to keep the Bucks within striking distance in the second half.
  
• Richard Jefferson.  A solid line for Jefferson (21 points, 7/15 fg, eight rebounds in 42 minutes) and more importantly he didn't allow Tayshaun Prince (10 points) to get into any type of comfort zone. 
  
• Dan Gadzuric.  Gadzuric was trigger-happy (3/12 fg) and not much of a factor in the late going, but he deserved to be there after a good first half carried him to a 10-point, 12-rebound, three-block effort.  Though Kwame Brown had one highlight reel dunk on him, Gadzuric helped limit Brown, Wallace, and Amir Johnson to a combined 18 points in 59 minutes. 
  

Three Numbers

• +19.  Plus/minus can often lie, but Iverson's impact off the bench was very accurately represented in his game-high +19 rating.
  
• 16.  Walter Herrmann killed the Bucks a couple years ago when he was with the Bobs, and his microwave-ish performance off the bench put this one away in the fourth.  The Argentine nailed 5/6 from the field (all threes) en route to 16 points in just 18 minutes of action, doing most of his damage off catch-and-shoots following an Iverson drive.  Seriously, this dude should automatically go into the starting lineup everytime the Bucks are in town.
  
• 47-42.  The Bucks once again won the battle of the boards, outrebounding the Pistons in total and on the offensive glass (16-10).  Don't blame Jason Maxiell, though--he seemed to be everywhere in grabbing eight boards (five offensive) to go along with six big blocks.

Three Good

• Return of Redd?  It's probably not worth holding your breath, but the word is Michael Redd has been upgraded to probably for tomorrow night's encounter with the Cavs. 
  
• Sessions/Stuckey.  The Rodney Stuckey hype machine went into overdrive last spring following a couple solid playoff performances, but I'll gladly take the mostly-unknown Sessions if forced to choose between the 22-year old sophomores.  Stuckey actually had one of his better nights of the season so far (12 points, five assists), but look at his body of work and he's still a ways from being a consistent contributor--he's a sub-40% career shooter, doesn't create for others like you'd hope from a PG, and he's gotten absolutely lit up by opposing players this year.  Sessions is far from the finished product, but it says a lot about how far he's come that a 21 point effort just seems like another night at the office.  Unfortunately, we didn't see the two matched up against one another much tonight.
• (Pass).  Lately it seems like I always end up using one of these bullets to say something about the Bucks being competitive in spite of their injuries, but I'm sick of saying that.  Wait, did I just say it anyway?  Whatever.

Three Bad

• Charlie's hammy.  Given the talk of Redd's return, it of course makes sense that the Bucks would lose another rotation player to injury--heaven forbid this team ever get healthy.  Villanueva came up lame on a stumbling drive in the final period, heading to the bench immediately for treatment.  For what it's worth, Villanueva missed four games over nine days when he first injured his hammy almost three weeks ago.
• Easy buckets.  One of the reasons for the Bucks early success--well, competitiveness is probably a better word--has been a little more toughness down low.  Yes, they foul like it's going out of style, but at least they seem dedicated to preventing easy buckets for opponents.  But losing Bogut has certainly hurt in that department, and tonight the Pistons took full advantage of the Bucks' soft underbelly with a half dozen or so highlight reel dunks courtesy of Maxiell, Amir Johnson, and Kwame Brown.  
• Outbenched.  None of the Pistons starters went off--the Bucks' depleted starting unit actually outscored them 53-44--but the Pistons simply had too much in reserve.  While having Iverson as a sixth man certainly isn't the norm, Detroit also got a combined 30 points (12/18 fg) from Maxiell, Johnson, and Aaron Afflalo in addition to Herrmann's 16.  Even with Sessions scoring 21 off the pine for the Bucks, the Pistons held a 63-44 edge in bench points.

Wait, what are we talking about?

Bucks (7-10, 4-7 road) @ Pistons (9-5, 4-2 home)

Gametime: 7:00 p.m. central time (FSN-W)

Injuries:

Bucks: Michael Redd (sprained ankle) and Andrew Bogut (knee) are out.  Luke Ridnour (knee) is expected to play.

Pistons: Pistons players are never hurt.  What the hell's with that?

07/08 Series:

Dec 1: Pistons 117, @Bucks 91

Dec 31: @Pistons 114, Bucks 69

Feb 20: @Bucks 103, Pistons 98

Feb 22: @Pistons 127, Bucks 100

08/09 Advanced Stats:

Bucks: Offense: 26th (102.4 points/100 possessions) Defense: 10th (103.9) Pace: 17th (91.5)

Pistons: Offense: 9th (107.3 points/100 possessions) Defense: 21st (107.1)  Pace: 24th (90.2)

Three points:

• Practice?  Allen Iverson's "practice" press conference (above) is perhaps the most-replayed presser in NBA history.  Heck, Joe Dumars even made a joke about it at Iverson's unveiling in Detroit.  So naturally everyone in the Motor City must be enjoying the irony of Iverson's decision to skip Thanksgiving practice.  Oh, apparently not.  Michael Curry has already announced Iverson will not start tonight, but it's not yet clear if he'll be allowed to come off the bench.  Rodney Stuckey takes over the starting PG spot after scoring 13 along with a career-high 11 assists in the Pistons' win over New York on Wednesday.  Stuckey is 2-0 as a starter this year, having guided the Pistons to road wins over the Bobs and Raps before Iverson arrived.

• MiniBucks.   Without Andrew Bogut's services, Scott Skiles opted to go small for most of the second half in Atlanta, a strategy that could have paid off if Charlie Villanueva (15 fourth quarter points) had gotten into the game a bit earlier.  On the other side, Curry has switched around his starting big men this season based on matchups, and Bogut's absence could affect who takes the tip on Friday. They've recently started two bigs in Kwame Brown and Rasheed Wallace, but don't expect to see too much of Brown--he hasn't played more than 21 minutes in any of the last five games.  That leaves Wallace to play center much of the game, though the Bucks will probably see more of Amir Johnson as well.  Like his predecessor Flip Saunders, Curry has been surprisingly loathe to use the 21-year old Johnson in spite of his always-above-average per minute numbers.  But that might be changing after Johnson registered season highs of 32 minutes, 12 points, 13 boards, and three blocks against the Knicks.
  
• Pistons misfiring?  I'd be lying if I said I knew what the heck was going on Detroit at this point.  As an unabashed Chauncey Billups admirer, I thought the Iverson deal was a major downgrade from a Detroit basketball perspective; yeah, cap space is great, but basketball-wise I thought the Nuggets made out like bandits.  Still, the post-Chauncey Pistons have definitely had their moments with a huge road win over the Lakers and a home win against the Cavs.  And yet in that same period the C's throttled them twice by an average of 15 points and they suffered a rather incomprehensible 26-point home loss to Minnesota.  Maybe this is still a 50-win team, but a championship contender?  Getting back Antonio McDyess in the next couple weeks will help, but at the moment I don't see how this team gets by Boston or Cleveland in the East.    
  

Coverage:

Detroit Bad Boys / Need4Sheed / True Blue Pistons

Maybe we should start calling them the Milwaukee Rasputins; eventually you can kill them off, but it's never easy.  Sadly, the Bucks' tough luck continued in Atlanta tonight as Al Horford led the Hawks past the Bogut-less but resilient Bucks 102-96. 

Three Bucks

• Ramon Sessions.  Sessions returned to his more familiar sixth man role and once again filled the stat sheet with 21 points (9/15 fg), eight dimes and seven boards in 37 minutes.  Mike Bibby and Acie Law just couldn't keep Sessions from getting to the rack, and he not surprisingly led the Bucks with a +7 differential.  He also had a costly travel with 2:02 remaining and the Bucks down just two, but then again this was also only his 32nd NBA game. So don't think I'm complaining.
  
• Charlie Villanueva.  Villanueva couldn't handle Horford in the late going, but he was also carrying the Bucks offensively with 15 fourth quarter points, scoring every which way including 5/5 from the stripe.  He totaled 19 points (7/12 fg) in only 22 minutes and certainly deserved to see more burn.
• Richard Jefferson.  With Bogut and Redd out, Jefferson did a decent job trying to fill the Bucks' gaping offensive void with 25 points (9/20 fg), though Marvin Williams had a more efficient night (18 points on eight fga).

Three Numbers

• 4/12.  Joe Johnson entered the game averaging 24 points, but Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Charlie Bell did an excellent job bottling up the Hawks' go-to guy and holding him to just 15 points on 4/12 fg.  Mbah a Moute's combination of length and footspeed gave Johnson little room to find a shot in the fourth, but credit JJ with knowing when to dish--his nine assists made sure that teammates did the damage for him.
• .417.  The Hawks came into the game leading the league in three point percentage (43%) while the Bucks led in three point percentage allowed (29%).  In the end the Hawks got the better of that subplot, as they made 10 triples including some big ones late from Flip Murray and Mo Evans. 
• 25:17.  With Bogut on the shelf, Scott Skiles went small much of the night as Dan Gadzuric and Francisco Elson totaled just 25 combined minutes.  Gadzuric actually started well with six early points, showing some rare touch in the process.  But following a lackluster start to the third, Skiles went small with a Jefferson/Mbah a Moute/Alexander frontline and stayed small the rest of the game.  
  

Three Good

• More moral victories!  Yeah, I'm kind of getting sick of these, but it's better than getting blown out, 'nahmean?
  
• Round mounds of rebound.  Even with Bogut out of the lineup the Bucks won the battle of the boards, 35-32.  That's now 10 straight games where the Bucks have bettered or matched their opponents in total boards.  Only the Suns and Bulls have outrebounded the Bucks through 17 games.
• School is in Sessions.  How amazing is it that Sessions has been this good this soon?  Yeah, he's got rough edges and his decision-making can be questionable at times.  But if you only knew he was 22 years old and nothing else about his background, you'd probably guess that he was a highly-touted lottery pick, right?   How the hell did this guy slip through the cracks?

Three Bad

• Playing catch-up.  A common theme of the Bucks' close losses has been their inability to play from the front; they generally fall behind early and then rely on their defense to keep them in the game until they can put together a bit of a hot streak offensively.  Tonight they didn't dig themselves as big of a hole as in Orlando, but missing Bogut they didn't have the inside presence to counter Horford late.
• The education of Joe Alexander.  This isn't purely a bad thing, but Alexander continues to be a tough guy to figure out.  On most nights so far he's probably been too unselfish, but tonight he came out looking for his shot pretty much everytime he touched it.   In the process of going 4/11 from the field he hit a couple nice shots, but generally left a fair bit to be desired in terms of shot selection (hint: don't try to post up Al Horford).  Hopefully he'll find that happy medium soon.
• Luc's luck?  Mbah a Moute has struggled with his shot since the Denver game, making just 10/32 shots over the past five games.  Good thing his defense isn't so streaky.

Bucks (7-9, 4-6 road) @ Hawks (8-5, 4-1 home)

Gametime: 6:00 p.m. central time (FSN-W)

Injuries:

Bucks: Michael Redd (sprained ankle) and Andrew Bogut (knee) are out.  Luke Ridnour (knee) is expected to play.

Hawks: Josh Smith (ankle) is out.

07/08 Series:

Nov 17: @Bucks 105, Hawks 96

Nov 28: @Hawks 96, Bucks 80

Jan 16: @Bucks 87, Hawks 80

Mar 26: @Hawks 115, Bucks 96

08/09 Advanced Stats:

Bucks: Offense: 26th (102.2 points/100 possessions) Defense: 9th (103.4) Pace: 16th (91.6)

Hawks: Offense: 6th (108.9 points/100 possessions) Defense: 22nd (107.7)  Pace:22nd (90.5)

Three points:

• Calling all Dutchmen.  The Bucks have yet to play a game with their full rotation, and Andrew Bogut's knee injury means it will be at least another week or so before the Bucks can think about being at full strength again.  That leaves Dan Gadzuric and Francisco Elson as the Bucks' lone centers, though Bogut's absence is also likely to inspire Scott Skiles to go small--think Malik Allen or even Charlie V getting some minutes in the middle.  Against the Hawks that's fairly do-able since Zaza Pachulia is only starting because Josh Smith has been out with a Redd-like high ankle sprain.  Al Horford has been starting at the 4 in Smith's absence but still plays most of his minutes in the middle, where he's a bit undersized.  

• Big Johnson.   On paper it's a little difficult to see at first how the Hawks have put together their excellent start to the season: Smith has missed nine games with his ankle injury and Horford's numbers are solid but down from his rookie year, while Marvin Williams and Bibby's numbers are only marginally better than last year.  Yet they have the 6th most efficient offense in the NBA thus far, which has helped offset their 22nd ranked defense.  That leaves captain Joe Johnson, who has rebounded from a slightly down 07/08 with an excellent start to 08/09: 24.0 ppg, 5.2 apg, and 4.8 rpg while making nearly 43% of his threes.
  
• Atlanta's deep threat.  A subtle but key difference with this year's Hawks?  These kids can shoot.  At the moment Atlanta leads the NBA in three point percentage (43%), with Johnson, Bibby (42%), Marvin Williams (52%), and Mo Evans (49%) all hitting at a 40% or better clip.  They'll be a good test for the Bucks, who lead the league in three point defense at just 29%.  Williams' sudden prowess from deep is the most surprising, as he made just one three pointer all of last year but has stroked 15/29 in 12 games thus far.
  

Coverage:

Bucks.com / Peachtree Hoops / Hawks Str8Talk

• Andrew Bogut's sore knee will keep him on the shelf for 7-10 days according to John Hammond.  For more details, check out Bogut's new and rather excellent blog, which pegs his return as 1-2 weeks away:

  I have a left knee bone bruise, along with a joint effusion. Basically the hit I took has created fluid and the fluid is moving around in there causing stiffness and pain. I tried to play the second half but there wasn't a chance I could move towards that knee little own jump or push off it at all So I was left with no other choice but to leave the game early. We are currently in Atlanta and I had a MRI this morning which confirmed the above. The doctors and physio's we have looking after us have suggested a 1-2 week off time. Not the best news I wanted to hear. I cannot stand missing games especially due to injury, it really frustrates me. I've been playing through a fair number of injuries lately, and against the Magic I finally started to feel good again.

  Losing Bogut has to be the worst possible news the Bucks could get, not only because Bogut's arguably the team's "best" all-around player at this point, but also because the gulf between Bogut and the Dutchmen who back him up is so massive (sorry, Dan and Francisco).  While the Bucks have made do without Michael Redd by playing Ramon Sessions, Charlie Bell, and occasionally Richard Jefferson at the 2,  they simply don't have the same flexibility at the center position. 
  
  Without Bogut and Redd, the Bucks would deserve a parade for winning any of their remaining games this week--in Atlanta, in Detroit, and home against Cleveland.  But Skiles will at least have the opportunity to go smaller against Atlanta and Detroit, neither of whom plays with a typical back-to-the-basket center.  While Gadzuric will likely start, don't be shocked to see Charlie Villanueva or Malik Allen playing some center against Al Horford and Rasheed Wallace.  Expect Joe Alexander to also see more regular minutes. 
  
• BrewHoop favorite Rob Peterson of NBA.com has a great look back at the incredible career of Oscar Robertson, who celebrated his 70th birthday earlier this week.
  

  Imagine our bemusement, then, to know now that Robertson averaged a triple-double for the first five NBA seasons with 30.3 points, 10.4 rebounds and 10.6 assists per game in 384 games. Stick that in your trophy case for a moment and gawk at it: 30, 10 and 10, every season for five years.
  
  Could you imagine what ESPN would do with Oscar if he played today? They'd probably give him his own channel. He would own Nike ... and adidas. In this Internet world of today, how huge Robertson would be in Europe or China? And how many articles would be written about him opting out of his contract in 2010?

• The Bob Boozer Jinx writes that the Bucks might as well wave the white flag without Bogut against Atlanta, Detroit and Cleveland--but that makes next week all the more important. 
• Tom Enlund looks at the Bucks' early rebounding success. Kudos to Enlund for looking beyond raw rebounding numbers, which is what most in the media are still stuck on doing; because of differences in pace and field goal percentage, rebound rates offer a much better barometer of a player or team's proficiency on the glass.  As we noted last week, the Bucks are getting good rebounding rates from virtually every position, which Skiles echoes:

  "We felt Bogut and Charlie V., statistically, are good rebounders," said Skiles. "But we didn't plan on Mbah a Moute being able to go in there and get a 17-rebound night, or 10 in the first half, some of the things he's done. I don't know how anybody could plan on that.
  
  "Richard was coming off a year where he averaged a little over four rebounds and he's over five, almost at six which is where we'd like him to be. Each guy is chipping in a little bit. (Ridnour) has always been a pretty good point guard-rebounder which is a little bit surprising. And Ramon is too. That's how you end up doing it. If each guy gets one more a game, it adds up."
  
  "We work at it and we're conscientious about it."

• Alex has collected all the latest power rankings right here, where the Bucks rank anywhere from 12th (Hollinger) to 21st (those damn bloggers).  And be sure to also check out Ty's advanced power rankings blog--he's got the Bucks ranked 17th right now.
  
• The Bratwurst notes that the new-look Bucks are boring--in a good way.

It was ugly all the way around, but no one will be complaining with the Bucks' 79-74 win in Charlotte.  Richard Jefferson's three point play with two minutes remaining gave the Bucks a 77-70 lead, which they held onto in part thanks to the Bobcats' inability to finish inside five feet.

Three Bucks

• Ramon Sessions.  With no one able to score, Sessions again stepped up to fill the void with 18 points (4/11 fg, 10/10 ft) and four dimes, including the game-clinching free throws with 13 seconds left.  Not that Sessions was immune to the Bucks' wastefulness of course--he chalked up five turnovers himself.  But with Luke Ridnour exiting early with a sore knee, the door could be open for Sessions to claim the starting PG spot that he seems destined to claim anyway.  
  
• Charlie Villanueva.  After 20 points in 13 minutes last night, Villanueva couldn't keep his shot-making going with a 3/11 night in Charlotte.  Fortunately, he got to the line for an uncharacteristic eight free throws and connected on all of them en route to 15 points and eight boards in 27 minutes.  More impressive (and uncharacteristic)?  Villanueva's four blocks.
• Andrew Bogut.  Bogut couldn't prevent Emeka Okafor from having a very good night (16 pts, 18 boards) but he did keep up his rebounding tear with 17 boards and 12 points.  That's now an average of 18 rpg over the past three games, though unfortunately Bogut's free throw shooting also took another turn for the worse with a 2/7 night.

Three Numbers

• .370.  Let's just pretend it was an epic defensive struggle, OK?  The two teams each shot just 37%, in part due to some good defense but also owing a fair bit to their own ability to make open jumpers and finish around the hoop.
• 21.  Indicative of the game's ugliness, the Bucks complicated their night by turning it over 21 times, though the Bobs managed 18 of their own as well.  Fortunately for the Bucks, they edged the Bobs in points off turnovers 18-16.
• 43.  The Bucks got just 36 points from their starters, a paltry figure that would be impossible to overcome on most nights.  But Sessions and Villanueva filled in just well enough off the bench, contributing 33 of the bench's 43 total points.

Three Good

• Four down, three to go.  The Bucks now stand at 4-5 on the road, which is none too shabby for a team that was 7-34 away from the BC a year ago. 
  
• The defense doesn't rest.  A year ago the Bucks held opponents under 80 points twice in 82 tries; they've now matched that in their first 15 games.  The Bucks also came into the game ranked 10th in defensive efficiency, 20 spots better than they finished last year.  It might not be a fluke.
• Throw it down, big fella.  If you missed the game, be sure to check out the highlights to see Bogut's throw down on Okafor.  Nice dish from Tyronn Lue.

Three Bad

• Winning ugly.  Let's just say this game wouldn't have wowed anyone randomly flipping around on League Pass.  Skiles said it best after the game: "This game set the game of basketball back a ways."
• Ridnour's knee.  Ridnour hasn't made much of a case for keeping the starting job over Ramon Sessions, but that doesn't mean the Bucks can particularly afford to see him in street clothes.  He left in the first half with a sore knee, and at the moment it's unclear if it will cost him any time on the shelf.  Tyronn Lue had a couple nice moments but was far from confidence-inspiring down the stretch, most notably when he stepped on the baseline with 21 seconds left and the Bucks winning by three.
• The week ahead.  The Bucks took care of business against New York and Charlotte, providing them a small bit of momentum as they start perhaps their toughest stretch of the season.  Next week the Bucks get four playoff teams with visits to Orlando, Atlanta, and Detroit before getting a home date with the Cavs on Saturday.  The Bucks then get a little bit of a breather as they start December with the Bulls and Bobcats at home, before they play six out of seven on the road, including three in a row out West against the Lakers, Suns, and Warriors.

After trading Zach Randolph and Jamal Crawford earlier in the afternoon, the Knicks could barely field a team Friday night at the BC, opening the door for the Bucks to roll to an easy 104-87 win at the BC.  Coming off his 16 and 20 game in Utah, Andrew Bogut was again everywhere with 17 boards and 14 points (7/11 fg) in just 25 minutes while Charlie Villanueva returned from injury to score 20 (8/12 fg) in just 13 minutes. Ramon Sessions added his first double-double of the season with 15 points, 10 dimes, three steals and two turnovers.

The Bucks were once again dominant on the glass, outrebounding the Knicks 60-46 including 17-9 on the offensive end.  Luc Mbah a Moute matched Bogut with six offensive rebounds and finished with eight points and 13 rebounds.  Still, the Bucks allowed a double-digit lead early to shrink to just three at the half, before they finally put the Knicks away early in the third with a 7-0 run.  The short-handed Knicks could only watch as the Bucks then extended the lead to 21 later in the period.

While the Bucks had no excuses not to throttle the Knicks, they did just that and allowed Scott Skiles the luxury of resting his starters in the fourth.  Mbah a Moute led the Bucks with just 29 minutes, meaning the Bucks shouldn't be too tired when they take on the Bobcats in Charlotte tonight.

This might be a new-look Bucks team, but the second half in Salt Lake City tonight looked eerily familiar to a year ago, when the Bucks allowed a promising third quarter lead dissolve into an 11-point loss.  This time the final margin was 105-94, as Utah's young perimeter players stepped up again in Deron Williams absence.  C.J. Miles tallied 25 and Ronnie Price 16, while old reliable Carlos Boozer had his usual 20/11 before departing late with a quad injury.

Three Bucks

• Andrew Bogut. Having played only 16 minutes last night, Bogut looked fresh in tallying 16 points (6/13 fg) and a season-high 20 boards while handling the unenviable task of marking Carlos Boozer.  Offensively he couldn't exploit his size advantage most of the night, but as usual the Bucks' guards didn't give him many easy buckets either (I'm looking at you, Luke Ridnour). 
  
• Richard Jefferson.  Jefferson's night seemed somewhat disappointing only because it started with such a bang.  Though RJ had just two points in the game's final 20 minutes, he had 23 in the first 28 minutes and was a crucial part of the Bucks' 29-6 run that stretched across the end of the second and beginning of the third quarters.  
• Charlie Bell.  Bell followed up his 25 point effort in Denver with 15 in Utah, the kind of numbers which would be even nicer if Bell was able to provide them off the bench.  Instead, Redd's absence continues to force Bell into major minutes, which to his credit he's made the most of the past two nights.

Three Numbers

• .514.  Aside from the middle portion of the game where they seemingly lost interest, the Jazz were by far the more active team, creating easy buckets by cutting, stealing, and getting out in transition.  It's no surprise then that they made a very healthy 51% of their shots compared to the Bucks' 44%.
• 10.  Aside from their number of dunks, the Jazz's activity level also shines through in the block department, where they killed the Bucks 10-1.  Most of the swatting was done by Paul Millsap (5) and Andrei Kirilenko (4)--not a bad pair to bring off the bench.
• 13.  The Bucks entered the final stanza in a strange position: they were winning.  However, the Bucks' two point edge was blown away by the 31-18 edge the Jazz built in the fourth.  Overall it was a game of lopsided quarters: the Jazz won the first by 10, the Bucks won the second by 12, and the Jazz took the fourth by 13.

Three Good

• Bogut's back.  Still no signs of greatness in the post (we can dream, right?) but it's difficult to complain when your big man drops a 16/20 line.  The Australian anchor looked at home in the state where he played his college ball and once again helped the Bucks win the rebounding battle, 41-37.
• Coming back.  It looked like the road weary Bucks were on their way to getting blown out when they trailed by 16 early in the second, but as we've seen a number of times this season they didn't back down.  Sessions, Bell, Jefferson, Mbah a Moute and Bogut helped the Bucks climb out of their hole and then some, keying a 29-6 run that turned a 45-30 deficit with 6:54 left in the second into a 59-51 lead with 9:32 left in the third.  What happened next?  I'll direct you to the "Three Bad" portion below.
• Home cooking.  The best part about the Bucks' back-to-back out West?  It's over.  The Bucks now have a crucial--but very winnable--game Friday against New York at the BC, before heading out on the road again.

Three Bad

• Going cold.  Basically, the Jazz won because they remembered what they were doing at the outset of the game.  Price, Brewer, and Kirilenko dared the Bucks to keep up with them and the Bucks couldn't match the their intensity and athleticism.  Instead the Bucks took a lot of jumpshots and couldn't grab quite enough offensive rebounds to make up for their crooked shooting.
  
• Ridnour.  Ridnour couldn't get much going offensively (eight points, six assists, three turnovers) but his bigger problem was that Jazz fill-in Ronnie Price easily outplayed him with 16 points (7/13) and six dimes.  Price caused problems with his quickness and generally seemed the more lively of the two starting points.
• Laying off.  Fouls have been an issue for the Bucks all season, and they again outfouled their opponent tonight by a margin of 27-20.  It's hard to criticize the Bucks for being more aggressive defensively than in the past, but one thing that always gets me is how a Buck defender will often get right up on a man on the perimeter and make himself vulnerable to a dribble drive, even when the offensive player is a much better driver than shooter.  While it looks very intense and ball-hawkish, most of the time it just opens up the defender (Richard Jefferson, Charlie Bell, Joe Alexander, to name a few) to allowing a successful drive to the hoop or a foul.  Hey guys, sometimes it's OK to dare a mediocre shooter into taking an 18-footer.