Bulls Lead by Double-Digits and Oust Bucks, 87-71.

This was a strange game. The Chicago Bulls, who won the game, only shot 35% from the floor. It is practically unheard of for a winning team to shoot so poorly. However, the Milwaukee Bucks had a worse shooting night, managing to hit 33.7% from the field.

Milwaukee was playing without former starting point guard Brandon Knight who was the leading scorer on the team. But he was traded for Michael Carter Williams the talented point guard who who has been sidelined due to a sore toe.  The plan is to get him back on the court when he ready which could be later this week.

The Bulls had a 15 point first half lead which it held for most of the game. Chicago won 87-71.
The Bucks were so offensively challenged that it had 60 points mid-way through the fourth quarter.
Credit the Bulls defense and the inept shooting of the Bucks.

The Bulls won because they had a 62-41 advantage on the boards. At one point in the first half, Chicago had 11 offensive boards to just 1 for Milwaukee.  Chicago finished with 17 for the game as opposed to 12 for the Bucks.

Derrick Rose had a terrible shooting night going 1 for 13, and 5 of 6 for made FT's for 8 points. Yet the Bulls received aid because Tony Snell shot better, going 7 for 11 and had 18 of his 20 points in the first half, 12 in the second quarter. Snell converted 4 three-point shoots.  Pau Gasol had 15 points and 10 boards. Joakim Noah, on his Bobble-head night, earned 16 rebounds and scored 8 points. Jimmy Butler scored 11 points and grabbed 9 boards. The revelation was the play of Nikola Mirotic who had a double-double scoring 16 points and hauling in a career high 14 rebounds.

It was not a pretty win....not when you shoot 35.5%.  But a win is a win. In the NBA, they are tough to come by. The Bulls improve at home to 17-11 and 26-11  for the season.

Milwaukee was playing without Jarbari Parker, out for the year with knee surgery and they are changing the chemistry of their with newcomer G Michael Carter Williams.  Khris Middleton led the Bucks with 17 points. Ersan Ilyasova had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Rose played 32 minutes in  hopes of finding his shot, but it had left him for the night. Luckily, other Bulls, like Snell and Mirotic picked him up.  Noah played an active game and that helped.

 In the midst of a 7 game home stand, the Bulls are 2-0 and hope to climb in the standings.

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Gasol's 46 points Lead Bulls Over Bucks, 95-87.

The Bulls had an another off-shooting night, but one player was really on his game.  Veteran F Pau Gasol had a career high 46 points, and grabbed 18 rebounds in a virtual one-man show.

Chicago needed someone to step up on a night when two starters, Derrick Rose and Mike Dunleavy, were not in the lineup. Rose had soreness in his left knee, and Dunleavy missed his 5th game with an injured ankle.

The Bulls had been shooting in the 36% range the last two games which resulted in a two game losing streak.

Gasol had a Jordan-like game. "He wasn't going to let us lose tonight," coach Tom Thibodeau said.

Gasol went 17-30 and made 12-13 free-throw attempts. He had 28 points at the half.

"I give a lot of credit to my teammates." Gasol said. They made a lot of plays and were looking for me a lot of times."

Chicago would have had an abysmal shooting night, if not for Gasol's great game. They shot 39.8% from the floor. Kirk Hinrich had 16 points in a sold effort.  Jimmy Butler had a strong night, nearly making a triple double with 9 points, 10 assists, and 8 rebounds. Butler knows when and where to fill in the gaps and is being touted as possibly the most improved player in the league.

Milwaukee kept the pressure on Chicago but the Bulls' defense stood firm and had a +14 advantage in rebounds.  The Bulls were 21-24 from the charity stripe which helped secure the victory.

Brandon Knight led the Bucks with 20 points, Jared Dudley had 15 and O.J Mayo chipped in with 12.

The win give the Bulls a 10-2 record in its last 12 home games. This one was a special for Gasol who continues to impress almost every game.  He now has 20 double/doubles in the season.

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The Future Is Bright In Milwaukee

It’s crazy how quickly fortunes can change for an NBA franchise on draft night. A team can go from being a laughing stock of the league to suddenly being a team that warrants respect and fear from their opponents. Such is the case with the Milwaukee Bucks, who have greatly changed the face and image of their franchise upon drafting Duke star Jabari Parker, who many think has the potential to be a championship caliber centerpiece. In addition to Jabari, the Bucks also have Giannis Antetokounmpo, a 6’11 220 lb small forward from Greece who is known as “The Greek Freak”.

Many think that if the 2013 draft were done over again, Giannis would have gone #1 overall in the draft after seeing how quickly he matured and developed over the course of the season. He was thought to be really talented, but still very raw and in need of a lot of development. But as it turned out, he was much more NBA ready than people thought, which was great news for the Bucks as they were heading into another losing season in which they might land a potential superstar like Jabari Parker in the draft.

Now that they have both Giannis and Jabari, the future in Milwaukee is sky high, and teams in the Eastern Conference have to view them as a team capable of doing serious damage in the near future. If Jabari Parker and Giannis Antetokounmpo both reach their full potential, they could form a scary duo like Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City. I’m not saying they will be as good as that duo, but what I am saying is that the potential to be that good or nearly that good is definitely there. If this potential is reached, the Bucks will have a team that is capable of competing for the NBA championship.

The key thing for the Bucks’ front office to do at this point is to be patient with both of these guys and start thinking about what complementary pieces these guys need to succeed. Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant didn’t become a championship caliber duo over night and the Thunder still are looking for the right complementary pieces to put around them to get over the hump. The Bucks realistically are looking at probably a 5 year process to become a championship threat and probably a 6-9 year process to morph from a threat into a viable contender. It all depends on several factors such as future free agency periods, future drafts, and the ability for their other quality assets like Brandon Knight, O.J. Mayo, and Larry Sanders to fit in with the team. 

But regardless of those factors, the fact that the Bucks have Jabari Parker and Giannis Antetokounmpo makes them a potential contender by default and now it’s just a matter of time before the two of them flower into the stars that they have inside of them. There will be growing pains, frustration, and moments of doubt, but if the Bucks stay the course and continue to have patience and faith in these two guys, the Bucks should see their dream of forming a championship caliber team in the East realized. 

---Ben Parker: follow me on twitter @nba_lord 

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Brooklyn Nets Send Jason Kidd To Milwaukee Bucks For Draft Picks

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

June 30^th, 2014

Brad Penner- USA Today Sports

The Brooklyn Nets have started off the 2014 off-season with a lot of headlines that not many people were expecting, or that the origination would have wanted. Change is now on the way for the upcoming season, as Jason Kidd has been dealt to the Milwaukee Bucks for two second-round draft picks, and he will be becoming their new Head Coach.

After a successful rookie coaching campaign, over the past few days reports emerge that Kidd tried to make a power move in the front office, wanting more control over personnel decisions. The Nets brass would shoot this notion down quickly, and decided that keeping Kidd along with Billy King would be a no win situation, leading to the Nets allowing Kidd to talk with the Bucks for the job in Milwaukee, which pushed Larry Drew out immediately.

Some feel that Kidd may have felt disrespected with his contract, which he signed last season a four-year 10.5 million dollar deal. In comparison, Derek Fisher and Steve Kerr, both also rookie Head Coaches, received five-year 25 million dollar contracts.

The departure of Kidd may have some serious effects on the Nets roster, which is very up in the air to begin with. Paul Pierce and Shaun Livingston who are both free agents have a good relationship with Kidd, and seeing him leave may lead them to look more closely about leaving as well. Kevin Garnett is expected to be back, but with Brooklyn’s recent mess in management and coaching, it could change his mind about returning.

Kidd has a good relationship with the Bucks new owner Marc Lasry, who was Kidd’s financial advisor for a while. Even though the Bucks are saying they are only bringing Kidd in as their new coach, it seems that Kidd will be given the power he desired with the Nets.

For the Nets moving forward now, King on top of an important free agency period will also be trying to find a new Head Coach to replace Kidd. A few big names are out there in Mark Jackson, Jeff Van Gundy, George Karl, and Lionel Hollins, who will all probably be contacted about the position. All four have seen a lot of success in the NBA and would make sense, but with coaching decisions sometimes candidates emerge out of Left Field. A free agency period that was already going to be a frenzy for the Nets will now have the added juice of the franchise trying to find a coach to lead them back to the playoffs.

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Effort Not There as Knicks Fall To Bucks

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

Monday, February 3^rd, 2014

New York Knicks vs. Milwaukee Bucks

Post Game Recap

The Knicks started to throw away all the positive vibes they had built in the middle of their home stand with a loss to the Miami Heat Saturday; tonight they finished destroying those vibes with a terrible loss to the lowly Bucks. It was a terrible loss for the Knicks tonight as the Bucks are one of the only teams in the NBA worse off than the Knicks currently. The Bucks were without arguably their best player tonight in O.J. Mayo and were still able to beat the Knicks tonight. A big reason the Bucks were able to hang with the Knicks tonight is because they kept fighting and the Knicks never put them away; as the Knicks tend to do they played down to their opponent and suffered for it. The loss tonight makes it two in a row for the Knicks and ends their seven-game winning streak against the Bucks. Things won’t get any easier for the Knicks as their next game is Wednesday night against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Player of the Game: J.R. Smith

Benny Sieu/USA TODAY Sports

Smith was moved back to his regular spot off as the sixth man and he continued his strong play. Smith scored a season-high 30 points (9-17 FG, 6-11 3pt, 6-6 FT) as he looks as comfortable as he has at any point during the season. Smith was single handedly keeping the Knicks in the game at points tonight as the offense never really got going. Smith also added seven rebounds and three assists on the night to round out his stat line. Smith finally looks like he is ready to be the second scoring option the Knicks have been craving all season, just someone else now needs to step up behind him and Carmelo Anthony.

-Positives

Anthony did everything he could to get the Knicks a win tonight alongside Smith. Anthony was on fire in the fourth quarter as he put the team on his back offensively and he led the comeback. Anthony finished the night with 36 points (13-25 FG, 5-10 3 pt, 5-6 FT) as he got hot down the stretch. He also added five rebounds and three assists to go with his big scoring night. Anthony can continue putting up bit scoring numbers but he is going to need some help to get the Knicks out of the hole they put themselves in.

Benny Sieu/USA TODAY Sports

The Knicks let it fly throughout the night and with good reason as they connected on a high amount of their three point attempts. On the night the Knicks shot a solid 44.1 percent from deep, going 15-34. The Knicks actually shot better from the three point line than they did overall from the field, as they made only 34-78 of their total shots for 43.6 percent.

Amar’e Stoudemire returned to the court tonight for more than a cameo and came out without an injury. Stoudemire also threw down a thunderous dunk over Bucks Center Larry Sanders that showed he is over the ankle injury. On the night he shot 3-7 from the field for seven points with four rebounds and one assist.

-Negatives

Outside of Anthony and Smith the Knicks offense was atrocious. No other player scored more than seven points and if you take out their shooting their teammates combined to go 12-36 from the field. At the end of the day they are still playing against other professionals so if a total team effort is not given they will lose like they did tonight. When one player in the starting lineup doubles the scoring output of the other four combined it is rarely, if ever, a good thing

Tom Lynn/AP Photo

The Bucks, who average only seven three point makes a game, lit the Knicks up from the perimeter. Until the Knicks pick it up it will be pointed out how poor their perimeter defense is. The Bucks lit it up from downtown tonight, making 11-18 for 61.1 percent. The three point barrage was led by Brandon Knight and Khris Middleton, who combined to go 9-14. Knight lit the Knicks up for the second consecutive game, as he has scored 61 points combined his last two appearances against the Knicks. Knight’s main victim on the night was Raymond Felton, who was once again a revolving door defensively. Felton got beat backdoor by Knight on the second to last Bucks possession and then had the game winning three-pointer knocked down in his face as he gave Knight the utmost confidence throughout the game not putting much pressure on him.

As the theme throughout the season the Knicks did not bring the intensity needed tonight. They started the game off without scoring the first three minutes and missing their first three free throws. Their heads were not in the game throughout the night, evident from the poor shooting at the foul line, where the Knicks went 15-24 (62.5 percent). The effort defensively was lackadaisical as the Knicks let a struggling team gain confidence right from the start and ride it through all four quarters.

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