The Red Rocket

The Milwaukee Bucks are the only team in the NBA with a winning record
against San Antonio in the Tim Duncan era, and the Spurs didn’t do
anything to change that on Tuesday night.

The Bucks got off to fast start in the first quarter, frequently
running the offense through Andrew Bogut. And when Bogut wasn’t
finishing with dunks, he was making good passes out of the post.

Luc Richard Mbah a Moute also made a very nice pass inside (to Bogut)
that resulted in a dunk. And Richard Jefferson started off well,
hitting from the outside and getting to the free throw line. The Bucks
front line of Bogut, Mbah a Moute and Jefferson hit seven of their
first eight field goals.

The Bucks shot 69% from the field in the first quarter because – as
Jeff McDonald put it – it is difficult for an NBA team to miss dunks
and layups. The Bucks outscored the Spurs in the paint by a margin of
16-6 in the first quarter. Milwaukee scored the first 14 points in the
paint. The interior defense was atrocious.

A little over five minutes into the game, with the Spurs trailing
17-7, Gregg Popovich had seen enough. He pulled Tim Duncan and Matt
Bonner in favor of Kurt Thomas and Anthony Tolliver.

The Spurs did eventually settle down and they started playing better
defense. Either that, or as it looked to me, for some strange reason
Milwaukee just quit running the offense through Bogut in the second
and third quarters.

It didn’t matter because that’s when Michael Redd started heating up.
The Spurs used both Bruce Bowen and Roger Mason Jr. on Michael Redd at
different times, but neither was able to slow him much.

Then Luke Ridnour went crazy. The Bucks used a variety of high post
screens to get Ridnour separation from Tony Parker and all Ridnour
needed was a step and he drained the shot. And even when Ridnour did
miss, as he did badly on one shot in the third quarter, Bogut was
there to clean up the garbage.

The Spurs got back in the game and held a brief lead in the fourth
quarter, but the Bucks showed good composure and they went back in
front 100-95 with 17 seconds remaining.

Then Roger Mason Jr. hit a three point shot to cut the lead to 100-98
with 9 seconds left. And after the Bucks took a 5-second violation for
failing to get the ball in bounds, the Spurs took posession with a
chance to tie the game or win it with a long one. But Tim Duncan
passed up a 15 foot jumper, and instead drove the lane, past Bogut,
but Duncan missed the layup in heavy traffic. Milwaukee 100, San
Antonio 98.

It wasn’t meant to be on this night. Probably because the Spurs didn’t
deserve to win this game.

Andrew Bogut scored 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting. Bogut had 14
rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks. Tim Duncan and the Spurs had no
answer for the big Australian.

Luke Ridnour scored 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting. He had 5 rebounds,
6 assists, 2 blocks and a steal. He hit 2-of-3 from three point range.
Ridnour improved his season averages to 42% from the field and 31%
from long range and 10.7 points per game.

Michael Redd scored 25 points on 9-of-19 shooting. He had 10 rebounds
and 4 assists. Here is what I said about Redd two nights ago: “… if
Redd can’t shoot better than 39% from the floor and 33% from the three
point line, and at least occasionally get a rebound, he is a liability.”

Bucks fans can thank me for getting him out of his slump.

Tim Duncan had 22 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and a steal.
Duncan hit only 7-of-20 shots. I don’t know what it is about Bogut and
the Bucks but Duncan just doesn’t do well against them. Milwaukee
outrebounded San Antonio 43-29 and the poor interior defense early in
the game was the biggest reason the Spurs lost.

Tony Parker scored 19 points but only 4 points came in the second
half. Parker had 10 assists, 1 rebound and 2 steals, one of which he
converted into a layup at the other end. Parker played a good game
until he got shaken up in the third quarter on a collision with
Ginobili. He returned in the fourth quarter but looked a little
hesitant.

I had the pleasure of watching the Bucks broadcast crew telecast this
game. And every time Ridnour scored, they pointed out how he
“schooled” Tony Parker. ”Ridnour is exposing Tony Parker!”

What they failed to point out was, often times, a screen in the high
post was what allowed Ridnour to get free to begin with. Tony didn’t
play great defensively in this game, but any guard that shoots the
ball the way Ridnour did is going to be very difficult to contain. And
with the confidence Ridnour had, he didn’t need much room.

No one got “exposed”. Juveniles. I think “surprised” would have been
the word to use. It’s amazing that all the teams with great point
guards the Spurs have played in the postseason over the years, none
were able to “expose” Tony Parker. It took Luke Ridnour to get it
done. Maybe the Bucks TV guys need to look up the word expose.

Michael Finley and Roger Mason Jr. both had very good games. Finley,
in fact, was tremendous. His shooting kept the game close. Finley hit
8-of-10 field goals, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. Finley had
20 points and 5 rebounds. Mason hit 6-of-10 shots, including 3-of-4
from three-point range. Mason had 15 points and 3 rebounds.

Manu Ginobili was pretty good. He hit 5-of-9 shots and scored 13
points. Ginobili also had 5 assists in 26 minutes. I don’t understand
why Popovich is playing him in such small spurts. I think the ankle is
bothering Ginobili more than we’re being told.

Matt Bonner was pretty much horrible. He was 1-of-4 from the field and
0-for-3 on three-point attempts. Bonner had 2 rebounds in 18 minutes.
He was lost against the Bucks inside game. He crossed up Tim Duncan on
an easy pass, causing Duncan to throw the ball out of bounds.

George Hill wasn’t much better. Hill played 11 minutes and was 1-of-4
from the field. He did have one nice move to the basket, converting a
reverse layup. But Hill is trying to take the ball to the basket far
too much. He has plenty of room to shoot the ball from the outside,
yet he has been forcing drives into traffic.

Ime Udoka and Anthony Tolliver didn’t play much but they showed
energy. Udoka and Tolliver need to play a lot more if a couple of
players don’t change some things very quickly.

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