With the recent injuries to “Redd and Gimpy” (Guard Michael Redd and Center Andrew Bogut) many Milwaukee Bucks fans figured that the season was going to slowly fall back into the proverbial basement that they have seemed to get comfortable in the past few years.
Nuh Uh!!
Not anymore. Not with this bunch, and certainly not with rookie sensation, Brandon Jennings. If there are still any doubts about how good he is, and even scarier, how good he can be, they should have been squashed with last night’s performance.
A Bucks team without Redd, Bogut and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute played well enough to win against an also short-handed Charlotte Bobcats team, 95-88.
Takin' Over.
The Bucks maintained a double-digit lead for the better part of three quarters during Friday night’s game, and Brandon Jennings was a big reason why. Jennings jumped on the Bobcats early, scoring 17 of his game-high 29 points in the the first quarter.
The Bobcats began to key in on Jennings after his excellent first quarter, which allowed for Jennings to show his ability as a facilitator.
Jennings racked up 7 assists during the ball game while setting up teammates, Carlos Delfino (9 points, 6 rebs, 5 assists), Ersan Ilyasova (13 points, 7 rebs) and Hakim Warrick (16, 9 rebs). Luke Ridnour also hit some big shots down the stretch when the Bobcats began to make a push late in the fourth quarter.
I’m choosing not to focus on the fact that the Bucks allowed their opponent to shoot a season-high 51 % from the field while they shot just 41%.
I’m choosing not to focus on the fact that the Bobcats attempted twice as many free throws as the Bucks did, but managed to convert only 60% of them.
I’m also choosing to overlook the fact that the Bucks turned the ball over more times than the Bobcats did, and when you add up all these mistakes, it’s astonishing that we won.
I’m going to focus on the fact that, despite all of that, The Bucks are adding another notch to the Win column. Excellent. Now the Bucks need to forget about last game and focus on doing it again.
After last night’s win, the Bucks immediately boarded a plane headed to Memphis, TN to take on the Grizzles (4-8, 3-2 Home, 1-6 Away).
Don’t let the record fool you. This team is capable of scoring in a variety of different ways and without Andrew Bogut, it’s going to be frustrating going against the likes of 6’11 Power Forward, Zach Randolph and 7’1 budding Center, Marc Gasol.
The Bucks will also have their hands full with scoring Gaurd OJ Mayo and high-flyng Forward Rudy Gay.
The Bucks schedule is starting to look a lot tougher and with the recent injuries to three key starters, the Bucks will need everybody every night to try to weather the storm.
We have Brandon jennings, therefore I Believe. Do you?
Highlights from last night’s win at Home against the Bobcats:
