Milwaukee's staring line-up:TJ FordMichael ReddBobby SimmonsAndrew BogutJamaal MagloireKey rotation guys:Mo WilliamsJoe SmithDan GadzuricScouting Report:-Milwaukee has an array of talent, but thier weaknesses is defense. I've heard BCB say they lack any intensity, which should be a good thing for us. The bucks are in the midst of a nasty slide, losing 3 straight and seven of their last nine. Their offense starts with TJ Ford, and usually ends w/ Michael Redd. TJ's unbelievable quickness leads to an extraordinary ability to make plays. michael Redd is among the best shooters in the league, and now he is starting to create his own shot. His midrange has improved. -Michael Redd. He is very weak on defense, but man, can he shoot the ball. He is a scoring machine. the offense depends on him to finish the plays TJ creates. he is without a doubt the focal point of the offense.-TJ Ford. He has to, if that's possible, be contained tonight. It will help us that OG is much, much bigger than him, but his quickness is the best in the league. He is another liability on defense tho.-Andrew Bogut. We have to keep a body on this guy. He can sneak in for offensive rebounds and get easy putbacks. That's the kind of thing that will kill us. We will have to work hard to contain TJ and Michael, and it's a big letdown to work that hard on D just to let the other team get an offensive board and an easy 2.How to play them:-We must execute and take what they give us. They are porous defensively, but they do rebound VERY well. I remember last game, we missed alot of FTs. We have to be able to make the open shot against these guys.-Get going right off the bat. We need to get this team running, get some easy buckets, and get their confidence down. This team seems to me like one that will stay on the ground.-NEVER sag off of Michael Redd. I'm not sure how well he moves off the ball, but i don't remember him being very good at it. I remember him as a camper on the 3-pt. line. We can try our hardest to contain TJ, but not w/ whoever's guarding Michael. He's not as good going to his right, so force him that way. He does have a nice step back, tho, so if you force him right, you must stay on him. His mid-range is killer, but he doesn't take it all the way very much.-Our bench will have to step it up. Milwaukee is much deeper than us, so we can't lose any ground when the 2nd units come in. Mo Williams is very dangerous, and Jiri, Joe Smith, and Kukoc can be game changers.Key Match-up:Orien Greene vs. TJ FordOG will have yet another tough cover. First he gets Gilbert Arenas to guard, then AI, now TJ. Things should be easier for OG offensively now that he such a size advantage. If OG can contain TJ, and not let him into the lane, this should be easy-pickings for Boston. If he can't, well, that's another story.Break out players:BOS-Wally Szczerbiak. Michael Redd is guarding him, enough said. Expect 22, 7 boards, and 4 assists.MIL-Andrew Bogut. I think he'll go crazy on the boards tonight. I'm thinking 12, 14 boards (8 offensive), 2 blocks.Final Prediction:BOS-103 MIL-97
I like how you even predict the score lol. We need this one and it's definitely winnable, could be high scoring. Who's matched up against Paul?
When Redd doesn't have the ball he usually darts from the inside to the threepoint line for a quick pass and curls around the defender coming up to him and cuts to the basket. Something Redd didn't do much of last year. Both these teams are inconsistant and rely on one guy for their offensive lives. Should be interesting.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (nba dogmatist @ Mar 10 2006, 03:36 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I'd expect Bobby Simmons to guard him. But really, does it even matter who's guardin him? </div>Yeah not really, Bobby Simmons isn't bad but Paul can overpower him.
yes, bobby simmons is a good defender, but so was Caron Butler, Andre Iguodala, James Posey, Kobe Bryant.. well, you get the idea..
just to let you guys know, i'm going out of town tomorrow. I won't be able to make the preview for the Nuggets game, but i will record it. It's gonna be a shootout.My bad.. :focus:
Thoughts at the half:-I'm seeing that Ryan Gomes is having a bit of a confidence issue. He didn't do very well to start (missed all 3 of his first shots), so he's not as aggressive offensively.-Orien is doing a good job of protecting the ball. He is fending off TJ, and we're able to execute offensively. He used to take a while to get everything under control and get into the offense. Now, he's doing that much quicker, and as a result, we're getting better shots.-We're hitting our foul shots. Last game vs. Milwaukee, that was a big problem. Now, we are taking what they give us, like i said earlier. we're getting to the line, and we're knocking down FT's. It's good to see us knowing the importance of the little things throughout the game.-Michael Redd is much quicker than i thought. I knew he had a brilliant first step, but man, he is getting to the basket at will. Move your feet Paul! He's also better defensively than BCB gives him credit for.-raef has been big. He's rebounding well, and that block on Magloire was wonderful. I thought they had an easy 2, then out of nowhere comes Raef for the block.-Bucks only have one more rebound than the Cs. This is because our guards, like Gerald Green and Tony Allen, are going for the rebounds. Godd job guys, and keep it up!
Gomes will have a better half..He just needs to get more physical and get his confidence up. No problem..I like how the bench guards are doing, Green and Allen..Oriene Greene is playing very well..Raef is rebounding well and hes having a solid game..
Observations (I was working during the game so I didn't see it). 1. Redd gets 11 FT's and hits them all. 2. Magloire gets 16pts which is very good. 3. Bogut gets a double double. 4. Simmons came up big with 18/8. 5. Williams didn't play.
man. Magloire must've had 5 offensive fouls that weren't called. He just bulldozed into the lane, led by his left shoulder, and Raef tried to hold his ground and got a foul called.If Pierce could've hit those FT's, the game could've been alot different.Milwaukee seemed like a very disciplined team. They executed well on both ends. I tip my hat to the coaching staff.
