<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Lost in the hoopla surrounding guard Mo Williams' first career triple-double in Wednesday's victory over Miami at the Bradley Center was the fact that assistant coach Larry Krystkowiak deserved an assist for the victory. Krystkowiak entered the halftime locker room and reminded the Bucks - a team that likes run for a living - that they had exactly zero fast-break points at that stage of the game. And while the Bucks finished with a modest seven fast-break points for the game, they did succeed in getting out into the open court in the second half, changing the pace and complexion of the game, and turning a three-point half-time deficit into a convincing 26-point victory. Asked about Krystkowiak's halftime message, guard Michael Redd said, "That was shocking to us. We were scoring but we didn't get any fast-break points and we were like, 'Wow.' So we made an effort in the second half to go out and push it." Said guard Charlie Bell, "Everybody wants to run and gun on this team." Krystkowiak said that the fast-break points were something that jumped off the stat sheet at him at halftime. "We had talked about trying to take advantage of being at home," he said. "And we hadn't played in a couple days, so there really wasn't any explanation why we weren't getting some other than we let them shoot way too good of a percentage in the second quarter. It was one of those things that kind of stuck out. We all look at the stat sheets and Terry gives us an opportunity to pitch in whatever we thought." How dramatic was the change in style from half to half? Let's put it this way. In the first half, the Bucks scored 53 points on 44.2% shooting. In he second half, the Bucks scored 68 points - two shy of their season high for a half - and shot 61.5%. Miami, on the other hand, scored 56 points in the first half on 55% shooting. In the second half, the Heat scored 39 points on 35.1% shooting. The Bucks have been searching all season for an identity and might finally be finding one as an open-court team. "That's our game," said Redd. "We play like a Western Conference style in the Eastern Conference. We have to push it, that's part of our game. I guess it's become part of our identity when we win. That's when we're at our best.</div> Source
Even when we win, we're not focusing on defense The Bucks have been playing better lately, though it's more that we're closing out game than really playing better overall defense. But hey, this team is built to score, and if they can keep executing late, maybe the points they give up won't matter as much. Keep it up boys!
