<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">As if the Bucks' injury situation wasn't bad enough heading into their 104-92 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Monday at the Pepsi Center, it only got worse during the game. The Bucks had announced before the game that they expected to be without guard Michael Redd for four to six weeks and that the future of forward Charlie Villanueva remained uncertain. But then, guard Mo Williams suffered a left shoulder sprain late in the first half and did not return. His status after the game was uncertain. Coach Terry Stotts has always been one to write off injuries as just a part of life in the NBA but even he had to admit that the Bucks' injury woes had become rather disheartening. "It's discouraging," Stotts said. "But you know a lot of teams are going through it. There have been teams that have responded well when their best players have gone out. Teams have gathered around each other and found ways to compete and win. And there have been some teams that haven't. We need to be coaches and players who find a way to compete and win games." The 6-foot-1 Williams crumpled to the court with 31 seconds left in the second quarter after colliding with 6-8, 245-pound Denver forward Linas Kleiza. Williams was helped off the court favoring his shoulder but was able to return and shoot his free throws. He missed both and Denver led at halftime, 60-49.</div> Source Another game, another injury for the Bucks. I saw the collision and it was nasty. Linas Kleiza looked like a strong safety coming over the middle to layout a WR.
I gave the Bucks a chance even though it was slim, but now it's definitely over with for them. If I'm not mistaken, their top 3 scorers are out and that has to be at least like 55 points some of their role players have to make up. Is it time for them to throw in the towel, Schaddy?
Yeah, this team is pretty much screwed. Without Mo and Redd, we lose by far our most dynamic scoring options. Guys like Ruben, Bell and even Skinner were performing beyond their normal talent level due to the Bucks' uptempo attack and the fact that they were playing with a pair of guards who really scored, but also got others involved in the offense. Now, we lack any sort of natural scorer on the roster. Redd, Mo and that SF...what's his name again...are the only real scorers we have; now the onus falls onto guys like Steve Blake to probably run the point, Bell to step up as the 2 guard, Ruben to continue his better than expected scoring. Bogut absolutely MUST get at least a dozen shots per night, now. He never gets enough shots with Redd and Mo on the floor, and he'd better damn well have the ball in his hands all game from here until they're healthy. This could be a big time for him, ditto with Villanueva, who is our best scoring option now. But he's still gimpy, too. I guess nobody is ever really out of it in the East, and we still know that we can make a run. However, without our three best scorers, I don't see how we're going to play above .500 basketball. Our entire system is designed around getting up and down the court and getting points. Now we don't have guys who can do that. Here is when we find out whether Stotts is worth keeping, but the injuries also give Larry Harris a built-in excuse to keep his buddy the moron even if we plummet into the early lottery.
