<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">St. Francis - Joe Smith was smiling, quite broadly, after the Milwaukee Bucks' practice Monday at the Cousins Center. And no wonder. The Bucks' power forward made it through a full practice without feeling any pain, and he was given the go-ahead to rejoin the lineup for Milwaukee's home game tonight against the Golden State Warriors. Both Smith and guard-forward Jiri Welsch, who have been inactive for the Bucks' first three games, are expected to be available as Milwaukee puts its 3-0 record on the line. The 6-foot-10 Smith expects to be on an 18- to 24-minute time limit tonight because he is coming off a knee injury that held him to 24 minutes of action during the entire exhibition season. "It will be good," Smith said of the limit set by the Bucks' training staff. "That will be something to get some kind of game rhythm and get a feel for what's going on out there on the floor." Coach Terry Stotts said Smith would come off the bench, with 7-foot rookie Andrew Bogut remaining in the starting lineup at power forward. "The plan is he will be playing," Stotts said, referring to Smith. "For the first time since the first week of training camp, we'll have a completely healthy roster. It will be interesting to see how the matchups and rotation go. We've emphasized to the team the strength of our bench, the depth we have and everybody being ready."</div> Source
That only adds more depth for the Bucks...Smith is a great rebounder and has been their best interior defender the past two years...Welsch is a versatile guard who can shoot and who loves to pass...their bench has just been bolstered dramatically...
Excellent news heading into tonight's game. We could use some more depth on the wing, so Welsch's return is nice, but Smith is a big boost for us. He's a more athletic player than our current frontcourt squad, and he'll give everyone some more rest so they can keep playing good interior defense. Hear that guys? I want to see GOOD INTERIOR DEFENSE tonight.
