Thunder from Down Under

Before the game last night, legendary Bucks color commentator Jon McGlocklin suggested the matchup that would decide the outcome of the game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Milwaukee Bucks would take place at the center position.  How prescient he was.  That was exactly the matchup that decided the game, and the Bucks won it decisively.

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Click Here to see the Game Stats Box Score:  Bucks 87, Wolves 72

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Game Ball 1: Andrew Bogut...  Based on last night's performance,  it sure looks as though the Australian warrior Andrew Bogut has his legs back under him.  What a performance!  He destroyed everything the Wolves put in front of him, including the normally effective Al Jefferson.  Using a series of face up moves and just sheer willpower, Andrew Bogut produced big numbers for the Bucks and held the Wolves centers to negative numbers.  As you can see from the Game Stats Boxscore, Bogut registered the first +1.000 Win Contribution of the season for Milwaukee, and his performance alone made it highly unlikely the Bucks would lose last night's game.  Bogut was feeling so confident last night, he did the dreaded "twice through the legs" dribble -- you know, where you dribble through your legs and then the next dribble goes back through the other side.  I don't know what was going through Bogut's mind at the time, but that's the move I always used when I was being guarded by someone I knew couldn't guard me.  It sort of says "Hmmm... which way should I score on you?  Left? Right? Jump shot?  Let me decide."

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Game Ball 2: Hakim Warrick... The other really outstanding Bucks player last night was "The Thin Man".  He did his damage off the bench and he did it well, getting to the rim, distributing, offensive rebounding... you name it.  His hustle and production were awesome to watch.  Still, man is he lanky for a power forward.   And its not like he's overly tall, either.  I'm becoming more and more convinced small forward might be his proper role, especially against true "power" forwards.  But great game for him.

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Game Ball 3: Dan Gadzuric... Danny G!  Its great to have you back.  What a great start this guy is off to.  Its like he refound his purpose on the court.  If you read my post of a while ago you will know that prior to signing his lucrative contract a few years ago, Gadzuric had an unrecognized tremendous season.  In fact, percentage wise it stands as one of the best rebounding seasons in NBA history.  But then the next season he basically got benched and I think he said to himself, "Nobody values rebounding.  I'm going to try to be a scorer."  That's not his game.  His game is high percentage shots and high volume rebounding, and he's all of a sudden realized it, and he's just playing very well.

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Game Ball 4: Luke Ridnour... Luke, the force was with you.  Ridnour was feeling it last night.  He dominated his old buddy Ramon Sessions and kind of tilted the game in the Bucks favor in the second half.  Terrific performance.

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Closing Thoughts:   The offense still has issues, but the defense has been outstanding.  Without Skiles, Milwaukee would have lost all four games, but with him the Bucks were in 3 of the 4 and have won two.  Defense rocks, and its great to have it back in the Beer City.  Tonight the Bucks take on the Knicks at The Brad, and I will have thoughts on that matchup this afternoon.

Tagged as: Andrew Bogut, Dan Gadzuric, Game Stats Boxscore, Hakim Warrick, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves, NBA