[narek]

TEAMS: Bucks (15-21) vs. Phoenix Suns (25-11).

WHEN: 8 tonight.

WHERE: US Airways Center, Phoenix.

BROADCASTS: TV - FSN Wisconsin cable. Radio - AM-1250.

ABOUT THE SUNS: Playing without Steve Nash, Shawn Marion and Grant Hill, the Suns suffered their worst loss of the season, 108-86, Thursday at Utah. The Suns' point total and 36.1% shooting were season lows. For a team with 25 victories, they seem to have some issues. "I can't put my finger on it right now, but for whatever reason, we aren't as good as we were the last couple, three years," coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We're kind of wobbling. We've got to find some answers."

PLAYER TO WATCH
BORIS DIAW, Suns

He started in place of the injured Marion against Utah but didn't produce much, finishing with five points, two rebounds and two assists in 34 minutes. In the past 11 games, he has made 28 of 86 shots (34%). On the season, he is averaging 6.8 points and 4.0 rebounds in 26.3 minutes per game.

LINEUPS
PROBABLE SUNS STARTERS

Player Ht. From
G-Raja Bell 6-5 Fla. Intl.
G-Steve Nash 6-3 Santa Clara
F-Boris Diaw 6-8 France
F-Shawn Marion 6-7 UNLV
C-A. Stoudemire 6-10 Orlando

Coach: Mike D'Antoni (sixth season, 223-120; seventh overall, 237-156).

Injury report: Grant Hill (appendectomy) is out. Shawn Marion (right elbow) and Steve Nash (flu) are questionable.

PROBABLE BUCKS STARTERS

Player Ht. From
G-Mo Williams 6-1 Alabama
G-Royal Ivey 6-4 Texas
F-Bobby Simmons 6-6 DePaul
F-Yi Jianlian 7-0 China
C-Andrew Bogut 7-0 Utah

Coach: Larry Krystkowiak (second season, 20-34).

Injury report: Desmond Mason (left thumb) and David Noel (right wrist) are out.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=706357

The Bucks haven't won in Phoeniz in ages and ages. It be nice to pull an upset.

[MB30]

Looked good for upset early, but not so good now. Dunno why LK started with Ruffin on and Bogut off at the start of the 4th. You were still in with a chance, but that 3rd quarter killed u. Bogut has been unreal - 25 and 10 on 12/13 shooting, and the one miss was on a tip in in traffic. Get it inside and ull get back in this game.

[narek]

Originally Posted by BG44

Looked good for upset early, but not so good now. Dunno why LK started with Ruffin on and Bogut off at the start of the 4th. You were still in with a chance, but that 3rd quarter killed u. Bogut has been unreal - 25 and 10 on 12/13 shooting, and the one miss was on a tip in in traffic. Get it inside and ull get back in this game.

Yeah, bad third quarter, and not so good last 2 minutes of the game.

[MB30]

You seemed to play a lot better when Mo Williams wasnt in at the point. Charlie Bell did a pretty decent job running it, and was more effective at getting Bogut the ball in the right spots. Was nice to see the Bucks play inside out ball though - it was working well for you for 3/4 of the game.

Is Yi going to continue to start? Or will Vanilla Wafer take over that PF slot?

[NewAgeBaller]

I didnt' see the whole game, only about half, but whenever I was watching Redd would do something stupid to hurt the team..
Like shoot a contested jumper when Milwaukee had all the momentum, or a bad turnover or whatever..

[narek]

Originally Posted by BG44

You seemed to play a lot better when Mo Williams wasnt in at the point. Charlie Bell did a pretty decent job running it, and was more effective at getting Bogut the ball in the right spots. Was nice to see the Bucks play inside out ball though - it was working well for you for 3/4 of the game.

Is Yi going to continue to start? Or will Vanilla Wafer take over that PF slot?

Williams like playing shooting guard more than point, but CB, until recently, had been stinking things up.

Yi will continue to start. He's problems are more with his strength and his working on it. He plays pretty smart for the most part, just struggles with consistency more than anything.

[narek]

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Suns center Amare Stoudemire started the game with a dunk and was a load for the Bucks to handle all night, finishing with 31 points.

PLAY OF THE GAME: Guard Michael Redd lost control of the ball as he went up for a shot with 1 minute left and the Bucks trailing by four. Redd was unable to draw a foul, and Raja Bell made two free throws to give Phoenix a 120-114 lead with 51 seconds left.

OFF THE BENCH: With Redd starting his first game since Jan. 2 at Miami, Royal Ivey moved back to the bench and Mo Williams shifted back to point guard.

STATISTICS SHEET: In the second quarter, the Bucks made 15 of 23 shots (65.2%), including 5 of 9 three-pointers (55.5%). The Bucks then shot 36.8% in the third quarter.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=706525

[narek]

Phoenix – For Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut, it’s now becoming a matter of confidence.

According to coach Larry Krystkowiak, Bogut’s confidence is growing by the minute and Bogut’s performance in Milwaukee’s 122-114 loss to the Phoenix Suns Saturday night should do nothing to diminish that.

Bogut played 37 minutes, scoring a career-high 29 points on 14-of-16 shooting, and took 11 rebounds. The Bucks are making a concerted effort to go to Bogut more on the offensive end and that strategy is paying some dividends.

“We’ve got a lot of confidence in Andrew,” said Krystkowiak. “I’m not sure he knew that a month ago. We talk about it all the time and in fairness to him, we’re going to start running a lot of stuff through him. Phoenix double-teamed him from time to time in the second half and he did a nice job of distributing the basketball. If you’re going to be a good team, you have to have a post presence.”

Bogut made all eight of his first half shots, scored 17 points and led Milwaukee to a 68-61 halftime lead. Bogut made his first shot of the second half – a dunk – before he missed a tip shot in the first minute of the third quarter. He scored eight points in the third quarter and four in the fourth.

http://blogs.jsonline.com/bucks/arch...ut-shines.aspx

[roux2dope]

Keep giving Bogut the Ball in the post!!!!!!