Tuesday Bucks Notes

• The Bucks take on the Nuggets tonight at 7 pm CT at the Resch Center in Green Bay.
  
• Charles Gardner talks to Andrew Bogut's longtime friend/personal coach, Sinisa Markovic. Markovic flew to Milwaukee earlier this year at Bogut's request, worked with him this summer in Australia, and has been living with Bogut during camp. Markovic heads back to Australia tomorrow, but hopefully all that work will pay dividends.

  "He's more active defensively, and offensively we still have to do a little bit more work on it," Markovic said.
  
  Bogut has increased the range on his jump shot and displayed the ability to hit from 15 feet, which could greatly enhance his game.
  
  "He has to, it's a must," Markovic said of the improved jumper. "Otherwise, I will be back again."

  Gardner also notes that Bogut's team during scrimmages today included Mo, Redd, Mason and Yi, so we'll see if that lineup starts tomorrow night in Green Bay.
  
• Steve Sneddon writes about Ramon Sessions' adjustment to the NBA.
  
• Not that we really need much more coverage of Yi Jianlian, but Scott Venci at the Green Bay Press Gazette has a good article on Yi's preseason so far. He sheds a little more light on the decision to draft Yi and the Bucks' expectations.
  

  "Certainly, my coaching staff was on board," Harris said of the selection. "You need the support from the top down. When you make the decision to do this, with all the things that were out there, everyone needed to be on the same page.

  "On that draft night, when Senator Kohl said, 'Larry and Larry, is this the guy that you want?' We said, 'Yes, we are in this together.'"

• In an article about fundraising in college sports, Frank Fitzpatrick of the Philly Inquirer notes that Bogut donated $125,000 to the University of Utah last year.
  
• There's an interesting thread over at RealGM on Yi's name. Most people who follow the Bucks probably understand that Yi is his family name (hence it's on his jersey, like Yao), but I thought the description of "Jianlian" was of particular interest. So here's my understanding--feel free to correct me in the comments:
  
• His full name, as with many Chinese names, is three Chinese characters, so that's why you sometimes see Jianlian spelled as "Jian Lian." Some Chinese have only two characters, like Yao Ming.
  
• Effectively "Lian" is his given name, but unlike in Western cultures, the given name in China isn't used except by close relatives. So my guess is that's the reason the two characters have been combined into the single "Jianlian," since none of us would use the names Jian or Lian separately.
  
• You've probably heard some people, including Herb Kohl, refer to Yi as "Ah Lian." Adding an "Ah" to the given name is a common way of nicknaming in China, notably in Cantonese (which is spoken in the Southeast part of China where Yi is from). If you watch the Chinese news reports on Yi, they also sometimes use this nickname for him. So feel free to call Yi that if you run into him. Some Chinese fans have even taken to jokingly calling Bogut "Ah Bo" using the same logic.
  
• I also asked in that thread about the pronunciation of Jianlian, which is typically pronounced as four syllables by us Americans: Jee-Ahn Lee-Ahn. Watching some of China's games this summer, the Chinese announcers typically compressed those four syllables into about two long ones, sounding more like "Jehn-Lyehn." That's because Chinese characters are monosyllabic, but the pronunciation of "Jian" and "Lian" is simply very difficult for those of us who don't speak Chinese, hence "Jianlian" is typically pronounced phonetically by us Americans.
  

Sunday Bucks Notes

Gary Dineen/NBAE/Getty Images

• Here's the JS recap of the Bucks' 92-78 loss to the Jazz.
• Yi Jianlian started last night but Krystkowiak is downplaying the significance of that. Expect Villanueva to get more time with the starters soon. Mo Williams was hot shooting the ball, but didn't mind giving Yi a transition opportunity.

  "When I see a big guy running that hard, why would I lay it up? He's running the floor and I needed to get him going. That's my pick-and-pop guy. I need him to knock that shot down and to have confidence to do it. The transition can get him going and get him in a good rhythm.

• Dan Fegan, fresh off spending the summer as public enemy #1 among Bucks fans, is happy with Yi's start as a pro. OK, so you wouldn't expect Yi's agent to say anything but positives at this point, but he does have some interesting comments:

  "He's gotten off to a very good start," Fegan said. "He's a rookie, and there are going to be transitions. I'm extremely happy with what the whole (Bucks) organization has done to help him make the transition, and it shows on the floor.

  "He's getting a lot more comfortable every day. It's a big transition - he's getting a place, he's getting a car, he's learning the city. There are some language barriers."

  Fegan also noted the support of his teammates, which has been an encouraging theme since Yi arrived.
  

  "I think they've been fantastic," Fegan said. "It's always a big concern with a young player on a veteran team. It was one of the big questions we had from the beginning. You don't want to have a Darko Milicic situation (as in Detroit). I can say with confidence it's been a great start on all levels."

• Ersan Ilyasova scored 10 points in 18 minutes in AXA FC Barcelona's 81-64 win over Estudiantes on Saturday (box score). And the Barca website has even started spelling his name correctly.
  

Bucks Fall to Jazz

The Bucks dropped their first BC game of the preseason 92-78 to the Jazz. I listened to most of the game on the radio, so I can't give that much insight into how the team looked, but overall it was an extremely sloppy game. Bobby Simmons did not play, though I haven't seen anything suggesting it was due to injury...let's hope that holds. Mo Williams returned from missing the last game to score 22 pts along with 5 assists, but he also had 6 TOs in 33 minutes. Redd had an interesting stat line, tallying more rebounds (6) than field goal attempts (5) in 24 minutes. And he even blocked a shot! I can't say I'm concerned with Redd's low key preseason so far; he's clearly trying to be more than a scorer, but I doubt once the season starts he'll continue to avoid doing the thing he does best. He does appear serious about keeping teammates involved and bringing more defensive intensity, so hopefully he can do that while still pouring in the points at an efficient clip.

Bogut quietly had a very encouraging line in 22 minutes: 10 points including 4/4 from the line as well as 7 rebounds and 4, count 'em, 4 blocks. Yi meanwhile had another very uneven game, scoring 13 points but racking up a cringe-worthy 8 turnovers. That was a theme for the night, as the Bucks totaled a staggering 30 turnovers. On a positive note, they held the Jazz to only 37.7% from the field.

Saturday Bucks Notes

• The Bucks take on the Jazz at the Bradley Center tonight at 7:30 CT. Larry Harris and Larry Krystkowiak have both spoken about the emphasis the Bucks will put on defending their homecourt this year, and that begins tonight. Sort of.

  "We're just hoping we can get out in front of the home crowd and make some steps in a positive direction and gets some people excited about our team," said Krystkowiak. "The guys have worked really hard for 10 days and now we hope people would maybe peak their curiosity about it. And certainly we need to start thinking about – exhibition or regular season, it really doesn’t matter – it doesn’t make any difference, it’s our home court. We need to kind of get in the flow of how we’re going to protect our home court."

• Aside from defense, one of the main criticisms of the 06/07 Bucks was the mercenary attitude a number of players showed on the offensive end. While scoring points usually wasn't a problem last year, Larry Krystkowiak would prefer the Bucks bring a more unselfish approach this year.
  

  So along with the defensive mentality that Krystkowiak has been trying to pound into his players' minds, he is also trying to get them to discard the "me-first" attitude on offense that was so prevalent last season.

  "We've got an emphasis on it," point guard Mo Williams said. "It's a big emphasis. He lets us know when we don't. The main thing is guys want to do it and when we don't he reminds us. We're making an effort to move the ball and help each other on the offensive end."

  Said guard Michael Redd: "The trust factor has got to be a key. Offensively, if there's a wide-open man, hit him."

• Charles Gardner writes that Yi Jianlian is getting more comfortable in his new home.

  "These teammates are veterans, and they know what they should do," Yi said. "When I do a good job, they encourage me. When I do something wrong, they will correct me and give me a chance."

• Darrell Moody writes that Ramon Sessions is loving this whole NBA thing. And Mo Williams is helping:

  "Mo said he was a second-round draft pick, and that nobody took him under their wing," Sessions said. "He helps me. We talk about the game, and he's taken me out to dinner.
  
  "A lot of certain little things I've learned that I didn't know. You don't have to come down and go fast all the time."

Friday Bucks Notes

I think we need a caption contest. Gary Dineen/NBA.com

• Charles Gardner writes Mo Williams' shoulder injury isn't thought to be serious.
  

  Williams said he felt a bit of pain when he bumped into Chicago's Viktor Khryapa in the first half on Tuesday. The Bucks guard plans to play with a protective bar pad to protect the shoulder.

  "I'll do everything I can for safety," Williams said. "Training camp is so physical. I think if you get past training camp, I don't think I'll have any problems with it."

  I have to admit, I don't totally get Mo's logic about the regular season being somehow safer than training camp, but I hope he's right. Also check out Gardner's chat transcript from last night.

• Tom Enlund profiles Charlie Villanueva.
  
• Rob Peterson is once again writing for NBA.com, and on the second day of the new NBA.com blog he has some great pictures from the Bucks' outing to a local grocery store. CBS 58 also has brief Redd and Mason interviews from the trip. Rob has been writing great stuff for NBA.com forever, and spent last season focusing on the Central. Meanwhile, Chinese website Sohu has more pictures than anyone else, as always.
  
• The Journal Times now also has a Youtube Channel, where you can watch the Woelfel preview I linked to the other day.
• Larry Lage at the Sporting News has a preview of the 07/08 Bucks, which focuses on Larry Harris' make-or-break year.

  "Just like players, general managers have to produce good results in the final year of their contract," Harris says. "Even though we're a smaller-market team, Sen. Kohl has been very accommodating by allowing us to keep players such as Mo Williams and Michael Redd. Rightfully so, he wants a return on his investment -- financially and emotionally -- by winning."

• The Bucks will again be providing special shuttle service to/from all games this season
• Ersan Ilyasova made his regular season Spanish league debut in FC Barcelona's 86-77 win over Valladolid last weekend, scoring 5 points in 8 minutes of action. I can only assume Barcelona's decision to spell his name "Yliasova" all over their site is some sort of Catalan thing, because I've never seen it spelled that way anywhere else.

Thursday Bucks Notes

• Bob Wolfley at the JS uncovered a video with some insight on the rivalry between Yi's two fan clubs: yifansclub.com and yifansclub.org. It's all in good fun, so don't shoot the messenger, people.
  
• NBA.com highlights of the Bucks' win over the Jazz. Shockingly no Yi!
  
• Steve Luhm's JS recap from the game last night (box score). Luhm writes for the Salt Lake Tribune but I'm guessing the JS didn't send anyone to Utah for the game. As usual, we're left to overanalyze Yi's performance, but I was more interested in the explanation of Mo Williams' absence:

  Sessions benefited from the absence of Mo Williams who, according to Krystkowiak, "dinged" his shoulder Tuesday night against Chicago and was held out as a precaution.

  Keep in mind Mo injured his left shoulder against Denver last year and wore a vest during parts of camp, so keep an eye on this. The offense continues to look ragged but coming into camp we knew that part of the Bucks' game should be fine. The defense was the question, and so far, so good according to Coach K:

  "It's certainly not time to celebrate because it's going to be a work in progress," he said. "But I've been somewhat blown away with our guys' focus defensively" since the start of training camp.

• Luhm also has a brief article on Andrew Bogut, who continues to have fans in Utah after his brief but prestigious college career there.
  
• Marty Burns at CNN/SI writes about Yi's first week in camp. Aside from his comment about Yi being best suited to SF, Burns continues to provide probably the best national media coverage of the Yi situation.
• Charles Gardner writes that Larry Harris was pleased with the Bucks' opener against the Bulls.

  "We had a team defensively that showed great grit throughout the whole game," Harris said. "In the first half we had 10 steals and 15 turnovers we forced. Again, we really focused our first week on defense, and that was very apparent by our aggressiveness.

  "From a players' standpoint, I think Andrew really got us started early. He's played very well in camp. Awvee Storey and Royal Ivey did a nice job off the bench. Desmond Mason did a good job for us to start the game.

  "Mo (Williams) and Michael (Redd) have been through the wars in the pre-season, so they were just kind of getting their feet wet."

• This summer the posters at YaoMania.com, the official Yao Ming fan club, were great for providing pictures, video and commentary on Yi's performances with the Chinese national team, and now they have a board focused on Yi as well.
  

Bucks vs. Jazz

The Bucks won their second preseason game in 24 hours tonight, downing the Jazz 90-81 in Salt Lake City. Mo Williams did not play, though I only caught the fourth quarter on TV and have yet to see an explanation--let's hope it's nothing major. Mike Redd led the way with 17 points in 24 minutes, though the bigger story will probably be that Yi Jianlian looked more comfortable in his second game, scoring 12 points to go with 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 turnovers in 14 minutes. Yi scored 11 in the second quarter, including a three pointer, but missed his last four shots to finish 4-11 from the field. In other words, he's still a rookie. Dan Gadzuric chipped in 7 points and 7 rebounds, while Bogut notched 10 pts, 7 rebounds, 4 TOs and a block in 19 minutes.

The Bucks again struggled from the field, shooting just 43%, but the Jazz were only slightly better, while the Bucks won the battle of the boards 41-38. Check out the RealGM post-game discussion for more.

Wednesday Bucks Notes

• The Bucks are in Salt Lake City to take on the Jazz tonight at 8 pm CT. It will be interesting to see how LK mixes up the lineups on the second day of a preseason back-to-back. I'm hoping we see more of Bogut playing with CV/Yi, since those two are the candidates for the starting PF job. It would also be good to get a glimpse of Ramon Sessions after last night's DNP. Listen to the game for free on NBA Audio League Pass, or watch it on Sopcast. After tonight the Bucks play the Jazz again on Saturday at the BC.
  
• Watch highlights of last night's game from Bucks.com
• In Tom Enlund's game recap, Larry Krystkowiak explains his decision to start Dan Gadzuric. When LK was hired he promised that defense would be rewarded, so given it's preseason I don't mind trying out some different looks--even if I'd prefer to see something other than a Gadz/Bogut starting 4/5 combo once the season starts.

  "I think Des and Danny G. have brought as much to the table in terms of energy as anybody so . . . it's early in the season, but it's just to make the statement that we're going to reward some of that," Krystkowiak said.

  Gadzuric is one of a number of candidates at whom Krystkowiak is looking as a running mate for Bogut at the power positions.

  "They've certainly been bringing it in practice in the same package," Krystkowiak said. "Danny's been relentless up and down the floor and on the glass. And I don't think it will hurt (Bogut) to not have to shoulder the burden with all the energy. We're just in the opening process of trying to figure what makes sense."

• Noah and Yi trained together before the draft, so it was an interesting matchup to watch. Yi was pretty contrite after the game about his performance.

  "The goal is to get better, and I mean that's what I would say to him," Noah said. "It doesn't have anything to do with me playing better than him."

• For the Bulls perspective, head over to Blog a Bull.
  
• Check out the JS photo gallery from the game.
  
• Bob Wolfley writes Andrew Bogut continues to clarify his controversial comments from earlier in the summer. I didn't think it was a huge deal in the first place, but it's understandable that people get riled up when comments come anywhere close to having racial overtones.
  

Bucks vs. Bulls

Larry Krystkowiak's first preseason game as Bucks head coach ended in victory as the Bucks downed the Bulls 93-88 in LaCrosse. Aside from this being a preseason game, the Bulls were also without Ben Gordon, Joe Smith and Thabo Safolosha, and the Bucks fielded a much stronger team down the stretch as they took the lead. Some thoughts, which probably shouldn't be take too seriously:

• No one appeared to get hurt. Success!
• There seemed to be more effort on defense, though let's not confuse the effort for a fully reformed Bucks team: the Bulls still shot 48.5% and the rebounds were even at 38 apiece. The Bucks did however force 22 turnovers, though both teams looked pretty out of sorts at times.
• While they didn't shoot well from the field (41.7%) or the line (65.1%), the Bucks did manage an impressive 43 free throw attempts, compared to 30 for the Bulls. They connected on 28 vs. 18 for Chicago.
  
• In general Bogut looked very good to me even if his numbers weren't great: 14 pts on 4/10 fg and 6/8 ft, along with 3 rebounds and 2 assists in 21 minutes. The most important thing to me was that his shot looked smoother than last year: his right elbow was more tucked in and he wasn't flipping the ball at the hoop quite so much. He seemed to move OK with his extra weight and was able to use his strength down low, especially against the smaller Joakim Noah. If he shoots over 70% from the line for the season I think we'll see a vastly improved Bogut this year.
  
• Krystkowiak threw a curveball with his starting lineup, opting to sit both Charlie Villanueva and Yi Jianlian in favor of Dan Gadzuric. Gadzuric rewarded Krystkowiak by looking pretty atrocious in the first half, though he was a little more effective in the second. Still, I hope we see far more of Bogut playing with CV and Yi the rest of the preseason. Let's keep Gadz primarily as a backup center.
  
• Desmond Mason started ahead of Bobby Simmons, to go alongside last season's captains Mike Redd, Mo Williams and Andrew Bogut. I missed most of the first quarter as I tried to sort out my sopcast stream of the game, but Mason and Bogut carried the load offensively in the opening period.
  
• Simmons looked very solid in limited minutes, scoring 8 pts in 12 minutes on 3/3 fg and 2/2 3fg. He somehow managed 6 fouls in that span as well. Go figure. Either way seeing Bobby Simmons running around and burying jumpers is a beautiful sight for a Bucks fan.
  
• Yi played 15 minutes before fouling out, scoring 3 pts on 1/4 fg, 1/2 ft along with a block, a TO, and two steals. He looked a little nervous, missing an 18-foot jumper in the first half and a corner three in the third quarter, before gathering the ball and hitting a jumper from near the free throw line off a pick/roll later on. He later picked off a pass and went in on Joakim Noah, but came to a jump stop rather than going up strong and got blocked (take it strong big fella!). Defensively I didn't think he looked bad at all in spite of the fouls, and physically his movement and size is impressive even on the court with real NBA players. He got called for a number of borderline fouls, so it's nice to see that the NBA is still enforcing different rules against rookies. Though they did swallow the whistle on one defensive sequence after he had just picked up his fifth foul. He picked up one legit foul trying to catch Thomas Gardner as Gardner was dunking, so that will probably be on the highlight shows tomorrow.
  
• Charlie Villanueva was invisible in the first half before hitting a couple threes (truth in advertising: one was banked) late in the game against the Bulls' scrubs. His effort level on defense actually seemed pretty decent in the second half. Remember Villanueva barely showed up last year in the preseason before having a really strong start to the regular season.
  
• Redd (3/8 fg, 3/5 ft for 9 pts) and Williams (2/7 fg, 4 pts, 4 assists, 3 rebounds) looked pretty ragged, as the offense seemed generally out of sync. Redd especially seemed to be looking to pass early on, and went to some more iso stuff (read: last year's offense) as the game went on. Krystkowiak has said they haven't worked on offense as much in the first week, so given the Bucks when healthy didn't have much problem scoring last year I wouldn't worry too much about it.
• Charlie Bell wound up putting up a nice line (13 pts, 7 assists, 5 rebounds) but looked uncomfortable at times against the Bulls' pressure and shot only 2/10 from the field.
• Royal Ivey was a pleasant surprise, looking active on defense and making 4/6 fg for 10 pts.
  
• Awvee Storey had a bunch of open looks in the fourth and made the most of them, scoring 8 pts on 4/6 fg, all in the fourth. He also bowled over Victor Khryapa on one play, earning a technical. It was an interesting sidenote given Storey wrecked the face of Martynas Andriuskivicius while playing with the Bulls' D-League squad last year.
• Everyone always hates on Noah, but he had a nice game. He might never be a star but he works hard and looks like someone who can be a contributor on a very good team.
  

Tuesday Bucks Notes

• The Bucks open their preseason tonight against the Bulls at 7:30 CT in LaCrosse (note: NBA.com says it starts at 7). WSSP 1250 will be carrying the game live, and DirecTV is supposedly carrying the game as well (I'll try to confirm this). Charles Gardner writes Larry Kyrstkowiak may have tipped his hand about his starting lineup at today's practice:

  Krystkowiak did not say what his starting lineup would be at the La Crosse Center, but a few hints might have been offered with a lineup featuring Michael Redd and Mo Williams, Yi, Andrew Bogut and Desmond Mason. That group played together in a 5-on-5 fullcourt drill near the end of the practice session.

  The battle for the starting forward spots was alluded to by Krystkowiak last week, so Mason and Yi starting would give us some idea of who has (and who hasn't) impressed Krystkowiak in the last week. I had fully expected Charlie Villanueva to earn the starting PF spot while Yi took time to adapt to the NBA and his new surroundings, but Villanueva's anonymous performance on Saturday might speak to his slower than expected recovery from offseason shoulder surgery. Or Krystkowiak could possibly be looking to send a message to one of the team's most notoriously lax defenders. Either way it's likely that Krystkowiak will use multiple starting lineups this preseason in order to see how various combinations work, so if they're coming off the bench tomorrow don't be surprised if CV and Simmons start on Wednesday against the Jazz. It's probably not worth reading too much into anything that happens in the first week, but hey, that's what we do.
  
• Gery Woelfel has a nice video preview of the Bucks at the Journal-Times. Key points: Woelfel expects Bogut will have a breakout season, the Bucks vets have really gone out of their way to make Yi feel at home, and he still expects Villanueva to start at PF.
  
• In a change from the norm, Larry Krystkowiak will be having a full practice tomorrow morning ahead of the first exhibition game.

  "A lot of guys' tendency is to take the game off so we'll have a good solid practice (in the morning)," Krystkowiak said. "The nature of it is guys - at least what I've experienced - say, 'I'm not going to play in this exhibition game.' Last year, our last exhibition game, we had about seven guys who didn't play. It drives you crazy because it means they had a day off. If you're not doing anything in the shootaround and then if you take the night off, what's the preseason for?

  "So we're going to do something. We're going to get work out of some guys and if they come and really work their tails off in (the morning) practice, it will be their prerogative if they want to play that night. But we've got to get some sweat out of them."

• Seven of the Bucks' eight preseason games will be carried on the Bucks Radio Network. Games will be split between WTMJ 620 and WSSP 1250 in Milwaukee, with Ted Davis returning for his 11th season with the Bucks and Dennis Krause providing color commentary at home games. The other day I was singing the praises of Jim/Jon, but I've also always been a big fan of both Davis and Krause, though I rarely get to hear them now that I have all the games on League Pass. Big credit to Davis for being able to single-handedly carry the road broadcasts by himself. Great voice, great charisma, and by all accounts an awesome guy off the court as well.
  
• In case you were concerned that the NBA on TNT crew might actually give some respect to the Bucks this year, don't worry: Kenny Smith is picking the Bucks to finish 12th in the East.

  Without sounding redundant, there's just not enough talent. The Bucks are potential driven which leads to losses in the NBA.

• On the flip side, Sam Smith at the Chicago Tribune thinks the Bucks could surprise people.

  The Bucks could be a surprise team in the East. Several general managers envision rookie Yi Jianlian being a major contributor by midseason. The Chinese teenager has changed his tune about Milwaukee, which he had threatened to boycott. "It's a beautiful city, nice downtown," he said. "You've got a lake, you've got a river." The Bucks need a full recovery by DePaul's Bobby Simmons, who signed a $47 million contract, then had surgery and missed all of last season. "Right now I look totally different than last season," Simmons said. "I worked my butt off this summer."

• NBA.com has their Bucks preview up. I generally like Rob Peterson, but given it's for the NBA's website it not surprisingly shies away from making any bold predictions.