jack daniel 999 27 Report post Posted March 5, 2007 Pre Game notes; By NICOLINO DI BENEDETTO, STATS Writer After wasting one of the best performances of Michael Redd's career, the Milwaukee Bucks hope to rebound from a tough loss Monday and take advantage of the sputtering Orlando Magic. Redd scored 52 points - the second-highest total of his seven-year career - Sunday, when he made 18 of 32 shots, including 8 of 13 from 3-point range. Milwaukee (22-38), though, still lost 126-121 in overtime to Chicago. The Bucks, who squandered an 18-point lead over the Bulls in the fourth quarter, had their modest three-game winning streak snapped. It was also the second time Milwaukee failed to capitalize on a 50-point effort by Redd. The Bucks lost 113-111 to Utah on Nov. 11, when the swingman scored a career-best and franchise-record 57 points. "I don't think it is good for me to score 50 points anymore because we haven't won since I have done that," Redd said. "It is very frustrating. We have to learn how to finish off games." Redd, who leads the Bucks with a career-high 27.8 points per game, is averaging 28.1 points in seven contests since returning from a left knee injury that sidelined him for 20 games. The Bucks went 3-17 without him in that stretch, which included a 98-73 loss at Orlando on Jan. 31 and a 116-111 win over the Magic on Feb. 6. The Bucks have dropped 11 of their last 12 road games, with the lone win coming in a 94-81 victory at Toronto on Friday. Milwaukee, which is 9-25 away from the Bradley Center this season, has also dropped its last three visits to Orlando. Meanwhile, the Magic (28-33) have lost three straight games overall and seven of their last eight. They fell 103-98 at Dallas on Saturday, as Darko Milicic turned the ball over in the paint with 28 seconds to play and Orlando trailing by three points. "We made a couple of turnovers down the stretch ... other than that we had a great chance of winning this game but came up short," said Dwight Howard, who had 25 points and 10 rebounds. Orlando coach Brian Hill took some positives from the loss to the Mavericks - the team with the best record in the NBA. "There are no moral victories in the NBA," said Hill, whose team is committing a league-high 17.0 turnovers per game. "But as I told the team, I'm very proud of the way they played tonight. They played hard, we executed, we followed our game plan, tried to get the ball out of (Dirk) Nowitzki's hands a lot." Orlando will need more than moral victories to make the playoffs. The team is only 6-19 since Jan. 10, when its 22-14 record was second-best in the Eastern Conference and led the Southeast Division by one game over Washington. The slump has dropped the Magic 6 1/2 games back of the Wizards, and one-half game behind New Jersey for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East. Team Comparison Team Record Standings PF PA Road/Home Streak L10 Milwaukee 22-38 5th Central / 11th East 100.4 103.7 Road 9-25 Lost 1 3-7 Orlando 28-33 3rd Southeast / 10th East 93.9 94.2 Home 18-12 Lost 3 2-8 Milwaukee Notes Mar 4 The Bucks were 3-17 while Michael Redd was out with an injured knee...The team had won its last three games before losing to the Bulls on Sunday. It was the second longest winning streak of the seasonSaturday's 94-81 win at Toronto snapped an 11-game road losing streakThe Bucks have a 11-game losing streak against the Central Division and are 1-11 against their division this seasonMichael Redd is averaging 36.3 points against the Bulls this season INJURY UPDATE Bobby Simmons had the cast on his right foot removed late last week. Simmons has been cleared to begin rehabilitation and will stay in Los Angeles for two or three weeks to start the process. The 26-year-old underwent two surgeries on 12/18/06 and 1/12/07 and is expected to miss the rest of the regular season Orlando Notes Mar 3 F-C Dwight Howard had 23 points and 12 rebounds in Wednesday's loss. Howard now has 42 double-doubles on the year, which ranks as the the second most in the NBA. With the double-double, Howard now has recorded at least 10 points and 10 boards in eight straight games. ... The Magic had 25 turnovers on Wednesday. ... Orlando now has lost four-straight games in Denver. st 03-03-07 0:42 et http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/preview?gid=2007030519 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jack daniel 999 27 Report post Posted March 5, 2007 Scouting Report...B. Schmitz...Orlando Sentinel WHERE: Amway Arena. RECORDS: Magic 28-33; Bucks 22-38. BROADCAST: TV -- Sun Sports; Radio -- 580-AM (WDBO); Spanish language: 1030-AM (WONQ). MAGIC UPDATE: Orlando is expected to get SG Grant Hill (sore left foot) back in the lineup tonight, depending on how he feels after the morning shootaround. PF Tony Battie (fractured right thumb) is not expected to play . . . The Magic are coming off a 1-3 road trip in which they beat the Chicago Bulls and lost to the Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks. . . . The Magic have lost three in a row and seven of their past eight. . . . They face the Bulls again Thursday night at home. BUCKS UDPATE: Milwaukee made the playoffs last season with a 40-42 record and was knocked out in the first round by the Detroit Pistons. . . . The Bucks fell to the Bulls on Sunday in overtime, despite a 52-point outburst from SG Michael Redd. Redd missed the first two games against the Magic, sitting out with a knee injury. . . . The Bucks have split the two games against the Magic. . . . In their most recent meeting, the Bucks beat the Magic 116-111 in Milwaukee on Feb. 6, the Magic's 15th loss in their past 16 trips to the Bradley Center. WHAT TO WATCH FOR: The Magic, who have been hurt lately by the 3-point shot (see San Antonio and Dallas), will have to try to deny Redd the ball while not getting burned by a supporting cast member such as Ruben Patterson or Earl Boykins. The Magic need to get Dwight Howard and Darko Milicic going early. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/basketball/magic/...story?coll=orl-magic Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kaioshen 3 Report post Posted March 5, 2007 Hopefully Hedo will still be fired up from the last few games, even though Grant is back in the lineup. It's called teamwork guys! I can he Hedo now... He started it! lol Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JJZ 0 Report post Posted March 5, 2007 This game is no gimmee, no team is a push-over the way the Magic have been playing. I won't predict the outcome here; I hope we win. Whether we win or not depends on what kind of night the players B. Hill has decided will play wind up having. Since Hill will NOT make any adjustments during the game based on how things are going, it's pretty simple: If the chosen players are playing well, we win. If they have an off night, we lose. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mayhem 0 Report post Posted March 5, 2007 Straight from Brain Schmuck oops I mean Schmitz of the Sentinel: NO GRANT HILL TONIGHT Magic shooting guard Grant Hill said he still had some pain in his left foot and will sit out tonight's game against the Milwaukee Bucks at Amway Arena. The Magic had expected Hill to play, but he did not participate in the Monday shootaround other than to take part in shooting drills. Keith Bogans will take his spot int he lineup. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bhnole 153 Report post Posted March 5, 2007 quote: Originally posted by Mayhem:Straight from Brain Schmuck oops I mean Schmitz of the Sentinel: NO GRANT HILL TONIGHT Magic shooting guard Grant Hill said he still had some pain in his left foot and will sit out tonight's game against the Milwaukee Bucks at Amway Arena. The Magic had expected Hill to play, but he did not participate in the Monday shootaround other than to take part in shooting drills. Keith Bogans will take his spot int he lineup. What a shock? Grant missing a game because his foot hurts. I am really tired of Grant being portrayed as some kind of warrior who worked his way back to contribute to this team. Why does anyone want him back next year, when he misses 2/3rds of the games?? This is the playoff run Grant, get on or off it. No more of this in between stuff. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nyce_1 311 Report post Posted March 5, 2007 Atleast we know Turkey will have a good game.....HOPEFULLY. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CaseyMullen928 0 Report post Posted March 5, 2007 i hope tonight isnt an $8 waste for parking. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sharp/7/shooter 23 Report post Posted March 5, 2007 not because i am a redick fan, but i honestly believe that brian hill should play jj in big minutes to account for redd's performance: redd is a sniper, we need redick in there because he's probably the best shooter we have. anyways, darko is gonna have a big game even tho he sucked last night. oh ya, arroyo, on fire tonight, watch and see. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
richnba 3 Report post Posted March 5, 2007 Reddick needs to play big minutes because he is the best shooter on this team, I am tired of all these slashing lineups..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ThisIsTheYear 241 Report post Posted March 5, 2007 quote: Originally posted by richnba:Reddick needs to play big minutes because he is the best shooter on this team, I am tired of all these slashing lineups..... Remember rich: Hill: "It's veterans before rookies." So, therefor..............Redick most likely won't be checking in. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Diplo 12 Report post Posted March 5, 2007 this game is a must-win!! we can't afford dropping anymore games. we need to win every game for now on! bucks arent exactly a great team but they have one of the best shooters in the league in redd and our perimeter defense sucks! put ariza on redd for the whole game Share this post Link to post Share on other sites