Bucks Basketball Anybody?

(Editors Note: Last week, Gweeds wrote a Brewers article for us at The Bucky Channel. Hopefully he'll be helping me with the Bucks this season, and he's joined the staff as an official writer. This is his first official posting.)

The Bucks are back, ladies and gentlemen, for what it seems might be a long year. This team has a lot of pieces, but I think it may take some time to put the puzzle together. We are coming off of a great draft where we picked up a good PG in Brandon Jennings. We also got what could be the next Redd in Jodie Meeks. Well, maybe not but lets hope so. Ersan Ilyasova is back and people are seeing huge upside to his game. After all this positive talk I am sorry to report that we are 0-2 in the preseason this year.

The Bucks started the preseason Sunday in another battle with Minnesota. This game had really no meaning behind it other than to get back in basketball mode. The Bucks lost 117-103 in a game dominated by the T'Wolves from the start. Lets look at some highlights of the game.

* Brandon Jennings led the team in shots. He finished with 14 points, 5 dimes and 2 turnovers.

*Hakim Warrick led the team with 24 points. This was also a great pick up I forgot to talk about before. Look for him to get to the hoop and hopefully get to the line a lot. (I'll also give him Bucks POTG)

* Bucks got smoked on the boards, but this shouldn't be a surprise because Bogut only played 9 minutes. That could be what hurts this team all year, not being able to dominate the glass.

* For the Wolves, Kevin Love and Ryan Gomes both put up double doubles. Kevin Love could be for real and with Al Jefferson on his side, he could have a big year.

* Skiles after the game said himself that as a team, "We have a lot of work to do."

Wednesday night the Bucks took on Detroit and looked a little bit better. They started off hot which is a good sign because Bogut only played the first quarter. They had a 30-24 lead going into the second quarter. That's when they went flat till the 4th. They just have to get used to all playing together. They started 4 different guys from 4 different continents- Ilyasova (Europe), Bogut (Australia), Mbah a Moute (Africa), Redd/Ridnour (North America). That right there should be enough to show that these guys need preseason to get in a flow together. The Pistons won 113-104 and lets take a look at some highlights.

* Brandon Jennings looked good with 18 points, 4 Rebs, and 6 Dimes, 6 Stls. The only dark spot was his 5 TO's. This earns him the BOTG.

* As I said above Bogut played the whole first quarter, in those 12 minutes he had 9 Pts and 4 Rebs.

* Meeks felt like he needed to just shoot at will. He fired up a team high 12 shots, 2 of which were from downtown. A 4-12 shooting performance will not earn him many minutes, but give him time, he will come around.

* Ben Gordon had 24 Pts off the bench. That might have been a very nice pick up for Detroit. He's maybe a person that can get them back into a title run.

* Charlie V didn't play due to injury.

* Carlos Delfino, Welcome to the bucks. He was ejected with 34 seconds left by the replacement refs. These guys look like they are not going to put up with shit.