My Own Mini-Preview of Tonight's Game Against the Bucks

Tonight's game will be at 6:00 MST in Milwaukee. I think that the key to this game will be breaking down the Bucks' defense and containing Jennings, the fast-as-hell rookie point guard who skipped college to play ball in Europe before arriving in the NBA.

Hat tip to basketball-reference.com for some of the stats.

Granted, I have not watched any of the Bucks' games this season, but their stats (85 points per game allowed, 91.0 defensive rating) show that they are a great defensive team. That definitely makes sense, as they have tough, defensive-oriented players on their roster like Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Hakim Warrick, and Kurt Thomas (who has barely played). Their offense has taken a big hit, as Michael Redd is probably not going to play because of a strained left knee tendon. Joe Alexander, who had a disappointing rookie campaign, is definitely out with a partially torn right hammy. Because of all of that, their offense is going to rely on Brandon Jennings and Andrew Bogut with some contributions from Hakim Warrick and Jodie Meeks, who is a dead-accurate three-point shooting rookie who's awesomeness has been overshadowed by Jennings.

I have no clue how GK is going to work his rotations. He might start AC and put him on Jennings, but I don't see that working very well, as Jennings' speed will cause problems for him. The best person I can think of to guard Jennings might actually be Ty Lawson, but Jennings' size would be a bit of a problem. IT is worth noting that he struggled mightily against the Timberwolves several days ago.

Andrew Bogut shouldn't be too much of a problem. I see Nene and Kenyon Martin taking turns guarding him (and Hakim Warrick). Nobody else on their team worries me much, although Luke Ridnour and Charlie Bell may catch on fire and burn us. However, I don't see that happening.

Offensively, we are going to need to play team-oriented basketball to beat them. Melo needs to move the ball a lot, Earl Smith III needs to constantly take it to the rim, and AA, Ty Lawson, and Chauncey are going to need to make some three-pointers. Most importantly, we need to out-rebound them. The Bucks are 3-0 when outrebounding their opponent, and, consequently, 0-2 when getting outrebounded.

Bucks' SBNation blog: http://www.brewhoop.com/

Go Nuggets! Win this game! Carry some momentum into the Friday the Thirteenth Showdown against the Lakers!

I really don't know why I just wrote all that...