'A MESSAGE FROM BUCKS GM LARRY HARRIS:

We've just passed the mid-point of the 2007-08 season. Of course, we were hoping for a better record than we have to date. Fortunately, we still have an excellent opportunity to secure a playoff spot and become a solid, successful team during the second half of the season. I'll explain my logic shortly, but I first want to share a quote from Coach Krystkowiak that sums up well the psyche of our team and organization today.

"I'm not much into sugar-coating or trying to win a consolation prize-we need to win games. We aren't giving in. Our coaches aren't giving in. Our players aren't giving in. We're in a situation where we just got beat by the top 2 teams in the West...we were very much in the ball games. We're going to keep fighting and you'll see our team develop here in the second half of the season." - Larry Krystkowiak, 1/22/08

I agree completely with Larry K, and have the utmost confidence that he, the coaching staff and the players will turn the corner soon and convert some of these excruciating losses into rewarding victories.

When I last wrote, I mentioned that we needed to become better at closing out games. We're still working through that, but we also need to play consistently well for 48 minutes. We've been terrific in a bunch of these games for 3 quarters, only to be plagued by 12 minutes of subpar play. We have to correct this tendency, yet these are positive elements that we look to build on, and once we do, we can begin to count more of these games in the win column.

As I evaluate the last three months of the season, I'm excited about the quantity of home games that remain on the schedule. Your support is always appreciated, and sincerely is crucial, so it is always with added confidence that we take the Bradley Center court. We play 21 home games during February, March and April, compared to just 14 remaining road games. We also have just three remaining Western Conference road games (Memphis, Dallas and Minnesota). It is time for us to make up ground - we acknowledge that; and the schedule now provides that opportunity.

I believe that we have made progress and are getting better. I understand the record doesn't indicate that today, but I believe it will begin reflecting this improvement as we continue our pursuit of an Eastern Conference playoff berth. Thank you again for your support, and enjoy the second half of the season - we want nothing more than to see you pleased and proud of your investment in Bucks Basketball!

Bucks GM - Larry Harris'

"Let's go, Jake"

A big 'thank you' to Shaun Talley and the Bucks for hooking us up with courtside seats, which also turned out to be just behind the Buck's bench. The whole experience was very cool and something more 'regular' fans should be able to enjoy. It's not every game you get to see a HydroCollator running at full capacity, watch Bogut lay into Charlie V for not boxing out, and see your friend almost send Bango sprawling right in front of you. An all-around good time. Some observations from yesterday's game against the Warriors:

-In the upper recesses of section 400-something, you get a nice sense of spacing on the court and it's fun to watch fast-breaks develop, but it's hard to see much of the players beyond general body language, and when play is stopped things drag a little. Not so, courtside. That close, the game is an entirely different experience. In fact, timeouts and stoppages are actually as interesting as the game itself (and maybe even moreso, if you are right behind a team bench.) It's like seeing a celebrity in real-life, only now imagine seeing 10-20 of them at once and they're all different ages, come from different backgrounds, and don't necessarily like each other. That's what courtside is like.

-Up close, the size of the players and the game's physical nature becomes more apparant: some guys look leaner and stronger than they do on TV (Bogut), others look all-around bigger than you imagined (Bobby Simmons), and some look like they just graduated high school (Royal Ivey does not appear to be the 215lb he's listed at.)

-There is some kind of bench heirarchy: Yi went out of his way at one point to get up out of his seat and move two seats down the bench so Michael Redd could take Yi's seat. Later, after a timeout, Yi returned to the bench to where Gadzuric had just sat down and, just standing there for a moment, made brief eye contact with Gadzuric, whereupon Danny got up and moved a couple seats down the bench so Yi could take that seat.

It's funny that Yi was the one moving Gadzuric because that is not a typical rookie move. Maybe it is based on value to the franchise? I suppose everybody on the team, Danny included, knows 100 million chinese fans are not following the Bucks to watch Gadzuric's hustle game. It's cool that he's not bitter about it.

-During a stretch where the Bucks failed repeatedly to put a body people and prevent the offensive rebound, Bogut made a nice step-up to challenge penetration and alter a shot, only to have Villanueva's man collect an easy rebound and make an uncontested dunk. Bogut followed the play with about 5 seconds of very angry words for Villanueva as Charlie looked on, possibly perplexed by the concept of boxing your man out on defense.



-With the game out of reach in the 4th quater following a series of turnovers and GS fast-breaks, Coach K turned to the bench in disgust with a 'Let's go, Jake' for Voskuhl in a tone that completely conveyed the 'This is ridiculous, will somebody please hustle and play some defense? Anybody?!' sentiment.

-Bogut has a mysterious tattoo on his left shoulder-blade. It was difficult to make out with his jersey in the way, but guesses included the statue of liberty, the eiffel tower, or maybe both next to each other.