Pingpong Showdown

There were some nervous moments last night in the Bucks makeup game against the NOK Hornets. For a while there, it looked like the Bucks were going to make a game of it. Finally, they put my mind at ease with a fourth quarter collapse which widened their deficit from 4 points to 20. I could relax. The loss was in the bank and earning interest.

Now they have closed to within two games of the Boston Celtics, just in time for their pingpong showdown tonight at the Bradley Center. I am interested to see how tonight's game will transpire. The Celtics, by all rights, should win. With a healthy Paul Pierce, and a highly productive Al Jefferson ready to go, there is no way they should lose to the Bucks in the Bucks current state. But you never know with Doc Rivers. He has a way to pull defeat right out of the jaws of any victory.

No Worries, BucksNation

I do the Bucks Diary 20 Spins (I'll take another 20 Spins around noon), and focus on Durant and Oden, because its fun for BucksNation at a time when we need some fun in our lives. But the fact is, we are about to enter one of the deepest drafts in NBA history. I have faith that, no matter where we land, Larry Harris will select a high impact player. As Laserbomb commented, we shouldn't get so invested in Durant/Oden that we are ready to jump into Lake Michigan if we don't land one of the money picks. Getting Durant or Oden would be cherry, but we are going to add a big piece either way.

The difference I think is this: If we land Oden (especially after what I saw Monday night), we may be headed back to the early 70s. But if we merely get a high impact player, we will more likely be headed back to the 80s. The early 70s were the pinnacle years in BucksNation, but the 80s were pretty great too.

Suspension of Eff48 Boxscore

I began the Eff48 Boxscore to provide Bucks fans with a shorthand method of determining who actually played well, and who didn't. If you understand how to read the statistic, it eliminates the need to read the entire boxscore and weigh it in your mind. With Eff48 you can tell instantly who produced for the team and who produced for their opponent.

Since I did all the calculations myself, it was kind of a bitch to put together. And since we are now cheering for losses, it seems a bit pointless. So I have suspended it for the remainder of this season, and will resume publishing it at the beginning of the '07-'08 campaign.

Footnote: I realize my pingpong ball graphic is slightly out of date (I think the Clippers have slipped into the 8th spot in the West). I will update it from time to time, but for now, I'm just going to leave it as is. All of the relevant parties are represented.