Happy New Year Larry

It's been a rough December for Larry Krystkowiak. If there's one guy in Milwaukee that's looking forward to leaving 2007, it's Coach K. Let's take a look at how the holiday season has gone for the Bucks:

First, the record. December has seen the Buck post a win/loss tally of 4-10 with two games left. That's not exactly where you want to be. If the Bucks don't win on New Years Eve in Detroit, they will have completed the month with only a single road victory.

Desmond Mason will undergo surgery for a torn thumb ligament that will sideline him for six to eight weeks. For all their problems this year, the Bucks have been pretty injury free up until that point.

Then last night, Krystkowiak once again found his team on the wrong end of a bad call at a critical point in the game. Whether NBA officials are dirty, incompetent, or they just hate the Bucks, bad calls against Larry and the Bucks seem to occur regularly lately.

Get out the hats and hooters Larry, the year is almost over.

Somebody has a softer ticket than us!

It's true that getting cheap Bucks tickets hasn't been too tricky this year. So far, my friend Napoleon Ming and I have been able to score last-minute tickets for several games at about fifty cents on the dollar. With the way the Packers season has unfolded, it's understandable that they've grabbed the lion's share of media attention and surplus entertainment dollars (they even pull that off in years which they suck).

So I started thinking; is this a situation that is unique to Milwaukee? Is the NBA taking a backseat to other sports nationwide? Does each town simply have their dominant sport ingrained in their DNA?

It's hard to tell for sure. Both are probably true to an extent. Even though Lambeau Field is 115 miles from the Bradley Center, if you cut Milwaukee open the blood will run green and gold, at least this year. Right now Packers tickets are four times face value, Bucks tickets are half. I go to Bucks games, so it works fine for me.

I looked around the NBA to see if any other town was experiencing a similar drought in interest for the home team, and I found someone who was worse off than us. I didn't even have to look all that hard. Wouldn't you believe my surprise when I discovered... it's the Timberwolves!

I found this Target Center blog where some shrewd Wolves fan writes about getting $260 Timberwolves tickets for $50 a head. And that was for the Lakers game!

I wonder if those guys miss Kevin Garnett.

Clippers sink further into the Redd - Bucks start trip with W

Watching the Clippers last night, I can't help but be reminded of the Bucks a little, at least in a (recent) historical sense.

First you've got Tim Thomas, playing inspired basketball about 40% of the time. You've got Ruben Patterson coming off the bench. You've got Sam Cassell sitting on the bench. There's also Brevin Knight, who was with the Bucks for a robust 21 games a few years ago, but that one doesn't really count - he's been with more teams than Kenny Lofton.

And who could forget about the ringleader of this basketball circus, none other than Mike Dunleavy himself. Remember him Bucks fans? It's heartwarming to know he's still employable in the NBA, that he can still put food on the table and buy suits that don't fit.

But you know what I saw in the Clippers last night that reminded me most of the Bucks? The Clippers coughed up a significant lead at home and lost the game. It's nice to be on the other end of one of those, that' for sure.

What the hell happened last week?

It's true, before last week I was ready to start talking about Bucks playoff tickets. Not literally of course, but things looked good coming out of Thanksgiving weekend. Then the Bucks go out and promptly cough up four games in a row, a couple of which were handed down by the dregs of the NBA.

The Sixers game last Tuesday represented the first home loss of the year, a double-digit job no less. After another big loss on the road against the Hawks, who've actually played respectable ball so far, the Bucks had a chance to redeem themselves against the Knicks at the Garden and split a two game trip.

The Bucks had their collective foot on the proverbial throat of the Knicks heading into the fourth quarter. They started the final period with a commanding 12 point lead but managed to score just 11 more points the rest of the game. They left New York on the wrong side of a three point loss; the most painful one of the year, at least for this Bucks fan.

Like my good friend Napoleon Ming just said to me, "You gotta have a short memory in the NBA." That's a true statement. If you're the Bucks you don't really have time to dwell on last week; you're getting ready to kick off a five-game West Coast road trip tonight against the Clippers, who've lost their last 5 and 8 of their last 10. Milwaukee needs to start this trip on the right foot... that's the right foot firmly on the Clippers throat.