He’s got a point guard, probably his team’s second-best player, shooting less than 37%… for the entire season. His new best player, an Aussie big man, is best known as an NBA player for being chosen ahead of Chris Paul and Deron Williams in the draft. His old best player, a sharp-shooting lefty, has missed almost the entire season with injuries, and will miss the remainder of the campaign with a torn ACL. The rest of the team is a collection of has-been’s, never-were’s, and never-will-be’s. Somehow, the Milwaukee Bucks are in fifth place in the Eastern Conference and the hottest team in the NBA.

Scott Skiles, take a bow. Then another one. Keep going, you deserve all the applause we can give you. Read more »

The Celtics have gotten rid of their morning walkthrough, but that doesn’t mean we have to. Here are a few Celtics links, and maybe even an NBA link or two, to help wake you up and get you focused for the day.

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “Pierce caught a pass from Rajon Rondo, dribbled to the right, and fired an elbow jumper that missed, ruining what would have been another impressive rally. But it should not have come to that point. ‘We have to do a better job of buckling down in the fourth quarter with the team up 4 or 6 and try to put them away,’’ said Pierce, who did not score in the fourth quarter. “This was a possession by possession game when it came down to it. They made the necessary stops and necessary plays they needed down the stretch.’”

AP Recap, CSNNE – “‘I loved the shot,’ Pierce said. ‘I thought I got to my spot. Sometimes they fall and sometimes they don’t. That’s the way the ball bounces sometimes. We gave away some possessions there in the fourth quarter, we gave them a couple of layups and we let them get an eight-point lead late and then we had to grind. So we have to do a better job, especially in fourth quarters, of knuckling down.’”

Gary Washburn, Boston Globe – “‘I didn’t think it was good,’ Allen said about the ball movement. ‘It wasn’t consistent all night. We really didn’t score. We were down 8 so we had to score. I thought we did an OK job the last minute or two, but we didn’t score.’ Allen averaged 18.7 points over his previous 10 games before scoring just 3 last night. The last time Allen did not convert a field goal was Feb. 11, 2009, when he went 0 for 3 in an 89-77 win at New Orleans.”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “‘I think he’s the toughest matchup I’ve had all season,” said Kendrick Perkins, who has gone up against Orlando’s Dwight Howard four times and the Lakers’ Andrew Bynum twice this season. ‘He’s playing well, and he got the best of it tonight.’ Coming from Perkins, that is the ultimate compliment. But after watching Bogut have a Moses Malone kind of night by feasting on his own misses, and by prolonging possessions with five offensive boards, there was nothing else the Celtics center could say.”

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald – “‘I just stood over him, let him know, ‘I’m all right,’ ‘ Jennings said. The incident appeared to energize Milwaukee, which went on to score an 86-84 win against the C’s. ‘No doubt about it,’ Jennings said. ‘Once that happened, I said, ‘Oh, yeah, it’s on now.’ ‘ Said Celtics coach Doc Rivers: ‘I don’t think the foul was hard enough for a reaction. Honestly, I don’t think Jennings did enough for Baby to react. So it’s just two young guys acting up, but no big deal.’”

Have a link I might want to look at? Send it my way by email (jayking@celticstown.com) or Twitter.

Another day, another heart attack. Read more »