BUCKS PREGAME Milwaukee (1-0) vs. Cleveland (1-1) Probable Starters Bucks.....................Cavaliers A. Bogut.................Z. Ilgauskas H. Warrick..............D. Gooden D. Mason...............L. James M. Redd.................I. Newble R. Alston................J. McInnis
The Bucks are coming off a trouncing of the Orlando Magic on the road. Milwaukee's highly touted frontcourt of rookies Andrew Bogut and Hakim Warrick owned the paint. The two youngsters combined for 51 points and 32 rebounds. 10 of those rebounds gave the Bucks second chances. Bogut even showed a little range as he buried 2 of his 5 three-point attempts.
Desmond Mason and recently acquired Rafer Alston didn't do too badly either. Mason scored 22 while dishing out 7 assists. Alston led the break on many occasions and finished with 18 points and 4 assists. More impressive were Rafer's 5 steals as part of a harassing, full-court trapping defense.
Meanwhile, the Cavs come in with a 1-1 record coming off a big win over Miami. The Cavs grabbed an 88-84 victory holding Dwayne Wade to 3 points on 1-12 shooting. Also, Udonis Haslem was held to 4 on 1-14 shooting. LeBron James scored 16 in the contest with 6 assists. It was Drew Gooden who stole the show scoring 17 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. 4 of those rebounds were big offensive putbacks.
McInnis runs the team, averaging 7 assists. The key for the Bucks in this one will be to keep LeBron down and keep Gooden off the boards. The game features several notable matchups including Big Z against Bogut, Gooden against Warrick, Alston vs. McInnis. And of course we can't forget about Redd and James, both could have huge games this time around. Rafer Alston has brought his style to Milwaukee.