Milwaukee Bucks rookie forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute has turned out to be a better basketball player than most observers expected. Playing 27.4 minutes per game, he’s putting up 8.6 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.09 steals, and contributing in ways that don’t show up on the stat sheet.
Sure, the Bucks haven’t played very good basketball this season, but at least Mbah a Moute’s turned out to be a decent contributor.
At home, at least.
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (Tom Enlund) reports:
The most glaring contrast in Mbah a Moute’s home and road statistics is his field-goal percentage. He is shooting 49.2% at home and 40.0% on the road. He is scoring 8.8 points per game at home and 8.5 points on the road. He is rebounding better on the road, 7.2 per game compared with 5.9 at home. On a recent four-game trip to Charlotte, Orlando, Atlanta and Detroit, Mbah a Moute averaged 6.5 points on 37.5% shooting and 6.2 rebounds. On a trip to Denver and Utah, he averaged 9.5 points on 40.0% shooting and 5.5 rebounds. “I’ve been struggling a little bit on the road,” he said. “The teams we’ve been playing the last couple weeks have been really good teams. All those teams are good teams and you go against those teams it’s always going to be hard.”
Charlie Villanueva is still the better player, though the team wants him to keep improving his basketball IQ and remember to hustle every second he’s on the floor, at both ends of the court.
The East Valley Tribune (Jerry Brown) reports: In the last two games, Steve Nash has gone back to holding the ball longer, breaking down the defense and finding more space to operate. The Suns had more fast-break points (18) than turnovers (17), put up 21 3-pointers and went to the line 40 times as Amaré Stoudemire (22 points, 20 rebounds) and O’Neal (15 points, 10 rebounds) each had a double-double and the team collected a season-high 54 rebounds vs. the Jazz. “Our flow and rhythm is improving and there are some positive signs offensively,” Nash said. “I think we’ve gotten to a better place spacing and tempo-wise, where I can penetrate, be a nuisance, get in the paint and make plays. “Those are obviously strengths of mine, so the more I get to do that the better I’m going to feel, and I think it’s better for the team.”
The Minnesota Timberwolves are awful this season.
The Los Angeles Times (Broderick Turner) reports: Kobe Bryant is an eight-time member of the all-defensive team, but Coach Phil Jackson wants him to take fewer risks on defense. Bryant has been trying to get extra steals, doing a little too much freelancing for Jackson’s taste. “We’re trying to work with Kobe in staying inside the team framework of how we play defense,” Jackson said. “Because he’s such a good defensive player with great anticipation, sometimes he might take a foray into the steal market and come away empty-handed, which compromises our defense.” Jackson didn’t seem enthused that Bryant, Lamar Odom, Trevor Ariza and Jordan Farmar have a season-long bet on which one of them will have the most steals.
The Toronto Raptors recently fired head coach Sam Mitchell, replacing him with assistant Jay Triano on an interim basis. Bryan Colangelo told InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner and other reporters on a conference call that it’s quite likely Triano will finish out the season coaching the team.
The Detroit Free Press (Vince Ellis) reports: Arron Afflalo does have a growing offensive game. He works constantly to be known as more than just a defensive specialist. But Curry tells him if he plays defense and keeps the ball moving, he will earn more playing time to display his offensive ability. Afflalo’s teammates aren’t all that concerned about his offense as long as he keeps accepting the challenge of guarding opponents’ top guns. “I always tell him when he gets minutes, I ain’t got to say nothing to him because he hangs his hat on defense,” Rasheed Wallace said. “He’s always wanted to guard the best guys, and he did somewhat of a good job on Manu tonight. That’s not an easy task guarding him.”