Milwaukee Bucks Blog – Page 44 – NBA Blog

Bucks guard Carlos Delfino undergoes surgery

Milwaukee Bucks guard Carlos Delfino (6-6, 230) underwent successful surgery this morning to repair a sports hernia related to his right groin injury, General Manager John Hammond announced today.

The procedure was performed by Dr. William Meyers in Philadelphia. Delfino is expected to return to on-court basketball activities in 6-to-8 weeks.

Delfino, 29, missed 10 games this season with a right groin injury, including the last four of the regular season. In 54 games (53 starts) this season, the seven-year NBA veteran averaged 9.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game.

Scott Skiles will return as Bucks coach

Scott Skiles still will be in charge of the Milwaukee Bucks next season.

Skiles confirmed Tuesday that he would return for his fifth season as coach with the franchise.

And it was clear he believes he has unfinished business after the Bucks faded to a 3-7 record in the last three weeks of the season, hardly good enough to catch the surging New York Knicks or the fading Philadelphia 76ers for an Eastern Conference playoff spot.

The lockout-shortened season became just the latest non-playoff year for the franchise, its fifth in the last six seasons and third in four years under Skiles.

Skiles confirmed in a phone call that he would return to the Bucks and said he wanted to “hit the ground running” this summer to prepare for next season.

Skiles had discussions during the past few days with owner Herb Kohl and general manager John Hammond. The coach decided to work in the final year of his deal with a clear goal of returning to the playoffs.

— Reported by Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

Beno Udrih expected to exercise $7 million Bucks option

Earlier this season, Beno Udrih said he might not pick up the $7.32 million option on his contract for next season.

At the time, Udrih was obviously upset about his lack of playing time. Today, he still isn’t exactly a happy camper, especially considering he’s averaging only 18 minutes a game compared to 35 minutes last season when he played for Sacramento.

But Udrih fully realizes his market value has taken a major hit and that he wouldn’t come anywhere close to making $7 million as an unrestricted free agent this summer.

As such, Udrih, the Bucks’ second-highest paid player, said he will pick up the player option for next season.

— Reported by Gery Woelfel of the Journal Times

Andrew Bogut to have ankle surgery, miss Olympics

Australian center Andrew Bogut will have arthroscopic ankle surgery next week and miss the London Olympics. He hopes to return to fitness in time for the start of the next NBA season.

Golden State Warriors general manager Larry Riley says the operation for Bogut, and the same for teammate Stephen Curry, will be done on Wednesday in Van Nuys, California.

Bogut broke his left ankle on Jan. 25 against Houston before coming over in a trade from Milwaukee. Riley called the scope to clean up loose particles “routine” and ruled out any possibility the 7-foot (2.13-meter) center would play for Australia’s Olympic team at London.

“After seeing a specialist I have decided it would be best to get my ankle cleaned out via arthroscopic surgery,” Bogut said on Twitter.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Larry Sanders suspended, Danny Granger and David West fined

Milwaukee Bucks forward Larry Sanders has been suspended two games without pay for initiating an altercation, failing to leave the court in a timely manner and actions following his ejection – all during the Bucks’ 118-109 loss to the Indiana Pacers Thursday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The suspension was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

In addition, the Pacers’ Danny Granger and David West have both been fined $25,000 for instigating and adding to the escalation of an on-court incident, which occurred with 3:29 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Sanders will serve his suspension during the Bucks’ next two games: Saturday versus the New Jersey Nets and Monday against the Toronto Raptors.

Knicks sign Dan Gadzuric, waive Bill Walker

New York Knicks Senior Vice President, Basketball Operations and Interim General Manager Glen Grunwald announced today that the team has signed free agent center Dan Gadzuric and waived guard/forward Bill Walker.

Gadzuric, 6-11, 240-pounds, holds career averages of 4.7 points, on .500 shooting from the field, 4.4 rebounds, 0.85 blocks and 14.8 minutes in 525 games (164 starts) over nine NBA seasons with Milwaukee, Golden State and New Jersey. He appeared in 12 games for Texas Legends of the NBA Development League this season, averaging 12.0 points, on .531 shooting, 11.3 rebounds and 1.00 blocks over 25.7 minutes.

The Netherlands-native was originally selected by the Milwaukee Bucks following a four-year career at UCLA in the second round (34th overall) of 2002 NBA Draft.

Walker, 6-6, 235-pounds, averaged 5.9 points, 2.5 rebounds and 19.4 minutes over 32 games (eight starts) this season for New York. He was originally acquired from Boston, with Eddie House and J.R. Giddens, in exchange for Nate Robinson and Marcus Landry on Feb. 18, 2010.

Melo scores 32, Knicks edge Bucks

J.R. Smith hit a 3-pointer for the lead with 1:04 left, and the New York Knicks held on to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 111-107 on Wednesday night in a game that could turn out to be critical to both teams’ playoff hopes.

Carmelo Anthony had 32 points and 10 rebounds, while Tyson Chandler added 19 points for the Knicks, who took a two-game lead on Milwaukee for the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference. Smith had 14 points off the bench.

Monta Ellis had 35 points and Brandon Jennings added 22 for the Bucks, who were coming off a 20-point loss to Oklahoma City at home on Monday…

The Knicks took advantage of woeful interior defense by the Bucks early on, hitting 11 of their first 12 shots – a lot of them coming on layups. Of the Knicks’ first 30 points of the game, 26 of them came in the paint.

New York shot 77.3 percent from the field in the first quarter and led 36-27 going into the second, but the Bucks came roaring back with a 15-2 run to take the lead. Backup Bucks forward Larry Sanders had a pair of blocks during the run, helping Milwaukee close off the interior on defense.

— Reported by Chris Jenkins of the Associated Press

Mike Dunleavy broke Tyler Hansbrough’s nose

Pacers forward Tyler Hansbrough is a masked man again thanks to former teammate Mike Dunleavy’s elbows.

Hansbrough suffered a broken nose and facial bone from the hard foul Dunleavy delivered with his elbows in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game in Milwaukee.

Hansbrough and Dunleavy, who were teammates for two seasons, were later given technicals when they were talking about the play during a free throw attempt.

When asked if he’s heard from Dunleavy, Hansbrough, said, “No, I don’t need an apology.”

— Reported by Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star

Celtics end Bucks’ 6-game winning streak

With a team led by three veteran stars playing the seventh game of a taxing eight-game road trip, it wouldn’t have been shocking to see the Boston Celtics simply run out of gas.

Instead, they had more than enough energy to slow down and disrupt the suddenly streaking Milwaukee Bucks.

Paul Pierce scored 25 points to help Boston to a 100-91 victory over Milwaukee on Thursday night, snapping the Bucks’ six-game winning streak.

“It’s a good win definitely tonight, especially the way Milwaukee’s been playing as of late,” Pierce said. “This is a mentally strong group. We understand it’s been a long trip. This is a group that wants to get the next win and make it a great trip.”

Kevin Garnett had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Mickael Pietrus scored 13 points for the Celtics, who improved to 4-3 on the long road trip.

“These last two wins have been big,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “We felt like this game, we would have enough rest to play this game. We took two days off and that helped us.”

Brandon Jennings had 19 points for Milwaukee.

— Reported by Chris Jenkins of the Associated Press

Assist-happy Bucks have won 6 straight games

This is no passing fancy.

At least the Milwaukee Bucks seriously hope not.

They are sharing the ball at a breathtaking pace during their six-game winning streak, piling up assists and leaving opposing defenses dazed and confused.

Those 35 assists against Portland in a 29-point runaway on Tuesday night?

Just more of the same for a Bucks team with suddenly serious designs on an Eastern Conference playoff berth.

Newcomer Monta Ellis led the way with nine assists and fueled a game-breaking run early in the third quarter to silence the Rose Garden crowd.

“He hasn’t surprised us,” said Bucks coach Scott Skiles. “He goes to the open man, and I think to his credit, he’s also trying to fit in.

“There are going to come moments when we’re going to need him to take the ball and go get baskets. He’s certainly capable of doing that.

“But he’s really making good reads. He’s hitting big guys diving to the goal. He’s hitting bigs on pick-and-pop. He’s spreading the ball around. He’s playing really well.”

— Reported by Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel