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The Milwaukee Bucks announced this week that they will be sporting a new logo, new colors, and new uniforms for the 2006 season. (Brett at BucksTown posted on rumors about a new uniform back in March. Nice work.) The team is keeping everything under wraps until the draft when the logo and color scheme are supposed to be revealed; the new unis will be unveiled in September. However, a merchandise site called FansEdge is selling the Bucks 2006 Draft caps, which, if they are genuine, would indicate that Milwaukee is going back to the red and green Christmas colors of the late 1960s and 70s. Truth or Photoshop fiction? I guess we’ll find out in a couple weeks.

The Bradley Center can work a little magic, but it can’t perform miracles. Milwaukee fell to the Pistons last night 109-99 and now face elimination trailing the Pistons 3-1 in the series. Of course, it’s hard to win games when your bench only scores 29 points and your point guard turns the ball over six times. Michael Redd scored 33 points and TJ Ford, despite the turnovers, added 21 more. That was about the only good news for the Bucks, as Andrew Bogut and Bobby Simmons apparently forgot to show up for the game and Milwaukee police scour the city looking for a missing Moe Williams. Hope still lingers, however slight, as the series moves back to Detroit on Wednesday.

I was both shocked and awed last night flipping channels on the cable to see that the Milwaukee Bucks were leading the Pistons, and I was doubly surprised to find out this morning that they actually hung on to that lead to win their first game of the playoff series. Of course, they had to score triple digits to get the job done, but the 124-104 win closes the gap to one game as they head into Game 4 Monday night. Michael Redd had an outstanding game, shooting four of five from three-point range and scoring 40 points. Moe Williams added 20 points and four other Bucks players reached double-digit scores. Even TJ Ford got into the act with 15 assists. Talk about home court advantage.

As with everything else, the Winter Olympics kept me distracted from how the Bucks are doing (well, the All-Star break also helped), but I guess I can’t ignore them any longer now that they’ve lost four of their last six since the break and are now at the .500 mark. Milwaukee dropped a 123-110 decision against Phoenix last night, opting to try and outscore the top scoring team in the NBA rather than attempt any defense. (Oops, this is the Bucks we’re talking about. Sorry.) Andrew Bogut said after the loss, “It’s kind of hard to adjust to their style of play.” Isn’t the mark of good teams the ability to force the opponent out of their normal game? Anyway, Michael Redd scored 37 points, while Bogut added 15 with nine rebounds. TJ Ford scored 13 points and Charlie Bell put in 12 more. The Bucks are now 29-29 and are hanging on to eighth place in the Eastern Conference, trailing Detroit by 18.5 games. They host New York (15-42) on Saturday, so hopefully there’s a win in our future.

The up and down Bucks were back down last night in Indianapolis, losing to the Pacers 88-77. Milwaukee kept it close in the first half but started losing ground after halftime while shooting a miserable 37% from the field. Michael Redd scored 24 points in Milwaukee’s losing effort, while Bobby Simmons added 19 and Jamaal Magloire recorded a double-double with 11 points and 15 rebounds. The Bucks got no help from their bench and Andrew Bogut scored just four points. The loss drops Milwaukee to 27-25 and 16 games behind Detroit as the NBA heads into the All-Star break, but the Bucks are still in a position to make the playoffs with the #6 spot in the Eastern Conference. They host the New Jersey Nets (28-23) next Tuesday.

Milwaukee won its second straight game last night, extending their home winning streak to five in a row with a 99-93 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats. Michael Redd scored 18 points to lead the team, while TJ Ford and Jamaal Magloire added 16 and 15, respectively. Andrew Bogut also had a decent game, scoring 12 points, as did Joe Smith. After trailing at the half, Ford helped spark a rally that put the Bucks up by one at the end of the third period and kept them in the lead until the end. The win keeps 26-23 Milwaukee effectively tied with the Pacers at 15 games behind Detroit. They travel to New Jersey to face the Nets, who lead the Atlantic Division with a 26-22 record.

I see Milwaukee managed to get back into the win column the other night with a 94-89 victory over the Magic in double overtime. Michael Redd came through with the go-ahead three-pointer after shooting 0-3 in the first overtime. He led the team with 27 points despite a 10-30 effort from the field. Gadzuric scored 17 off the bench and Bobby Simmons added 15 more. The win puts the Bucks back to two games above the .500 mark. They host the lowly Charlotte Bobcats (14-36) tomorrow night, which means they’ll probably play down to the competition and it’ll be a close one.

If you want a good uplifting take on Milwaukee’s basketball team, check out the Milwaukee Bucks Diary. There was a pretty good post the other day arguing that most of the games remaining on the Bucks schedule are against teams with losing records, suggesting that Milwaukee should be able to easily walk into the playoffs.

Milwaukee had a chance to escape from Cleveland with a win tonight, but LeBron James spoiled the fun with a go-ahead layup in the final seconds to give the Cavs an 89-86 victory. Cold shooting was the undoing of the Bucks once again, especially Michael Redd who scored just 18 after missing 10 of his first 14 shots. As a team, Milwaukee shot 38% from the field. Bobby Simmons led the team with 21 points and TJ Ford added 12 with 11 assists. With the loss, the Bucks slip back to one game above .500 and 15.5 behind Detroit. They host 19-27 Orlando on Wednesday.

The wife and I spent most of the weekend getting ready for yesterday’s Super Bowl party, so I missed a lot of other sports action this weekend, but looking at the scores maybe it was best I did. The UW basketball team lost to Purdue on Saturday 70-62. Purdue? You mean formerly 1-8 Purdue? Yes, that Purdue. The Badgers went cold once again, shooting just 38% from the field, and they committed 14 turnovers. Tucker was the only bright spot for Wisconsin, scoring 22 points, but the three-game losing streak has left the Badgers in sixth place in the Big 10 with a 5-4 conference record. They host #22 Indiana on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Badgers hockey team managed to end their losing streak on Friday by beating UM-Duluth 7-2, but then they dropped Saturday’s contest 4-1. Ben Street scored twice in Fridays match while goalie Shane Connelly had 28 saves. Saturday, though, Joe Pavelski scored the lone point among Wisconsin’s 32 shots on goal. The Badgers face Ohio State this coming Saturday in the Frozen Tundra Hockey Classic at Lambeau Field.

The ISU Cyclones fared a little better, beating Colorado 96-79 on Sunday to climb back to .500 in the Big 12. Rahshon Clark and Curtis Stinson both scored 24 points against the Buffs to snap their three-game slide. The Clones travel to Kansas State on Wednesday to face the 12-7 Wildcats.

The Cyclones hockey team also enjoyed a successful weekend, taking a pair from Missouri. They beat the Tigers 7-1 on Friday night and won 5-2 on Saturday, with Mike Murtaugh scoring twice in Friday’s win and getting a hat trick the next day. With the wins, Iowa State advances its overall record to 31-5-2 and could climb to #4 in the next ACHA rankings.

Marquette, though, got topped by #4 Villanova 72-67 even though the Golden Eagles out shot the Wildcats 49% to 31% from the field, but a 12-0 run late in the game gave Nova the win. Marquette drops to seventh in Big East witha 6-4 conference record. They play at Rutgers (13-9, 3-6 Big East) on Sunday.

Finally, and I do mean finally, the Bucks found a way to win on Saturday, beating Memphis 88-78 behind Michael Redd’s 23-point effort. Jamaal Magloire scored 17 with 11 rebounds and Andrew Bogut added 12 points and 10 boards. Just not sure how they were able to do that while scoring just eight points in the second quarter. Jeeze. Milwaukee plays at 27-19 Cleveland tonight.

Whew!

Milwaukee was really missing Michael Redd last night as the Bucks came up short against Houston 86-84. The team’s leading scorer was sidelined with back spasms, adding misery to a team that lost Mo Williams to an ankle sprain. The Bucks tried to make a game of of it, though, leading 27-15 after the first quarter, but the Rockets came on strong to take the lead with about eight minutes to play in the first half and never looked back. Milwaukee shot just 37% from the field and gave up 13 points off turnovers. Bobby Simmons led the team with 26 points, while Jiri Welsch scored 17. Jaamal Magloire added 13 and had 15 rebounds. With the loss, the Bucks are back to being just one game above the .500 mark. They host the 26-19 Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday.

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