The Bucks were outscored 29-18 in the 4th quarter and it did them in last night in Orlando.  It also didn’t help that the Bucks were outrebounded 46-33 and they let the Magic shoot 51.9% from the floor.  Brandon Jennings led the way for the Bucks with 27 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists last night.  Ersan Ilyasova filled up the stat sheet with 18 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot.  Carlos Delfino pitched in with 10 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists in this game.  The Bucks are now 14-23 on the year.

The Bucks only shot 37.6% from the floor and they were outscored 34-18 in the 4th quarter which did them in last night.  Brandon Jennings (34 points, 3 rebounds, 9 assists and 2 steals) and Drew Gooden (26 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals) led the way for the Bucks last night.  Beno Udrih pitched in with 10 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists in this game.  The Bucks are now 14-22 on the year.

31-year old small forward Mike Dunleavy has been stepping up lately for the Bucks.  In his last four games, Dunleavy is averaging 14.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game.  He has now played in 25 games (3 starts) so far this year and he is averaging 25.3 minutes, 11.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.  Dunleavy will help the Bucks the rest of the season off the bench or as a trade chip at the deadline in two weeks.

19-year old small forward Tobias Harris has looked really solid lately.  Harris has played in 21 games (0 starts) for the Bucks so far this year and he is averaging 11.7 minutes, 5.8 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  If the Bucks fade in the second half, look for Harris’ P.T. to pick up.  22-year old PF/C Jon Leuer has also played pretty well this year.  He has played in 33 games (10 starts) for the Bucks so far this year and he is averaging 13.4 minutes, 5.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.  Leuer is shooting 52% from the floor so far, which is outstanding.  Look for Leuer’s P.T. to possibly pick up in the second half of the year.

The Bucks left it all of the floor last night but it wasn’t enough to beat the Celtics in Boston.  Ersan Ilyasova (25 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 blocked shot) and Drew Gooden (23 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists) led the way for the Bucks last night.  Mike Dunleavy pitched in with 10 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal in this game.  The Bucks are now 14-21 on the year.

The Bucks outran the Wizards last night, just nipping them.  Mike Dunleavy led the way for the Bucks in this game with 28 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 3 steals in 33 minutes off the bench.  Drew Gooden also had a rock solid game with 15 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocked shots in only 23 minutes on the floor.  Brandon Jennings (14 points, 4 rebounds, 10 assists and 1 steal) and Ersan Ilyasova (13 points, 11 rebounds and 1 assist) also had good games for the Bucks.  Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (13 points), Carlos Delfino (11 points) and Tobias Harris (11 points) also pitched in for the Bucks.  The Bucks are now 14-20 on the year.

Not much seemed to go right for the Milwaukee Bucks in the first half of the 2011-12 season.  They finished the first half with a 13-20 record, which has them in 4th place in the Central Division, 13 games behind the Bulls.  The Bucks are #10 in the Eastern Conference right now but they are only 2.5 games behind the Celtics for the #8 spot.  Here is a look at the players who made the biggest impacts for the Bucks in the first half of the season in my opinion:

Team MVP:  Brandon Jennings:  22-year old point guard Brandon Jennings has been the Bucks’ best offensive player so far this year.  He has played in 33 games (all starts) for the Bucks so far this year and he is averaging 35.3 minutes, 18.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game.  Jennings is shooting a little better this year than he did his first two years in the NBA and the Bucks need him to keep up the good work in the second half of the year.

Biggest Surprise:  Ersan Ilyasova:  24-year old power forward Ersan Ilyasova has turned into the best big man on the Bucks so far this year.  He has played in 32 games (13 starts) for the Bucks so far this year and he is averaging 25.1 minutes, 10.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.  The Bucks need Ilyasova to keep up the good work if they are going to make a playoff run in the second half of the year.

Biggest Disappointment:  Stephen Jackson:  The Bucks thought that 33-year old SG/SF Stephen Jackson was going to give them a boost offensively, but he has been a big time bust so far this year.  Jackson has played in 26 games (13 starts) for the Bucks so far this year and he is averaging 27.4 minutes, 10.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.0 steal per game.  Jackson is only shooting 35.7% from the floor and 27.8% from three point range so far this year.  The Bucks are likely going to try to deal Jackson before next month’s NBA trade deadline.

The Bucks were outrebounded 49-29 and they let the Bulls shoot 54.4% from the floor and those are the reasons they were blown out.  Brandon Jennings (20 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal) and Ersan Ilyasova (15 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal) led the way for the Bucks last night.  Jon Leuer (14 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot) and Shaun Livingston (12 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot) also pitched in for the Bucks in this game.  The Bucks are now 13-20 on the year.

The Bucks were outscored 26-20 in the 4th quarter last night and it did them in.  Brandon Jennings (22 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal), Mike Dunleavy (18 points, 6 rebounds and 1 assist) and Ersan Ilyasova (15 points and 15 rebounds) led the way for the Bucks last night.  Larry Sanders had one of he best games of his NBA career last night as he finished up with 13 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocked shots in 28 minutes on the floor.  Jon Leuer pitched in with 10 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal in this game.  The Bucks are now 13-19 on the year.

The Bucks outrebounded 53-43 last night and they held the Nets to 34.1% shooting from the floor, helping them win a nice road game in New Jersey last night.  Ersan Ilyasova led the way for the Bucks last night with 29 points, 25 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot.  Brandon Jennings also had a rock solid game with 17 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot last night.  Luc Richard Mbah a Moute also had a solid game with 12 points, 8 rebounds and 2 steals in 29 minutes on the floor.  Carlos Delfino (11 points) and Shaun Livingston (10 points) also pitched in for the Bucks in this game.  The Bucks are now 13-18 on the year.