The Bucks will be without 27-year old center Andrew Bogut indefinitely due to a fractured left ankle.  Bogut has played in 12 games (all starts) for the Bucks so far this year and he is averaging 30.3 minutes, 11.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.0 steal and 2.0 blocked shots per game.  30-year old Drew Gooden will likely be Bogut’s replacement in the starting lineup.  Gooden has played in 15 games (5 starts) for the Bucks so far this year and he is averaging 18.7 minutes, 8.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.  The Bucks really hope that Gooden steps up because Bogut is going to be hard to replace.

UPDATE:  (1/27/2012) – Bogut will miss the next 8-12 weeks.

The Milwaukee Bucks are going to be without 31-year old small forward Mike Dunleavy for the next two weeks due to a groin injury.  Dunleavy has played in 3 games (all starts) for the Bucks so far this year and he is averaging 30.3 minutes, 10.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.0 steal per game.  But, he’s only shooting a woeful 32% from the floor so far this year.  The Bucks will turn to 29-year old Carlos Delfino at small forward for the next couple of weeks.  Delfino has now played in 6 games (5 starts) for the Bucks so far this year and he is averaging 27.7 minutes, 8.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game.  Delfino should be able to replace Dunleavy’s production pretty easily.

Everyone likes to talk up 21-year old point guard Brandon Jennings, but he’s not that good.  Jennings played in 63 games (61 starts) for the Bucks last year and he averaged 34.4 minutes, 16.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game.  He only shot 39% from the floor, but that was an improvement over his rookie season.  Jennings has now played in 145 games (143 starts) in his first two years with the Bucks and he has averaged 33.4 minutes, 15.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game.  Jennings has only shot 37.9% from the floor and 35.2% from the three point line so far in his NBA career.  He should really think about passing the ball more, because he just can’t shoot.  The Bucks might try to deal him either at the NBA Draft or over the summer.

The 2010-11 season was a huge disappointment for the Milwaukee Bucks.  They added a lot of talent during the off-season and they still finished 35-47 on the year as they missed the playoffs by 2 games.  The Bucks are now 115-131 (46.7) during the regular season in Skiles’ three years in charge and they are also 3-4 (42.9%) during the playoffs.  Skiles still has a winning record in his NBA career as a head coach.  He is 396-382 (50.9%) during the regular season and he is 18-24 (42.9%) during the playoffs.  The Bucks will be expecting to get back into the playoffs in 2011-12, so they need Skiles to be up to the challenge.

30-year old point guard Keyon Dooling has been a huge disappointment for the Bucks this year.  He has played in 56 games (22 starts) for the Bucks so far this year and he is averaging 23.2 minutes, 7.4 points, 1.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.  He is only shooting 38.8% from the floor and 32.9% shooting from three point range so far this year.  Dooling was especially disappointing when Brandon Jennings was injured and he stepped into the starting lineup.  He has been outplayed by Earl Boykins so far this year.

21-year old point guard Brandon Jennings is back to his bricklaying days since returning from injury.  In his first 7 games back, Jennings is averaging 23.1 minutes, 8.3 points, 2.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.3 steals per game.  He is shooting a disgustingly awful 32.5% from the floor since his return to action (25 of 77 from the floor!).  Jennings has now played in 32 games (30 starts) for the Bucks so far this year and he is averaging 32.6 minutes, 15.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game.  He is shooting 38.1% from the floor and 34.2% from three point range so far this year.  This is going to sound odd, but the worst thing that ever happened to Jennings was when he scored 55 points in a game last year.  That gave him the illusion that he is a good offensive player and shooter.  The Bucks would be much better off if Jennings shot a lot less and started passing the ball more.  I don’t see that happening anytime soon though as he probably loves all the hype.

31-year old small forward Corey Maggette had a December to forget as he started and ended it in the Dog House.  In between, he had a concussion and missed a few games.  Maggette has played in 12 games in December and he is averaging 14.7 minutes, 7.1 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.9 assists on 38.8% shooting from the floor.  Maggette has now played in 24 games (0 starts) so far this year for the Bucks and he is averaging 19.0 minutes, 10.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.  With the Bucks having problems scoring lately it just doesn’t make much sense to keep Maggette’s butt nailed to the bench.

The Bucks will be without starting point guard Brandon Jennings for the next 4-6 weeks due to a broken left foot.  Jennings has played in 25 games (all starts) for the Bucks so far this year and he is averaging 35.5 minutes, 17.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game.  Jennings is only shooting 39.1% from the floor this year but the Bucks are still going to miss him because his backups aren’t that great.  Keyon Dooling will replace Jennings in the starting lineup until he returns to action.  Dooling has played in 26 games (2 starts) for the Bucks so far this year and he is averaging 17.7 minutes, 5.5 points, 1.0 rebound and 2.2 assists per game.  Dooling is only shooting 35.4% from the floor this year and he’s a shoot first point guard.  Earl Boykins will likely move up the depth chart to backup Keyon Dooling.  Boykins has played in 16 games (0 starts) so far this year for the Bucks and he is averaging 10.6 minutes, 3.3 points, 0.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.

The Bucks expected a lot more out of veteran small forward Corey Maggette when they dealt for him over the summer.  Maggette was supposed to start at small forward for the Bucks but things have not worked out that way.  He has played in 16 games (0 starts) for the Bucks so far this year and he is averaging 21.6 minutes, 12.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.  The main issue with Maggette is that he is only shooting 39.7% from the floor and that’s not good enough to earn him starter’s type minutes.

The Bucks made 31-year old shooting guard John Salmons a very rich man over the summer but he isn’t repaying them quite yet. Salmons has played in 9 games (all starts) for the Bucks so far this year and he is averaging 31.1 minutes, 11.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. He is also only shooting 36.2% from the floor and he has been awful so far this year. He started last season slowly and it’s still really early but the Bucks still need him to turn things around soon.