Brew Hoop Podcast: Milwaukee Bucks news, talk and analysis

The third and final portion of our three-part 2013 NBA Draft preview.

In Part 2 of our 2013 NBA Draft podcast, we cover prospects in the middle of the draft and discuss the best options for the Bucks if someone slips down on draft night.

Part 1 of our 2013 NBA Draft preview.

NBA Draft rumors are starting to heat up, and the Milwaukee Bucks have been linked to Miami point guard Shane Larkin after a 'wow' workout. What do the rumors really mean? What should the Bucks really do?

A critical offseason is officially underway for the Milwaukee Bucks, and in the latest episode of the Brew Hoop NBA podcast Steve von Horn and Frank Madden discuss the hiring of Larry Drew, the goals of the team in free agency and some comments made by Bucks owner Herb Kohl

If you ignored the actual action and deferred to the box score, it's possible you made sense of this game. LeBronJames dropped 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Dwyane Wade posted 21 points on 8-14 shooting.Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis combined to score 15 points on 5-22 from the field. Chris "Birdman" Andersen did his Birdman dance. LeBron even talked the referees into rescinding a technical foul. Of course Miami won by double digits again. However, if you watched Game 2 of this NBA playoff series unfold, many of the developments probably confused you. Despite the poor box score stats from Jennings and Ellis, Milwaukee managed to muck the game up and pull within three points by the end of the third period thanks to 31-50 shooting from the role players. Ersan Ilyasovadominated his matchup with Chris Bosh for most of the night, while J.J. Redick and Mike Dunleavy both played less than 15 minutes over the first three periods. The Bucks had a serious opportunity to win this game...then the fourth quarter happened. Jim Boylan started the final period with a lineup featuring Ish Smith, Brandon Jennings, Marquis Daniels, MikeDunleavy and Ekpe Udoh. Smith struggled to initiate the offense and in a blink Miami transformed a tenuous 68-65 lead into a commanding 80-65 advantage. Redick did not play a single minute in the second half, and by the timeMonta Ellis returned to the lineup it was already too late. Mike Dunleavy played an excellent fourth quarter to cap off a very solid effort, but his best production came during low-leverage situations when Miami had already pulled away. Through two playoff games, Redick has now played just 24 TOTAL minutes and scored eight points. He hasn't been used very much, and we can't seem to figure out why. He has plenty of playoff experience -- including time in the NBA Finals with the Magic -- so Boylan's decision to turn to Ish Smith at the start of the fourth quarter had us scratching our heads. I joined Frank and Jake for a podcast recap of the game and a discussion about Redick's usage: Highlights, Etc. Dan Sinclair aptly described the organized confusion in the game recap: It's hard to say if the way game two played out was by design or accident. The Heat had no obvious qualms with letting Jennings and Ellis chuck up shots for 48 minutes while locking down their teammates on Sunday, so the relative success of Milwaukee's supporting cast on Tuesday is a bit puzzling. The Bucks' ball movement was far improved in the first half, leading to some open looks around the basket, even if a few came off of chaotic (broken?) plays. But they were also sloppy, committing turnovers on almost 19% of their possessions. They also got crushed on the boards again, grabbing only 4 offensive rebounds all game and giving up 12. And when Miami turned up the temperature in the final 12 minutes, the Bucks largely fell apart. For all the adjustments from the Bucks, they came away with another disappointing loss to the defending champs. Just as Milwaukee was about to make a real game of it, the Heat went on that 12-0 run and closed the door, much to the delight of LeBron: Post-Game Press Conferences

Welcome to LeBron James' world. The best player in the NBA set the tone in Game 1 of the first-round 2013 NBA playoff series between the Miami Heat and the Milwaukee Bucks, and led his team to a 110-87 victory with game highs in points (27), rebounds (10) and assists (8). Nine of LeBron's 11 shots came inside the restricted area (he was 8/9 shooting inside the charge circle, as he attacked the rim and dissected the Bucks defense to help the Heat build a 50-34 advantage on points in the paint. Chris Bosh chipped in 15 points on seven shots and pulled Larry Sanders away from the rim to allow the Heat to attack. Meanwhile, Miami's defense shut down the role players on Milwaukee and forced Brandon Jennings (26 points, two assists, three turnovers) and Monta Ellis (22 points, three assists, two turnovers) to take complete ownership of the offense. Easy looks were hard to come by, and the offense for the Bucks never found a way to keep pace with what Miami managed to do. It wasn't complete domination, as the Bucks stayed within range in the first half, but the Heat certainly finished the game on a high note. Here's our in-depth podcast recap of Game 1. It covers a variety of issues, including what the Bucks can do differently with Mike Dunleavy, J.J. Redick and Larry Sanders to have a better chance in Game 2 on Tuesday night. Random Highlights and Tidbits Heat shot chart: Bucks shot chart: The best second-half highlight may have been TNT play-by-play man Kevin Harlan's reaction to this Chris Andersendunk: LeBron played so well he could barely even stand it:

Game 1 of the first round 2013 NBA Playoff series between the Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat is set for Sunday, April 21, and to get you prepared for the series we are here with the full schedule, a look at some predictions and a preview podcast. I presented a full-form preview on Thursday, and here's a small chunk from that story in case you missed it: For all of the "The Bucks will win if..." banter you will find elsewhere over the next week, this series isn't about the Bucks. Of the 256 teams that have qualified for the postseason in the last 16 seasons, the 38-win Bucks finished with the fourth-worst record in that group. LeBron and the Heat picked up 71 percent of Milwaukee's total wins in a single (phenomenal) winning streak! The Bucks lost 14 of their final 20 games to limp into the playoffs. The Heat lost 16 games the entire year. Even the playoff series hip-hop theme song I wrote and recorded gave the Bucks no shot to win. But don't tune out just yet. Despite everything stated above, the matchup carries some intrigue. Why? Because it's a clash between the impossible expectations carried by a super team and the preposterous odds of upset for a hapless group of misfits. I would never plop down $10,000 at a roulette table in Vegas and bet it all on Red 3 (hint: this is a secret Brandon Jennings reference), but if you know someone who wants to do that I'd be more than happy to show up and see what happens. The predictions from experts around the NBA basically follow suit with my vibe. Here's a quick roundup: NBC Pro Basketball Talk: "If the league allowed a series to end in three games, this would be the perfect candidate. Since that's not an option, Heat will sweep in four." ESPN: All 10 experts on the panel pick the Heat to prevail, and eight of 10 say it will be a sweep. CBS: Matt Moore, Zach Harper and Royce Young all peg the Heat to advance. Moore (@HPBasketball) surprisingly picked the Bucks to take Miami to six games!

Another long and wide-ranging podcast about the Bucks. Playoffs, coaching, free agency and other topics are covered.

Larry Sanders had racked up an alarming number of technical fouls and ejections in recent weeks. We discuss what it means, how to make it stop and why it can't continue to happen.

The Milwauke Bucks played one solid quarter against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night, and now they have a 13-point loss to show it. Monta Ellis scored 26 points on a more-than-respectable 12-19 shooting, but he played some shotty defense on John Wall (23 points,10 assists, six rebounds, four steals) and the Wizards survived a third-quarter surge from Milwaukee to earn a nice win. Martell Webster scored 17 of his 20 points in the first half as Washington built up double-digit lead, and by the end of the night Larry Sanders let his frustration show as he was ejected from the contest. The Hawks beat the Lakers, so the Bucks lost ground, and Milwaukee will next take on the Miami Heat, who won their 20th-straight game on Wednesday. Here's our recap of the action in podcast form. Find out where things went wrong for the Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks are suddenly winning close games, Brandon Jennings is suddenly transforming into a distributor on offense and Monta Ellis is suddenly clutch. Is any of this sustainable? Where do the Bucks stand? These are the questions on the mind of every serious Bucks fan, because it's been tough to buy in so far this season. Milwaukee has oscillated between 'aggravatingly un-clutch' and 'just clutch enough' this season, and their resume is speckled with big comebacks and soul-crushing blown leads. It's true .500 team type stuff (hint: don't buy into any 'clutch' narratives). Yet here we are, with a playoff spot all but clinched in March and a string of strong games in the immediate past. It's a crazy situation for a team that's been pretty crazy all year. Our guy Alex Boeder covered the unpredictability of the Bucks over at the team website: From @alexboeder: Bucks have won 13 games after trailing by 10+ points and lost 12 games after leading by 10+ points. on.nba.com/BucksComeback — Steven von Horn (@StevevonHorn) March 4, 2013 We're all left to ponder whether it's time to buy in on this group or not. Can Jennings keep up his recent surge with assists? Will some of those tough shots from Monta finally start to fall at the right time? Can Jim Boylan find a way to maximize the value of J.J. Redick AND Mike Dunleavy while still finding minutes for the swag twins? Frank and I discussed all of these issues in the immediate aftermath of the win over the Jazz. Enjoy

We have our eight Eastern Conference teams for the 2013 NBA Playoffs -- at least unofficially. When the Bucksknocked off the Toronto Raptors at home on Friday night, they clinched the head-to-head tiebreaker and moved 10 games ahead of the association's Canadian contingent for the No. 8 seed. For all intents and purposes, it's over for Toronto. The Philadelphia 76ers are a bit closer in the standings, but Doug Collins has no faith in his team andAndrew Bynum may not play at all this year. With the Bucks in the bracket, now the goal is to move out of the eighth slot to avoid an unwinnable series againstLeBron James and the Miami Heat. That means they will need to catch the Boston Celtics, who have actually played better without Rajon Rondo in recent weeks. Milwaukee owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Celtics, but Boston has a particularly soft schedule down the stretch. The Bulls and Nets are playing poorly of late, but it will take a mircale to catch either of those teams. It's not just about whether the Bucks can move up, it's about which team they may get to play. Dan Sinclair and Jake McCormick joined me to talk about potential matchup against the Indiana Pacers or New York Knicks in addition to the playoff points discussed above. Finally, we can't bring ourselves to re-animate the Fear The Deer vibe for this new playoff push. FTD conjures up tainted memories of Andrew Bogut's greusome injury, and the greusome contracts for John Salmons and Drew Gooden during the off-season. We need something new. Our ideas are bad. There's no way around it. However, we hope our failures inspire something better from you. Let's think up something worthwhile for the stretch run. Bonus: Jake retells the fascinating tale of why the Behind the Buck Pass blog had to change to its current name

Tobias Harris has claimed a central role on the Orlando Magic since John Hammond shipped him out in a deadline trade for J.J. Redick. One look at the raw production from Harris on the Magic is enough to cause anyBucks fan's blood pressure to rise. Hammond and the Bucks haven't definitively been burned by the trade -- it's only been a week and Redick is working out quite well in Milwaukee -- but the flame has clearly been lit and some people are feeling the heat. Last week I wrote an article where I presented the context of Harris' early outbursts to help Bucks fans feel a bit better about the present situation. Then, on the same night, Harris scored a career-high 27 points on 11-15 shooting, grabbed 10 rebounds and stole the show for all meaningful 31 minutes he played in a loss to theRockets. BECAUSE OF COURSE HE DID. So let's try this again. There are plenty of contextual factors that we need to consider when evaluating this transaction. Was Hammond correct to give up Harris instead of a prospect like John Henson or a future first-round pick in the NBA Draft? Is Harris a true small forward that can fit into a role on a structured team with talent at all positions? Can Harris work well when offense isn't run directly through him? Is a SF who can't shoot threes a viable starter in the league, considering the recent trends in offensive shot allocation? Dan Sinclair and Jake McCormick joined me for a podcast discussion on the entire situation. Enjoy

The Milwaukee Bucks and general manager John Hammond recently agreed to terms on a three-year, $5.8 million contract extension that will keep Hammond with the Bucks through the 2015-16 season. It's an interesting move for the franchise -- considering the team has missed the playoffs the past two years and former head coach Scott Skiles walked away from the squad less than one month ago -- and there are plenty of reasons to feel optimistic (or pessimistic) about the long-term pact. Hammond's tenure in Milwaukee has been a mixed bag. Most of the success was front-loaded into the Fear The Deer season of 2009-10, and his worst moments arguably came in the wake of that surprise season. John Salmonsand Luke Ridnour helped to carry the Bucks to the playoffs that year, but they received different treatment during the off-season. Hammond later parted ways with Ridnour (who has been very solid in Minnesota on an affordable deal), signed John Salmons (who turned back into normal John Salmons when ink hit the paper on his big-money deal), added Drew Gooden to the mix on a five-year, $32 million deal and traded for Corey Maggette. He's spent the better part of the next year looking for a replacement for Ridnour and a way to unload Salmons' crummy deal -- thanks for Beno Udrih, Kings! -- and Maggette eventually turned into Stephen Jackson (fail). S-Jax caused problems and Andrew Bogut never quite recovered from his nasty fall on April 3, 2010, so now the Bucks have Monta Ellis and Ekpe Udoh on the team. The wheels have been spinning, but the team hasn't gone anywhere but backwards since the FTD run. Then again, here the Bucks are at 22-18 in a weak Eastern Conference with a shot at replicating the magical run that reinvigorated a largely dormant fan base waiting for a clear signal of hope. Hammond's draft picks, Brandon Jennings and Larry Sanders, are leading the charge, and his prime free agent signing (Mike Dunleavy) has been integral as well. Should fans be happy about Hammond's new deal with the Bucks? Does the power structure of the organization and Herb Kohl's influence on the direction of the franchise render the conversation moot? We take a look backwards, and then we turn our attention to the future in our audio assessment of the re-up. Will things go down a bit differently at the trade deadline now that Hammond has more security? Take a listen and find out what we think about the move