By now you’ve probably already heard the devastating news regarding an already injury-plagued professional sports team in Wisconsin: Milwaukee Bucks point guard Brandon Jennings just had surgery to repair a fracture in his left fifth metatarsal and will be sidelined for four to six weeks.
Considering the amount of injuries to key players on the Milwaukee Bucks and Green Bay Packers roster, the Milwaukee Brewers may want to start attending as many churches, synagogues, Hindi churches, and mosques as possible.
By Jake McCormick
Then again, if the Bucks respond to injuries in a similar fashion as their NFL counterparts, things may not be as bad as they seem right now under the quarterbacking of Keyon Dooling and Earl Boykins. For what it’s worth, Dooling has the highest +/- on the team (+13.3), and Boykins’ PER is the same as Corey Maggette (13.4).
*Waits a few seconds.*
I miss Luke Ridnour.
Jennings’ foot injury ends his streak of 107 straight starts (114 including last year’s playoffs), and his earliest return is projected to be around January 17 with the worst barring any setbacks on January 31.
No one ever believes there’s an ideal time for someone to get injured, but Brandon Jennings’ stress fracture could not have come at a worse time for a Bucks team that has just started to find its footing against high quality competition.
Assuming Jennings returns on January 17 to take on the Houston Rockets, Milwaukee will have faced 10 teams with winning records in 13 games. Seven of those games are on the road against teams with a combined 59-20 record on their home courts.
If you wanted to find the team most happy with the Bucks’ loss of their leading scorer, they would reside just 90 miles down I-94 in Chicago. The Bulls are getting by without Joakim Noah for roughly two months and Derrick Rose is battling through wrist and leg injuries brought on by his fearlessness driving the lane.
Although the Indiana Pacers have exceeded expectations in the Eastern Conference Central Division, a handicapped Bulls team had to be much more worried about the more talented and surging Milwaukee Bucks.
Now, Milwaukee has to hope Keyon Dooling can continue to hit three pointers (59% in December) and do his best Matt Flynn impression while letting Andrew Bogut, Chris Douglas-Roberts, and the rest of the supposed Bucks playmakers step up and earn their paychecks.
Although he is perhaps the least threatening Milwaukee Bucks player when it comes to penetration into the lane, Dooling possesses a decent three point stroke and the decision-making of a veteran point guard.
Things could be a lot worse for the Milwaukee Bucks, as the Young Buck is only 21 and could realistically return quicker than expected given his relatively spotless injury history. Still, losing Brandon Jennings for a month’s long stretch of difficult games will ultimately prove the resiliency of coach Scott Skiles and his constantly depleted squad
It’s worked out better than expected for the Green Bay Packers, so there’s no reason to think that it can’t be the same for the Milwaukee Bucks…on second thought, are Jonny Flynn or Luke Ridnour available?