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WED., DEC 12, 2007 - 10:59 PM
Bucks: Giving kind of mood
By VIC FEUERHERD
608-252-6175
MILWAUKEE — This was a different Michael Redd on the Bradley Center court Wednesday night.

Sure, the No. 22 jersey was the same. The rapid fire jump shot was there, too. But this time, with the memory of coach Larry Krystkowiak's stern message from earlier in the day still fresh in his mind, Michael Redd was a complete player and not just a scorer.

All Redd did was come one assist shy of a triple-double as the Bucks snapped a four-game losing streak with a 100-86 victory over the Orlando Magic, who are 16-7 but losers of three straight.

"I didn't care about scoring," said Redd, who still led all scorers with 27 points and had a team-high 10 rebounds. "I cared about getting guys better. I just wanted the win. I'm tired of losing. For us to win, we have to be unselfish."

Redd and his teammates were responding to Krystkowiak's demand to move the ball.

"We are going to hold some guys accountable," Krystkowiak said before the game of the lesson delivered at the team's shootaround. "That means if they're not getting it done, we'll find guys who will. That's not a threat.

"Offense is the area we need to address. Some times you hit rock bottom, which I feel we're close to. We're taking a lot of forced shots, where guys are trying to create their own shots."

Redd picked up the theme from the start, getting assists on the Bucks' first two baskets and making the feed that led to Yi Jianlian's jumper that made it 32-20 after one quarter.

Redd picked up two more assists to Yi in the second quarter as Yi scored 12 of his 18 points in the first half to help the Bucks to a 53-40 lead. "I'll give Michael Redd credit," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. "He didn't force the issue and made the simple pass. He was a very willing passer, and that got him off to a good start."

The Bucks withstood two Magic charges in the second half. The first came in the opening minutes of the third quarter when Orlando closed to within 53-48.

The Bucks recovered to take a 75-61 lead heading into the fourth. That's when Magic forward Rashard Lewis got hot, hitting three 3-pointers in the first 3 minutes as the Magic closed the gap to 75-73.

But instead of wilting, as happened so often on the just-completed 1-4 West Coast trip, the Bucks responded.

Redd was in the thick of the rally, dishing assists to Andrew Bogut and Charlie Bell while scoring twice, including a 3-pointer that made it 84-75 with 5� minutes left.

The Magic never threatened after that.

"From an offensive point of view, it was as good as we've played in quite a while," Krystkowiak said. "We had very few forced shots and I think it got a little bit contagious where guys gave it up and were hitting the open shots. It kind of validated the way we were playing, and then everybody was eager to do the same thing."

In the paint

You've heard of the "Hack-a-Shaq" philosophy, the intentional fouling of Miami center Shaquille O'Neal because of his poor foul shooting. Now there's the "Hack-a-Dan" approach, one Van Gundy tried on Bucks center Dan Gadzuric, a 25 percent free throw shooter. In the third quarter, as the Magic tried to cut a double-digit difference, Van Gundy had James Augustine foul Gadzuric four straight times down the floor. Gadzuric responded by splitting the eight free throws he received. "I'll take a point a possession," Krystkowiak said. Although not as blatant, the Bucks did much the same thing to Orlando center Dwight Howard, who was sent to the line 16 times. He made eight. "If he shoots 75 percent at the line, you can't do that," Van Gundy said. "But when you're under 50 percent like he's been the last two games, you can." … Forward Bobby Simmons was back after missing three straight games and his fourth overall for what has been termed personal reasons. "The situation has come to an end," Krystkowiak said. "It was pretty valid stuff, and we left it up to Bobby to decide what's going on." … For the 21st time this season, Krystkowiak went with the starting lineup of Redd, Bogut, Yi, Mo Williams and Desmond Mason, making the Bucks the only team to use one starting lineup for all of its games. 

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