MILWAUKEE -- Michael Redd didn't suit up against the Washington Wizards Sunday and the Milwaukee Bucks played one of their better games of the season.

Some people are starting to see a correlation there, especially after the Bucks' 105-102 overtime victory at the Bradley Center gave them a 4-1 record when Redd, their leading scorer for the fifth straight season, is unable to play. Redd's teammates are not among the people making that connection, however.

"He's one of the better players in this league, so don't make that mistake by any means," guard Mo Williams said. "With Mike being out, I think guys have stepped up and played well. ... We got it from a lot of different areas (Sunday). But by no means do I think we play better without Mike."

The record says otherwise. When Redd missed four games recently, the Bucks lost to the Wizards, then won three in a row. When Redd had to sit out Sunday, the Bucks shook off a sluggish first quarter and played unselfish, highly efficient offense the rest of the way.

Of course, it's ludicrous to think it is all Redd's fault the Bucks are 4-1 without him and 14-26 with him. But as Milwaukee continues to play fitfully on offense in this so-far unfulfilling season, the focus is starting to fall on its star player.

The offensive mantras of first-year coach Larry Krystkowiak -- move the ball quickly, make the extra pass and run the offense though center Andrew Bogut -- are new to the Bucks, a perimeter-oriented, one-on-one team for years. It 's never easy for a player or team to change their ways, but the Bucks -- and Redd -- are trying.

Too often, however, the offense grinds to a halt when the ball gets to Redd on the perimeter. Instead of moving it quickly, he has a tendency to hold it while looking for an opening.

When Krystkowiak used Redd's first absence to run the offense through Bogut more, the ball moved better and the offense flowed more freely. It happened again in the second half and overtime Sunday, when the Bucks had 19 assists on their 24 field goals.

Krystkowiak is reluctant to place the blame for the offense's struggles on Redd. He said Redd is on board "part of the time," though he gets frustrated at times when his teammates miss shots. The coach said Redd's shots are down by 1.5 per game and his assists are up by the same amount from last season.

"He's still got the ball in his hands, but instead of shooting that extra time and a half, it's being passed to somebody else who's making it," Krystkowiak said. "He's had a couple of nine assist games. I mean, that's a change. We 're moving in that direction. ... I think he's buying in. I think we're just searching. We want to score. We want the offense to be easier and it hasn't come easy."

It came easy for the most part Sunday. Though short-handed, the Bucks showed that when they move the ball and get everybody involved, they are a pretty good team.

"They're very unselfish guys, " Bogut said. "We moved the ball and (the Wizards) didn't know where our scoring was going to come from. That makes us a tough team to beat."

The Bucks would be even tougher to beat if Redd would buy into the offense completely.