Redd D Rising

According to the November 10, 2008 edition of Sports Illustrated, new Milwaukee Bucks coach, Scott Skiles, has instituted a new policy. No sleeping on the other end of the court. According to the article, Skiles believes the team would just give up when they were behind and stop trying, but he's saying the Bucks will no longer be allowed to do so. Case in point, he benched center Andrew Bogut for 10 minutes after he blew a defensive assignment and fouled Jermaine O'Neal.

One player who's made a serious effort to adhere to Coach Skiles new policy is lead scorer, Michael Redd. Redd's been considered one of the deadliest shooters in the league for some time, along with players like Ray Allen, Kobe Bryant and Peja Stoyakovic. Redd put in major work at the Olympics in China, as he was forced to defend Kobe Bryant during practices. Redd admits he then realized just how intense Kobe is on the defensive end, saying Kobe never took a possession off. Since Skiles wants the same from Redd and is requiring him to guard the perimeter players better, Redd also worked with his trainer. David Pritchard helped Redd go from 230 pounds and 20% body fat down to 216 pounds and 7% body fat.

The new Redd should have better footwork, flexibility and strength allowing him to put in the tougher defensive work Skiles asks of him. Luckily he can also now defer to Richard Jefferson as well to help with the scoring load should he tire on the defensive end. The Bucks could be a playoff team should they seriously commit to D like coach is asking, and may take on the look of the Detroit Pistons team of old.