A Song and a Season 05.03.10 - 03:17pm

Jerry Stackhouse decided to give his team a little extra mojo before their Game 6 meeting with the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night.

Singing the National Anthem before a sell out crowd at Milwaukee's Bradley Center, however, couldn't make up for a tough shooting night for the Bucks.

Milwaukee dropped Game 6 at home, then returned to Atlanta on Sunday and were eliminated from the playoffs in a 95-74, Game 7 loss to the Hawks.

In Game 6, Stack was perfect from both the free-throw line and from beyond the arc, finishing with seven points, two boards and an assist. The Bucks held a four-point halftime lead, but were victim to a 29-11 third quarter swing by the Hawks giving Jerry the first blemish of his singing career in an 83-69 loss.

"I’m 3-1 now. I thought I was going to bring the mojo for us. It’s my first loss on the home court," Stack said. "We had some opportunities where we just didn’t, you know…It’s just guys being aggressive. You can’t fault guys for trying to be aggressive. But we just have to try to play smarter."

After the Friday night loss, Stack foreshadowed a possible Game 7 letdown to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

"The fact that we came in and had a chance to close this team out at home, that says something. But the fact that we didn’t, that says something. That lets you know that there’s still some room for growth and there’s some inexperience in those situations."

 

The team's relative lack of experience showed in Game 7, the first Game 7 most of the Bucks players had ever experienced. They dropped only 13 points in the first quarter and trailed by as many as 20 in the second. Atlanta cruised from there.

A DEER TO BE FEARED

Though it was a disappointing night in Atlanta for Jerry and the Bucks, they can take heart in the fact that their Sunday afternoon Game 7 made their series the only one to go the distance.

For that alone, the Bucks have to be applauded. Underdogs the whole way, the Bucks lost their two best players at some point in the season.

But in January, when Michael Redd went down with season-ending knee surgery, Stack was able to step up off the bench as a mid-season signing. No. 24 lit up the scoreboard on occasion, but more importantly, was able to give Milwaukee both a much-needed veteran presence and the playoff experience that they just didn’t have.

After Jerry’s addition to the rotation, the Bucks won an impressive 30 of 43 games, and made the playoffs for the first time since the 2005 season. He also helped put them in position to win their first playoff series since 2001.

Entering the 2010 season, Atlanta was an up and coming team that many feared, but after pushing the Hawks to the brink and with their prized center Andrew Bogut due back next season, it’s the Bucks that should make waves in the East in 2010-2011

With that in mind, Jerry has a big decision to make over the summer. Earlier in the year, Stack was contemplating whether or not to repeat his decision of becoming a half-year player. With a bright future ahead for Milwaukee, maybe Stack can help show them the way.

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