57-year old head coach Jim Boylan is probably on the hot seat for the Bucks right now.  He took over for Scott Skiles when he was fired and he didn’t do too well.  He led the Bucks to a 22-28 record (44%) during the regular season, which got them into the playoffs as the #8 seed in the Eastern Conference.  Then they got swept by the Heat in the first round of the playoffs.  Boylan is now 46-60 (43.4%) during the regular season in his first two years as an NBA head coach.  He is likely skating on very thin ice here.

UPDATE:  (5/1/2013) – The Bucks have fired Jim Boylan.

22-year old power forward John Henson had a solid rookie year for the Bucks in 2012-13.  Henson played in 63 games (9 starts) for the Bucks last year and he averaged 13.1 minutes, 6.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.  He shot 48.2% from the floor, but only 53.3% from the free throw line last year.  Henson had six double-doubles in 2012-13 for the Bucks as a rookie.  He scored at least 10 points in a game 15 times last year and he also had 8 games with at least 10 rebounds.  Henson finished the regular season really strongly for the Bucks as in his last five games he averaged 15.0 points, 15.0 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.2 steals and 2.8 blocked shots per game.  The future is bright for Henson.

The Bucks had high hopes for the 2012-13 season, but things just didn’t work out as planned.  The Bucks were 38-44 in 2012-13, which had them in third place in the Central Division, 11.5 games behind the Pacers.  The Bucks then got swept 4-0 by the Heat in the first round of the playoffs.  Here is a look at the players who made the biggest impacts for the Bucks in 2012-13, in my opinion:

TEAM MVP:  Monta Ellis – 27-year old shooting guard Monta Ellis came to play every single night for the Bucks.  He played in 82 games (all starts) for the Bucks last year and he averaged 37.5 minutes, 19.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.1 steals per game.  Ellis had 9 double-doubles for the Bucks last year.  He had 37 games with 20 or more points, 9 games with 10 or more assists and 23 games with at least three steals last year.

BIGGEST SURPRISE:  Larry Sanders – 24-year old center Larry Sanders pushed Samuel Dalembert to the bench in 2012-13.  He played in 71 games (55 starts) for the Bucks last year and he averaged 27.3 minutes, 9.8 points, 9.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 2.8 blocked shots per game.  He had 26 double-doubles and 1 triple-double for the Bucks last year.  He had 10 or more points 37 times last year.  He also had at least 10 rebounds 36 times last year and at least 3 blocked shots 34 times in 2012-13.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT:  Drew Gooden – 31-year old PF/C Drew Gooden got in the Dog House early in the 2012-13 season and he never got out.  Gooden played in 16 games (0 starts) for the Bucks last year and he averaged 9.4 minutes, 3.3 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  Gooden only shot 32.8% from the floor last year, which is simply awful for a big man.

The Bucks only shot 37% from the floor yesterday and it doomed them.  Monta Ellis (21 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists and 1 steal) and Mike Dunleavy (17 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist in 28 minutes) led the way for the Bucks in this game.  J.J. Redick pitched in with 10 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist and 1 steal in 28 minutes off the bench.  Brandon Jennings disappeared on the court in the most important game of the season for the Bucks.  Jennings only shot 1 of 7 from the floor and he finished up with only 3 points, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot in 23 minutes on the floor.  The Bucks got swept 4-0 by the Heat in the first round of the playoffs.

The Bucks were outscored 56-41 in the second half earlier tonight and it did them in.  Larry Sanders (16 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and 1 blocked shot), Brandon Jennings (16 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists and 5 steals on only 5 of 15 shooting from the floor) and Ersan Ilyasova (15 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 1 blocked shot) led the way for the Bucks tonight.  Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (12 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists), Mike Dunleavy (11 points and 4 rebounds in 22 minutes) and J.J. Redick (11 points and 1 assist in 17 minutes) also pitched in for the Bucks in this game.  The Bucks are now down 3-0 in this series.

The Bucks’ frontcourt needs to get tough and protect the basket starting tonight against the Heat.  Center Larry Sanders, power forward Ersan Ilyasova and small forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute all have the reputation of tough defensive players, but I have not seen any of that against the Heat yet.  The Bucks need these three guys to step up, or they are in danger of getting swept right out of the playoffs by the Heat.  Sanders has started both games of this series and he is averaging 23.5 minutes, 10.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game.  The Bucks need him to get back to the double-double machine that he was earlier this year.  Ilyasova has started 2 games against the Heat and he is averaging 28.5 mintues, 11.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.  Mbah a Moute has also started both games against the Heat and he is averaging 31.0 minutes, 6.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 1.5 steals per game.  It’s time for the Bucks’ big guys to play big man basketball…..starting later tonight in Milwaukee.

The Bucks shot 50% from the floor in this game, but they were outscored 30-21 in the 4th quarter and they were out-rebounded 43-33 last night, which did them in.  Ersan Ilyasova led the way for the Bucks last night with 21 points, 6 rebounds and 1 assist.  Mike Dunleavy (16 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals) and Larry Sanders (14 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 1 blocked shot) also had solid games for the Bucks last night.  The Heat focused on stopping Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings as they combined to only shoot 5 of 22 from the floor, as they finished up with 15 points, 7 rebounds, 10 assists, 4 steals and 1 blocked shot between them.  The Bucks are now down 2-0 as this series shifts to Milwaukee.

The Bucks were no match for the Heat in Miami earlier tonight.  The Heat shot 55.9% from the floor and they outrebounded the Bucks 46-31, which helps explain the scoreboard.  Brandon Jennings (26 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists and 1 steal) and Monta Ellis (22 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals) led the way for the Bucks tonight.  No other player on the Bucks scored more than six points tonight.  If the big guys don’t step up and start playing harder, the Bucks are going to get swept by the Heat.  The Bucks are now down 1-0 in this series.

Brandon Jennings has the Bucks winning this series in six games.  I don’t have a problem with it as how was he supposed to answer that question?  The only chance the Bucks really have of winning this series is to play very physical basketball inside and they have the horses to do that with Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Ersan Ilyasova, Larry Sanders, Samuel Dalembert, John Henson, Ekpe Udoh and Gustavo Ayon.  Here is a look at the matchups in this series:

POINT GUARD:  26-year old Mario Chalmers really stepped up in the playoffs last year and they hope he will again in 2012-13.  He played in 80 games (all starts) for the Heat this year and he averaged 26.9 minutes, 8.6 points, 2.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game.  He has played in 56 games (31 starts) in the playoffs so far in his career and he is averaging 30.2 minutes, 9.4 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game.

23-year old Brandon Jennings is a volume shooter, but he gets hot, he’s very hard to stop.  Jennings played in 80 games (all starts) for the Bucks this year and he averaged 36.2 minutes, 17.5 points, 3.1 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.6 steals per game.  He has played in 7 games (all starts) in the playoffs so far in his NBA career and he is averaging 35.6 minutes, 18.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

EDGE:  BUCKS

SHOOTING GUARD:  31-year old Dwyane Wade really steps up when the games get bigger, and I look for that to continue in this series.  D-Wade played in 69 games (all starts) for the Heat this year and he averaged 34.7 minutes, 21.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.9 steals per game.  He has now played in 110 games (all starts) in the playoffs so far in his NBA career and he is averaging 40.3 minutes, 25.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.1 blocked shots per game.

27-year old Monta Ellis is also a darn good basketball player and he could give D-Wade some fits.  He played in 82 games (all starts) for the Bucks this year and he averaged 37.5 minutes, 19.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.1 steals per game.  Ellis has played in 11 games (6 starts) in the playoffs so far in his career and he is averaging 21.6 minutes, 8.0 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.

EDGE:  HEAT

SMALL FORWARD:  34-year old Shane Battier is a sharp shooter for the Heat, and he also plays solid D.  Battier played in 72 games (20 starts) for the Heat this year and he averaged 24.8 minutes, 6.6 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game.  He has played in 74 games (50 starts) in the playoffs so far in his NBA career and he is averaging 32.9 minutes, 7.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.

26-year old Luc Richard Mbah a Moute’s game is defense.  He played in 58 games (45 starts) for the Bucks this year and he averaged 22.9 minutes, 6.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game.  He has played in 7 games (all starts) in the playoffs so far in his career and he is averaging 25.4 minutes, 9.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.

EDGE:  VERY, VERY SLIGHT FOR THE BUCKS

POWER FORWARD:  28-year old LeBron James is the best player on the planet right now.  He played in 76 games (all starts) for the Heat this year and he averaged 37.9 minutes, 26.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game.  He has now played in 115 games (all starts) in the playoffs so far in his career and he is averaging 43.4 minutes, 28.5 points, 8.7 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game.

25-year old Ersan Ilyasova has a bruised wrist, but he is ready to go for this series.  He played in 73 games (54 starts) for the Bucks this year and he averaged 27.6 minutes, 13.2 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.  Ilyasova has played in 7 games (0 starts) so far in the playoffs in his NBA career and he is averaging 22.4 minutes, 9.7 points, 7.6 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.

EDGE:  HUGE FOR THE HEAT

CENTER:  29-year old Chris Bosh will be the starting center in this series for the Heat.  He played in 74 games (all starts) for the Heat this year and he averaged 33.2 minutes, 16.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game.  Bosh has now played in 46 games (42 starts) in the playoffs so far in his career and he is averaging 36.8 minutes, 17.6 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game.

24-year old center Larry Sanders is going to try to push Bosh around and protect the rim in this series.  He played in 71 games (55 starts) for the Bucks this year and he averaged 27.3 minutes, 9.8 points, 9.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 2.8 blocked shots per game.  This is Sanders first shot at playing in the playoffs in his NBA career.

EDGE:  HEAT

BENCH:  The Heat’s bench is very old outside of Norris Cole, but they are still good at what they do.  37-year old shooting guard Ray Allen is one of the sharp shooters off the bench for the Heat.  He played in 79 games (0 starts) for the Heat this year and he averaged 25.8 minutes, 10.9 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.  He has now played in 128 games (120 starts) in the playoffs so far in his career and he is averaging 38.8 minutes, 18.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  24-year old point guard Norris Cole will also likely get in on the action quite a bit in this series.  Cole played in 80 games (4 starts) for the Heat this year and he averaged 19.9 minutes, 5.6 points, 1.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.  He has played in 19 games (0 starts) so far in the playoffs in his career and he is averaging 8.9 minutes, 1.8 points, 0.5 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.  32-year old power forward Udonis Haslem will bring his lunch pail to work in this series, as he likes doing the dirty work for the Heat.  He played in 75 games (59 starts) for the Heat this year and he averaged 18.9 minutes, 3.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.  He has now played in 100 games (59 starts) in the playoffs so far in his NBA career and he is averaging 25.8 minutes, 6.6 points, 6.7 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game.  34-year old PF/C Chris “The Birdman” Andersen brings a lot of energy to the court for the Heat.  He played in 42 games (0 starts) for the Heat this year and he averaged 14.9 minutes, 4.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game.  Andersen has now played in 31 games (0 starts) in the playoffs so far in his NBA career and he is averaging 17.8 minutes, 5.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.5 blocked shots per game.  33-year old SG/SF Mike Miller and 33-year old forward Rashard Lewis are going to be long range assassins for the Heat off the bench in the playoffs.  Miller played in 59 games (17 starts) for the Heat this year and he averaged 15.3 minutes, 4.8 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.  He has played in 61 games (14 starts) in the playoffs so far in his NBA career and he is averaging 17.7 minutes, 5.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game.  Lewis played in 55 games (9 starts) for the Heat this year and he averaged 14.4 minutes, 5.2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.  He has played in 64 games (63 starts) so far in his career in the playoffs and he is averaging 38.5 minutes, 16.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.

The Bucks also have a very talented bench.  28-year old guard J.J. Redick is going to supply some offensive fire power off the bench for the Bucks in this series.  He played in 78 games (13 starts) for the Bucks and Magic this year and he averaged 30.5 minutes, 14.1 points, 2.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game.  Redick has played in 44 games (8 starts) in the playoffs so far in his NBA career and he is averaging 19.5 minutes, 6.8 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.  32-year old small forward Mike Dunleavy is also an offensive force off the bench for the Bucks.  He played in 75 games (3 starts) for the Bucks this year and he averaged 25.9 minutes, 10.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.  Dunleavy also shot a very impressive 42.8% from three point range this year.  He has played in 5 games (0 starts) in the playoffs so far in his career and he is averaging 14.4 minutes, 5.0 points, 1.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game.  31-year old center Samuel Dalembert could give the Heat trouble because of his size.  He played in 47 games (23 starts) for the Bucks this year and he averaged 16.3 minutes, 6.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 1.1 blocked shots per game.  He has played in 17 games (all starts) in the playoffs so far in his career and he is averaging 30.5 minutes, 8.6 points, 9.9 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.5 blocked shots per game.  22-year old rookie power forward John Henson was incredible down the stretch for the Bucks, so they might as well turn him loose in this series against the Heat.  He played in 63 games (9 starts) for the Bucks this year and he averaged 13.1 minutes, 6.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.  32-year old SG/SF Marquis Daniels played in 59 games (33 starts) for the Bucks this year and he averaged 18.4 minutes, 5.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.  He has played in 62 games (5 starts) in the playoffs so far in his NBA career and he is averaging 11.3 minutes, 4.3 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game.  25-year old PF Ekpe Udoh and 28-year old PF/C Gustavo Ayon both have six fouls apiece to give if the Bucks want to play a little bit dirty in this series.  Udoh played in 76 games (9 starts) for the Bucks this year and he averaged 17.3 minutes, 4.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.  Ayon played in 55 games (3 starts) for the Bucks and Magic this year and he averaged 13.3 minutes, 3.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.  Udoh and Ayon will be playing in the playoffs for the first time this year.

EDGE:  EVEN

COACHING:  42-year old Erik Spoelstra just has to manage egos on this team.  He led the Heat to a 66-16 (80.5%) record during the regular season.  He is 34-22 (60.7%) in the playoffs so far in his career and he led the Heat to an NBA Title in 2011-12.

57-year old Jim Boylan replaced Scott Skiles when he was fired early in the year.  Boylan was 22-28 (44%) with the Bucks this year.  This is Boylan’s first foray into the playoffs as a head coach in the NBA.

EDGE:  HEAT

PREDICTION:  HEAT IN FIVE GAMES

28-year old PF/C Gustavo Ayon has been buried on the bench since coming over in the J.J. Redick deal with the Orlando Magic.  He has played in 11 games (0 starts) for the Bucks so far this year and he is averaging 12.4 minutes, 3.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game.  He is shooting 21 of 33 (63.6%) from the floor, but only 1 for 12 (8.3%) from the free throw line so far this year for the Bucks.  Ayon has played in 54 games (3 starts) overall this year for the Bucks and Magic in which he is averaging 13.1 minutes, 3.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.  Ayon is going to have to step up his game if he wants to get on the court in the playoffs against the Heat.