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Redd will miss trip, shoots for return Saturday
By Charles F. Gardner
Monday, Jan 28 2008, 02:14 PM

St. Francis - Bucks guard Michael Redd shook his head. Yes, the dunk got him again, but this time the injury is not as severe as it was last season when he missed 20 games with a left patellar tendon strain in January and February.

Redd injured his left knee while dunking the ball in the third quarter against Toronto on Friday night. He missed the Bucks' 105-102 overtime victory against Washington on Sunday and said today he would not make the two-game trip to New Jersey and Philadelphia. The Bucks (18-27) play the Nets (18-26) in East Rutherford, N.J., on Tuesday and the 76ers (17-28) on Wednesday before returning home.

Redd said he hopes to be back for the Bucks' home game against Yao Ming and the Houston Rockets on Saturday night.

"It's not severe," Redd told reporters after practice at the Cousins Center today. "When I got that thigh contusion (earlier this month), I lost a lot of strength in my legs. So it was vulnerable."

Redd was injured last season when he went up for a dunk in the final moments of a loss to Cleveland. Against Toronto, he took off along the baseline and dunked, prompting a timeout by Raptors coach Sam Mitchell. Toronto went on a game-breaking 19-0 run following the timeout.

"I missed three straight threes, and I said, 'This one I'm not going to miss,'" Redd said. "But I'll be OK, though. There's no swelling, no other issues. It's day-to-day. I'll probably be back by Saturday. I'll stay back from the trip and just get it strong."

Redd said he took part in the Bucks' shootaround on Sunday morning. "I couldn't explode like I wanted to," he said. "I knew I would be a hindrance more than a help."

Redd watched the Bucks' wild victory from the bench, and he admitted to feeling the emotion as Milwaukee blew an 11-point lead in the final 1 minute 40 seconds but prevailed in overtime, after trailing by four points in the extra period.

"I was sweating bullets," Redd said. "But we pulled it off somehow, and the team showed some resilience in overtime. Yi (Jianlian) hit a big shot, then Mo (Williams) hit two big threes and Andrew (Bogut) made a play as well.

"We're at home now for a good stretch of February and March. We've got to take advantage of these home games, and somehow get some road games as well along the way."

Bucks forward Charlie Villanueva also missed the game Sunday due to a lower back strain. He did make the trip with the team and said he thought he would be able to play on Tuesday.

"I think I should be OK; it's feeling better," said Villanueva, who indicated the back problem has bothered him at times during the season.

The Bucks and Nets will meet for the second time this season, following the Nets' 97-95 victory at the Bradley Center on Dec. 29. New Jersey is on a nine-game losing streak, with its latest defeat coming at Minnesota, 98-95, on Sunday.

midranger wrote:I honestly don't think that simply subtracting Redd from our team makes us better. I think that eventually it will catch up with us. Here's hoping for 2 more wins though.

midranger wrote:I honestly don't think that simply subtracting Redd from our team makes us better. I think that eventually it will catch up with us. Here's hoping for 2 more wins though.

carmelbrownqueen wrote:Maybe Bobby Simmons can have a couple of breakout games..

WEFFPIM wrote:Silly me for thinking that an NBA player could land on two feet properly without his legs splitting like timber.

steger_3434 wrote:We lost to both these teams with Redd so I hope we don't here about the quality of competition if we win these without him.

I completely agree with Mid's post. None of us "Redd haters" think we're better without him. We just think we'd be better with a player or players that we could get for him.

MVP4Champ wrote:If we win these next 2 games, then I will have less of a problem with trading Redd. If we lose these next 2 games, which I think we will then I hope the Redd Haters acknowledge that Redd isn't the only problem on this team. Which they won't.....

Redd said he took part in the Bucks' shootaround on Sunday morning. "I couldn't explode like I wanted to," he said. "I knew I would be a hindrance more than a help."

Sigra wrote:

Redd said he took part in the Bucks' shootaround on Sunday morning. "I couldn't explode like I wanted to," he said. "I knew I would be a hindrance more than a help."

He got that right

carmelbrownqueen wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

Sounds like he hadn't regained full strength in his legs after that deep thigh bruise.