Bucks' John Salmons slowly improves after injury

St. Francis — John Salmons stayed on the court long after practice finished Monday, carefully going over his footwork and taking some extra shots with the help of assistant coach Bill Peterson.

Step by step, the Milwaukee Bucks shooting guard is shaking off the rust and regaining his form.

It wasn't an easy first week for Salmons, who jumped into the starting lineup despite missing the entire exhibition season with a sprained right knee.

Following lackluster performances in losses against New Orleans and Minnesota, Salmons responded with 14 points and some critical plays late in the game as the Bucks beat the Charlotte Bobcats, 98-88, in their home opener Saturday night.

"We definitely needed that," Salmons said. "We felt like we let two get away, so we definitely wanted to come home and get that win.

"We'll try again on the road. Hopefully we can grow from that and get off to a good start."

Now Salmons wants to be ready for a tough schedule this week, with the Bucks (1-2) playing four games in five nights, starting with a home game against Portland Tuesday night.

They play in a nationally televised game at Boston on Wednesday and at Indiana on Friday before returning home for a rematch against New Orleans on Saturday.

"Once the schedule gets going, that's how it is," Salmons said. "Every night you've got to do your best, execute the game plan and see what happens."

Salmons made a key steal, taking the ball from Bobcats guard Stephen Jackson and firing an outlet pass to Carlos Delfino late in the game, helping to seal the Bucks' victory over Charlotte.

"We're always a team that makes a lot of plays down the stretch on the defensive end," Salmons said. "That's how we won a lot of close games last year. Shots might not always go, but you can always play tough defense."

Salmons, who averaged 19.9 points and shot 46.7% in 30 games with the Bucks last season, is shooting just 33% from the field and averaging 8.7 points over the first three games.

He has attempted only six free throws, going 4 for 4 at the line vs. the Bobcats.

"It's everything, just catching the ball cleanly," Salmons said. "It's getting in a rhythm with my whole offensive game, trying to get to the bucket. I haven't even really been driving; I've been shooting a lot of jump shots.

"I'm trying to read everything. When I'm making moves (in the paint), then you'll know I'm back."

Salmons has committed 10 turnovers over the first three games, a sign of his tentativeness.

But Bucks coach Scott Skiles wasn't too concerned about Salmons' play because of all the time the 6-foot-6 guard missed during training camp.
"Just moving around the floor, he's getting there," Skiles said. "He's playing a little longer stretches. Slowly but surely he's getting back to normal. He missed a long time.

"He's always in a tough position every night because he's guarding 2 (shooting) guards that are running off screens all over the place. That's also wearing him down."

He played 34 minutes against Charlotte and was on the floor at the end of the game.

Salmons did his best to chase Jackson, who loves to spot up for corner threes. Now it will be a back-to-back punch of Portland's Brandon Roy on Tuesday and Boston's Ray Allen on Wednesday.

"It's a good guy every night," Skiles said. "He made a couple good defensive plays (against Charlotte), a couple that were noticeable and a couple that weren't. I'm comfortable that he's almost 100%."

Bucks point guard Brandon Jennings said he could see the improvement in Salmons' game last week as the veteran got more time on the court.

"He missed the whole preseason," Jennings said. "Hopefully that home opener got him going a little bit and he's ready for Tuesday. And of course going into Boston, we need him for that one, too."



(jsonline.com)