Q&A: Bucks' Salmons the Right Fit for Another Playoff Push

In his first 17 games since being traded to Milwaukee, Bucks shooting guard John Salmons has averaged 20.5 points, shooting 46.7 percent from the field and 39.4 percent from the 3-point line. He’s been a big part of the reason the Bucks have gone 15-2 in those games, and suddenly look like a very tough playoff foe in the East. Sporting News’ Sean Deveney caught up with Salmons and talked about the Bucks’ surge and his role with the team.

Sporting News: When you got here, did you have any idea that you guys were going to be able to get on a run like this?
John Salmons: Not at first. I had no idea what to expect. But after a while, when I got a feel for how we were playing, I kind of caught on to what was going on here. This is a talented team—you have Andrew Bogut and Brandon Jennings, Carlos (Delfino), Jerry Stackhouse. There are good players here.

SN: Where do you fit in? How have you been able to be such a big part of this?
JS: I am just trying to be aggressive on the offensive end. I know that is what I was brought here for, to give them a little boost on the offensive end. They lost Michael Redd, and that’s a pretty good scorer right there. That’s what I have been trying to do.

SN: Do you see any problems playing with Michael Redd when he returns next year?
JS: Not at all. Our games are different. He is more of a great, great shooter. I am more attacking the rim.

SN: Against the Hawks, you had an outstanding game where you went back and forth with Joe Johnson, and finally, won the game. You shot 12-for-19. What’s it like to be in that kind of zone?
JS: It’s just one of those things where every shot you shoot feels like it is going to go in regardless of the situation. You just feel like when it leaves your hand it is going in. Probably the best guy who can explain it is Brandon. He had 55 points earlier this year—he was obviously feeling that way then.

SN: You had a game like that in Chicago, around this time, where you did that, went back and forth with Paul Pierce. This was similar, right?
JS: Similar yeah. That was on St. Patrick’s Day—I remember, we were wearing the green uniforms. It was the same kind of situation, Paul would score and I would come down and score. But we won.

SN: Does Jennings deserve Rookie of the Year?
JS: I think he does. There are some good rookies, but he is leading a winning team, leading a team that is going to the playoffs. I think that should count.

SN: When you went to Chicago last year, you guys went 17-11 and had a good push into the playoffs. Now you are 15-2 after the trading deadline. Are the situations similar?
JS: It’s definitely similar. The one thing people don’t realize, the first two weeks in Chicago last year, it was a little bit of a transition period for the team. Here, they were already playing good basketball when I got here, so it just sort of has taken off, it meshed right away. It is similar to last year.

SN: You could be a free agent next year, if you opt out. Would you like to come back?
JS: That’s all stuff that I will work out in the future. When it is time to worry about it, I will sit back and make those decisions.

SN: You had a bit of a slump at the beginning of the year, but before you got traded, you had been shooting better.
JS: I don’t think it was a slump. I never really saw it as a slump.

SN: How did you see it? More of a coaching thing? Kirk Hinrich had replaced you as a starter.
JS: Circumstances, really. Different things that were going on with the lineup and the rotations and all of that. You know, I don’t dwell on it. That is all in the past now; that is how I see it.



(sportingnews.com)