The frequent games and miles add up quickly and can become overwhelming for a first-year player, which is why the Bucks are closely monitoring Mbah a Moute's performance away from home.

"We're working on that with him," coach Scott Skiles said. "He has to be able to get it done on the road also. We're asking an awful lot out of him. We're asking him to guard some of the best forwards in the league. Then he comes out and I put him back in on a guard. That's an awful lot to ask.

"Like a lot of rookies, what's often the case in the first season sometimes is their home and road numbers are different. So we've just got to keep working with him on his road routine."

The most glaring contrast in Mbah a Moute's home and road statistics is his field-goal percentage. He is shooting 49.2% at home and 40.0% on the road. He is scoring 8.8 points per game at home and 8.5 points on the road. He is rebounding better on the road, 7.2 per game compared with 5.9 at home.

On a recent four-game trip to Charlotte, Orlando, Atlanta and Detroit, Mbah a Moute averaged 6.5 points on 37.5% shooting and 6.2 rebounds. On a trip to Denver and Utah, he averaged 9.5 points on 40.0% shooting and 5.5 rebounds.

"I've been struggling a little bit on the road," he said. "The teams we've been playing the last couple weeks have been really good teams. All those teams are good teams and you go against those teams it's always going to be hard.

"You've got to develop that routine on the road that you stick to and all that type of stuff. Make sure you don't get distracted from your routine. It's different. Playing on the road is not the same as staying at home."

Mbah a Moute has started 10 games so far but he has returned to a bench role, which is probably where he will remain. The Bucks' opinion of their athletic second-round draft choice has not diminished in any way. It's just that at this point, he seems best-suited to come off the bench as a designated defender. What Skiles would like to do now is help Mbah a Moute by not placing him in such a wide variety of matchups.

"Now because we've become healthy, or are moving in the direction of becoming healthy, he's probably settling into the role that he's going to have for us all year, which is probably coming off the bench as a defensive player in a couple different spots," Skiles said. "And then take his opportunities as they come offensively.

"He's two-thirds of the way through a college season already and I would like, instead of having him guarding multiple people every single night, I'd like to simplify it for him a little bit. But what I'd like to do and what actually happens may be two totally different things."

Mbah a Moute has guarded all of the big names the Bucks have faced so far: Chris Bosh, Kevin Garnett, Tayshaun Prince and, finally, Kobe Bryant on Sunday in the loss at the Staples Center. His offensive game has improved as he is taking the ball to the basket and has started to make his mid-range jumpers. His work ethic has never been questioned.

The Bucks are not alarmed by any of the lulls that Mbah a Moute has experienced on the road, instead viewing them as part of the learning process for a rookie.

"His home and road numbers . . . are not only not unusual for a rookie, it's pretty much the norm for a rookie," Skiles said. "He's got to get a couple laps around the league."

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