Bucks must look ahead without Redd News Milwaukee Bucks

St. Francis - Richard Jefferson knows some of the pressure is shifting his way, now that Michael Redd is out for the rest of the season with torn knee ligaments.

If the Milwaukee Bucks are to reach the Eastern Conference playoffs, Jefferson and his teammates will have to produce at a higher level.

But the forward points out that the team played nearly all of November without their star guard, when Redd was sidelined with an ankle injury.

"We've been doing it all season in one shape or form," Jefferson said after the Bucks' practice Tuesday at the Cousins Center. "Yes, he's not coming back. But we played for a large stretch without Michael, and we didn't know when he was going to come back.

"Look at the way Utah has played half their season without either Carlos Boozer or Deron Williams. They've got 25 wins. You can't feel bad for yourself. People have to step up, and the teams that do that are the ones that typically do a good job."

Entering the Bucks' important two-game trip to Indiana and Toronto, the team is 5-10 without Redd in the lineup and 11-17 when at least one key starter is missing. Center Andrew Bogut is not expected to play against the Pacers tonight in Indianapolis because of a persistent back injury that has sidelined him for the past seven games.

Point guard Luke Ridnour has missed three games because of injury this season, making Jefferson the only Bucks player to start in all 48 games.

In his first year with the Bucks, Jefferson is averaging 17.1 points and 4.9 rebounds in 35.5 minutes per game. He is shooting 42.2%, well below his career mark of 47.5% entering this season.

On Monday night in the Bucks' 90-83 home loss to Minnesota, Jefferson struggled to a 3-for-15 shooting night and missed all five of his three-point attempts.

"I'm far from discouraged," he said after the game. "I have plenty of confidence with that (his shooting)."

Bucks coach Scott Skiles pointed out that Jefferson's numbers went up during Redd's earlier absence. The former New Jersey Nets star averaged 18.9 points and 5.2 rebounds during the 14-game span when Redd was out of the lineup.

"I haven't shot the ball as well as I would have liked this season," Jefferson said. "This is just another opportunity to get some more looks and try and get into a rhythm.

"I didn't shoot the ball well against Atlanta (1 for 6), and then I came back against Sacramento and shot the ball better (8 for 19 and 20 points). It's just trying to respond."

Skiles doesn't want Jefferson or any of the other Bucks trying to replace Redd's scoring individually.

The coach sensed that his team was pressing a bit on offense against Minnesota.

"Early in the game, we were missing Michael's scoring so each guy was, like, 'I've got to try to score,' " Skiles said. "We kind of lost our ball movement. Points will just come naturally.

"Teams are not going to let a certain guy make up for 20-plus points per game; they're just not going to let it happen."

Jefferson has said he considers this a transition year for him, after he spent the first seven years of his pro career with the Nets and was so familiar with their way of doing things.

"I'm enjoying playing for Coach Skiles and enjoying my new teammates," he said. "There are a lot of positive things that are coming from it.

"I look forward to a couple years of it, every year getting better, every year getting more comfortable. That was my thing in New Jersey. Every year I got better, learning my teammates and what my coaches wanted."

The road to the playoffs will be more difficult without Redd, but the Bucks think they can stay in the chase with Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York and Charlotte. Milwaukee (22-26) still holds the eighth and final position, with the Nets (20-25) close behind.

"That's our goal even with Mike out," Jefferson said. "It's still a very obtainable goal."

Bogut makes trip: The Bucks center is frustrated by his slow progress in recovering from a back injury, but he wants to be healthy when he returns.

He did accompany the Bucks on their trip and held out hope he might be able to play Friday in Toronto.

Bogut was able to participate in at least part of practice Tuesday but was limited to running on the court and the treadmill, stretching and some warm-up drills.

It was modest progress, but progress just the same.

"It's the most I've done in a while, actually," Bogut said. "It felt good to get out there.

"The problem is that I still have a problem changing direction . . . sliding and that type of stuff. I don't have a problem running. I can run in a straight line all day, I just can't change direction too well. It starts tightening up when I do that."

Tom Enlund of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.