Afternoon State Sports Briefs: Bucks not getting Smith but getting players from Magic

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Milwaukee Bucks

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MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee Bucks won’t be getting Josh Smith – but they did make a deal for a shooting guard. Several media reports said the Bucks will get J.J. Redick and two other players from the Orlando Magic, in exchange for back-up guard Beno Udrih, rookie guard Doron Lamb, and second-year forward Tobias Harris.

The deal was reportedly agreed upon before the NBA’s two o’clock trade deadline this afternoon. The indications are that Milwaukee will keep starting guards Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis. And general manager John Hammond is adding a solid perimeter shooter for the Bucks’ playoff run. Redick, a seventh-year pro from Duke, is averaging just over 15 points a game this year, a career-high. And Redick is 11th in the NBA with 117 three-pointers made. The Bucks also get 6-10 forward Gustavo Avon and six-foot guard Ish Smith. Avon is averaging three points and three boards per game. One of the players Milwaukee is giving up, the rookie Lamb, has been down twice to the NBA’s Developmental League in recent months. And Harris was not in coach Jim Boylan’s rotation. As recently as today, there were reports that the Bucks were interested in obtaining Smith, a nine-year veteran forward from the Hawks. Atlanta was rumored to have wanted Ellis. But that appears to be out of the cards, as Smith appears to be staying where he is. The Bucks hold the eighth-and-final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference at the moment, three-and-a-half games ahead of ninth-place Philadelphia.

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The Milwaukee Brewers are having a full practice today at Spring Training in Phoenix, after it snowed there yesterday. The grounds crew dumped a helping the white stuff from the tarp to the edge of the infield grass early this morning – and the outfield warning track had standing water. But the Brewers got off easy compared to the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks. They share a training facility at Salt River Fields in Arizona – and their complex had a mix of hail and snow this morning. Folks in nearby Tucson were also hit with a couple inches of unexpected snow yesterday – and that delayed the first round of the World Golf Championships’-Accenture Match Play event. Steve Stricker of Madison is playing in that. But back to baseball, as the Brewers are getting ready for their annual inter-squad game tomorrow. It was not known yet whether Ryan Braun will play – but all other healthy Brewers will compete against each other. The game is normally played the day before Milwaukee’s first exhibition, which is set for Saturday against the Oakland A’s.

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The NFL Scouting Combine is underway in Indianapolis. And while draft candidates show off their speed-and-strength, free agent veterans are having their representatives unofficially sound out GM’s of other teams to gauge the potential market. Packers’ receiver Greg Jennings is in that latter group. He turned down a preliminary offer last year to seek more money. And now that his old contract is up, Jennings will officially check out other teams once the free agent signing period begins next month. But Peter King of Sports Illustrated says Jennings might not find what he’s looking for out there, because of flat salary caps and a large group of free agent receiver candidates. And there’s at least some speculation about whether Jennings will have to swallow his pride, and return to the Packers for less money that he had hoped. The same thing happened to Packers’ receiver James Jones two years ago, when there was a shorter signing period right after the NFL owners’ lockout ended. Jones tested the waters before signing a three-year deal with Green Bay – and in 2012, his potential finally blossomed when he caught a career-high 64 passes. Jones led the NFL with 14 touchdowns – and another big season like that could guarantee him huge money when his latest deal runs out a year from now. Jones could be the Pack’s Number-One receiver this fall, depending on what happens to Jennings.

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The Green Bay Packers appear to have a smaller but more diverse shopping list, as they check out the draft hopefuls at the NFL Scouting Combine. Over 300 top college prospects are showing off their physical and mental skills at the combine, which started yesterday and runs through next Tuesday in Indianapolis. Last year, Packers’ general manager Ted Thompson used his first six draft picks to shore up a defense that gave up the most yards in the NFL in 2011. This year, the Packers proved to have a less powerful but still effective offense – an improved defense which had trouble stopping the quarterback option in the playoffs – and struggles by kicker Mason Crosby. The Packers rely very little on free agency and more on the Draft to bring in new talent – and NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock says teams like Green Bay will be happy to see bigger depth in this year’s draft class. The Packers’ depth on the offensive line was tested in 2012 – and that’s sure to be an area of focus. But in reality, the Packers could improve all of their offensive spots in the draft – even at quarterback, where Graham Harrell had ups-and-downs backing up Aaron Rodgers. Also, don’t be surprised to see the Packers go after a kicker to at least compete with Crosby at training camp.

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The Northern Athletics Conference women’s basketball tournament resumes tonight with the semi-finals. Top-seeded Wisconsin Lutheran will host No. 4 Benedictine. And No. 2 Concordia-Mequon will be at home against third-seeded Maranatha Baptist. All four teams defeated lower seeds to win their opening round games last weekend. Tonight’s winners will advance to the league title game on Saturday, with an NCAA Division III tournament berth at stake.

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The Milwaukee Admirals are about to play four straight American Hockey League road games, starting tonight in Cleveland against the Lake Erie Monsters. The Admirals have won four-of-their-last-five, and they’re tied with Rockford for third place in the Midwest Division with 52 points. Lake Erie is fourth in the North Division with 56, and a record of 24-20-2-6. The Monsters have lost eight straight games, and four of those were shootouts. Lake Erie has started a rookie goaltender in every game this season – including Calvin Pickard, brother of ex-Admiral Chet Pickard. Milwaukee comes in with a mark of 23-20-3-3.

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University of Wisconsin men’s soccer player David Caban is trying to help Puerto Rico qualify for the Under-20 World Cup. Caban, a sophomore mid-fielder, started in his team’s qualifying tournament opener against Jamaica this week. He played over half the contest, which ended with his team losing 4-1. Puerto Rico was scheduled to face Panama today in their final game in the group-stage. Caban’s trying to help his team make the Under-20 World Cup for the first time.

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A junior at Muskego High School is a finalist for the Gatorade National Boys’ Soccer Player-of-the-Year. Andrija Novakovich was named this week as the state boys’ player of the year. The junior forward had 41 goals and 13 assists this past season, as he led Muskego to a sectional final. Novakovich has a three-point-eight-five grade point average, and has served as a tutor for elementary students and a volunteer at a food pantry. The Gatorade award recognizes accomplishments both on-and-off the soccer field.

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The UW-Milwaukee women’s basketball team will try to win its second straight tonight, when it takes on Valparaiso in northwest Indiana. The Panthers are 2-8 in the Horizon League and 6-16 overall, after a one-point home victory over Cleveland State last Saturday. Janna Swopshire made the game-winning shot with four-point-nine seconds left. Tonight, UWM will face a Valparaiso team that’s 4-6 in the conference and 9-and-14 overall. Valpo is coming off a two-game split last weekend, with a 10-point loss to Loyola and a 26-point rout of Illinois-Chicago. Tabitha Gerardot is the only Crusader in double figures, averaging close to 15 points a game. She also leads the team in rebounds with almost nine per outing. Also tonight, the UW-Parkside women-and-men are at home near Kenosha, taking on Saint Joseph’s.

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Two of the nation’s Top-10 Division-Three college basketball teams will make their debuts tonight in the WIAC men’s tournament. Ninth-ranked UW-Whitewater and No. 10 Stevens Point both received first-round byes, while four other teams squared off on Tuesday night. Stevens Point, which has the top-seed in the league tournament, hosts No. 5 Platteville this evening. Whitewater, the No. 2 seed, entertains third-seeded Stout. Platteville pulled off a mild upset on Tuesday, knocking off fourth-seeded La Crosse by two points. Stout advanced with a 14-point win over Superior. Tonight’s winners will play for the league title on Saturday.

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The University of Wisconsin men’s tennis team is 6-1 on the young season, after beating in-state rival Marquette 4-3 in Madison at the Nielsen Tennis Center. Alexander Kostanov won the deciding match for the Badgers, with a three-set victory over Cameron Tehrani of the Golden Eagles. That made it 4-1 Wisconsin, and the Golden Eagles came back to take the final two points of the day. Marquette fell to 5-3 overall. Meanwhile, the Badger women ended 12 victories over the Golden Eagles when they lost 4-3. It came down to the final singles’ match of the night, when Marquette’s Ana Pimienta scored a three-set win over Lauren Chypyha. Marquette improved to 9-3, while the Badgers fell to 1-6.

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It’s Day-Two of the Big Ten women’s swimming-and-diving championships in Minneapolis. The Badgers started the day in sixth place after two events. The 200-yard medley relay team became the first Badgers to qualify for the NCAA meet. Ruby Martin, Anna Meinholz, Rebecka Palm, and Ivy Martin finished with a national qualifying time of 1:37.98. Wisconsin had 54 points after the opening night of the league meet, 20 behind Indiana and Minnesota which were tied for first.

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