MILWAUKEE -- If there is one prevailing reason for the Milwaukee Bucks' struggles against quality, playoff-bound teams in recent months, Mike Dunleavy believes he knows what it is.
"Without Bogues (Andrew Bogut), when we play teams with size, we struggle," Dunleavy said after the Bucks' home loss Saturday to the Indiana Pacers. "We do not have a true center. In this league, when you play teams like the Grizzlies, Thunder and Pacers with two big guys inside, it's tough. You're going to have to overcome a major deficiency. That's really been the issue, especially with a lot of our home losses."
Since Bogut was traded to Golden State on March 14 for Monta Ellis and Ekpe Udoh, the Bucks are 1-7 in games against winning teams. As Dunleavy mentioned, those losses include the Pacers (with 7-foot-2 Roy Hibbert), the Thunder (with two big, long starters in Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka), the Grizzlies (with 7-1 Marc Gasol) and twice to the New York Knicks (with 7-1 Tyson Chandler).
"You win in this league with size, no doubt about it," Dunleavy said. "Protecting and controlling the paint. We do a great job on a lot of nights beating teams from the perimeter, but to win close games and win against playoff-caliber opponents, most times you need to be able to battle in the paint. You're off to a tough start when you start off with such a size disadvantage."
At 7-feet, 260 pounds, Bogut was that true center that gave Milwaukee size down low. However, Bogut's injury history prevented him from staying on the floor with enough frequency. As the team's patience waned following Bogut's fractured ankle in late January that has limited him to 12 games this season, the Bucks decided to part ways with their former No. 1 overall pick.
Bogut's absence -- first due to injury and now the trade -- has forced coach Scott Skiles to use Drew Gooden as the starting center throughout most of this season. Gooden's 6-10, 250-pound frame has made him a power forward during most of his nine-year NBA career.
"Drew plays out of position every single night," Skiles said. "(But) he's done a nice job for us. But Hibbert's a different kind of guy. (Hibbert) is a legitimate center."
Those concluding words could have been subbed in following many of Milwaukee's recent losses to teams that are bigger inside. Chandler is a legitimate center, as is Gasol.
Other than Gooden, Skiles has been using Udoh and second-year big man Larry Sanders in the center spot. While Udoh has been very good defensively no matter where he plays, and Sanders has been blocking a lot of shots, they're still not true centers.
"Larry has size, but he's light," Dunleavy said of his teammate. "Ekpe, compared to those guys, he's undersized. It's a challenge. It makes a tough."
Hibbert's 23 points against the Bucks on Saturday was his highest total in nearly a month. Plus, the seven offensive rebounds from Hibbert tied a season-high.
Brandon Jennings ended up with a season-high eight rebounds against Indiana as he tried to offset the Pacers' size advantage inside, but that wasn't enough.
"I knew we were undersized," Jennings said. "We've been dealing with teams bigger than us all year. But down the stretch, the last 3-5 minutes, that's when their bigs really show up. (Many teams are) just bigger than us."
With six games remaining on Milwaukee's regular-season schedule, the Bucks are currently two games behind the Knicks for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. However, because New York owns the next set of tiebreakers following a 2-2 season series against Milwaukee, the Knicks' lead is actually three games. The Bucks are 2.5 games behind the Philadelphia 76ers, who currently own the seventh seed.
In its final six games, Milwaukee will face three winning teams (Indiana, Boston, Philadelphia) and three teams with records below .500 (Washington, New Jersey, Toronto).
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