The Rookie of the Year Award will be given to Tyreke Evans of the Sacramento Kings later this week.

But Scott Skiles believes his rookie point guard Brandon Jennings should have won the award. However, Skiles was more than understanding on why the voters chose Evans.

"Those [Jennings, Evans, Stephen Curry] were the three guys that stood out," Skiles said prior to Game 5 against the Hawks. "Each person that votes has their own criteria.  All I can say is, I find it hard to believe there's any rookie that has been more valuable to their team than Brandon has been."

"But how can you argue with what Tyreke did or what Curry did," he said.  "Those guys had great years as well."

"We're obviously partial to Brandon," Skiles continued.  "Our belief that it's something he should have won.  The problem is if you say that too much then it seems like the guy that did win isn't good enough and I certainly don't want to say that."

Evans averaged 20.1 PPG, while grabbing over five rebounds and dishing out five assists per contest.

Jennings averaged 15.5 PPG and 4.0 APG, but was the only one of three players to lead his team to the playoffs.  Jennings also started in all of Milwaukee's 82 games.

Brandon Jennings thinks the Hawks went into Game 3 on Saturday expecting to blow out the Bucks.

Instead, Milwaukee thumped Atlanta 107-89 at the Bradley Center to avoid falling into an 0-3 hole heading into Game 4 on Monday.

"I felt like they were a little bit cocky," the rookie point guard said Sunday.

"They came in like, 'OK, it's Milwaukee, we're up 2-0.' I mean, that's just how I felt. I felt like they thought they were just going to come in and just blow us out. I think with the crowd, and the way we came out, it just changed everything."

Hawks guard Jamal Crawford admitted that they underestimated how fueled the Bucks would be by their home crowd.

Milwaukee took a 36-19 lead in the first quarter.

"Yeah ? not THAT hot," Crawford said. "That's tough to prepare for. You know they're going to come out and play their best game. Their backs were against the wall. They lose that game, they're down 3-0."

Milwaukee Bucks general manager John Hammond has been named the recipient of the 2009-10 NBA Executive of the Year award, the NBA announced Saturday.

Milwaukee totaled 46 wins in 2009-10, a 12-game improvement from last season, and earned the franchise's first playoff berth since 2005-06.

Hammond's decision to select Brandon Jennings with the 10th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft paid immediate dividends, as the guard earned a starting spot in training camp and went on to average 15.5 points during his rookie campaign.

Hammond received 12 of a possible 30 votes from a panel of his fellow team executives throughout the NBA.

Oklahoma City's Sam Presti finished second with nine votes and Cleveland's Danny Ferry finished third with two votes. Charlotte's Rod Higgins, Dallas' Mark Cuban, Memphis' Chris Wallace, New Orleans' Jeff Bower, Portland's Kevin Pritchard, Sacramento's Geoff Petrie and Utah's Kevin O'Connor each received one vote.

Jerry Stackhouse will seriously consider re-signing with the Bucks this summer.

Stackhouse joined Milwaukee at midseason and he's grateful that the team took a chance on him.

"I'm enjoying myself in Milwaukee, I really am," Stackhouse said Friday.

"I've been on a lot of different teams, obviously, and I've been with a lot of different personalities. But you've got a group of guys here that come to work.

"I can see where we could add some pieces this summer and get Bogues (Andrew Bogut) back healthy. It could be an exciting place to play. So I wouldn't be surprised if you see Jerry Stackhouse back here next year."

Hawks forward Josh Smith is taking a page out of Joakim Noah's book, knocking one of the NBA's host cities.

Smith took a jab at Milwaukee, saying "everybody knows there's nothing to do" in the city that will host Atlanta in Games 3 and 4 of the playoffs.

Smith made his comments Thursday when asked what he would do in Milwaukee this weekend.

He says he's never really done anything in Milwaukee and will "just be happy to find a restaurant."

When jokingly asked if he'd ever take a vacation there, Smith replied, "Would you go? Everybody knows there ain't nothing to do in Milwaukee."

Michael Redd won't be in Milwaukee for the playoffs, general manager John Hammond said.

Redd is rehabbing in his home in Columbus, Ohio.

His absence is symbolic and possibly foretelling, according to Michael Hunt.

Even if he successfully rehabs from a second major knee surgery at age 31, it's possible he could continue to stay away by mutual unspoken consent until the Bucks try to unload what might become a desirable salary slot at the next trading deadline in February.

The Bucks are already negotiating an extension for John Salmons and it is unlikely that Redd would be able to win his job back.

The Hawks built a 17-point lead in the first quarter and held on 102-92 to beat the Bucks in Game 1 of their first-round series.

Brandon Jennings scored 34 points for the Bucks, the fourth highest scoring total for a rookie in his playoff debut.

Joe Johnson led the Hawks with 22 points and seven rebounds and Josh Smith added 12 points and 10 assists.

Atlanta shot 53.9% from the field and went 6-for-11 from three-point land.

Milwaukee had a 12-point edge in the second half as they crawled back into the game.

Bucks center Andrew Bogut doesn't blame Suns star Amare Stoudemire for what turned out to be a series of season-ending injuries.

Bogut suffered several injuries to his right arm on April 3 against Phoenix.

He fractured his right index finger and suffered broken bones on both sides of his right wrist while trying to protect himself as he fell to the floor after dunking the basketball.

"He (Stoudemire) didn't push me or anything, but he had a hand on my back," Bogut said. "He definitely didn't do it intentionally, but at that speed and that trajectory, it takes a feather. I'm not blaming him by all means.

"In that position when you're so vulnerable, all you need is a feather. I tried to hang on (the rim) and for some reason I couldn't. I probably would have been better off doing a flip. As I was coming down, I was just wondering what I was going to do, how bad it was going to be.

"I was worried about my back more than anything. Obviously, if I didn't put my arm out, theorists say I would have probably broke my back. That's a pretty high percentage theory that if I landed straight on my tailbone, I could have even broken my neck with the whiplash. But it's not a career-ending injury by any means, which it might have been if I hadn't had my hand out there."

The Bucks defeated the Bulls 79-74 on Tuesday night to lock up a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

It's Milwaukee first trip to the postseason in four years. They are currently tied with Miami for the fifth seed.

"We got that out of the way. We're in there. It feels good to clinch a spot," John Salmons said. "We didn't score a lot of points tonight, but we got the job done."

The win came in Milwaukee's first game since losing Andrew Bogut to several injuries over the weekend.

Milwaukee Bucks General Manager John Hammond announced today that center Andrew Bogut (7-0, 260) had successful surgery this afternoon on his right hand to repair damage incurred on his fall in the second quarter of Saturday night?s game against Phoenix.  The surgery was performed at the Orthopaedic Hospital of Wisconsin by Dr. Michael Gordon and Dr. Curt Crimmins.  Bogut is expected to need up to six weeks to fully recover from surgery before he can fully engage in rehab.

Bogut, 25, has appeared in 69 games for the Bucks this season and averaged career-highs in points (15.9) and blocks (2.5) while also recording 10.2 rebounds and shooting 52.0 percent from the field. He is second in the league in blocks, 10th in rebounding, 17th in field goal percentage and his 37 double-doubles rank eighth in the NBA and are one shy of his career-best set in 2007-08. Bogut?s 175 blocks on the season are the sixth-most single season total in franchise history and the most since Alton Lister had 177 in 1982-83.