Thoughts From Press Row At the Bradley Center.

I made my first trip to the Bradley Center of the season for the Bucks-Pacers game tonight. I used to cover/work at a lot more Bucks games but with Packers and Badgers already on my plate, I've handed off the Bucks to our younger reporters. So this year, Andrew Grebe represents our station at the games. Tonight, though with Fondy's own Travis Diener coming to town with the Pacers I decided to dust myself off and get down to a game. Here are some quick hit thoughts on the night.

1. Travis got his first start of the season tonight and played 40 minutes. He had 15 points, 9 assists and just one turnover, which came late. He was just 4 of 12 from the floor and 2 of 7 from beyond the arc. Diener's shot will come around as he gets more minutes. One thing that I notice about the Pacers is that their offense flows a lot better when Diener is running the show. It's just more fluid.

2. Fondy was well represented tonight at the Bradley Center. The Fond du Lac Children's Choral did a great job singing the National Anthem before the game and many fans made the trip down to see Diener play. Travis said he had to find 60 tickets for the game for family and friends. There were many more people that came down on their own.

3. The NBA is really three different seasons. NBA basketball before the All-Star Break is pretty boring quite frankly. Once you get past the All-Star Break and teams start jockeying for playoff position the intensity picks up and then once you get into the playoffs, you see it go up another level. That's when I can stomach full games. Before the post-season it seems like a lot of players coast. The same goes for the fans. The atmosphere is pretty stale in half full arenas. Once the post season starts the BC can get rocking.

4. It was 80's Night at the Bradley Center tonight. The dude who founded Survivor was the half-time show. That's all I'll say on that.

5. I really forgot how good the food is at the Bradley Center. One of the perks of being in the media is that you get a pre-game meal. The Bradley Center is known to have the best food in pro sports. Tonight it was Lasagna. Top Notch!

6. I think Yi has hit the rookie wall. He looked a bit sluggish and a step slow in the 12 minutes he played. Remember he really doesn't have an offseason because he plays with the Chinese National Team during the summer.

That's all I have from tonight....Off to bed and a quick turn-around to get up at 4am for the Breakfast Club on Friday morning on KFIZ!