Bucks find House

Bucks find House
Veteran guard started season with Bobcats

St. Francis - Once the Milwaukee Bucks received the roster exemption they were
seeking, it didn't take general manager Larry Harris long to act.

Bucks GM Larry Harris obtained 6-foot-1 guard Eddie House on Friday.

Saddled with an overflowing injured list and a struggling team that has won two
of its last nine games, Harris moved Friday to obtain 6-foot-1 guard Eddie
House.

The former Arizona State standout, now in his fifth National Basketball
Association season, was released by the Charlotte Bobcats on Dec. 4.

House will fill the Bucks' extra roster spot granted by the NBA, which ruled
Thursday that Milwaukee could keep four players on its injured list rather than
the normal league maximum of three. Harris said he expected House to sign a
contract and be in uniform for the Bucks' home game tonight against the
Philadelphia 76ers.

"Eddie is a scoring threat," Harris said. "He has proven in the NBA in
his four years that he has the ability to come in and get tremendously hot.

"We think Eddie is a guy who has proven he can come off the bench; he has
done that in both Miami and Charlotte."

House averaged 11.1 points and shot 41% from three-point range in 13 games with
the expansion Bobcats, including five starts. But he was deemed expendable as
Charlotte worked out a trade two days later with the Los Angeles Lakers to
acquire guard Kareem Rush.

"He can make shots, I know that much," Bucks coach Terry Porter said of the
26-year-old House, a native of Berkeley, Calif. "That gives us another
offensive weapon. At times we've really struggled with our spacing and guys
making shots. It gives us a chance to put another shooter on the floor."

The Bucks shot just 38.8% from the field and scored only 77 points in their
latest loss, against the Bulls in Chicago on Thursday night. With forward Keith
Van Horn still sidelined with ankle tendinitis and guard Erick Strickland
(knee) the latest to go on the injured list, the scoring burden is piling up on
starting small forward Desmond Mason and starting shooting guard Michael Redd.

Mason played 38 minutes, and Redd and power forward Joe Smith each played 40
minutes against the Bulls. Mason and Redd combined for 37 of the Bucks' 77
points.

"The problem right now is some guys are clocking a lot of minutes," Porter
said, "and it's early in the season. We don't want to wear those guys
out. Sometimes that happens, but it's not in our best interests to have those
guys play 40 minutes night in and night out."

Harris said he believes House and recently signed veteran Kendall Gill can
provide depth at the small forward and second guard spots. In six games with
the Bucks, the 36-year-old Gill is averaging 6.2 points and 21.2 minutes per
game.

House was the 37th overall pick in the 2000 NBA draft, taken by the Miami Heat.
He played three years in Miami before being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers,
where he played in 60 games (10 starts) last season and averaged 6.8 points and
2.5 assists.

In the Bucks' 102-100 victory over Charlotte on Nov. 10 at the Bradley
Center, House was in the Bobcats' starting lineup. He scored 15 points in 28
minutes, hitting 6 of 16 shots from the field, including 3 of 6 from
three-point range. He also contributed three rebounds, three assists and one
steal.

"He played very well against us," Harris said. "Hopefully he will be able
to come in here and provide an offensive spark."

Harris said he had no update on the condition of Van Horn, who injured his
right ankle late in a practice session on Dec. 3 and has missed seven games.
Van Horn is not on the injured list, which now has four players occupying it:
Toni Kukoc (hip injury), Daniel Santiago (corneal abrasion), T.J. Ford (neck
and off-season spinal surgery), and Strickland.

"It's very hard to judge your team, when you consistently don't have your
starting five and what would be your backups, to be there every night,"
Harris said.

It's uncertain whether the Bucks will have starting point guard Mo Williams
tonight, after he suffered a back contusion in a hard fall in the second half
against the Bulls. Williams did not practice on Friday.

"He's probably going to play, but I can't say that for sure," Porter
said. "He's got to see how he feels tomorrow in shootaround."

Porter admitted he cringed when he saw Williams crumple to the floor after
colliding with Bulls center Eddy Curry.

"I'm thinking, 'Not another one,'" Porter said. "We just can't
afford any more hits like this."

Porter is looking forward to next week, when the Bucks will play just once, at
home against Portland on Wednesday night.

"Hopefully we can get our guys healthy, and we can get some reps (in
practice)," Porter said. "We want to get the new guys comfortable with what
our schemes are and playing with each other."