Five Tiny Tidbits On: The Milwaukee Bucks

It's hard to believe, but the NBA season is just around the corner. Let us celebrate with five tiny tidbits on each team. Today we continue with the Central Division, so do us a favor and send us your tips at [email protected].

• 1. Ute? What's a Ute? The University of Utah became the first school to have athletes drafted No. 1 overall in both the NBA and the NFL in the same year, when Andrew Bogut and Alex Smith were both taken in 2005. Bogut is the son of Croatian immigrants to Australia.

• 2. 2001, A Ruben Patterson Odyssey. Ruben Patterson must register himself as a sex offender in the state where he lives after pleading guilty in 2001 to attempted rape of his child's nanny in Bellevue, Wash. Also in 2001, Patterson was convicted of misdemeanor assault for attacking a man who scratched his car outside a Cleveland night club. Patterson was arrested in 2002 for felony domestic abuse charges on his wife. His wife dropped the charges, and they later divorced.

• 3. No Makeup Date Scheduled. South Korea native Ha Seung-Jin's older sister, Ha Eun-Joo, who is 6-foot-8, is also a professional basketball player. She signed with the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks in February 2006 and was later waived for failing to arrive in LA due to a conflicting contract with Chanson Cosmetics of the Japanese league.

• 4. The Buck Stops Here. In a name the team contest in 1968, R.D. Trebilcox of Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin, was one of 45 persons who suggested the name "Bucks." His reasoning: "Bucks are spirited, good jumpers, fast and agile." Mr. Trebilcox won a new car for his efforts in picking the name. — (Thanks to Bucks fan Sam McClone).

• 5. Deliverance. As soon as he signed his first NBA contract, Michael Redd, a devout Christian, bought his father a church. The church, in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, is named the Philadelphia Deliverance Church of Christ.

Tomorrow: The San Antonio Spurs.