Everything Round 3: Raps vs Bucks

[planetmars]

Going to be a different type of series.. Bucks had the #1 defense in the league in the regular season, and will most likely have the regular season MVP. They have some size but not like Philly. Everybody (except for their MVP) can shoot though.. and they are going to shoot a lot.

Raptors need to win one early on the road to take back HCA.

So how do we match up with the Bucks? Do we have Siakam guarding Giannis like in the regular season? Start big with Serge/Gasol? Use more small ball and hope Fred has a better showing? Can Norm shut down Middleton again?

Going from one tough series to another. Can't get complacent.

[golden]

Going to be a different type of series.. Bucks had the #1 defense in the league in the regular season, and will most likely have the regular season MVP. They have some size but not like Philly. Everybody (except for their MVP) can shoot though.. and they are going to shoot a lot.

Raptors need to win one early on the road to take back HCA.

So how do we match up with the Bucks? Do we have Siakam guarding Giannis like in the regular season? Start big with Serge/Gasol? Use more small ball and hope Fred has a better showing? Can Norm shut down Middleton again?

Going from one tough series to another. Can't get complacent.

Raps have the #1 post-season defense, and have shown that we can win without actually having a functioning offense. Heck, even Kawhi can be hugely inefficient and we can still grind out a W. Bucks haven't faced that kind of defense yet, so it will be interesting to see if their "other guys" can handle the pressure.

[DanH]

The Bucks also allow a lot of open threes as part of their scheme, and don't have the ridiculous up-and-down-the-roster length that Philly did to bother our shooters. Throw in some regression on the open shots and the Raptors offence might get humming again.

Also nice to have a bunch of options to throw at Giannis without worrying too much (Siakam and Kawhi, spot Serge minutes, OG if he gets healthy in this round for spot minutes as well, can even try Gasol on him for spurts and dare him to shoot). Play him one on one a lot. It's not quite as big a defensive advantage as the Raps have had in Gasol checking the best player the last two rounds, but it's not nothing either.

[Jclaw]

wow....every other day for the whole series. Feel bad for the "just off a 7 games series" Raps but that's unbelievable for the fans. Is there any metric that tracks Toronto employee productivity over the next 2 weeks?

[Rudy Bargnani]

Will be key for Gasol to shoot when open from the top of the key.

I think I like siakam on giannis and hope kawhi takes Middleton out of the game.

[KeonClark]

I guess that original sked that was leaked by blake murphy or someone was fake news...no 3 day breaks!

[Apollo]

The Bucks are hot but I think the Raptors stack up a little better against them than against the 76ers. If they can find a way to steal one in Milwaukee who knows how this goes.

The officiating is my main concern. Even Kawhi getting slapped around is a no call. Come on NBA, you're fooling no one.

[BrydenB]

I actually like how the Raptors match up with the Bucks better than they did against Philly. Should be able to use our smaller guards a bit more again. I say play Giannis one on one, let him try to score 60 to win. Stick close on the shooters. Raps in 5.

[Just Is]

The Bucks are hot but I think the Raptors stack up a little better against them than against the 76ers. If they can find a way to steal one in Milwaukee who knows how this goes.

The officiating is my main concern. Even Kawhi getting slapped around is a no call. Come on NBA, you're fooling no one.

If we weren't getting calls against the freaking Magic, then we are not getting calls against the Bucks.

[slaw]

The Bucks are hot but I think the Raptors stack up a little better against them than against the 76ers. If they can find a way to steal one in Milwaukee who knows how this goes.

The officiating is my main concern. Even Kawhi getting slapped around is a no call. Come on NBA, you're fooling no one.

Outside of that one Magic game (Game 3?) I haven't had an issue with the officiating. I thought the Raps got a fair whistle against the Sixers and you could argue they got a more favorable whistle in Game 7, when it counted, despite having Foster and Brothers out there. Lowry in particular got some pretty iffy calls in that series go his way.

I'm more worried about the shooting slump Raps are in right now. Hopefully, the increased pace and more open style the Bucks play will help Raps get in rhythm. But as I said before the playoffs started, Gasol, at some point, needs to be a scorer or at least a threat. Sixers weren't even guarding him in the first half, then he makes a couple shots and Leonard gets a key and-one late cause Harris wouldn't leave Gasol in the corner. He can't just be a passer and defender.

[Shredder]

I guess that original sked that was leaked by blake murphy or someone was fake news...no 3 day breaks!

That was if we won game 6

[bertarapsfan]

One thing to keep in mind. Toronto had tougher opponets in both the first 2 round then Milwaukee.. If Bucks start to face some adversity some time in the series its something they havent had to face except when dropping game 1 vs boston. Also a 1 week lay off. I think we have a legitimate chance to steal game 1.

[Apollo]

Slaw, the 76ers got bailed out a couple times in the last couple minutes of the game. The 76ers had 11 more FT attempt and there were multiple times where Kawhi got grabbed or hit and there was a no call, only for it to go the other way down the court and the Raptors get called on something not even remotely as bad. Some of this stuff is subjective I guess, because I viewed that game differently than you. I was left scratching my head multiple times.

[Apollo]

One thing to keep in mind. Toronto had tougher opponets in both the first 2 round then Milwaukee.. If Bucks start to face some adversity some time in the series its something they havent had to face except when dropping game 1 vs boston. Also a 1 week lay off. I think we have a legitimate chance to steal game 1.

Agreed. Boston was nice on paper but Kyrie and the coaching choices killed the team. They looked far more dangerous last year without Irving or Hayward.

[bertarapsfan]