Everything Round 3: Raps vs Bucks

[golden]

yeah people forget that "our deep bench" has been choking for years now to the point where we started to think it's about being top heavy and bench matters less in playoffs. And now it's complete 180

Not exactly true. Even when we got steamrolled by the Cavs last year, our bench was scoring: 35, 42, 32 & 48 points in each game. We'd be planning the parade route right now if we were getting that kind of output this year. Now, we're getting used to single scoring from our entire bench. The bench has completely cratered to the point that it's undoing top heavy talent and elite defense. There's a fundamental problem there that goes beyond just depth of talent. It was a problem all season long against shitty teams, even before JV-CJ-Delon got shipped out. The only consistent bench guy was JV, who is basically his own self-contained offensive system.

Bench doesn't matter if you have an average bench.... but ours is horrific.

[MixxAOR]

Casey played bench against Cavs starters (who were shit defensively) and still benches plus-minus was mediocre. Yeah all we needed from bench was average and they can't even provide that. Powell, FVV, Ibaka = trash. And they showed that whole season.

[Scraptor]

We tried the deep bench for years remember? And we relied on demar, kyle and jv at the top. Masai condensed it, cause he wanted marc gasol. Then OG went down. Now we're paper thin, and getting no offense from the 3 for 1 trade, marc gasol.

bottom line is this: bucks have 8 guys that can easily score double digits. And so should we. The fact fred and norm and Danny and marc and Serge and kyle and on and on have all shot extremely inconsistent is the biggest reason we lost 3 vs phiilly and 1 vs bucks

While true, the Bucks were able to supplement their bench because they pay Giannis, Middleton, and Bledsoe a combined $52 million. We pay that same amount just to Kyle and Serge.

Shortening those two deals gave us an earlier window to rebuild but didn't give us much room to maneuver on the margin.

It's a shame we couldn't get the buyout market to work for us this year of all years. Real vet talent has been signed by contenders in years past.

[GOLDBLUM]

Hes partially right. Put the fuckin ball in the basket. Open looks are there. I feel like buffalo bill. IT PUTS THE BALL IN THE BASKET

[Apollo]

They're not going to get out of the hole using that kind of attitude.

[SamMitchells]

Well, I'm sure a Bucks vs Warriors finals would be far more entertaining than a Raptors vs Warriors, right?

[sanyo]

Just fucking shoot... last night we still had guy hesitate to shoot and they dribble way too much and allows MIL to set up their D.

Raps are not being innovative with their offence...its the same dribble, dribble, dribble... your not seeing MIL doing that.

Also transition ball -- we need to emphasis it more... I know our guys are a little older but we need to run the ball more so MIL cant set up the D... we are playing far too much slow ball and MIL is an elite D, we cant play that way. So if you need guys like Powell on the floor to do this, then do it.

Gasol and Green can come off the bench, run with Ibaka and Powell. Siakam should be running a lot more.

Simple things that can get us back into it.. but if we play slow ball, dribble ball, no we stand no chance and will lose.

[golden]

Just fucking shoot... last night we still had guy hesitate to shoot and they dribble way too much and allows MIL to set up their D.

Raps are not being innovative with their offence...its the same dribble, dribble, dribble... your not seeing MIL doing that.

Also transition ball -- we need to emphasis it more... I know our guys are a little older but we need to run the ball more so MIL cant set up the D... we are playing far too much slow ball and MIL is an elite D, we cant play that way. So if you need guys like Powell on the floor to do this, then do it.

Gasol and Green can come off the bench, run with Ibaka and Powell. Siakam should be running a lot more.

Simple things that can get us back into it.. but if we play slow ball, dribble ball, no we stand no chance and will lose.

Our offense is designed to have guys "think" about what the next play should be: dribble, pass or shoot. The idea was to make everybody capable of reading and reacting to defenses which would make us less predictable and harder to defend in the playoffs. Problem is that you have less time to "think" in the playoffs and guys are panicking. Sounds good in theory, but seems like it doesn't actually work in real games.

Bucks style is to get to your spots and let it fly. No hesitation whatsoever. They've been practising their system hard all year and are just executing ruthlessly out of muscle memory. You know what's coming, but they execute with discipline and so quickly and precise that it's hard to stop.

[Zak24gege]

Our offence was fine for 1Q game 1 when we put up 34 points. We shot the lights out and Milwaukee was missing everything. Then what happened? Our offence slowed down. Gasol, Ibaka, Siakam could not make a shot, Green would not take a shot. Kawhi and then finally Kyle were the only ones finishing. Brook Lopez had a career game and the Bucks defence stiffened and by the 4Q we wilted. Game 2 Raptors were all cold except Kawhi and it was the Bucks shooting the lights out.

This Bucks team can score the ball and have more of the role guys contributing. We cannot win scoring only 100 points. Some say, yeah look our defence held Orlando, Philly to less than 100 points. Well the Bucks ain't Orlando or Sixers. They are way better. To win we need to score at least 115 to 120 points. On a poor shooting night they put up 108 points. This unfortunately means guys like Gasol and Green have to contribute. Lowry can't go 2 - 9 on 3's. Same with Kawhi and Siakam. The bench players also need to hold there own. Norm, Ibaka and FVV need to have a positive impact at both ends of the court. Can this Raptors team do this? Sure we can. Can we do this 4x over 6 games against this Bucks team? Unfortunately not too likely. Historically, some great teams have come back from 0 - 2 series deficits. Is this one of those great teams...Nope. - IMO.

[G__Deane]

Well, I'm sure a Bucks vs Warriors finals would be far more entertaining than a Raptors vs Warriors, right?

Shut the hell up Sam Mitchell lol
You can't even get a job as one of the 11 assistants on an NBA team

"Samuel Mitchell is a former professional basketball player who is currently an assistant coach for the Memphis Tigers of the American Athletic Conference." whereever the hell that is

[Scraptor]

Our offence was fine for 1Q game 1 when we put up 34 points. We shot the lights out and Milwaukee was missing everything. Then what happened? Our offence slowed down. Gasol, Ibaka, Siakam could not make a shot, Green would not take a shot. Kawhi and then finally Kyle were the only ones finishing. Brook Lopez had a career game and the Bucks defence stiffened and by the 4Q we wilted. Game 2 Raptors were all cold except Kawhi and it was the Bucks shooting the lights out.

This Bucks team can score the ball and have more of the role guys contributing. We cannot win scoring only 100 points. Some say, yeah look our defence held Orlando, Philly to less than 100 points. Well the Bucks ain't Orlando or Sixers. They are way better. To win we need to score at least 115 to 120 points. On a poor shooting night they put up 108 points. This unfortunately means guys like Gasol and Green have to contribute. Lowry can't go 2 - 9 on 3's. Same with Kawhi and Siakam. The bench players also need to hold there own. Norm, Ibaka and FVV need to have a positive impact at both ends of the court. Can this Raptors team do this? Sure we can. Can we do this 4x over 6 games against this Bucks team? Unfortunately not too likely. Historically, some great teams have come back from 0 - 2 series deficits. Is this one of those great teams...Nope. - IMO.

I don't grant the premise that we need to score 115-120 points to win. We just need to lock in on defense and hold the other team under 100.

We don't have enough shooting to trade buckets with Milwaukee or Golden State. But we have one 2x DPOY in Kawhi, a former all-defense player in Green, a borderline all-defense guy in Kyle, a fantastic switchable defender in Pascal, and older versions of 3x all-defense Ibaka and DPOY Gasol.

That's why we have to embrace defense as our identity and make Milwaukee grind for buckets. Limit their fast break opportunities. Slow the game down.

It's also why I don't understand why Fred is out there next to Kyle. He is a huge defensive
liability as a second guard because of his size. Yes we lack shooting but it doesn't matter if you give up twice as much on defense.

[Kagemusha]

Hmm, trouble in paradise.
Going into this round, I remember almost every analyst taking the Bucks coz they simply are THE better team.
Why can't we kids just accept that fact and enjoy whatever comes out of this series.
You think your whines and rants here affect the team, other than your pathetic egos without every non Raptors fan who might accidentally read all your BS simply chuckle and validate whatever they think of you in the first place?
just sayin,... chill people,.

[golden]

Hmm, trouble in paradise.
Going into this round, I remember almost every analyst taking the Bucks coz they simply are THE better team.
Why can't we kids just accept that fact and enjoy whatever comes out of this series.
You think your whines and rants here affect the team, other than your pathetic egos without every non Raptors fan who might accidentally read all your BS simply chuckle and validate whatever they think of you in the first place?
just sayin,... chill people,.

That was a solid rant and whine.

[Puffer]

Hmm, trouble in paradise.
Going into this round, I remember almost every analyst taking the Bucks coz they simply are THE better team.
Why can't we kids just accept that fact and enjoy whatever comes out of this series.
You think your whines and rants here affect the team, other than your pathetic egos without every non Raptors fan who might accidentally read all your BS simply chuckle and validate whatever they think of you in the first place?
just sayin,... chill people,.

Joined July 18th. 14 posts a month. Yeah, I think I will take advice from you, because you learned so much with your experience following the Raptors.I'm surprised you even bothered to take the time to expose us to your brilliant basketball analysis. We are truly honoured.

Sincerely, Thanks. Your job is done here. no need to come back.

[Kagemusha]

Joined July 18th. 14 posts a month. Yeah, I think I will take advice from you, because you learned so much with your experience following the Raptors.I'm surprised you even bothered to take the time to expose us to your brilliant basketball analysis. We are truly honoured.

Sincerely, Thanks. Your job is done here. no need to come back.

It's called " I have life".
Any sane basketball analyst will tell you that the Bucks are the deeper team.
I appreciate your passion and love for the team, but in the end it's just a game, dude.