Everything Round 3: Raps vs Bucks

[RaptorsVictim]

Both Green and Lowery have to hit their shots from outside. Without that this series will end early. On the other hand, Bucks bench is far better than ours, so Powell and VV must be consistent and reliable.

It is a tough series, and what makes it tougher for us is the homecourt advantage for Bucks.

[The Claw Reborn]

Time to shine Playoff Norm.

remembered that moment he owned Middleton

[Scraptor]

I think we have the pieces to slow down Giannis that the Celtics did not, and I trust the Bucks' supporting cast less than I trust our bench.

Raps in 7. Maybe 6.

[G__Deane]

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?

Actually I think this is an advantage for the Raps having 3 days off instead of a week. Time enough to be rested and getting any nagging aches and pains sorted but no time to be rusty.

[slaw]

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.

Meh, if you don't do anything offensively you can't expect foul calls. Gasol and Green and Siakam weren't doing anything to get to the free throw line, mostly, they were just looking to get rid of the ball. Lowry only ventured inside once or twice. I mean, you can't get to the free throw line passing the ball around. Leonard went 8 times. Yeah, maybe he could have got a few more whistles but the way the Raps play they are almost always going to get the short-end of the free throw battle.

[planetmars]

The one nice thing about this series this time is that Thon Maker won't be killing us off the bench.

[bertarapsfan]

Something interesting as well will be the center matchup. Ibaka may be better at guarding brook at the 3pt line but i dont think we can take marc out of the starting lineup. Also is has been shown that someone with serge's build can be a good option to put on giannis. We probably stick with our starting 5 but if things get dicey and danny green still cant get it going it might be worth going big again and starting the lineup that closed game 7. We would probably need OG back to do this for work as we would literally have no backup bigs. That said i would only go to this starting 5 if we lose the first 2 and are outmatched in both games.

[bertarapsfan]

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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

[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.

[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.

[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.