GAME #72 - Toronto Raptors vs Milwaukee Bucks - March 19 - 8:00PM ET

[The Great One]

Lost to an MVP candidate off a B2b. No moral vistories though

They had a 6 point lead going into the 4th. Giannis on the bench. Raptors "star" player on the other hand was well rested. He gotta bring it home. But this team is not the same whenever Fred sits.

[A.I]

Unfortunately no one can run the pick and roll with Poeltl like Fred can. Thats what has made this team good on offense recently.

[The Great One]

Yeah, I don’t get this. Dowtin is easily our best bench PG.

Can I question the management now?

[golden]

Can I question the management now?

Question everything. It works for me.

[slaw]

Ok so basically whenever Fred sits, this team sucks.

Just as having a proper center like Poeltl has helped Fred and guys like OG and Barnes, I really think a proper back up PG would help the guys coming off the bench like Boucher and Achiuwa.

[golden]

Just as having a proper center like Poeltl has helped Fred and guys like OG and Barnes, I really think a proper back up PG would help the guys coming off the bench like Boucher and Achiuwa.

Yep. Just play Dowtin and Koloko more and the bench problem is solved. Barton should be waived and Dowtin converted to full contract. Next year, sign a vet bench PG.

[golden]

We are.

https://stats.gleague.nba.com/player/1630288/

Now we just have to call him up.

Why has Dowtin gotten worse with the 905 than his previous G-League teams? Lol.

[Kagemusha]

Why has Dowtin gotten worse with the 905 than his previous G-League teams? Lol.

The much vaunted Raptors player development

[Dvdvideo]

The raps played pretty well as a team today, did most things right to win the game. Had barnes not been injured this could have been a win. Why is it every single time the raps start to get something rolling they get screwed?

[LJ2]

The raps played pretty well as a team today, did most things right to win the game. Had barnes not been injured this could have been a win. Why is it every single time the raps start to get something rolling they get screwed?

Most teams are built to be able to chug along (to some degree) if there is an unexpected injury. Raps are not because they rely so heavily on their core guys. OG goes down and there is literally nobody that can handle the point of attack defense, Pascal goes down and nobody to carry the scoring load, Fred gets injured and there are not floor leaders or guys to play make etc.

[planetmars]

Disappointing loss. Felt like the same situation when we played Bebe for like 2-3 minutes against the Lebron Cavs in the playoffs. Choked the game away without using Koloko or some real size against Lopez to start the 4th. And to have Barton play as much as he did was just sucky. We then just didn't have enough fire power in the 4th to close it out. Although got it down to a 2 point game with OG's 3.

Fred was great again. Pascal wasn't so great. Hope Scottie gets better but his defense was a let down so I don't think he was missed - although he really brings it in the 4th and maybe we could have used that. If anything a little more size/girth against Lopez if he was available. OG and Gary had great games. I thought Precious played really well too.. he was passing the ball as quickly as he got it. Didn't over think. Some good defense.

Poeltl was a team low -17.. that's going to cause his net rating to come down a wee tad.

Still can't get to .500. Maybe it finally happens in this home stretch coming up.

[slaw]

Yep. Just play Dowtin and Koloko more and the bench problem is solved. Barton should be waived and Dowtin converted to full contract. Next year, sign a vet bench PG.

I'd like to see a lot more changes than that but, agreed, if they are bringing the gang all back then a proper guard off the bench who can play 15-20 minutes per game is an absolute must.

[slaw]

Disappointing loss. Felt like the same situation when we played Bebe for like 2-3 minutes against the Lebron Cavs in the playoffs. Choked the game away without using Koloko or some real size against Lopez to start the 4th. And to have Barton play as much as he did was just sucky. We then just didn't have enough fire power in the 4th to close it out. Although got it down to a 2 point game with OG's 3.

Fred was great again. Pascal wasn't so great. Hope Scottie gets better but his defense was a let down so I don't think he was missed - although he really brings it in the 4th and maybe we could have used that. If anything a little more size/girth against Lopez if he was available. OG and Gary had great games. I thought Precious played really well too.. he was passing the ball as quickly as he got it. Didn't over think. Some good defense.

Poeltl was a team low -17.. that's going to cause his net rating to come down a wee tad.

Still can't get to .500. Maybe it finally happens in this home stretch coming up.

Tough to say on Koloko cause maybe the injury was a factor in him not playing and they won't necessarily be honest about that. Barton out there was a joke but Nurse feels like he has no other options, so it is what it is.

Losing Barnes for the fourth was key. If he's 100% then maybe Barton hits the pine earlier or doesn't play at all. I felt bad for Boucher and Achiuwa being stuck out there with Barton soiling himself.

[DanH]

Tough to say on Koloko cause maybe the injury was a factor in him not playing and they won't necessarily be honest about that. Barton out there was a joke but Nurse feels like he has no other options, so it is what it is.

Losing Barnes for the fourth was key. If he's 100% then maybe Barton hits the pine earlier or doesn't play at all. I felt bad for Boucher and Achiuwa being stuck out there with Barton soiling himself.

Yeah, sucks to lose this one when they were right there blow for blow all game, but you can't feel too bad being right in a scheduled loss and then losing Barnes for the key minutes.

One nitpick I've had with the recent rotation, which I've for the most part been so much happier with of late, is that Barton is still seeing too much time, with too much of Fred and OG's time being spent sharing the court instead of staggering like Scottie and Pascal to spread the shooting around without the drop in quality from Barton.

At the same time, losing Barnes for the late 3rd and 4th also had us in trouble with that ideal staggering of the rotation we'd been doing - we then couldn't play Pascal with Fred like we usually do (they have great synergy together) since we had to use Fred in the non-Pascal minutes instead of Scottie. These things will happen, such is life.