Game 66: Milwaukee Bucks 89 - Toronto Raptors 107

[Machine]

Leo has zero personality or humor. I like when Matt and Jack start riffing on things like jack still having a flip phone and a tape deck

Matt gets a little over the top with it which can become very annoying but I much prefer this over Leo.

[OldSkoolCool]

Sooo...anyone else agree that Jabari Parker is not going to be a good NBA player? He isnt very smart and often cut into his teammates space and screwed them over. Also defense....

That team is made of Giannis, Middleton, and Henson. No centers and no legit #1 point guards (tho Bayless and Ennis both look great for the backup PG spot). Also Henson needs a sandwich and some dumbells.

Honestly those three guys look amazing and if their upper management could turn over the rest of the roster with a legit center and some shooters they could be really good. Dont see the potential if they try and keep this grouo together. Curious to see what they do this offseason

[KeonClark]

Count me in the camp of a Leo-less in game commentary whenever possible. Hoping TSN has the majority of the remaining games so that our version of Brick Tamland can remain in studio with Rod Black.

Leo has zero personality or humor. I like when Matt and Jack start riffing on things like jack still having a flip phone and a tape deck

[JWash]

It's really too bad Masai couldn't figure out a way to trade into that 2013 draft like he wanted to. A Lowry-DeRozan-Giannis-JV core would be absolute amazing.

[Demographic Shift]

Things I liked:

Happy Jack crooning some John Denver. I would probably rather listen to Jack sing for a whole game than Leo say one word. Helps when the Raps are kicking ass.

After Powell cruised through the lane for another layup late in the game, I saw a glimpse of GV on the bench in a suit looking like Sad Keanu. If I wasn't at work I'd take the time to make a comparison pic. Might do it tonight.

Not that I enjoy seeing GV not being happy, it was more about having someone a lot younger, a lot quicker with better defense in a Raptors uniform replacing some of his minutes from last season.

Count me in the camp of a Leo-less in game commentary whenever possible. Hoping TSN has the majority of the remaining games so that our version of Brick Tamland can remain in studio with Rod Black.

[Demographic Shift]

Ha! Fun game. Great job stepping up by BB. Lowry was amazing, as you'd expect. Joseph played well. Ross and Powell were both red hot from the field - really nice to see from Powell who also had a few nice drives and did really well defending Giannis.

This was a nice palate cleanser after the last game.

Bucks are kind of bad, though. Still, with a short handed roster it's a really nice win.

By the way, this is why you give guys rest, or shorter minutes, and let some guys deeper on the bench play big minutes sometimes - you aren't necessarily even sacrificing wins by doing so, if you have a solid team culture and at least a couple of your key players are playing.

Very shorthanded roster....We played without 3 starters(JV / DD / DC) ...

[Demographic Shift]

That "Giannis not that good" post a while back in this thread? Kid just turned 21 and is improving in every area each season. He can already essentially do everything but shoot 3's. Can score, pass, rebound, get steals and blocks, defend, does all of it. Was averaging 20/9/8 in the 11 games prior to this one with 4 triple-doubles. And he's 21.

Not bad for a 2nd round pick.

Bruno is 20 and was taken 31 spots higher.

My point is that the Bucks are finishing out of the playoffs with him.
They can finish out of the playoffs without him too.
When he makes everyone around him better and lead the Deer into the post season with his play...then the opinion changes.
Till then....so what ?
The league is littered with phenoms dripping with potential.

[psrs1]

.@Raptors GM Masai Ujiri praises head coach Dwane Casey for his great communication and being open-minded to ideas.

— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) March 16, 2016

That sounds promising. Let's see if he can adapt come playoff time.

[GLF]

I agree with all of this except I can't imagine Demarre coming back and being fresh as ever. I am expecting the description to be more along the lines of rusty and out of game shape (cardio). I really hope he can be the defender he was immediately coming back after a serious knee injury but I'm wary that will take more time than this season allows.

Well I more meant fresh in terms of not being tired from playing too much. He definitely will be rusty and winded at first but at least it won't be from playing too many minutes. I think he should get over the winded part by the playoffs. The rusty part might take longer. Who knows. I find a lot of players are coming back from injury looking really good these days though. I don't know if they have better rehab programs or medical staff in the NBA these days but I find a lot of players are coming back from injury looking and playing a lot better than expected. Not quite as good as they were before the injury obviously but not as rusty and one would think. Hopefully that's the case for Carroll. I just feel if Carroll was still able to shoot the ball at 37% and play decent when his knee was pretty much gone there is no reason to think otherwise with his knee 100%. It should just be the rust and the stamina that slows him down at first.

[Machine]

Well Demar and Kyle should get a good bit of rest down the stretch. The last three games we play are against Sixers, Brooklyn and New York. I highly doubt we play either of them for those last 3 games. We also ply Atlanta and Indiana to end the season and it's a back to back so I feel one might play one game and the other will play the second game because we've already proven we can beat them. I don't know where Cory will get rest that's the only problem. He kind of has to play. Unless you play Delon as the backup on a game that Kyle plays to get Cory his rest. Also Demarre will be coming back and should be fresh as ever. So hopefully all that rest will get our guards back together when it comes to defense because they have really fallen off lately. Kyle is getting beat just as easy as Demar does these days. Cory is still good but no where as good as he was to start the season obviously.

I agree with all of this except I can't imagine Demarre coming back and being fresh as ever. I am expecting the description to be more along the lines of rusty and out of game shape (cardio). I really hope he can be the defender he was immediately coming back after a serious knee injury but I'm wary that will take more time than this season allows.

[GLF]

This is a great point and one reason why in spite of the high efficiency of the team offence I am unsatisfied with the low usage of our bigs compared to our wings, and why I am unsatisfied with the minutes distribution in the rotation. A big part, in my opinion, of the defensive slippage late in the year is fatigue catching up to our guards - DD, Joseph and Lowry in particular. A little less usage for each, fewer minutes, rest games here and there - those should help get the defence back on its feet.

Well Demar and Kyle should get a good bit of rest down the stretch. The last three games we play are against Sixers, Brooklyn and New York. I highly doubt we play either of them for those last 3 games. We also ply Atlanta and Indiana to end the season and it's a back to back so I feel one might play one game and the other will play the second game because we've already proven we can beat them. I don't know where Cory will get rest that's the only problem. He kind of has to play. Unless you play Delon as the backup on a game that Kyle plays to get Cory his rest. Also Demarre will be coming back and should be fresh as ever. So hopefully all that rest will get our guards back together when it comes to defense because they have really fallen off lately. Kyle is getting beat just as easy as Demar does these days. Cory is still good but no where as good as he was to start the season obviously.

[GLF]

The raps never did much different last night than usual anyways. Offense still looked pretty crappy IMO, in terms of initiation, just that the second and third pass was being made and guys were knocking down shots. .We still ran everything through the perimeter via Lowry, Cojo, and a sprinkle of JJ and Powell. Defense was much better with Biz and Powell though, which ultimately made the difference. Didn't hurt that the Bucks played little D in the second half.

I do find it odd that I would consider one of the top offenses in basketball as pretty crappy, but to me it looks very vulnerable like it did last season. But it can work if our D is top notch, but that's a big if.

That's what I'm saying. Our offense might be ranked high but it really isn't that hard to stop. Especially if a team has a shot at you game after game in a seven game series. Our defense is what needs to be our focus. If we can continue to get stops we can win in the playoffs. If we have to rely on our offense we're fucked.

[slaw]

It's basically the same defensive system the Raps went with last season that the league figured out after a couple months. Scramble, scramble, scramble. The extra passes the Raps made last night leading to loads of open threes was a very familiar script, just from the opposite side.

Personnel is also very different. You've got Monroe and Parker playing a tonne of minutes. One is a notoriously bad defender and the other is basically a rookie for all intents and purposes. That also doesn't help. MCW, in my opinion, is a downgrade from Knight, and they lost a lot of toughness in the paint with Pachulia gone.

Giannis is obviously a terrific young player and Parker and Middleton are good players but there's just something about the personnel mix that doesn't work - on either end of the floor.

[Nilanka]

After Powell cruised through the lane for another layup late in the game, I saw a glimpse of GV on the bench in a suit looking like Sad Keanu. If I wasn't at work I'd take the time to make a comparison pic. Might do it tonight.

Ya, must really suck for Vasquez. I mean, the guy could barely contain his excitement when he signed his extension here.

Maybe Rogers/Bell can throw him a bone and hire him as a playoff sideline reporter, lol.

[ogi]

Sure but they are in the midst of playing their best basketball and peaking late in the season

Even so they are absolutely not a "great defensive team". This peaking team has still only gone 7-7 post all star break.