Everything Round 1: Toronto Raptors vs Milwaukee Bucks

[thead]

the officiating was brutal btw...

Still no excuse you gotta play through that...but we would go down and get hammered (nothing)

DeMar bumps someone (whistle)

[golden]

This loss feels WAY more concerning imo this year than last and here's why...

1. Last year when we lost it was because George was having an incredible game and torching (of course) Carroll. But that was ONE great player and when we got Norm and co. to contain him better then the Pacers had no one else to turn to

2. This year yes is one great player but he's also bigger and better than George and more importantly he doesn't need to score to like PG did in order to hurt us. He just needs to cause the defence to collapse on him and being 7ft tall and that fast it's going to happen almost every damn time (especially when Casey unbelievably continues to let Carroll play) which equals wide open shots AND while not "great" per say Middleton is still damn good so this isn't a one man team. Brogdon and Thon continue as rookies to step up for him as well unlike anyone on the Pacers did for PG.

3. Kidd knows Casey's system back n forth....why because it's brought over from DAL and of course Kidd was the guy on court coaching it to his team so may even know it better than Casey knows it himself. Plus as you can tell by bringing Monroe (a guy paid well over $15M/yr *ahem* Carroll) off the bench and giving a rookie like Brogdon the starting position and increasing Thon's usage that unlike Casey....Kidd is ADAPTABLE. Instead Casey continues to send out Peg Leg Carroll and the stupid 2 PG line up (ala Kidd, Barea...ahem) and we get destroyed.

I still believe we can win this series but said from the beginning this was/is the MOST dangerous 1st rd opponent for us and some of you are starting to see why.

Per point (3): Mavs had absolutely nothing resembling Carlisle's system in Dallas when Kidd played there. The whole thing was built around Dirk's shooting, initiated by Kidd-Chandler PnRs. Stylistically, in some ways it might actually be the opposite of the Raps dribble-drive-attack offense by our all-star back court.

TBH, every opponent is dangerous for the Raps because: (1) the fundamental principals of our "system" are built for the regular season and are easier to neutralize in the playoffs, (2) Casey is pretty good at between game adjustments, but not so great at on-the-fly "in game" adjustments.

The talent level, depth and experience is not even in the same area code. This series should be a blowout for the Raps, except for the above.

[Cody73]

Can anyone explain to me why people call Carroll this "Defensive stopper" ? He isn't even an above average defender. He constantly gets blown by, can't close out on 3pt shooter, gets bodied by bigger small forwards. And his best offense is missing wide open 3s. His ball handling is some of he worst I've ever seen for an NBA wing player. If he miraculously gets to the hoop he throws up some 1-legged floater which he rarely makes. Just a complete garbage player all around for 2 years now

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Carroll was that defensive guy at one point.... more for his hustle & explosiveness, which he will show at times (He still has a knack for getting steals). I personally feel that he was more of a system defender & at that time had the speed to stay on his man, which the leg injuries have killed but due to his play in both Utah & Atlanta, he can't shake that 3 & D moniker. It's why we brought him here as well.

[JimiCliff]

One thing I heard talk about from the media guys but that hasn't been mentioned much by anyone (fans or media alike) after the loss: there's a flu going through the team. Demar and Tucker both missed a day very recently. Lowry, to me, looked like he had the energy of someone playing through a flu yesterday. I'm sure someone will come back with "it's the playoffs, you suck it up and tough it out and play through blah blah", but that response is horseshit. So, hopefully it was the flu.

[JimiCliff]

Something that I've been wondering about Carroll for awhile: when he was signed, Masai and Dwane made a big deal about how in the free agent pitch, they were going to expand his role as an offensive player and let him showcase his game in a way he hadn't been allowed to in Atlanta. That DEFINITELY didn't happen; if anything, it was the opposite, and his role has shrunk compared to then. I wonder how much Carroll remembers this, and if he has a bit of a chip on his shoulder towards the team because of it.

[Cody73]

Something that I've been wondering about Carroll for awhile: when he was signed, Masai and Dwane made a big deal about how in the free agent pitch, they were going to expand his role as an offensive player and let him showcase his game in a way he hadn't been allowed to in Atlanta. That DEFINITELY didn't happen; if anything, it was the opposite, and his role has shrunk compared to then. I wonder how much Carroll remembers this, and if he has a bit of a chip on his shoulder towards the team because of it.

I honestly feel that if he was played to full potential and hadn't gotten injured, we'd be seeing a different player that's very much like what PJ Tucker is for us. Look back at game tape of him in Utah & Atlanta. He's lost that speed he once had.

[MixxAOR]

80% of teams win the series if they win game 1. Raptors I have a bad feeling about this series.

you missed last year playoffs?

[Scraptor]

That number changes completely if the lower seed wins game #1, doesn't it?

Most of the time the higher seed wins game #1 + the series.

If I'm reading this correctly, in the opening round, the road team (lower seed) winning game 1 has historically won 48% of the series.
So we still have a better than 50/50 shot.

http://www.whowins.com/tables/up10.html

[Joey]

80% of teams win the series if they win game 1. Raptors I have a bad feeling about this series.

Edit: Damn, Scraptor beat me. Haha

[lewro]

Something that I've been wondering about Carroll for awhile: when he was signed, Masai and Dwane made a big deal about how in the free agent pitch, they were going to expand his role as an offensive player and let him showcase his game in a way he hadn't been allowed to in Atlanta. That DEFINITELY didn't happen; if anything, it was the opposite, and his role has shrunk compared to then. I wonder how much Carroll remembers this, and if he has a bit of a chip on his shoulder towards the team because of it.

I've thought about this too. It sounded intriguing at the time but in retrospect I think he wanted the money and the team and the city are better than detroit.

Re: the flu. Thought about this too but DeMar came out strong and played hard all game. PJ was pretty active. I'm not sure what's up with kyle? We were really shit for a long time heading into the all star break. Then wrist gate and Kyle made some dumb comments/took a lot of criticism with the media. Dunno where he's at?

We had some key movements this yr: dekobe streak/Lowry+bench, pre-all star collapse, post trade deadline resurregence.
Jurassic park needs a RideorDie Rollercoaster.

[The Great One]

I took the night off from social media in order to cool my rage.

I am still angry.

That wasn't a down to the wire loss we took

That was a young playoff team with two rookies in their starting lineup handing a seasoned playoff team an embarrassing defeat

I thought I saw actual fear in Kyle's eyes at one point.

That being said. Hopefully that was just the smack in the face the second best team in the east needed to stop believing their own god damn hype. You can't show up for half a playoff game. There is too much at stake.

All right...now... Tuesday better come out guns a blazin

Just like in last years playoffs and the year before that, he looks scared to shoot. I have no confidence with this guy whatsoever.

[JamesNaismith]

The biggest problem I have is I just don't see what our solution is to Giannis. Last year with PG, Norm and a help defender was able to curtail him. Giannis is simply too big for ANY of our small forwards and they can't help our get burnt by open 3ptrs for Brogdon or Middleton.

I wish I was optimistic as many of you but this is exactly why I've been saying that the Bucks are the scariest 1st rd matchup. My only guess is we have to pound the ball into JV which Casey hates but it also still doesn't answer how we handle Giannis on the other end. This has to be killing Masai a bit inside every time he looks on court at Giannis n then glances at the end of the bench at Bruno.

[MixxAOR]

Raptors are winning Game 2. Ban me if they don't. They are also gonna beat Bucks. Ban me if they don't

[Scraptor]

still doesn't answer how we handle Giannis on the other end. This has to be killing Masai a bit inside every time he looks on court at Giannis n then glances at the end of the bench at Bruno.

Fuck it, just start Bruno.

It'd be like one of those kaiju movies where the big monster is wrecking shit, but then we show up with a giant monster of our own.

[rocwell]

Kyle: "It's unfortunate we didn't follow our game plan"

No shit.