Everything Round 1: Toronto Raptors vs Milwaukee Bucks

[Ebonhawke]

It was bad last night that Carroll hit shots because it kept him on the floor, can he just be shit fully and we bench him as the 11th guy behind Norm or Wright?

Well - if you're in the 'get rid of him in the off-season' camp, then Carroll has to provide at least a semblance of an idea that he can contribute so that another team might be interested.

[tonious35]

Thon Maker was a GREAT pick for Milwaukee. People laughed on draft night that they took him so early, a lot of people seemed stunned like when we took bruno.

No one's laughing now

Credit Milwaukee, but top 15 pick was kinda crazy! But then the Celtics would of picked him up. Kidd is creating a non-flawed Andray Blatche with that guy, which is proper upbringing

[tonious35]

Well - if you're in the 'get rid of him in the off-season' camp, then Carroll has to provide at least a semblance of an idea that he can contribute so that another team might be interested.

so true....and we have no more amnesties

[slaw]

It was bad last night that Carroll hit shots because it kept him on the floor, can he just be shit fully and we bench him as the 11th guy behind Norm or Wright?

Since I don't think he's going to be benched outright, I would prefer he keep making shots....

[JamesNaismith]

Thon Maker was a GREAT pick for Milwaukee. People laughed on draft night that they took him so early, a lot of people seemed stunned like when we took bruno.

No one's laughing now

I didnt laugh, in fact I mentioned in draft threads that I would consider him given how the talent level fell off a cliff after the top 8 (our luck of course). I wasnt upset with Yak because I knew he was a solid player and would/will likely become a good rotation player but personally Im always a fan of upside hence why I was and still am saying I wish we took Davis or Skal over Siakam. But I cant totally fault us....Thon was very raw for a 24 year old (dont forget that - there is an Aussie yearbook that verifies that with his grad pick) so there is still time for Yak to get closer although I doubt he will be as agile as a defender and shooter although not too far off.

http://i.imgur.com/R1kBhD3.jpg <---- here's a pic from 2007 yearbook of Thon in Grade 9. Most people are 14-15 years old....10 years later...do the math



But I really hate when Rap fans use Bruno as the gauge for a player that needs development.

It is something that collectively needs to get through our fanbase thick skulls....Bruno is NOT indicative of ANY other players labelled as raw because he is the biggest project in probably draft history. Majority of raw players have played longer, in more competitive schools and have had far more training. Bruno is the king of projects and should be no more relevant in terms of scouting than Bennett is of Canadian players. Its kind of funny because Bruno is like a rebound relationship after a broken heart lol....Masai so desperately was trying to get in the draft to get Giannis (and now we all see why), it broke his heart and he just settled for someone that reminded of him despite being incredibly flawed...anyways, yeah Thon has been good and hopefully its an eye opener to our fanbase that a raw player =/= Bruno.

[Demographic Shift]

Kenny is a knucklehead.

There are a few national guys who actually pay attention and their commentary is insightful and a bunch who clearly don't watch most teams (not just the Raps) carefully at all. Kenny is one of those guys not watching carefully, his opinions usually reflect that.

Its a formula on TNT.... pure showbiz...

Kenny is supposed to play the role of the somewhat thoughtful and reasonable nephew to the two crazy Uncles Shaq and Chuck. Ernie is the ringmaster that keeps the crew from disintegrating into total mayhem.

Kenny "The Floatplane" Smith makes shit up on the fly because he can't and doesn't watch all 30 teams in the association in depth yet he is required to have an opinion on everything NBA. The Raps don't play many games on TNT and Kenny is prepping for the teams that do...so he flat out puts out seat of the pants analysis like that piece of knuckleheaded crap that the Bucks are more talented than the Raptors... Really Kenny... That pile of "talent" includes Tony Snell, Teletovic, Hawes, Micheal Beasly, Mathew Delavadova....an over the hill Jason Terry and lest we forget .. Rashad Vaughan......Save us the stupidity.

[slaw]

To be clear, it is the fear of the trapping, not the trapping itself. Milwaukee has yet to really stop JV on a post up this series - he's been posted 5 times and has scored 7 points with no turnovers. Unfortunately, after his token 1 or 2 post ups each half, the team ignores him, even when they struggle to score. Heck, JV has only posted Thon twice, and has 5 points out of those two post ups.

Sometimes it can be tricky to get the ball into the post. But not with the defence this Bucks team has been playing - they are hedging and trapping on every screen - one ball reversal after a screen and you should have an easy post pass. Or even have Serge or Pat screen and slip to just inside the top of the arc - that should open up the post entry as well on a big to big pass or after a pass to the corner.

I'm surprised, overall, with how soft Toronto has played the first two games. I don't think I've seen Giannis on his ass one time and Maker should be getting up close and personal with JV's elbows until he begs to be taken out. But beyond that, they haven't really put Milwaukee under a lot of pressure. I mean they had Joseph pick up Delly full court for like 2 minutes and Raps ended up with a 10-pt lead - Bucks couldn't even get into their offense. Otherwise, they're playing really soft defensively on everyone, which I understand with Giannis, but not with the other guys. Offensively, they've completely shied away from the paint, including JV. It's just surprising given that their playoff success last year largely revolved around stopping people with physical defense and wearing the opponent down over four quarters with a lot of tough play.

[KeonClark]

I didnt laugh, in fact I mentioned in draft threads that I would consider him given how the talent level fell off a cliff after the top 8 (our luck of course). I wasnt upset with Yak because I knew he was a solid player and would/will likely become a good rotation player but personally Im always a fan of upside hence why I was and still am saying I wish we took Davis or Skal over Siakam. But I cant totally fault us....Thon was very raw for a 24 year old (dont forget that - there is an Aussie yearbook that verifies that with his grad pick) so there is still time for Yak to get closer although I doubt he will be as agile as a defender and shooter although not too far off.

http://i.imgur.com/R1kBhD3.jpg <---- here's a pic from 2007 yearbook of Thon in Grade 9. Most people are 14-15 years old....10 years later...do the math



But I really hate when Rap fans use Bruno as the gauge for a player that needs development.

It is something that collectively needs to get through our fanbase thick skulls....Bruno is NOT indicative of ANY other players labelled as raw because he is the biggest project in probably draft history. Majority of raw players have played longer, in more competitive schools and have had far more training. Bruno is the king of projects and should be no more relevant in terms of scouting than Bennett is of Canadian players. Its kind of funny because Bruno is like a rebound relationship after a broken heart lol....Masai so desperately was trying to get in the draft to get Giannis (and now we all see why), it broke his heart and he just settled for someone that reminded of him despite being incredibly flawed...anyways, yeah Thon has been good and hopefully its an eye opener to our fanbase that a raw player =/= Bruno.

That yearbook says 2010 right on it lol

[DanH]

That yearbook says 2010 right on it lol

I don't care enough to decide whether I buy into this story, but there are two yearbooks there, the link and the embedded picture. The link is the 2007 picture, the embedded one is 2010 as you note. Either way, him graduating in 2010 would make him far older than he is presumed to be. Not that those pictures couldn't be easily faked.

[tonious35]

I didnt laugh, in fact I mentioned in draft threads that I would consider him given how the talent level fell off a cliff after the top 8 (our luck of course). I wasnt upset with Yak because I knew he was a solid player and would/will likely become a good rotation player but personally Im always a fan of upside hence why I was and still am saying I wish we took Davis or Skal over Siakam. But I cant totally fault us....Thon was very raw for a 24 year old (dont forget that - there is an Aussie yearbook that verifies that with his grad pick) so there is still time for Yak to get closer although I doubt he will be as agile as a defender and shooter although not too far off.

http://i.imgur.com/R1kBhD3.jpg <---- here's a pic from 2007 yearbook of Thon in Grade 9. Most people are 14-15 years old....10 years later...do the math



But I really hate when Rap fans use Bruno as the gauge for a player that needs development.

It is something that collectively needs to get through our fanbase thick skulls....Bruno is NOT indicative of ANY other players labelled as raw because he is the biggest project in probably draft history. Majority of raw players have played longer, in more competitive schools and have had far more training. Bruno is the king of projects and should be no more relevant in terms of scouting than Bennett is of Canadian players. Its kind of funny because Bruno is like a rebound relationship after a broken heart lol....Masai so desperately was trying to get in the draft to get Giannis (and now we all see why), it broke his heart and he just settled for someone that reminded of him despite being incredibly flawed...anyways, yeah Thon has been good and hopefully its an eye opener to our fanbase that a raw player =/= Bruno.

All in all, Bruno will be more tolerable than Carroll in 2017

[yabadabayolo]

If I had to rank talent, it would be: 1. Giannis, 2. Demar, 3. Kyle, 4. Serge, 5. Kris Middleton, 6. JV....and so on.

according to half the board last year.

Middleton >>> Demar .. lol

[slaw]

I don't care enough to decide whether I buy into this story, but there are two yearbooks there, the link and the embedded picture. The link is the 2007 picture, the embedded one is 2010 as you note. Either way, him graduating in 2010 would make him far older than he is presumed to be. Not that those pictures couldn't be easily faked.

I've heard stories from people I know involved with Basketball Canada that it's pretty well acknowledged inside basketball circles that's he's approx. four years older than his brother (i.e. 23, 24).

[Raptorsnz]

http://www.celticsblog.com/2017/4/18...2-nba-playoffs

Marcus Smart just needs to be given a straight million dollar fine for his flopping antics, they're out of control. He flopped on like half the screens set yesterday, it's just embarrassing.

The Celtics were also getting pretty chippy with each other, IT4 was screaming at Smart and Smart was yelling at Olynyk at times.

I think it's unfair for the author to say any team could do what the Bulls are doing though, that's not giving them much credit. They defended their asses off the the last two games, especially in the 4th quarters.

[KeonClark]

Marcus Smart just needs to be given a straight million dollar fine for his flopping antics, they're out of control. He flopped on like half the screens set yesterday, it's just embarrassing.

The Celtics were also getting pretty chippy with each other, IT4 was screaming at Smart and Smart was yelling at Olynyk at times.

I think it's unfair for the author to say any team could do what the Bulls are doing though, that's not giving them much credit. They defended their asses off the the last two games, especially in the 4th quarters.

Did you guys see smart flip the bird to a fan...of his own team?? Haha this is great

[KeonClark]

Raptors square was pathetic last night. Fan support seems severely lacking compared to last year.

God I hope Washington eliminates the leafs. Although doesn't solve the next decade that looks to have the leafs in good shape. But for 2017 I want our city back!!