Starts Wednesday, making now bc I'm excited, dammit. I was in middle school when the Bucks were last here.

Bucks in 5 btw. I'm not scared of these chumps whatsoever. Kawhi will do Kawhi things, Nurse will get outcoached, Lowry will be terrible, Gasol is a pushover and not an issue.

Kawhi is great, and I REALLY like Siakam, but I have no faith in Lowry and the Bucks bench mob is going to overwhelm what little bench the Raps have.

Unless the Bucks straught up cant shoot for 4 games, I think 5...maybe 6
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<================== Learn the name now before everyone gets dunked on

before falling too far behind, I'm not worried. Kawhi and Giannis should mostly cancel each other out, right?

You can only stop Giannis by throwing an entire team at him. If the Raps throw Siakam in there, hes getting into foul trouble every game. Gasol has no chance, and as good as Kawhi is, his best use of energy is om offense.

After that, Lowry has real bit problems with athletic guards like Bledsoe, Brogdon is also a big guard who makes them hard to cover.


The Raps have scoring problems, the Bucks don't.
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<================== Learn the name now before everyone gets dunked on

Ibaka is the only role player that isn't hesitant to shoot when he's open & during the regular season he had a couple of big games against the Bucks b/c they gave him the pick-n-pop jumpers. He also can somewhat guard Giannis since he's mobile/strong enough to not get physically overwhelmed. (He was guarding Harris/Simmons vs. Sixers)

As far as Gasol, he's going to get WIDE open shots so he has to be decisive instead of trying to play that good-to-great nonsense which allows the defense to recover.

Finally, Van Shit needs to show up (he has played well against the Bucks) otherwise the bench is going to get annihilated. (Norman Powell also got a 40mill contract by rescuing the Raptors in the '17 series against Kidd's Bucks)

Match-ups:

-Gasol/Lopez (Raptors might switch 4/5 if it's a pick-n-pop)

-Siakam/Giannis (Siakam excels in transition so the Bucks style of play suits him & Raptors experimented in the regular season letting Giannis run wild vs. crowding him so the coverage might vary depending on the Bucks shooting)

-Kawhi/Middleton (This will be interesting, Middleton usually does a good job of denying but gets overpowered on drives. Also, Middleton struggled to get a shot off against Kawhi & resorted to being a playmaker)

-Danny/Brogdon (If the Raptors are going to have a chance then Danny needs to contain Brodgon although he's going to struggle getting looks with how the Bucks defend the 3)

-Lowry/Bledsoe (This is a matchup of volatile/physical point guards who should be able to guard each other in the half-court. Lowry is going struggle to score while Bledsoe might feast in transition if the Raptors role players are shooting bricks)

OG is most likely not going to play in the series thus Powell will most likely get minutes in this series & the Raptors are probably happy that Daddy Thon Maker is no longer on the Bucks roster b/c he used to killed 'em (Snell too, I believe)

Bottomline: If the Raptors keep missing WIDE open shots then they are getting run out of the building.

I think that hand/thumb injury will be an issue for Lowry as I think he sat a large number of games in the regular season because of that same left hand a year or two ago. I think the Toronto crowd will lift the role players up and the Raptors will rain threes for one of those games, but I can't see the series overall being too competitive. And to make matters worse for Toronto, the Bucks have an added weapon they didn't have in the earlier rounds in Malcolm Brodgon.

But overall I think he's a bit smarter and more controlled than last year. He seems to know his role is to play tough D and relentlessly drive to the basket.

and from what limited action I saw, Beldsoe doesn't strike me as the type to just jack up jumpshots. You know much more than I do since you a fan of the team and all. I do think Mirotic has to show up and cause problems since him spacing out the bigs for Toronto will cause huge defensive problems and makes Giannis' job of driving to the basket much much easier.

if one or two of his jumpers go in.

Bucks in 6, but the games will all be close.

Unfortunately, Kawhi got it done in game 7

...but he looked gassed in 5 and 6...

We were able to exploit Jimmy's advantage on offense

I expect MIL to go at Green and Lowry with Bledsoe and Middleton

Clear advantages there

The big question is defending Giannis

I don't expect Kawhi to be the initial defender

I think it will take too much out of him, and TOR desperately needs every point he can give them on offense

TOR probably goes with Siakim and Ibaka as the primary defenders on Giannis

...and double with Kawhi or Gasol...

Really surprised how TOR's depth completely disappeared in the PHL series

MIL is still playing 9-10 guys

+ Brogdon coming back

= too much for TOR

MIL in 5.

but he scored when it mattered most (coupled with the sixers wetting the bed).

this team does seem kinda spent tho. across the board.

siakam looks like hes already regressing in the same playoffs he was coming into his own.

hes prolly gonna have to do the majority of the defensive legwork against giannis this series while having to score 20+ on the other end to keep up with that bucks offense. iono if he has that in him.

>siakam looks like hes already regressing in the same playoffs
>he was coming into his own.
>
>hes prolly gonna have to do the majority of the defensive
>legwork against giannis this series while having to score 20+
>on the other end to keep up with that bucks offense. iono if
>he has that in him.

He doesn't seem to fear Giannis, he actually went right at him in the regular season & got him to bite on his fake which put Giannis in foul trouble. Giannis isn't as good a one-on-one shot blocker as Embiid & he can also be knocked off balance on drives. One the other end, he has the foot-speed to not get blown by on face-up drives & the length to challenge his shots but needs help on post-ups. Actually, the most important thing is Siakam's defensive versatile since he can switch onto Middleton when they run the Giannis-Middleton PnR.

Also, I'm not sure if Siakam has recovered from his hammy/calf issues b/c he's going to need every bit of athleticism in this series.

Dude was just awful on offense along w/ Gasol/Van Shit

Bucks shot HORRIBLY, Lowry played the best game of his life, and the Bucks still won.

>Bucks shot HORRIBLY, Lowry played the best game of his life,
>and the Bucks still won.

He was a pretty significant part of the offense throughout the regular season.

Ibaka is a better option in that scenario since he's more comfortable shooting when he's open, Marc also looked like he was gassed in the 4th & got cooked on the other end.

homies tank on e from here on out.

some of these former players turned studio people/analysts need to try a lil harder.

Giannis basically has just as many turnovers as assists & was jacking up jumpers that coach Bud was scolding him on the bench. He got his 30 but the majority were either Bledsoe dump offs or broken plays/put backs, he barely has to break a sweat. Brogdon/Ersan broken the game open with him on the bench so it’s not like they are depending on him to create shots.

Defensively, he doesn’t have to guard anyone b/c Siakam is relegated to being a corner shooter with Lopez camping in the paint as Marc Gasol has turned into a potato. Dude is essentially cruising, even LeBron broke a sweat while sweeping the Raptors.

https://www.ajc.com/rf/image_large/Pub/p4/AJC/2013/08/29/Videos/2637264644001.vpx

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<================== Learn the name now before everyone gets dunked on

I was talking about the MVP metaphorically within the context of the postseason but it flew over your head (Were you really trying to school me about how MVP voting worked, BYE!)

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<================== Learn the name now before everyone gets dunked on

Scroll down to postseason for a surprise: https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/MIL/2019/lineups/

The top two lineups of any iteration (5-man, 4-man....etc) don't include Giannis. We all know what happened when the the "MVP" tried to go 1-on-1 against Horford. The "REAL" MVP Coach Bud had to run pick-n-rolls to force switches & depend on the bench to break the games open. Giannis w/o Bud would have been 2nd round fodder.

Muphuckas out there claiming Giannis at 24 is better than LeBron at the same age, LMAO! (Dude isn't even better than 34 year old LeBron come postseason time)

this is another level of depth right here.

Coming into the playoffs I thought the Sixers/Raps winner would take the conference. Then I said Bucks in 7 over the winner, especially if it was the Raps. In Game 1 I thought that was still a possibility but then the Raps blew their chance to make it a series. Now I am thinking possible sweep, especially if the Raps can't get Game 3.

>In Game 1 I thought
>that was still a possibility but then the Raps blew their
>chance to make it a series. Now I am thinking possible sweep,
>especially if the Raps can't get Game 3.

I love when folks make contradictory statements such as this one which I often hear from hot-take artist.

If a team is over-matched to the point they are in danger of getting swept, how was winning one outlier game going to change anything? (There have been plenty of teams that won game one then got shutout the rest of the way including two in the 1st rd this postseason)

This is the equivalent of the Cavs winning Gm 1 changing the Finals series last season & I'm still waiting for someone to explain to me how JR Smith grabbing an offensive rebound cost the Cavs the game.

To use your own logic, what the hell does winning one game have anything to do with winning 3 more when the team is over-matched to the point where they might get swept?

The Raptors in '16 came back from 2-0 to tie the series 2-2 but that series might as well have been a sweep. (Winning outlier games doesn't mean shyt, especially Gm 1 when the other team is coming off a long layoff)

Dude out there looking like Andre Robertson on offense.

Analytics have made the game so much less fun.

raps caught a break with freak going out.

I've never seen Giannis play that poorly. He was just out of sorts the entire night. Bledsoe was even worse, but I've definitely seen that before.

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<================== Learn the name now before everyone gets dunked on

I'm thinking it's worth a shot. Even Connaughton and Sterling Brown can hit an occasional shot.

He'll probably let Bledsoe dick around and try to redeem himself Tuesday, but if he has ANOTHER bad game I'd be very disappointed if Bud doesn't significantly cut his minutes back in Milwaukee.

gotta show your balls and let the drama fall where it may imo.

**same intensity**

it fell off considerably on both sides, but yeah

pace, shooting, ball movement...each team broke 30 and somehow they were both playing very good D.

they were looking like a juggernaut 2 games ago.

im not sure dubs cant beat this team without kd like most commentators are claiming.

Do you not understand the difference between a specialist and just a guy capable of hitting a 3?

>im not sure dubs cant beat this team without kd like most
>commentators are claiming.

They most def would give Bledsoe the Tony Allen treatment

https://twitter.com/Bballforeverfb/status/1131026852133318658

Called T.O., he knows the mark to get in the frame

Honestly...loved the roasting of Giannis' airball FTs

Really showed his lack of experience by allowing the fans to get in his head.

especially now that they have to bounce between cities with still only one day off?

Nothing bitchassness about his performance last night

Kawhi on 1 leg >>>

He gets a pass from me on dodging the SAS questions

I will not question that man again

Remarkable season...and some of the all time playoff performances/moments

Tip of the cap.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26800531/budenholzer-miffed-drake-antics-rapper-replies

.

Really no excuse for pulling him out of the game in that situation

You make that call, and it works, they'll call you a genius

When it doesn't work...well...yeah, you have to answer for that

.

it won't get better on a West team.

-Definitely better from a tax stand point
-Better weather
-Doc >>>> Nurse
-Lou Willz + Harrell < Lowry + Siakam but not by much
-Toronto can't add anyone and Marc Gasol's corpse doesn't count
-Clips have cap to add two Maxes to a team that took as many games from the W's as the Rockets did
-Cali = home state also
-Toronto has offered free condo rent for life and free pizza I believe so there's that


Advantage: LA

Doc is the only advantage IMO.
Are they gonna hit on 2 Max slots?

>Doc is the only advantage IMO.

Doc, that's because it's you. lol For Kawhi, those things might (and probably do) matter.

>Are they gonna hit on 2 Max slots?

This is the thing. I think Kawhi has to land first. At worst though, they could land Boogie, maybe Kemba.

Thee West can't get Zion and Kawhi back in the same offseason

but he doesn't shoot as well.

>but he doesn't shoot as well.

Lebron didn't shoot well in 2007.

like a lil push shot, floater, half hook, something off the backboard, pull up, etc?

it seems like if he cant get around his man and get directly to the cup then hes pretty much done from close range.

the number of improvements he can still make to his game is very frightening for the rest of the league. Mid-range game, free throws, outside shot all still lacking.

I'm like, dude has so much more he can do.

If he hits stride with the things we're pointing out...he'll own the league.

he has marginally developed a jumpshot over the years, but still unreliable and ways to go. He needs to try to reach that breakpoint where the opposing team can't be completely confident laying off and jamming the lanes.

>he has marginally developed a jumpshot over the years, but
>still unreliable and ways to go. He needs to try to reach
>that breakpoint where the opposing team can't be completely
>confident laying off and jamming the lanes.

giannis is pretty much dunk or bust.

dude has only taken 7 shots outside the restricted area this entire series.

i mean cmon.

shocking..
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<---- 5....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlgiritpmfo

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Bud getting outcoached. No other way to really justify losing 3 games in a row when you haven't done that all season. Not to mention scoring 15-20 points under what you normally score.

However, now with the backs against the wall, the Bucks might play alot differently. Hopefully they go in with the "fuck it" mentality and play less tight. The Raps may also get close-out anxiety and play more tight. We shall see.

They are getting killed on simple pick and roll plays from the Raptors. It'll be a tall test to see if the Bucks can contain the other lesser known Raptors in Toronto, but like you said, their backs are against the wall, so hopefully they will play like they have no other choice but to go and get that W on Saturday.

for the first time these playoffs. Barkley had an issue with that, said it wasn't smart.

bledsoe starting off hot might actually be a bad thing. i saw him put up a 3 in crunch time that he had no business taking. the less confidence he has behind the arc the better lol.

Barkley didn't like it because it took scoring punch away from our bench unit, and he didn't think you should mess with the current chemistry of a starting 5 this late in a series. But Brogdon started most of the season, so I don't think the 2nd point is very good.

or whomever is responsible for instituting The Wall defense vs Giannis

Brilliant execution

Giannis better be in the gym with Ben, because if he doesn't develop a consistent J...I expect teams to use TOR's strategy next season

Giannis went from murdering the league...to the 2nd best player on his team.

would've been nice if the bulls hollered instead of hiring another meathead.

https://twitter.com/sheaserrano/status/1132449923662794755?s=21

out.


peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

.

All them years Zach Randolph was Jules and Gasol was Vinnie Vega.

Because its working. Dude just doesnt look as dominant. Looks confused at times.

And it doesnt help that he cant hit free throws

and to truth's point below...they run no sets for Giannis in the post

Bud and Giannis should get fried...but they'll probably get COTY and MVP

LOL

Honestly, if I'm a bucks fan, those have to be illegal defenses

3 guys waiting for Giannis...has to be a way to get illegal defense calls vs the wall

How could MIL just let that rock with no counter?

peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

a top 3 player and not have to go through Lebron

as his best player but keep acting like you don't see it.. lol
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<---- 5....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlgiritpmfo

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fuck those Piss Colored Primadonnas, The Serpent, The Donkey, and Jamesway Thanos

Shit!

>