ECF | P1: (1) Milwaukee Bucks vs (2) Toronto Raptors | MIL 1-0

[old skool]

Lowry was spectacular. The best player for either team. Leonard was a stud, but Middleton made him work hard for his points. The rest of the Raptors looked tentative in the 4th quarter. No one wanted to take charge.

Milwaukee did not play very good. Reminiscent of their rusty loss to Boston. The difference was that Toronto played much worse than the Celtics. I would expect both teams to be sharper going forward. In the second half, Milwaukee was the more aggressive team and won the hustle plays. Huge edges in rebounds and blocks put the Bucks over the top.

The Bucks have a lot of room to improve.

Antetokounmpo had a mediocre game, making only 4 of his last 13 and only one FG in the pivotal fourth quarter. He was stifled offensively, just like in the Boston loss.

Middleton did little offensively, but made life difficult for Leonard.

Bledsoe also did little on the offensive end, save for a 3-minute stretch to start the 2nd half when he scored 7 points.

Hill and Connaughton were quiet, but Lopez and Brogdon made up for them, and more. Lopez and Brogdon carried the Bucks in the first half and made key plays in the second half. But that has been the Bucks pattern all year, with different players stepping up every game.

[Ayt]

I'm liking all this talk about the Bucks great depth. Because depth is not how you win in the nba playoffs.

Nick Nurse was very cocky early in the playoffs, thinking he could play the heck out of his bench....and it compl.etely burned him, and cost the raps at least 2 wins before he finally got humbled and shortened his rotation.

I'm hoping that Bud is also feeling cocky at the moment, due to his bunch killing it against soft competition, and decides to lean a bit too hard on them to start this series. That might be just the edge the raps need to counterbalance the bucks' homecourt advantage.

Do you think the Bucks depth played a role in them outscoring the Raptors 32-17 in the 4th quarter? Kawhi played the entire 3rd quarter, then got a 2:30 rest before playing the remainder of the 4th quarter. Lowry played the first 9 minutes of the 3rd quarter, sat until the beginning of the 4th, then played the entire 4th quarter. Siakim played 9 minutes in the 3rd quarter and, like Lowry, played the entirety of the 4th. Old man Gasol played 9 minutes in the 3rd, and 10 minutes in the 4th.

http://popcornmachine.net/gf?date=20190515&game=TORMIL

I think this series provides an interesting comparison of coaching philosophy. Bud was actually willing to sit Giannis in the middle of the 4th from the 6:49 mark to the 5:01 mark whereas Nurse was going to ride his starters the entire 4th quarter no matter what. Shortly after Giannis checked back in from his short rest, the Bucks went on a 10-0 run and won the game.

[skones]

Lowry was exceptional. Being in the building, it felt like every shot he took was going in. Also felt like a game, and I mean the whole damn game, that was Toronto's. It felt, and I haven't read x amount of pages prior, that we stole the game from Toronto. Lopez did anything and everything he could around the rim with putbacks to prevent that from happening.

[Impuniti]

Lowry was spectacular. The best player for either team. Leonard was a stud, but Middleton made him work hard for his points. The rest of the Raptors looked tentative in the 4th quarter. No one wanted to take charge.

Milwaukee did not play very good. Reminiscent of their rusty loss to Boston. The difference was that Toronto played much worse than the Celtics. I would expect both teams to be sharper going forward. In the second half, Milwaukee was the more aggressive team and won the hustle plays. Huge edges in rebounds and blocks put the Bucks over the top.

The Bucks have a lot of room to improve.

Antetokounmpo had a mediocre game, making only 4 of his last 13 and only one FG in the pivotal fourth quarter. He was stifled offensively, just like in the Boston loss.

Middleton did little offensively, but made life difficult for Leonard.

Bledsoe also did little on the offensive end, save for a 3-minute stretch to start the 2nd half when he scored 7 points.

Hill and Connaughton were quiet, but Lopez and Brogdon made up for them, and more. Lopez and Brogdon carried the Bucks in the first half and made key plays in the second half. But that has been the Bucks pattern all year, with different players stepping up every game.

How was Kawhi a stud? Didn't shoot well and was a ghost in the entire 4th quarter.

Lowry playing this well in an important PS game was shocking, him being the best player of both teams even moreso.

[Kabookalu]

Brook Lopez looking like a DPOY was unexpected.

[Ayt]

Brook Lopez looking like a DPOY was unexpected.

He's a huge reason the Bucks were 1st in DRTG. Within roughly 10 feet of the rim, he's outstanding at challenging shots while not compromising team rebounding. He knows when to challenge, he generally doesn't foul when he does go for blocks, and he does an outstanding job of boxing out so guys like Giannis can grab the board and get the ball up the court.

I hope GM's are clueless about how good he is so the Bucks can bring him back for cheap, but that doesn't seem likely.

[Ayt]

I'm not worried about Brook frickin' Lopez at the moment. Maybe that changes in the series, but going in, he doesn't seem like a threat to the Raptors.

I'll be shocked if bucks win the series

Imagine thinking Giannis is better than Kawhi lol.

LOL LOpez

Bucks stink. I’ve seen enough. I’m calling it.

Raptors - Warriors Finals it is

[Domejandro]

Continued here....
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