Raptors vs. Bucks – Game Recap – October 29, 2018 – ESPN
NO HELP
Raptors coach Nick Nurse said his team needed better help defense to stop the Bucks’ cuts and straight-line drives. When the Bucks weren’t taking it straight to the hoop, they were kicking the ball out for perimeter shots.
“It’s a little difficult with the five-out spacing to get adjusted,” Nurse said. “It’s not easy to guard the ball 1-on-1 in this league. It gets harder all the time.”
GOING COLD
The Bucks’ defense tightened after allowing the Raptors to start 12 of 17 (70 percent) from the floor with 2:37 left in the first quarter.
Toronto went on to shoot 31 percent from that point to the fourth quarter, when the Bucks’ lead swelled to 15.
“When you’re trying to get back in it and they don’t go in you automatically say, `Aw man, they’re shooting too much,” Nurse said. “But I really thought we fought and tried to stay in it.”
Bucks 124, Raptors 109: Without Giannis, Milwaukee reaches 7-0
By virtue of the win, Milwaukee moved to 7-0 and became the only remaining unbeaten team in the NBA, a title they’ll carry into November and a matchup with the Boston Celtics on Thursday. For the seventh consecutive game, the Bucks led by 16 points or more, with that lead growing to as many as 25 in the fourth quarter.
Milwaukee’s victory was the consummate team effort, something that has been a hallmark of the team in the early days of Budenholzer’s tenure. No Bucks player scored more than 20 points and seven reached double figures. Ersan Ilyasova, who filled in for Antetokounmpo as a starter, led the Bucks with a collected 19 points and 10 rebounds, much of his output coming in the first half as he made his presence felt early by scoring Milwaukee’s first five points and 14 before halftime.
“Offensively, we play with a lot of randomness, a lot of ball movement, a lot of people movement. It’s not as orchestrated or choreographed maybe some other situations,” Budenholzer said before the game. “I think it gives us a chance to be successful without a player like Giannis and not have the drop-off … when a team or players are used to just kind of sitting there and watching one guy be amazing.”
Milwaukee Bucks: Player grades from 124-109 win over Toronto Raptors
Malcolm Brogdon stepped into Giannis’ role a little bit by taking some of his ball-handling duties. He tends to over-dribble at times but that did not stop him from being very effective this game. He did not manage to make a three (he took only one) but still scored 17 points as he was able to get to the basket all night. His plus-minus ended up being +27 on the night and that is a great indication of how well he played against the Raptors.
Raptors takeaways: Bucks provide plenty to fear – Sportsnet.ca
The grass might be greener on the other side
Mike Budenholzer was the leading free agent coaching candidate available last summer and was the first candidate the Raptors interviewed after they met with applicants on staff already — assistant coaches Nurse and Rex Kalamian and former Raptors 905 head coach Jerry Stackhouse.It was never clear how enthusiastic he was for the job, and in some corners, it was believed the whole plan was to leverage the Toronto job to bid up the Bucks where the chance to coach Antetokounmpo was considered too good to pass up. Maybe if the Raptors had acquired Leonard earlier in the process things might have been different.
The Raptors would have you believe they got the man they wanted in Nurse and they may have – it’s hard to argue with his start. One thing that’s clear is Budenholzer can coach. The trademarks of his best teams in Atlanta – the Hawks won 60 games and made it to the conference finals under him in 2014-15 – were a well-spread floor and great ball movement. They were second behind Golden State in both assists and points off assists that season and they did it while playing elite defence.
Raptors fall from unbeaten ranks in Milwaukee | The Star
Wright back: Delon Wright made his second appearance of the season after missing five of the Raptors’ first six games with a left adductor strain. After playing just five minutes against the Minnesota Timberwolves, he logged 13 minutes against the Bucks with four points, two rebounds and one assist.
Food for thought: The Raptors, now 6-1, started last season 4-3 on the way to a franchise-record 59-win season … Raptor Pascal Siakam finished with a career-high 22 points … Chris Boucher and Jordan Loyd made their NBA debuts in the fourth quarter … Lowry passed Doug Christie to become No. 1 on the Raptors’ career steals list with 665. He had two on the night … The Bucks are 7-0 for the first time since 1971, and have scored at least 110 points in each game.
What’s next? The Raptors return home to complete their second back-to-back of the season with a visit from the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night, before heading out on the road for four. The 76ers beat the Atlanta Hawks 113-92 on Monday night.
Kyle Lowry – Post-Game Interview – Toronto Raptors vs Milwaukee Bucks, October 29, 2018 – YouTube
Three-ball betrays Raps in 124-109 loss to Milwaukee – Raptors HQ
For the Bucks the impact of their new system was clearly felt. In addition to them pouring in three-point jumpers they benefitted enormously from their improved spacing. With Raptors bigs unable to help off of Brook Lopez, who has essentially become a three-point shooting specialist, the Bucks only needed a single defensive breakdown to get all the way to the basket and score. Eric Bledsoe and Malcolm Brogdon used this to slice to the rim with impunity, as both Bucks guards would finish with 17 points, despite having only 2 made three point shots between them. Lopez had an off-night shooting the ball, but fellow newcomer Ersan Ilyasova was able to capitalize whenever the Raptor bigs sent help on drives. Ilyasova led the Bucks in scoring with 19 points, able to capitalize on Bledsoe and Brogdon penetrating by cutting and hitting spot-up jumpers.
There were some bright spots for the Raptors. Lowry was able to total so many assists in large part due to an extremely productive night from the Raptors’ starting frontcourt of Serge Ibaka and Pascal Siakam. Siakam had a career high 22 points, to go along with 8 rebounds and 4 steals. He attacked Ilyasova relentlessly off the dribble and was productive in transition whether pushing the ball himself or benefiting from Lowry’s outlet passes.
Wob: Kawhi-for-DeRozan Trade Can Join Exclusive Club of 'Fair' NBA Swaps | The Action Network
If the Raptors make the Finals and Leonard leaves, Toronto will put a banner in the rafters it hasn’t seen since 1967, and that was for a completely different sport.
More importantly, should Kawhi bolt, the Raptors are well-positioned to blow everything up and completely rebuild without the burden of any long-term contracts haunting the salary cap (DeRozan).
They have a single player on the books (Norman Powell) with a guaranteed contract for the 2020-21 season.
Lowry, Serge Ibaka, Jonas Valanciunas, Fred VanVleet are all guys who will immediately become attractive trade pieces next season to every fringe-contending team looking for an upgradeThe number of draft picks Ujiri could get in return for those players would make even Sam Hinkie jealous — and give Toronto a blank canvas for free agency.
This is why the Raptors did the Kawhi trade: They can lose this season, but they can’t lose long-term.
Nick Nurse – Post-Game Interview – Toronto Raptors vs Milwaukee Bucks, October 29, 2018 – YouTube
It’s OK To Believe In The Toronto Raptors Again – Nilsen Report
Toronto supercharged their offense with modern small ball principles: keep the rock moving, pass up a good shot for a better shot, and attempt lots of threes and layups. Moving away from iso-ball last season lifted the Raptors offense to the fourth best in terms of points per game production, and second best in terms of offensive rating, which measures overall efficiency.
The Raptors defense has been a top-ten unit over the last few years under defensive guru Dwane Casey, but they didn’t have the personnel needed to truly smother the opposition while chasing them off the three-point line.
Swapping DeMar DeRozan and Jakub Poeltl for a two-time defensive player of the year and Danny Green represents a massive upgrade on defense. Kawhi’s the only perimeter player to win the award twice, uniquely adapting the Raptors to the dominant play style of the association.
Boston will remain the favorite to emerge from the east, with the Toronto Raptors the only real competitor to challenge for an eastern crown in a weak conference. Golden State look like locks to win the west and their third consecutive ring, but the Celtics and the Raptors both feature the depth, star power and defense needed to theoretically upset the Warriors juggernaut.
Lowry, Leonard team up to make Raptors best team in the East
The bottom line is that Leonard makes the Raptors better.
Leonard missed 73 games last season with bothersome quadriceps tendinopathy, but he looks healthy and close to the player he was. He is averaging 26.6 points, eight rebounds, three assists and 1.6 steals and shooting 50% from the field and 45.5% on 3-pointers.
Leonard might just be the best player in the East and if Toronto remains at the top of the standings (which the Raptors should) and Leonard continues to play like this, he will be an MVP candidate.
It was risky for Ujiri to make this move. Leonard will be a free agent in the summer, and there’s no guarantee he re-signs. But Ujiri went for it. It was a gamble he had to make because the roster Toronto had wasn’t sufficient, at least in terms of reaching the NBA Finals. This roster is.
Here is Leonard’s impact: With Leonard on the court, Toronto scores 119.9 points and allows 102.2 points per 100 possessions. With Leonard not in the game, the Raptors score 104.8 points and allow 104.4.
Lorenzo Brown – Post-Game Interview – Toronto Raptors vs Milwaukee Bucks, October 29, 2018 – YouTube
Toronto Raptors: Does Greg Monroe have a role on this team?
So far, his problematic fit hasn’t been apparent because head coach Nick Nurse isn’t even putting him on the floor. Through six games, Monroe has seen the court just once, playing a grandiose four minutes in the victory over the Charlotte Hornets.
It’s hard to assess how he did during that one stint on the court. He made all of his shots (one!) and grabbed two rebounds. He even dished out an assist.
Monroe hasn’t seen the court since then.Luckily, he has some company on the bench with Delon Wright, who has also only entered one game this season. Wright has been dealing with an injury lately, however, giving him an understandable excuse for his absence.
Monroe has no such explanation, outside of his lack of evolution in the modern NBA.
Most average fans of the sport can name the biggest trend of late: the constant need to take (and make) 3-point shots. If you don’t have that shot in your arsenal, your time on the court is going to be limited.
Chris Boucher making good on his second NBA chance with Raptors – The Athletic [subscription]
Molding Boucher from a somewhat raw 25-year-old into an NBA contributor falls mostly on Mahlalela from here. The first-time head coach is eager to take on such an exciting project, and he intends to deploy Boucher as both a centre – where he popped in Vegas – and as a power forward so that there are multiple paths to him contributing in the NBA. Boucher even jokes he’ll play some point guard if they want.
For now, the 905 instruction is for Boucher to be himself — run the floor, block shots and continue gaining confidence in his outside shot, which has shown real potential. He’s an interesting test case from the player development side given his late start, with Mahlalela calling him a “new athlete” that hasn’t been conditioned to shoot or run or play a certain way too long to really change it. That doesn’t mean the 905 staff will be hands-off, but they want to give Boucher some latitude until everyone has a greater idea of what he might be as-is. Given the upside at play, it’s an exciting opportunity for a Raptors 905 outfit that’s made a huge impact at the NBA level and now has a unique project for the season.
“Let’s not try and change anything, tweak anything, alter anything. We can just screw it up as coaches. He’s got a natural talent and let’s allow that to progress and allow that to build, especially in the system of basketball he’ll be playing,” Mahlalela said. “With Jordan and Malcolm (Miller), we know what we have and we can sort of work to fine-tune it. With him, we have a broad canvas still that I think really still needs to be painted. We don’t know where he’s gonna end up. I mean, he could be an exceptional, exceptional NBA player, and the fact that we could have a role in that development is really, yes, as a first year head coach, it’s awesome to have him on my team.”
For as long as they have him, anyway. Boucher and Loyd were both called back up to the Raptors on Sunday and are traveling to Milwaukee for Monday’s game, starting the clock on their 45 in-season days as two-way players. The Raptors will be judicious with those as the season rolls on, knowing they could use the combined 90 days for additional depth should injury strike at the guard or centre positions late in the year. The quick recall, though, is an early sign of how invested they are in seeing Boucher’s progress.
Power Rankings, Week 3: Raptors still tops, but Bucks and Warriors gain ground | NBA.com
The guy who came with Kawhi Leonard (who had 35 points on 15-for-23 shooting against Minnesota on Wednesday) from San Antonio has been pretty good, too. The 18 3-pointers than Danny Green has made this season are more than he made in any six-game stretch last season, and with the starting group so dominant –the Raptors have outscored their opponents by 27 points per 100 possessions in 90 minutes with Kyle Lowry, Green, Leonard and Pascal Siakam on the floor together — it hasn’t mattered that they have yet to have both Delon Wright and Fred VanVleet off the bench. But after playing five of their first six games at home, the Raptors will play nine of their next 13 on the road. That stretch includes four back-to-backs, with Leonard having rested the second game of their first one.
