Well, here’s the main news which takes some of the gloss out of tonight.
Injury Report Update:
Out:
Grayson – H&S Protocols
Giannis – Non-covid; illness
Pat – H&S Protocols
Donte – Left ankle; sprainQuestionable:
Thanasis – H&S Protocols
Jordan – H&S Protocols
Semi – H&S Protocols— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) January 5, 2022
No Giannis for the Bucks today which means the “showdown” that many were anticipating has a built-in asterisk with it. It’s the regular season so the whole thing as an asterisk but there are some games which obviously matter more than others, and after watching the Raptors will three straight in impressive fashion (albeit all three teams were without their best player), it would have been nice for a real test. Sure, we all get a kick out of taking antigen tests and rejoice when they’re negative, but once in a while you need a real test which goes up the nasal passage for a true experience. Call it the price of feeling human.
I watched the Pistons manhandle the Bucks in Milwaukee the other day because they weren’t wasteful with the time on their possessions. Early penetration, crisp ball movement and some out-of-this-world shooting from Saddiq Bey (8-12 3FG) spurred the offense, while Giannis was under unpredictable double-team threat with the sideline being used to good effect. Perhaps the Raptors with their combined 4-acre wingspan will orchestrate something. The coaching response by the Bucks will also be difficult to administer as Coach Bud also entering Health and Safety Protocols. I feel there needs to be a ceremony of sorts when anyone enters “the protocols”. Perhaps we wrap the unfortunate exile into a giant Ziplog bag and slip them down a conveyor belt as they disappear behind some plastic curtains. I’m all for ceremony, however pointless.
The matchup to watch for me is Jrue Holiday v Fred VanVleet. This is like the unstoppable force meets the immovable object, you pick which is which. Fred has been on fire dropping 31, 27, 31, 35 and 33 in his last five games, all while not necessarily dominating the possessions in the game. He’s gotten his scoring within the team context and can’t be accused of over-dribbling, not passing enough or looking excessively for his shot. That has been the most impressive part for me. Looking at 82games.com (do people still check this site?), another thing to admire about Fred pops up:
He doesn’t dominate the ball so you see him using less than 10 seconds of the shot clock while playing “off the ball” the rest of the time. On these possessions he has a .560 eFG which is excellent. This is in large part due to the Raptors having other ball-handling options in Pascal Siakam and Scottie Barnes, which allow VanVleet to diversify the viewpoints he gets on the floor. This is key to him having a superb read of the game by the crunch time (under five minutes, less than five differential). In these instances we see Fred being more assertive and increasing how much he handles the ball, while also having a respectable eFG%. The eye test confirms all this as we lately haven’t seen moments where the Raptors struggle to find rhythm late in games.
His matchup with Holiday will be a physical one and I’ll be keen to watch if Nurse decides to relive VanVleet of the physical pressure Holiday puts on you offensively by switching another defender on him, and having VanVleet deal with Middleton. On the other side, Holiday will undoubtedly guard VanVleet, making for a true test. So even though Giannis is out, we do see another game within a game between Holiday/VanVleet. Should be a good one.
The betting line has Manny taking the 8.5 being offered by the Bucks. Mayhaps this is a sounds strategy which you can test out using the leading online casino in Canada where the line has shifted to -3.5, which could be a tasty one. The game is at 8pm on Sportsnet.
