Well, it’s date #3 with Milwaukee tonight. The teams have split the season series, and in both games, the losing team pretty much choked down the stretch (you may remember the January meeting in Milwaukee, which the Bucks won 107-97, or as I like to call it, the Time Will Solomon Single-handedly Poisoned his Entire Team).
But this is a slightly different Milwaukee team, as I’ve mentioned this week. Michael Redd is out for the year after blowing out his knee, and that gives them a different look. Lotta people are counting the Bucks out because of it - I’m not one of them.
I think the Bucks might actually be better.
Look, Redd dominates the ball. He takes a lot of shots. But this team actually has a lot of weapons - Jefferson, Charlie V, Andrew Bogut, Charlie Bell - and I don’t think they need one guy taking all the shots.
Then you look at Jefferson in particular. He can dominate the ball too, and he’s definitely not as deadly a shooter, but I feel he does a lot more than Redd in terms of driving and slashing, and he has a decent post-up game to boot. Plus, he’s a far superior defender. In other words, he’s exactly the type of SF we need here. Sigh. Toronto fans don’t care for the guy because he came across as an ass in the playoff series two years ago, but I get the impression that’s not really him, and that he only acted that way to take some pressure off of Carter.
On the other hand, this isn’t the same Toronto team that Milwaukee beat, either. Both Jermaine O’Neal and Jose Calderon missed that game, and with Anthony Parker handling the backup PG duties, the Bucks can’t count on Will Solomon handing them the game again.
Injuries have slowed Andrew Bogut (who is still day-to-day with back spasms, though he says he plans to play tonight) and he missed the last game against Toronto. Luke Ridnour is also banged up but expected to play. The Bucks have gotten good contributions from Ramon Sessions and Luke Mbah a Moute as well.
Ordinarily, looking at the matchup, you’d have to think that the Raptors, now fully healthy, should dominate this team at home. And obviously that’s what I’d like to see. But I just don’t trust the Raptors, healthy or not.
Yeah, they’ve won three in a row and the Bucks are banged up. But the Bucks have plenty of guys who can hit open shots and the Raps have been giving up way too many of those lately. And if Jefferson is ready to take the reins of this team like I think he is, he could be a real problem for the Raptors, and you know Charlie V is gonna go off ‘cause he always does against Toronto. Can the Raps withstand those two, and keep everyone else in check?
You know what, even though I don’t trust them, I can’t pick against the Raptors in this one. Even with their defensive woes, the offense is clicking, with Parker, Calderon, and Bargnani playing their best ball of the season, Chris Bosh being his usual All-Star self, and Jermaine O’Neal anchoring the bench. With those guys playing well, the roster is tightened nicely, and anything they get from the 3-spot is just a bonus. And since the Bucks aren’t a great defensive unit I feel like the Raptors can simply outscore them, even if they can’t stop them.
Raptors by 10.
Tags: Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors
Entries (RSS)