Job 1 for Raptors in Game 2: Go big!

The Raptors were physically abused by the longer Milwaukee Bucks in Game 1. There are ways to cope with their size advantage, and here’s a few.

The Toronto Raptors had a meltdown in the second half of Game 1 of their playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks. Losing that match was bad enough; losing Game 2 would be borderline-disaster. What did we (and hopefully coach Dwane Casey) learn from defeat, and how can those lessons help us turn defeat into victory?

Sometimes ya gotta go big

I get cranky with those who believe small-ball solves all problems. There’s no doubt in my mind you can win playing that way, but not all the time against every opponent.

Apr 15, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan (10) collides with Milwaukee Bucks guard Tony Snell (21) in game one of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Air Canada Centre. Milwaukee defeated Toronto 97-83. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports /

The Raptors pulled down a sad total of 8 offensive rebounds, 2 of which were by Lucas Nogueira in garbage time. The Bucks were able to get out and run time and again off Raptors missed shots. As we’ve seen, trying to stop Giannis Antetokounmpo on the fast break is all but hopeless.

Surely we need to have our big men (and that includes Bebe!) battling under the O-boards.

The Bucks’ Greg Monroe will require attention. He pulled down 5 offensive boards, several of which he converted. Hack-a-Greg won’t work (he shot 74.3% from the free-throw line this season), so one of our large people will have to hold their position against him. That’s not an easy task.

Our bigs also need to help our guards when they attack the basket. Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan didn’t receive much support in the form of pin-downs, and too many of their shots were contested or blocked as a result.

Ignore Thon Maker on offense

OK, so don’t ignore Maker, but don’t waste a big man on him either. While I know he hit both his shots, I’m willing to wager he can’t maintain perfection, or anything close to it. Put DeRozan on him until he proves he can create and score his own shot. We need our best wing defender (i.e., not DD!) on Khris Middleton, while mobile people like Serge Ibaka or Patrick Patterson are making life difficult on the perimeter. Malcolm Brogdon and Tony Snell made 7 3-balls, many of them on wide-open attempts.

The Raptors are a shorter team than the Bucks at almost every position. Their smallest starter is Brogdon, who’s 6’5″. That’s not an insurmountable situation by any means, but our coach can’t resemble an ostrich either.

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