Facing The Bucks Will Prove Beneficial for Raptors

As we all know by now, LeBron James is the current king of basketball. What we may have learned in Round one of the playoffs is that Giannis Antetokounmpo could be the heir apparent. Having eliminated the Greek Freak and Milwaukee, the Toronto Raptors may be more prepared for LeBron than ever before.

Last year, we were happy to be there. The Eastern Conference Finals was something almost unfathomable for the Raptors organization and their fans at the time. We then swiftly got demolished twice then won twice then got destroyed twice more. It wasn’t a sweep though and because they won the title, we technically got the NBA’s bronze medal. What a good season that was.

Things are significantly different this season. This series against LeBron and the Cleveland Cavaliers is huge both in terms of the franchise’s future and the legacy that this Raptor era will have. Fans now have a reasonable belief that this team can and will beat the Cavs. With the season that the Cavaliers had, I wouldn’t call it a blasphemous thought either. People often point to the deficiencies that the Cavs have suffered with all season long (mainly defensive issues) as the reason the Raptors could upset them, but I’d argue that the strong preparation that the Raptors dealt with in Giannis is the bigger factor in the Raptor’s potential victory.

LeBron is Better, But He’s Still Similar

Without a doubt, Giannis is a superstar and one of the best players in the league, but LeBron is on another level. LeBron James is arguably the greatest player of all time, and most certainly of our generation (he’s better than Kobe, don’t even try it). While the Greek Freak is in the midst of becoming unstoppable, LeBron already is and we have to deal with that.

While he is clearly the better of the two, the way to defend them is similar. It is more of a “pick your poison” situation with LeBron, but like Giannis, you want him to shoot jumpers. If you let James get to the paint, he’ll go all Magic Johnson on you and find one of his shooter buddies for a three. Literally every player on the Cavalier’s roster outside of Tristan Thompson and Edy Tavares (shout out to D-League Champs Raptors 905!) is capable of hitting from deep.

If you keep LeBron from getting in the lane, the defense won’t have to collapse, help or scramble. That is a really big “if” though. Every team has known this for years, but it is still LeBron James and he still dominates everyone. There is a reason he’s a top two player of all time (yes, I said top 2).

Preparation is Key

The biggest difference between this year and last? In 2016, the Raptors went into their series with the Cavaliers after having faced the Indiana Pacers and the Miami Heat, both of which went seven games. This year we beat the Milwaukee Bucks in six. A key item to remember here is that we have Serge Ibaka and P.J. “The Freak Stopper” Tucker this year. The Pacers had a star in Paul George, the Heat had a decent collective of talent in Goran Dragic, Hassan Whiteside, and Dwyane Wade, and the Bucks had an all-around monster in the Greek Freak and surrounded him with multiple 3-point threats. If you look at the Milwaukee Bucks, multiply their skill by 10, and take away their ruthless length and defense, they’d be very similar to the Cavaliers.

Anything the Cavs can do we have seen a much less lethal version of before. Small ball with LeBron at the 4? Giannis did that night in, and night out. Super small ball with LeBron at the 5? The Bucks tried that with Giannis at center in game 6. A three-point shooting center in Channing Frye? Thon Maker was a beast in the first couple of games, and the Bucks threw in Spencer Hawes a bit. A big who is annoyingly brutish and strong like Tristan Thompson? Greg Monroe went crazy until Jonas got into his head (that was low key my favourite part of the whole Bucks series). A low(ish)-priority guard who will bury threes like J.R. Smith? Tony Snell murdered us to the tune of 51.6% from 3. A superstar who will always get the benefit of the doubt from the referees? Giannis should have gotten an and-1 in the key every time he backed someone down.

The last one may have been a little saltiness from the author but I think you get the point. All the twists and turns that the Bucks brought into our stressful lives have better equipped us for the Cavaliers. The Game 3 blowout snapped our focus back in (I might have overreacted a bit in my previous article). The stupidly close call in game 6 kept our focus in. Struggling to deal with Giannis got us ready to struggle with LeBron. Everything happens for a reason and I think the Raptors are poised to shock the basketball world.

I will leave you with a very famous quote that perfectly fits what I believe about this series, and I think we can all agree with Kevin Garnett.

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Thanks for reading! Let me know what you guys think. Do the Raptors have a chance at moving on to the Eastern Conference Finals? Does LeBron continue with his Eastern dominance? Leave a comment below!