How about another crack at a win, eh?

Sure, giving up an average of 120 points through 2 games isn’t anything to get excited about. In fact, it isn’t a trend that’s fun to look at for the Milwaukee Bucks, especially considering they were one of the top Ds in the entire league last year. Instead of things getting easier, it’ll only be tougher as the Bucks depart on their first road trip of the season up to Toronto to face the Raptors. Toronto, one of the higher seeded teams in the Eastern Conference during last year’s playoffs, got bounced out in the first round in a resounding sweep at the hands of the Washington Wizards. To make up for that fact, they went out and reloaded with plenty of free agent signings as they look to compete for a spot in the post-season once more.

Let’s get to it as always!

The Logistics

When – 5:00 PM Central

Where – Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Canada

TV & Radio – FS Wisconsin/NBATV; 105.7 The Fan

Probable Starters

Milwaukee Bucks (0-2) Toronto Raptors (2-0)

Michael Carter-Williams PG Kyle Lowry

Khris Middleton SG DeMar DeRozan

Giannis Antetokounmpo SF DeMarre Carroll

Johnny O’Bryant PF Luis Scola

Greg Monroe C Jonas Valanciunas

Storylines of the Night

Raptors Update

For a team that plenty of people questioned at the start of the season, the Raptors have come roaring (pun completely intended) out of the gate with victories over both the Pacers and the Celtics in the first week of play this season. While losing Greivis Vasquez, reigning 6th Man of the Year Lou Williams, and Amir Johnson may have hurt Toronto, they went out and signed DeMarre Carroll away from the Hawks after a very successful season. Thus far, they’ve been able to simply overpower opponents with a bevy of shooting from all over the roster, but how long that keeps up is anyone’s guess.

With plenty of potent shooting across the roster, it is critical that the Bucks front line starters do their best to at least keep up before the bench units come in. Terrence Ross coming in as the Raptors’ super sub causes plenty of problems, though his running the offense is somewhat predictable with a usage rate at 27.9%. Combine that with a true shooting percentage of 71.4%, and even dealing with the 2nd unit becomes a bit of a load. Whether the Bucks change their poor defensive ways or otherwise will be as usual the key this evening, and if the short-term history has anything to say about it, things aren’t going to look good.

Thinned Out Herd Continues to be the Norm

Naturally, one of the fingers that could be pointed to as the reason to blame for Milwaukee’s slow start could be the fact that a usual starter in OJ Mayo has been sidelined with hamstring issues, expected backup center John Henson will be held out thanks to a sore Achilles, Jabari Parker is still going through the final phases of his rehab process with his knee and is expected to be out for a bit longer. Each of the above players is supposed to be a high-level contributor to the team, and thanks to their absences the Bucks have been forced to utilize players who should be getting spot minutes to plug the big minute gaps.

Toronto isn’t dealing with nearly the same issue, and should be fully ready to go this evening. Tyler Ennis is also slated to be out thanks to shoulder issues, though who knows if he’d actually get much time on the court with MCW, Jerryd Bayless, and Greivis Vasquez all taking up guard rotational minutes.

Speaking of Greivis…

Good Lord, What’s Up with Vasquez?

It hasn’t been… fun to watch. It gets even worse when you remember that the Bucks gave up a future protected 1st round pick from the Clippers for him on Draft night. Through preseason and the first two games of the year, Vasquez has looked a bit slow and a bit prone to dribble the ball quite a few times before giving it up to get the offense initiated. His value for a team is supposed to come through his scoring and offensive abilities, but thus far things haven’t been too impressive. 30.8% shooting from the floor (slightly better at 40% from 3) and a team defensive rating of 126.3 when he’s on the floor means his impact has been pretty minimal on both ends of the floor.

While he’s simply a backup and expecting big numbers from him nightly would be unrealistic, but for the value given up and the minutes doled to him, a bit more help would be great. Of course, his main running mates out on the floor aren’t much to get excited about either, but that makes his role as the offensive creator that much more amplified.

Vasquez returns tonight, then, in his first game against a Raptors team he was a member of as recently as last season. Will he be invigorated enough to a shockingly unexpected great performance tonight? Probably not, but that would be a pleasant surprise!