Pretty simple, vote for the winner of this matchup. Winner advances to play the winner of the 3/6 series. Milwaukee Bucks - Kid Chocolate: PG: Mike Conley / Kyle Lowry / Flip Murray SG: Stephen Jackson / Brent Barry SF: Thaddeus Young / Desmond Mason PF: Dirk Nowitzki / Joe Smith C: Greg Oden / Oleksiy Pecherov / Adonal Foyle Toronto Raptors - lukewarmplay: PG: Rafer Alston / Javaris Crittenton / Aaron Brooks SG: Raja Bell / Yakhouba Diawara SF: Jamario Moon / James Jones PF: Al Horford / Anthony Randolph / Darius Songaila C: Pau Gasol / Andersen Varejao
We'd let Dirk pull Horford away from the basket and attack him out there, as Dirk should be able to score plenty a point against Horford from the high post or perimeter positions. We'd also like to isolate Gasol on Oden and bully him, as he showed in the playoffs that he has a tendency to get bullied by bigger, more physical players. If Gasol is on Nowitzki, we'd stlil let Dirk go to work, and look to get the ball to Oden in position over the smaller Horford (see 2007 NCAA championship game for Oden on Horford). We'd also let SJax work the post on Raja Bell, who he has a height advantage over, and let him make plays from there, as he's a good passer. Thaddeus Young would crash the boards if Jamario Moon goes for weakside blocks, as well as fight him for rebounds. Defensively we match up well. I don't see a ton of points scored inside with Oden anchoring the defense, and the strength of the Raptors lies on the interior with Gasol and Horford. I don't think Toronto can score enough points to win this series, as no one on the team is an accomplished scorer, other than Gasol. Gasol is the only players in the starting lineup who averaged over 15 ppg. Al Horford scored 10.1 ppg, while Rafer Alston averaged over 13 on under 40% shooting. Raja Bell gets most of his points on kickouts in a wide open Suns offense, and I don't think he sees the same looks on this team. I see Toronto going in stretches where they have trouble scoring, as the only real playmaker on the team is Gasol, and he'd have trouble operating inside with Oden's presence in there. James Jones is primarily a spot up shooter off the bench, and Javaris Crittenton is wildly inconsistent. Varejao and Diarrhea are players who are pretty much invisible on offense, while Randolph is a very very young rookie who will most likely need a couple years to adjust to the game. We see the bench as a distinct advantage for Milwaukee. Lowry is a sparkplug type player who puts pressure on the opposing team, Brent Barry is a good shooter with a lot of experience who can get red hot, while Desmond Mason has shown he can score and bring energy into the game. Joe Smith is one of the most consistent bench big men in the league, and Oleksiy Pecherov can open up the floor. Flip Murray can also be a shot of energy and provide instant offense if needed, and Adonal Foyle will be counted on for defense and a big body if he finds himself on the hardwood. All this coupled with a homecourt advantage, I don't see this series lasting very long.
For comparison on scoring numbers, Toronto's starters last year averaged 62.5 ppg, while Milwaukee's averaged 61.3 ppg (this is without Greg Oden, so that's only 4 players in the starting lineup).
That's some sort of fallacy, but I'm not sure which. You could probably tell me though. Likewise, we're terrified of Yakhouba Diarrhea.
