In the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals, the Bucks once made a 2-0 start, and the Finals were just around the corner, but Cowhi Leonard led the Raptors to complete a big reversal, and finally led the Raptors to the Finals and lifted that year's championship trophy. The 18-19 season was the first time that Giannis Antetokounmpo lifted the regular season MVP trophy, and the East Finals were reversed to hit alphabet brothers greatly. Of course, Alphabet Brother was a very hard-working and motivated player, and he maintained a very good competitive state in the following 19-20 and 20-21 seasons, and won the 20-21 championship trophy as desired.
With the status of defending champions, the Bucks began a new season. But the focus of the new season is more on the Nets and Bulls, and the Bucks, as the defending champions, seem to be much more low-key. However, compared with the Nets and Bulls, the advantage of the Bucks is that the core has not changed much, and after the baptism of the Finals, with the deepening of the season, the Bucks' record has gradually reached the level of the top four in the East. Arguably, the Bucks are also a force to be reckoned with, and they are still the favorite team for the championship.
Before the birth of the new champion, the defending champion was still the championship, but now the alphabet brother and the Bucks seem to have a headache again, and the former Raptors have a bit of a "Hu Hansan is back" feeling. On January 16, Beijing time, the Bucks played a game at home against the Raptors, and the Raptors finally defeated the Bucks 103-96. After this game, the Bucks are fourth in the East and the Raptors are eighth, and some fans may think that the Raptors are not yet a threat. But in fact, the Bucks have faced the Raptors this season is already 0-3. Of course, in the previous two games, The Alphabet Brother missed the game, but this is not an excuse.
In the january 16 showdown, alphabet brother played, the whole game got 30 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, 17 of 17 free throws are not fake, but the efficiency of 17 shots 6 is too low, and they have not played their own style at all. Pascal Siakam, who was previously questioned, performed well, scoring 3 points, 3 from 3 of 11 of 20 from three-point range, plus 9 free throws, 30 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and 2 steals, and 13 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists on 4-of-5 shooting in the final quarter, directly killing the game. Losing the game always has to understand where to lose, from the game process, the Raptors have a bit of a stag predator flavor, mainly because the letter brother's extreme attack frame is severely restricted.
Although The Alphabet Brother's projection is now a lot better than before, such as his free throws, 17 of 17 penalties are really amazing. However, the alphabet brother in the game still needs to hit the basket more, and in the game with the Raptors, the alphabet brother shot 1 of 5 in the box, shooting 20%, while his season average level is 8.5 shots and 6.5 shots, shooting 76.8%. Alphabet brother is trapped, the Bucks' overall attack frame is also a problem, only 7 of 17 shots in the whole penalty area, shooting only a pitiful 41.2%, while they averaged 23.7 shots per game in the penalty area and 15.8 per game this season, shooting 66.8%, the decline is extremely obvious.
Why are the attack frames of Alphabet Brother and Bucks limited? In fact, it is still the role of a group of raptors forwards, Siakam attack and defense are good, at the same time there are OG-Anunoby, Prescheis Achuva, Chris Boucher, Sviatoslav Mikhailhok, Justin Champaigny, Watanabe Yuta and other people, plus Fred VanVleet in the backcourt, the Raptors' defense is extremely elastic, once the alphabet brother raids, it is like falling into the pocket array arranged by the other party in advance, Mo said that maintaining the shooting rate, that is, the shooting opportunity will be greatly reduced.
The excellent frontal configuration has given the Raptors an advantage in rebounding and protection, and the Bucks have averaged 36.7 defensive rebounds per game this season, ranking first in the league, but the Raptors have grabbed 16 offensive rebounds from them. In addition, the Raptors' excellent defense has left the Bucks with only 30.8 percent three-point shooting, 5.3 percentage points below last season's 36.1 percent average. This is not accidental, the Raptors' configuration, is the Bucks' nightmare. There are some problems with the way Alphabet Brother plays, but in the past three seasons, he is actually the big winner of the league, and he is still in the year of playing. Now that the Raptors are gradually picking up, the alphabet brother is afraid that he will have a headache again, and the average age of these players of the Raptors is not large, and it may also be the obstacle for the alphabet brother to impact the honor again in the future.
Text/Duncan's laugh