Well here we are again, another great regular season by the Toronto Raptors. Once again they finish top three in the east; they win over 50 games; they have two all-stars. And yet, they are once again struggling against a lower-seeded team in the playoffs. The Milwaukee Bucks should quite frankly be up 3-0 in this series. They handily beat the Raptors in games One and Three and were two wide open threes at the end of game Two away from winning that game. There are some serious rotation issues that the Raptors coaching staff need to sort out for game four if they want to swing this series in their direction.
Toronto Raptors Rotation Changes for Game 4
Bench DeMarre Carroll
On Thursday nights broadcast, Toronto Raptors analyst Jack Armstrong made a comment concerning Greg Monroe and how he is getting minutes over guys who played more in the regular season. He said “Jason Kidd’s only loyalty is to winning”. This should be the same for Dwane Casey, and yet he is still starting Carroll for some unknown reason. He is too slow to guard Giannis Antetokounmpo and has scored 15 points all series despite starting every game. P.J. Tucker on the other hand has been able to slow down Antentokounmpo, and although he only has 12 points all series, he is moving the ball quickly and not taking terrible threes.
Make Delon Wright the Backup Guard
On the other hand, Cory Joseph has struggled in two out of the three games, shooting 20% from the field. He simply does not have the size and length to be effective on the offensive end of the floor. Wright should replace him as the backup point guard. At 6’5, he is capable of guarding multiple positions. Yes, he did not score a point in the first two games, but he only attempted two shots and was flying all over the court. He just makes the right play every time, getting loose balls or making the extra pass. And when he did start shooting in game three, he scored a team-high 13 points.
Norman Powell
After the Terrence Ross trade, it was assumed that Powell would take the reigns as the first wing off of the bench for Toronto. But after the acquisition of Tucker and a couple of rough games, he has been rooted to the bench. Powell has only made two appearances in the three games so far, both of which were in garbage time. The first game, he went 2/4 for 5 points. In the second appearance, he was 4/8 for 12 points.
So, despite only playing 20 minutes all series, he still has more points than Carroll and is shooting 50% from the field. He should be playing behind Tucker in that 6th man role simply due to his athleticism. Unlike Carroll, Powell is able to get to the rim and create some chaos for this Milwaukee defense, who can just sit and watch Carroll stand at the three-point line. Spacing is important, but it is useless if you cannot get any penetration into the paint.
More Playing Time for Jakob Poeltl
The next one will surprise people, but Poeltl should get more minutes off of the bench. He should not start over Jonas Valanciunas or play more than Patrick Patterson, but he needs to be on the floor more often. Valanciunas is another player who has been dreadful this series, as he has struggled to deal with the length and athleticism of Milwaukee. And when he is struggling on offense, there is no point to having him on the court as he is simply too slow to guard these faster players on the defensive end.
Poeltl should probably get some of his minutes because he has the speed to keep up with players in the pick-and-roll and is able to rotate as a help defender. He won’t help much on offense, but as long as he is played with guys like DeMar DeRozan and Serge Ibaka, things should be fine on that end.
Main Photo
TORONTO, ON- APRIL 18 – Kyle Lowry (7) of the Toronto Raptors sits dejected on the bench after he fouled out late in the game between the Toronto Raptors and the Washington Wizards at the Air Canada Centre April 18, 2015 (David Cooper/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
