Play In Preview - TOR vs. ATL

[blackice]

In a surprising turn of events, our Toronto Raptors made the playin for the first time in a while and are facing against our mentor Flaming Homer. This matchup is intriguing so let's delve deeper into the matchups.

Center:

We have Michael Young facing off against Asbjorn Midtgaard, a young phenom who is already developed into a stellar defender however let's see if he has the endurance to go toe to toe with one of the best defensive anchors in the league. At 7'1 , 257 lbs he is a force inside and although his efficiency needs work if he can hold his own then Atlanta will have the advantage. That said Michael Young is a much more efficient scorer inside shooting 49% from the field and puts extreme pressure on opposing bigs, and can foul them out regularly. I'd say we have the slight advantage here.

Power Forward: We have Justin Patton going up against Reggie Perry. Perry isn't the biggest or the strongest PF in the league however he is extremely efficient shooting an impressive 50 FG% from the field and never takes 3's. I.e he knows what he is good at and excels in that area. On our end, Patton is a bit of a mixed bag. He's a volume scorer who should provide our offense with a hub we can run through and although his FG % from inside isn't pretty shooting just 41 %, he is one of the best stretch bigs in the league shooting 32 % on 253 3PA on the season. Obviously Patton can move the ball and it doesn't stick to him and he's a good defender, I think we have a clear advantage here but Perry is not going to be easy to outplay.

Small Forward: We have Herbert Jones facing off against Naji Marshall. This is a huge advantage for Atlanta, as Marshall is just a much better offensive player and has the ability to clamp down on Jones who is a 3&D specialist exclusively. He will make things hard on Marshall but I see this as the matchup I worry most about. Marshall is an animal and he's so young, he's a clear building block for the Hawks. Advantage to the Hawks.

Shooting Guard:

We have Hamidou Diallo facing off against Josh Giddey. Although Giddey is a superb passing combo guard with handles and size standing at 6-8, 197 lbs he's going to have his handles full with Diallo who although can't hit the 3 if his life depended on it, he is one of the best slashers in the game with an elite handle allowing him to shift to PG in certain matchups and he is also an excellent defender with the ability to effect the game in many different areas. He shot 44 FG% and will carry the offence and run pick and roll with Patton. I'd say he have the advantage here:

Point Guard:

This is the matchup that will likely decide who wins this series. We all know about Nassir Little, he's had a monster season averaging 6/4/7 w/ 0.8 blks & 1.4 stls and although he isn't a great scorer or the most efficient outside shooting his job is clear. Shut down Isaac Okoro, who is the face of the Hawks franchise moving forward presumably. Okoro stands at 6-5, 210 lbs and has come off a career year averaging 17/3/6 w/ 0.5 blks & 1 stl on 45 FG% & 38 3P% and he can hit his free throws. I believe this position will probably decide the series and I don't know who wins this matchup. I'd lean Atlanta but who knows, we'll see.

Bench:

I won't go into much detail here as we will don't wish to reveal how strategy in terms of who on our bench will play minutes, but expect to see an emphasis on defense and less on outside shooting, so the Hawks will see a heavy wave of Thomas Welsh and Elijah Hughes.

The Hawks bench isn't as potent in terms of an 8 man rotation but it is far deeper with a good playmaking guard in Coby White and some offensive punch in TJ Leaf. Dante Exum still has a solid season in him and this is likely his last shot to make a difference but he's obviously a guy who was elite his whole career.



Thoughts? Who do you think wins this series and why?


Also, if you guys have time I'd love to see a similar breakdown for each playin, if you have the time.

[Flaming Homer]

Really fun that we can match up in the play-ins
And it seems you put a lot of thought in our matchup as well.

I did mix up my starting five a bit for the game but the minutes for the mentioned ATL starter are still high and they should match up against each other a good bit.

In our last games vs each other it seemed the TOR starting 5 has the advantage over our one. A few guys from the bench kept us in the last games. And it is also a game between experience and new faces who want to make a name for themselves. Lets see if they are ready or if the vets from the North can teach us a lesson or two.

[rh0xxy]

Wonder what's the season series was? This is definitely a fun match up to watch. I could see Toronto having the advantage here with the home court on their side but i won"t be surprised if the Hawks turn it around with a good game plan.

Good luck to both teams.

[Flaming Homer]

BI had a 3-1 record against us during the regular season. We had a lot of problems with his front court, Patton and Young always ripped us a ew one.
Also Little was giving us some headaches with our playmaking.

[rh0xxy]

I wouldn't call it an upset since both teams have almost the same record but congrats Andre for this big win. Win another one and it could mean something. Good luck.

Well done also to BI for a wonderfull season, i thought you couldn't be in this situation hadn't Little got injured while on your hot streak. That was a tough break.

[Flaming Homer]

I wouldn't call it an upset since both teams have almost the same record but congrats Andre for this big win. Win another one and it could mean something. Good luck.

Well done also to BI for a wonderfull season, i thought you couldn't be in this situation hadn't Little got injured while on your hot streak. That was a tough break.

Thanks!

Yeah Little hurt for so long was indeed a really tough break for BI. Depth is highly important.