Comparing the ‘21 Milwaukee Bucks and the ‘19 Toronto Raptors
The international wave is very real in the NBA and The Milwaukee Bucks winning a championship with a Nigerian-born, Greek dude, as their best player serves to confirm that basketball is truly an international affair now but where does this trend come from?
You obviously have to trace it back to the Godfather, Hakeem Olajuwon as being the one who first broke the glass ceiling. Later other player from outside America would come in like Dikembe Mutombo and even later than that came Dirk Nowitzki.
More recently however was a championship winning team that had long since embraced the global way of viewing the game albeit out of necessity and their eventual push to a championship win was spurred on mostly by opportunism.
Before Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks would taste victory in 2021, they crossed paths with Masai Ujiri’s Toronto Raptors in 2019, who at the time were the best team in basketball.
The Raptors would beat the Buck in 6 games on their way to becoming champions. Out of all the playoff games between then and the Bucks eventually winning the chip in 2021, the 6 games played against Toronto in 2019, are the ones that truly molded them.
Yes, the first round sweep at the hands of the Miami Heat in the 2020 bubble, was a wake-up call for the Bucks front office but that didn’t prepare the Bucks for the long haul the way that their 2019 campaign did.
With that lets take a look at some on-court and off-court comparisons between these championship winning teams to gauge whether I’m full of it or not.
We’ll start with the obvious, as far as the narrative surrounding these two championship runs is concerned.
Two small market teams, neither of whom were considered favorites on their way to winning it all. Both seen as benefitting from injury luck and both maligned by the media for it.
Most will point to Durant’s injury in 2019 as helping the Raptors but you can defend this by pointing out the Warriors still had 3 all stars.
The Bucks in 2021, lost Donte DiVincezo but the injuries to Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Trae Young will be seen as something that that helped them big time.
In both cases the criticisms are ridiculous and really only used to discredit underdog/small market teams.
Go through history, you’ll find how injuries to the Showtime Lakers in 1990 helped Detroit them win their first championships. In 1996, Horace Grant was injured when the Chicago Bulls beat the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference finals. The Golden State Warriors benefitted from injuries to Chris Paul in the 2nd round of the 2019 playoffs.
The point is most championship runs in the sport’s history can be discredited in this way.
What is unique about each team is how one team developed a core and then needed a mercenary-like, star player, to push them all the way, while the other had a star player commit to the franchise that drafted him and acquire the right pieces to win it all.
Both these teams title runs will be unfairly tarred with the criticism of being beneficiaries of injuries, even though NBA history proves that to be false.
2. The League’s Best Defense
On court similarities on the offensive end are hard to come by when measuring these two teams against one another but on the defensive end their blueprints start to look more and more similar.
You have to think who the Raptors had as far as defensive personnel.
Kawhi Leonard, a two time defensive player of the year, Marc Gasol is also a former defensive player of the year, Danny Green was a far more active defender in 2019 than he is now, Kyle Lowry averaged 1.3 steals per game in their playoff run and Pascal Siakam is one of the best small-ball centers in the league and an awesome defender. Then there’s Ibaka, off the bench, a guy who has lead the lead in blocks.
That was a lot of veterans with a lot of defensive nous, coming together for a perfect season there.
Similarly the ‘21 Bucks were lead by a former defensive player of the year in Giannis Antetokounmpo. Brook Lopez is one of the leading rim protectors in the NBA, he averaged 1.5 per game both in the regular season and playoffs. Jrue Holiday was touted by Kevin Durant as being the best defensive guard in the league. PJ Tucker is among the better 3-and-D players in the league and Khris Middleton is no slouch himself on defense.
So I guess, I’m making the case here, that the tie that truly binds these teams together, is how they ensured the opposition came up with empty possessions. Indeed, I think the entire NBA is coming down some from the 3-point shooting, uber-offense era, even if they’re keeping the analytics.
Last year’s championship Laker squad were also true this blueprint. LeBron James and Anthony Davis are phenomenal defenders that were surrounded by Dwight Howard, Rajon Rondo and Kentavious Caldwell Pope.
Maybe just maybe the success of these teams, means NBA coaches and GM’s are getting back to understanding that defense does indeed win championships.
3. Nick Nurse Vs Mike Budenholzer
If you think about it these two coaches were in very different places in 2019 and the path each of them took in to the NBA and in guiding their respective teams to championships was very.
Nick Nurse refined his coaching chops as a D-League coach before joining the Raptors as Dwayne Casey’s assistant, eventually taking over the Raps head coaching job in 2019. You have to consider that while the Kawhi trade ultimately stand out as the biggest reason the Raptors went all the way, Nurse was Masai Ujiri’s biggest gamble.
A first year head coach, Nurse knew he had one shot at coaching a top 5 player to a championship and Nick Nurse took to it like a fish to water.
For Budenholzer the process and path to a championship involved far more trial and error.
His path in to the NBA began as an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs dynasty. He would then get his first head coaching gig with the Atlanta Hawks in 2013 and then would later be named head of basketball operations in addition to his head coaching duties. He would part ways with the Hawks in 2018 and being named Bucks head coach in May of that same year.
Budenholzer was given a longer leash as a result of Giannis’ choosing to to sign his max deal and even after the 4-1 drubbing at the hands of the Miami Heat in 2020, the Bucks GM John Horst showed a lot of faith by keeping Budenholzer as head coach.
In 2021 Bud repaid John Horst and the Buck’s faith by guiding the 21′ Bucks to a title.
While all championships are equal, Nick Nurse will likely be looked at more favorably in coaching and analytical circles. It wasn’t just using the box-and-1 strategy but using it at the right time. Nurse was far more adaptable in what his lineups would look like, using Siakam as the guy he could place in any lineup big or small, trusting Fred Vanvleet and how that directly led to the Raptors closing out the series.
Mike Budenholzer’s breakthrough came when he went to a smaller lineup and put Giannis at the 5. Everything else trickled down from there.
You have to wonder what Nick Nurse’s potential actually is and we won’t be sure until Toronto has another all star player on their team and this is where Bud has the better opportunity to put some shine on his reputation because he’ll still have the opportunity to coach Giannis, a least for the remainder of some of his prime.
4. Roster construction And Who Ya Got?
Kyle Lowry Vs Jrue Holiday
The biggest tactical advantage that the 2019 Raptors exploited against the Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals was that, then Bucks starting point guard, Eric Bledsoe was not a good or confident 3-point shooter.
Both point guards Lowry and Holiday contributed massively to their team’s run.
Kyle Lowry overcame his playoff demons and had one of his best games in game 6 of the 2019 finals to close out the Warriors and win the title. His 15 points, 6.6 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game may not jump off the page statistically but Kyle Lowry was the juice for the Raptors as a point guard and on defense he lead the league in charges taken that year.
Jrue was equally as big time for the Bucks in 2021. Averaging 17.3 points, 8.7 assists, 5.7 rebounds. His biggest contributions though were on the defensive end. Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Trae Young, Chris Paul and Devin Booker among the list of guards that were definitely served the “Jrue experience”. His defensive exploits will go down in history for how the helped steady the Bucks in the 2021 post season.
If the two teams played each other Jrue would definitely have the mismatch just via his size. So, I got Jrue here.
Marc Gasol Vs Brook Lopez
This is where the similarities get kinda eerie. I can’t think of 2 NBA players that have more in common than Lopez and Gasol.
Both seven-footers who came in to the league as back-to-basket scorers, both adapted their game to the space and pace, 3-point shooting era.
Both were all-stars on their teams before joining championship winning organizations. Gasol had led the “Grit’ n’ Grind” Grizzlies for years as their best player and Brook Lopez was the best player on the Brooklyn Nets after the shambles that was the Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett trades. Lopez would later be jettisoned from the Lakers, after reportedly offering to take a pay cut and it turned in to one of the best pieces of good fortune, to occur for the Milwaukee Bucks.
For all their offensive similarities, things get even more eerie when you look at the defensive contributions each man made to his team. Both man providing expert shot blocking, to complement the perimeter defenders on their teams.
Brook Lopez is definitely among the premier shot blocker in the league and because this is a pick em’ list, I believe that the 2019 version of Brook Lopez in better than Marc Gasol in 2019.
Lopez was on the court in situations and time when you thought he shouldn’t be and it didn’t matter. He started the finals series being thought to be unplayable due to Deandre Ayton’s athleticism and the Suns guards hunting him for isolations. By game 5 and 6, that was a non factor. Brook was playing with incredible confidence, shot the ball well, and to hell with strategy, right?
I’m gonna go with Brook Lopez for this one.
Serge Ibaka Vs Bobby Portis
it’s an NBA trope most of the time, but when you watch how these two guys contributed to their team’s post season success, you understand why most teams need a tough guy.
A hustle-play, energy, guy. A guy that just has moments. Whether it’s a made shot, a block, a dunk or a tipped ball leading to a steal, these guys are absolutely necessary to their team’s depth, chemistry and sustained defensive effort.
Serge Ibaka and Bobby Portis’ career paths couldn’t be any more different.
Ibaka was/is one of the premier shot blockers in the league, and while Toronto proved to be an oasis for him, things looked shaky 2 years earlier when the Thunder traded him to the Orlando Magic for Victor Oladipo.
Still if Serge’s journey to an NBA title seemed improbable at one point, then Bobby Portis’ journey would have seemed impossible just over a year ago. Having left the Knicks, Portis was brought in as a free agent. It looked like nobody wanted him and so the Bucks did the genius thing and signed a high energy guy with experience to a 1-year, 3 million dollar contract.
To understand what these two guys brought to their teams, look no further than game 4 of the 2019 finals and game 6 of the 2021 finals.
Offensive boards, dunks, blocks, steals, jumpers, just raw determination and effort allowing them to perform well above any supposed limitations of talent.
No lie I think these types of modern power forwards would be star players in the 90′s. Think Charles Oakley but with the ability to get buckets and shoot the jumper.
I gotta pick someone so I’m rolling with Serge.
Two guys who both brought floor spacing and experience to their team’s respective championship runs.
It’s a proven fact that you cannot win in the modern NBA without creating space for your stars. You do that by surrounding them with teammates who can’t be ignored or left open by the opposing defense.
Danny Green in 2019 is far better than the Danny Green you know now. He still had some of his lateral quickness back then.
While Danny Green performed his role admirably as a 3-and-D player, it was PJ that brought more x-factor and willingness to guard, at least one, of the opposing team’s best players.
Green probably made bigger shots like in game 3 of the 2019 finals, PJ was just an absolute dog in game 3 and 4 of that 2nd round against Brooklyn. You can take your pick as to which of the two, but I’d have PJ any day.
Kawhi Leonard Vs Khris Middleton
Two men charged with scoring the basketball at the end of close games. The resident clutch shooters and game winners for their teams.
In 2019 saw Kawhi’s heroics carry the Raptors. Leonard overpowered Middleton by making him go around screens any time Middleton was on him and to be fair Kawhi was un-guardable in 2019.
However in 2021 Khris “Khash Money” Middleton is a far more confident version of himself. His heroics when Giannis went down in the Eastern Conference finals proved that, 20 points in the 4th quarter of game 3 was big time and then 40 points in game 4 of the finals.
Still the edge goes to Kawhi here but it’s not the mismatch that it was in 2019.
Pascal Siakam Vs Giannis Antetokounmpo
There’s a lot that ties these two guys together.
African ancestry, the positions that they play and being the main inside scoring presence for their respective teams.
It was big fun watching these two guys in 2019.
Those 2019 playoffs were Pascal Siakam’s coming out party and his 19 points, 7 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game were crucial for this team. Both offensively and defensively Siakam impacted his team positively and Nick Nurse deploying him as a small forward in big lineups and as a center or power forward in small lineups, meant he had opportunities to change from bludgeoning and scoring on undersized matchups, to running the floor and protecting the paint.
Still, you can’t see Pascal Siakam stopping the 2021 version of Giannis, he’d just be too much.
Obviously the edge goes to Giannis.
The stories of how Kawhi Leonard won his second ring and Giannis Antetokounmpo won his first ring, are as divergent as any two narratives in the NBA.
If this series were played today, the Raptors would not be able to rely on the box-and-1 strategy that brought them success. Jrue Holiday would be a more willing and able shooter than Bledsoe was in 2019 and that opens up the possibilities for Giannis.
The narrative regarding the 2019 playoffs is that Kawhi Leonard “shut down” Giannis Antetokounpo in games 3 to game 6.
While that is partly true, and Kawhi manning Giannis made a difference, but when Giannis did blow-by Kawhi, it was the other Toronto players collapsing the paint that really stopped Giannis. This, and of course, the “Giannis-wall” which Bucks opponents have been replicating since that 2019 Eastern Conference finals.
In 2021 Kawhi would have to stop Giannis in the high and low post, and this current version of Giannis is surrounded by capable shooters and his own willingness to shoot the 3-pointer, means just letting him take the jumper is a gamble, even if he isn’t great at it.
This current version of Giannis is also more forceful in exploiting mismatches. Most wings and small forwards, do not have the strength to stay in front of this guy. Kawhi in 2019 though was also much healthier and far more capable of sustained offensive pressure and going 1-on-1, several possessions in a row.
If I’m going to use Giannis’ best version of himself as the metric of comparison, then the same should apply for Kawhi Leonard.
Kawhi’s 30.5 points, 9.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game in 2019 were a showcase of mid-range scoring and creating your own shot.
Giannis in 2021 averaged 30.2 points, 12.8 rebounds, 5.1 assists was a whole other world.
As far as which of the two would most likely takeover the series, the 2019 version of Kawhi will feel like a better bet on paper, given the variety of ways he can create his own offense. Still I’ll go with Giannis because, the Bucks will have several bodies that they will try as far as defending Kawhi 1-on-1. The Raps will have fewer options when it comes to guarding Giannis.
All told, I think that this current version of the Bucks, would have a slight edge over the 2019 Raptors.
