Milwaukee Bucks: Analyzing Thon Maker/Jonas Valanciunas Matchup

Defense

This is where things could become tricky for Thon Maker. Valanciunas might not be able to shoot from beyond the arc–he’s attempted four total threes in his five-year career–but he’s a mountain compared to Maker.

Thon measures up at 7’1″, and he weighs somewhere around 216 pounds according to basketball-reference. Valanciunas, on the other hand, is about an inch shorter while weighing a whopping 265 pounds.

That weight works against Valanciunas when he’s got to chase Thon around the floor, but when Maker has to stop Valanciunas from scoring inside and grabbing rebounds it will certainly help that Toronto’s center has an extra 50 pounds on the rookie.

Luckily for Thon, Valanciunas hasn’t been a dominant post player this season. He’s in the 55.8th percentile, meaning some 44 percent of NBA players have scored more points per possession in post up situations.

Less luckily for Thon, Valanciunas does a ton of damage in pick and roll situations. He’s third among players to play 50 or more games and attempt one pick and roll as the roll man per game in points per possession, racking up nearly 1.3 points per pick and roll attempt.

The Bucks will have to handle those situations well to have a chance of stopping Valanciunas and the Raptors offense in this series. Hopefully Thon can get some last-minute lessons from Kevin Garnett and get big in his first taste of the postseason.