Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways From Game 2 Loss To Toronto Raptors

Good Nights from Milwaukee’s Centers

Greg Monroe and Thon Maker have very different styles of play, but both were effective on Tuesday. Moose scored efficiently in his time off the bench, and Thon continued having success in influencing shots and being a rim protector.

The box score doesn’t accurately represent the impact Maker had on the game. While he only finished with two blocks and a steal, he made life much harder for the Raptors when he was in the game. He’s still rail thin, but doesn’t give up on rebounds and tries to be in good position on defense.

He also flashed some passing ability with four assists last night. Maker did enough late in the game to earn the right to finish it out, and we saw him instead of Moose in there to close the game.

Another effective performance came from Monroe. In just 22 minutes, Monroe was a force offensively, and scored 18 points on just nine shots. While he is lacking as a rim protector, Moose more than made up for it on the other end of the floor.

Both of these players showed there was no reason to play another center besides them, especially Hawes. They both offer different things, but are effective players who can hurt teams in different ways. Thon earned the right to close out the game, but Monroe’s scoring ability helped them dig out of some tough spots earlier.