Today, we’re taking a closer look at how the match-ups shake out between the Knicks and the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Bucks and Knicks battled for positioning near the bottom bracket of the Eastern Conference playoff standings, with the Knicks managing to pull away late. However, this is a new-look Milwaukee team then in years past. No longer is Milwaukee waiting around for a healthy Andrew Bogut, who they turned into Monte Ellis mid-season last year. This will be his first full season in beer and cheese country, and it will be a telling one.

Point Guard: Brandon Jennings (MIL) vs. Raymond Felton/Jason Kidd (NY)

This match-up is pretty cut and dry. There once was a time where I regretted the Knicks drafting Danillo Galinari over Jennings, but now that The Rooster was used as the centerpiece of the Carmelo Anthony trade, it’s hard to feel that bad anymore. Nevertheless, Jennings is not only a superior player than both Felton and Kidd, but he’s a guy that continually burns New York. He’s developing into one of the best young point guards in the league.

Edge: Milwaukee

Shooting Guard: Monte Ellis (MIL) vs. J.R. Smith (NY)

Both of these players have a tendency to get trigger happy, but there isn’t any doubt that Ellis is the more feared offensive threat. He can shoot from beyond the arc and slash to the basket at will. It will be a more interesting match-up once Iman Shumpert is healthy. How Shump plays defensively would be a huge difference maker in Milwaukee/New York showdowns. Again, not to say that J.R. Smith is a slouch on the defensive end. It’s just that Shumpert is in the process of becoming an elite-level defender. For now, however, Ellis is clearly the better option.

Edge: Milwaukee

Small Forward: Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (MIL) vs. Carmelo Anthony (NY)

Head and shoulders above him, it’s Carmelo. That goes without saying. What The Prince does best is play defense and battle underneath. He’s a sneaky good player in the league that casual fans know little about because he’s never going to score in bunches. That’s not how his game is built. There is, however, the chance that Ersan Ilyasova could start at the 3 for Milwaukee, depending on the development of first round pick John Henson. But, with Milwaukee’s eyes set on a playoff berth, they’ll want to go with veteran experience and a known quantity. Either way, New York has the clear edge.

Edge: New York

Power Forward: Ersan Ilyasova (MIL) vs. Amar’e Stoudemire (NY)

Ilyasova was probably the best player you didn’t hear about last year. He got off to a terrible start in January, one of the many players in the league who desperately could’ve benefited from a regular training camp. After the calender flipped to February, however, Ilyasova became a walking double-double who had the ability to grab as many as 25 rebounds in a single game. Knicks fans didn’t see this first hand, however, as Ilyasova struggled in their four match-ups last year (8.5 points, 3.8 rebounds).

Part of the reasons for the struggles last year was because the Knicks had an answer for him wherever he was on the floor. Stoudemire or anyone else the Knicks ran out at the power position didn’t have a problem following him out along the wings because they knew Tyson Chandler was stationed underneath the rim as a last line of defense. Expect the exact same type of game plan against the versatile Turk next year. I’m also still on the bandwagon that a normal schedule plus a deeper bench will only benefit STAT and allow him to return to the level of play which netted him his huge contract in the first place.

Edge: New York

Center: Samuel Dalembert (MIL) vs. Tyson Chandler (NY)

You can count on one hand the number of centers that have a significant advantage over Tyson Chandler. Dalembert is not one of them. Again, Chandler is perfect for this Knicks team because he will never demand the ball on offense, but when he does get it, he finishes at an incredibly high percentage. Dalembert is a serviceable big that can thrive given the right structure. But, matched up against Chandler, he isn’t the same caliber of player.

Edge: New York

Bench: Beno Udrih/Doron Lamb/John Henson/Ekpe Udoh/Drew Gooden vs. Steve Novak/Marcus Camby/Ronnie Brewer/Kurt Thomas

The Bucks bench is a nice mix of veterans and young talent. Lamb and Henson, their draft picks from the most recent class, have the potential to start at some points in their careers, obviously with Henson having a chance to start out of the preseason. Once a lottery pick himself, Udoh started to find his niche towards the end of the year as a change-of-pace forward coming off the bench. As for Gooden, he’s seemingly played for every team but the Knicks in the league, and continues to be a decent fill-in starter who can put up about 10 points and 7 boards each night.

I still think the Knicks depth is one of their great strengths going into the season, and the reason why their bench is going to be much better than in years past. Every player has their role, and the bench will get even more dangerous once Shumpert returns to the rotation. There are very few teams that can match the depth the Knicks have, and that is going to show throughout the season.

Edge: New York

Summary: While I do forecast the Knicks to have a better season than Milwaukee, I do believe these are two playoff teams that will be battling each other all season for positioning. I know its a rather uncommon rivalry, but every Knicks/Bucks game is going to mean a little bit more this season, which should provide plenty of drama and entertainment. These aren’t your parents’ Milwaukee Bucks anymore.

Today, we’re taking a peak at how the future showdowns between the Knicks and the Toronto Raptors may shake out.

In the case of the Raptors, they’re a very interesting team to forecast. Heading into this off-season, they had two clear objectives on their to-do list, and only accomplished one. They were able to bring over 2011 first round draft pick Jonas Valanciunas from Europe, but were unable to land their prize on the free agent market, Steve Nash. But, their off-season remained topsy-tervy after missing out on Nash. Plenty of experts around the NBA gave the Raptors tons of love for getting point guard Kyle Lowry from the Rockets for very little after missing on Nash. Yet, at the same time, nobody truly enjoys the contract handed out to former Knicks role player Landry Fields, which was offered, at the time, as a way to keep the Knicks out of the Nash sweepstakes. Still, the Raptors have seemed to improved on paper from what was a semi-competitive team last year. So, let’s look at how they match up with New York position-by-position.

Point Guard: Kyle Lowry/Jose Calderon (TOR) v. Raymond Felton/Jason Kidd (NY)

Of the four players that will primarily be serving as their teams point guards, its possible that the Raptors have both the best of the bunch (Lowry) and the worst (Calderon). Lowry has steadily improved each year since being drafted by the Grizzlies in the first round out of Villanova, culminating last year in his best year to date, averaging 14.3 points and 6.6 assists a night while limiting his turnovers. He’s a steady hand that can guide an offense in both the half court set and in transition, and is a massive improvement over the play from Calderon last year, who’s been one of the biggest enigmas in the NBA for the past couple of seasons.

As for the Knicks, we’ve discussed the new point men for New York at length, and the jury is still out on how the likes of Felton and Kidd will react in the Mike Woodson offense. If Felton returns to his run-and-gun peak he flashed with the Knicks before being traded to Denver, he could emerge as the best option either team has to offer at the point. With Kidd, we know he brings leadership, defense and three point potential, but we aren’t sure how much he’ll be able to contribute on a nightly basis at age 38. On paper, the Raptors seemed to have more of a sure thing in their starter than the Knicks have in either of their options. For that, they deserve the slightest of edges in this aspect of the match-up.

Edge: Toronto (slightly)

Shooting Guard: DeMar DeRozan (TOR) v. J.R. Smith (NY)

Many were expecting DeRozan to take the next step in his progression after averaging 17.2 points per game in his second season out of USC. Unfortunately for Raptors fans, that didn’t happen. While he still averaged 16.7 points a night last year, DeRozan saw his field goal percentage, rebounding and steals all take a dip, even though he saw more court time than the year prior. At this point in his career, DeRozan appears to be nothing more than a slasher with an ability to pop on a line score with a big scoring night from time to time. He doesn’t have any other peripheral skill that puts fear in opposing teams or the need to plan any extra for him as opposed to others that could see time at shooting guard in Toronto and may be best served down the road in his career as a sixth man.

Speaking of players better suited as sixth men, this brings us to J.R. Smith. With Iman Shumpert shelved at the start of the season as he recovers from that devastating knee injury in last year’s playoffs, Smith will more than likely take the role as starting two-guard for New York. In comparison to DeRozan, Smith’s game is much more dynamic, as he plays better defense and can kill a team from beyond the arc. While Smith commands more attention on offense, he also goes into funks where ball movement seems to die when it gets to J.R. for spurts during the game. Even when Smith is in his most selfish of moods, he’s still a better player, right now, than DeRozan.

Edge: New York

Small Forward: Landry Fields (TOR) vs. Carmelo Anthony (NY)

There is actually a lot of debate as to who will be the starting small forward for the Raptors this season. They could go small and start either Fields, their high-priced free agent acquisition, or even first round draft pick Terrence Ross. Or, they could insert Olympics sharpshooter Linas Kleiza into the line-up to add some more offensive punch. They could even play Amir Johnson, traditionally considered a power forward, to add more grit defensively. Then there’s the much ballyhooed Croatian Tomislav Zubcic, who could turn out to be the best of the bunch, though widely considered the least experienced. It may come down to a matter of match-ups as to who gets the start on any night.

Either way, none will even come close to the level of play Carmelo Anthony resides at. On his best of nights, ‘Melo is arguably the best scorer in the NBA and is in the conversation with Kevin Durant for the title of best small forward in the entire league (yes, I’m considering LeBron James more of a hybrid 4). Should Anthony’s play from the Olympics carry over into the regular season, the star forward could be on his way to a historic year.

Edge: New York

Power Forward: Andrea Bargnani (TOR) vs. Amar’e Stoudemire (NY)

On paper, it would seem that Stoudemire has the advantage. However, we all know games are not played on paper. And, Knicks fans are all too familiar with the games Bargnani has put up against New York in recent memory. For some reason, Bargnani loves playing the Knicks. He always has huge nights both on the glass and from beyond the arc, as the 7-footer can step outside and drain 3s at a Steve Novak-like rate. Even with the amount of joy I get every time Clyde tries to say “Bargnani” during a broadcast, few players in the league are as big of an offensive threat to the Knicks historically as the tall Italian.

Even with all that said, there are two reasons why I’m still in favor of giving Stoudemire the edge. The first of which is Mike Woodson’s new emphasis on defense with this unit. I don’t believe the looks Bargnani has gotten in the past against the team will be available to him anymore. The Knicks will have the ability to let STAT follow Bargnani out along the wing without sacrificing size underneath the basket with the likes of Tyson Chandler or Marcus Camby in the lane. Second, I still think Stoudemire was playing last season well below 100% in terms of health. I don’t know if we’ll ever see the MVP-type level Stoudemire first flashed when he arrived to New York, but he is certainly much better than he played last year. The Knicks will also have a much deeper bench, which will only give them more flexibility to keep Amar’e fresh.

Edge: New York

Center: Jonas Valanciunas (TOR) vs. Tyson Chandler (NY)

This is a case of the what we know against what we might think someone will be. For all the raves and reviews given to the big Lithuanian, we haven’t seen him perform on a nightly basis against the best competition in the world, so it truly is unfair to rate his ability against a well established center like Chandler, the defending Defensive Player of the Year. Until further notice, the Knicks will have the edge in the big man department.

Edge: New York

Bench: Terrence Ross, John Lucas, Amir Johnson, Linas Kleiza (TOR) vs. Steve Novak, Marcus Camby, Ronnie Brewer, Kurt Thomas (NY)

The Raptors have a lot of young players with something to prove off their bench, while the Knicks boast veterans who know how to play their roles as far as the structure of the team. We know Steve Novak can drain 3s all day, every day and walk away with a 15+ point performance from time to time. We also know Marcus Camby will grab plenty of rebounds and play a strong defense while occasionally cleaning up the garbage offensively and getting some buckets here and there. The sneaky addition to the Knicks bench was Brewer, who puts an emphasis on defense and may play himself into the Knicks starting line-up without Shumpert because of his shutdown abilities and Smith’s instant offense capabilities.

For the Raptors, if you aren’t going to have veterans with established roles, their bench is what you would want ideally. Anyone who gets into the game will be hungry to prove a point to management and assert themselves to get more playing time. However, that type of strategy could backfire, as some players may in turn try to do more than they should and do more damage than good. Until the Raptors bench loses some of the green that is on them and get more experience, you have to like the Knicks depth more than what Toronto can counter with.

Edge: New York

Final Verdict: Knicks with a significant edge over the Raptors

Apr 28, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; New York Knicks center Tyson Chandler (6) during the first half of game one in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals of the 2012 NBA Playoffs at the American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

To kick off the season on November 1, the Knicks will open up the Barclays Center in Brooklyn to face the Nets.

The very next day, the Knicks have their home-opener and welcome LeBron James and the NBA champions Miami Heat to Madison Square Garden, the first of four games against the Heat on the season.

While they open up with a back-to-back situation, there are only 18 of them on the year and no back-to-back-to-back situations like we saw in the shortened 2012 season.

Other dates to note:

December 13: After pursuing Steve Nash in the offseason, the Knicks get their first look at Nash and the Lakers as Los Angeles visits the Big Apple.

December  17: The night Jeremy Lin makes his return to Madison Square Garden

December 25: It won’t be Christmas Day in Madison Square garden, but Christmas in Los Angeles as the Knicks travel to take on the Lakers.

February 13: Landry Fields returns to MSG with the Toronto Raptors.

March 13:  Carmelo Anthony’s first trip to Denver since the 2011 trade.

The Knicks will be featured on national television 25 times during the season, playing 10 games on TNT, 10 on ESPN and five on ABC.

Yet while they will be featured nationally, it won’t be easy as the Knicks have some very tough stretches. They open with four games in five nights; and eight of their first nine games are against teams that made the playoffs last season.

In addition, they play seven games in 10 days from Nov. 13-23 with six of those 10 on the road. The final tough stretch features a five-game West Coast swing from March 11-18.

Bow that the entire 2012-13 schedule has been released, November 1 can’t get here fast enough.

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