Archive for the ‘Los Angeles Lakers’ Category

Game thread: Lakers vs. Raptors

Posted by Scott Carefoot under Game thread, Los Angeles Lakers on Feb 12, 2012

Start time: 1:00 PM ET
Channel: TSN
Probable starting lineups
Toronto: Jose Calderon, DeMar DeRozan, James Johnson, Amir Johnson, Aaron Gray
Los Angeles: Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Metta World Peace, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum

Injury report

Toronto: Jerryd Bayless is doubtful for today’s game, while Andrea Bargnani is out.

Los Angeles: No injuries reported.

How pissed off is Kobe Bryant after getting beaten and outscored by Jeremy Lin and the Knicks on Friday? Raptors coach Dwane Casey has predicted that Kobe will come out like a “wet hen” today, which means that DeMar DeRozan will have his hands full trying to keep Kobe from dropping 40 on him.

The Lakers have lost three of their last four games and they’re seventh in the West going into this game. They have to view this game as a must-win so they don’t start slipping out of the playoff picture. Surprisingly, the Raptors are only the fifth-worst team in the East right now with their 9-19 record — they’d be second-worst, ahead of the Hornets, in the West.

This is the Raptors’ fifth Sunday game of the season, but their first Sunday game in Toronto. They’ve traditionally fared well on Sunday home games — they were 5-6 in those games last season, compared to 17-54 in their other games.

Random thoughts…

1 Comment

Totally Nonsensical Rumour: Bargnani & Calderon for Gasol & Fisher

Posted by Joseph Casciaro under Andrea Bargnani, Jose Calderon, Los Angeles Lakers on Jan 09, 2012

This rumour is so foolish that I didn’t even want to waste 10 minutes writing about it, but I figured I should at least let everyone know that this nonsense is floating around.

The top “story” right now on BallinEurope.com, a European ball site affiliated with ESPN’s True Hoop network, is about a reportedly proposed trade (via BlogdeBasket.com) between the Raptors and Lakers that would see the Raptors acquire Pau Gasol and Derek Fisher in exchange for Andrea Bargnani and Jose Calderon.

First of all, this trade would go against everything this Raptors season is supposed to be about. You don’t rebuild or build for the future by trading for a 31-year-old with $57 million left on his contract over the next three seasons. Anyone looking at this ridiculous “proposal” and thinking, “great, we rid ourselves of Bargnani and Calderon,” needs to realize that the Raptors would be giving up $62 million in salary over the next four seasons to take on $64 million over the next three years.

A deal of this nature wouldn’t really change Toronto’s financial flexibility, wouldn’t make them much better, if at all, in the present and wouldn’t make them any better in the future.

Hilariously enough, according to a commenter on the BallinEurope report, the “source” of this rumour seems to be a commenter on a previous John Hollinger ESPN.com chat who posted this proposal under the handle “John Hollinger.”

For the record, Hollinger himself has denied any connection to this ridiculous rumour:

5 Comments

Mini Recap: Lakers 120, Raptors 110

Posted by Scott Carefoot under Los Angeles Lakers, Recap on Dec 19, 2010

Call me your full-service Raptors blogger today. I did the game thread, the liveblog, and now I’m posting this  mini-recap. I’m going to make this short, though, because I’ll be doing the standard video breakdown tomorrow.

With Andrea Bargnani and Sonny Weems sitting out with injuries, the Raptors fared about as well as could be expected against a bigger, more talented Lakers squad. The Lakers used their size advantage to outrebound the Raptors 46-35 and their 31-21 advantage on made free throws made up the final scoring difference. It doesn’t get much more fundamental than beating your opponent on the boards and at the free throw line, and that’s exactly how the Lakers won this game.

When Matt Barnes plays the same number of minutes as Kobe Bryant (28 minutes of playing time each), that’s probably a sign that the Lakers don’t take a particular opponent very seriously. The Raptors made it interesting when they took a 34-28 lead after the first quarter as Amir Johnson scored 12 points on 6-for-6 shooting, but Amir appeared to tweak his lower back near the end of the quarter and he was rendered mostly ineffective for the rest of the game. Linas Kleiza led both teams and tied his season-high with 26 points and DeMar DeRozan impressed by scoring 23 points and going 11-for-11 from the free throw line. But when the Lakers started to assert themselves in the second quarter, it was pretty clear how this game was going to turn out.

There’s no shame in losing to the two-time defending champs by 10 points when you’re missing two of your starters. And when you consider that Ed Davis was held scoreless subbing in for the injured Bargnani, I have to wonder if this might have been more of a contest if Andrea was able to play.

Raptors Player of the Game: Jose Calderon — 36 Min, 20 Pts, 8-14 FG, 2-5 3Pt, 2-2FT, 3 Reb, 12 Ast, 2 Stl

Lakers Player of the Game: Pau Gasol — 30 Min, 19 Pts, 9-15 FG, 1-2 FT, 8 Reb, 4 Ast, 1 Stl

Goat of the Game: Ed Davis — 17 Min, 0 Pts, 0-3 FG, 3 Reb

3 Comments

Game thread: Lakers vs. Raptors

Posted by Scott Carefoot under Erie BayHawks, Los Angeles Lakers on Dec 19, 2010

Look at these f***ing hoopsters. (Photo from highwaisted.blogspot.com)

The Los Angeles Lakers took a four-game losing streak into December and some people wondered if this meant they weren’t up to the task of giving Phil Jackson his fourth career three-peat. Since then, they’ve won seven of eight and they’ll wrap up a seven-game road trip this afternoon in Toronto.

The biggest storyline for Lakers fans at the moment is the return of Andrew Bynum after missing his first 24 games recovering from knee surgery. He’s only averaged 16 minutes in his three games back, but his presence will give allow Pau Gasol to play more frequently at his natural power forward position. I imagine Bynum will come off the bench and be limited to 20-25 minutes most games to increase the likelihood that he’ll be healthy for another championship run.

Injury report

Toronto: Sonny Weems is out with a sore lower back while Jose Calderon and Andrea Bargnani are probable and I don’t see why they wouldn’t suit up since the played on Friday.

Los Angeles: Kobe is listed as probable with a sprained pinky finger, but I think we can assume he’ll play today. Theo Ratliff is out 4-6 weeks recovering from knee surgery and now that Bynum is back, Lakers fans say he can take his time.

Five questions

1. Can the Raptors repeat their Sunday luck against the Lakers from last season’s 106-105 win?

2. Would Shannon Brown be a candidate for Most Improved Player if he wasn’t on the Lakers? He’s only playing 18.7 minutes per game but he’s averaging 10.3 points and shooting 44 percent from three point range.

3. With Amir Johnson’s recent struggles, do you think it’s time to move Ed Davis into the starting lineup?

4. What do you think of the Kardashian family holiday card, featuring Lamar Odom?

5. Did you go to the Ron Artest art show in Toronto last night? How was it?

Start time: 1:00 PM ET
Channel: TSN
Liveblog: Scott Carefoot on thescore.com and ScoreMobile
Probable starting lineups
Toronto: Jose Calderon, DeMar DeRozan, Linas Kleiza, Amir Johnson, Andrea Bargnani
Los Angeles: Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest, Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol

Today’s pregame song is “Forgot About Dre” by Dr. Dre and Eminem. I chose this because Dre represents the Lakers and the West coast and because if “Dre” Bargnani drops 30 on the Lakers today, I think it’s safe to say they won’t see it coming.

1 Comment

Game thread: Raptors vs. Lakers

Posted by Scott Carefoot under Game thread, Los Angeles Lakers on Nov 05, 2010

Amazing Photoshop by Turbo_Zone. Click the image to see more of his work.

Amazing Photoshop by Turbo_Zone. Click the image to see more of his work.

Alright then, on to the Lakers in the Staples Center. Most of you probably think the Raptors don’t stand a chance in this game, but according to ESPN’s Accuscore projection, the Raptors actually have a 10 percent chance of handing the Lakers their first loss of the season. This, of course, makes me think of this  clip — where Lauren Holly represents Accuscore and Jim Carrey reps Raptors fans.

Luke Walton is questionable for tonight’s game with a strained hamstring, which should affect the Lakers in much the same way a broken nail would affect my opinion of Adriana Lima.

Five questions

1. Is DeMar DeRozan going to try to drive relentlessly on Kobe Bryant and test his healing right knee? Phil Jackson thinks Kobe’s not quite 100 percent and could possibly be exploited on the defensive end.

2. How will Andrea Bargnani fare matched up against Pau Gasol, one of the NBA’s two best big men?

3. Will Reggie Evans and Matt Barnes get into a fight while arguing over which one of them is more “gully“?

4. Do you think Reggie will bring Lamar Odom some Canadian candy like Smarties and Coffee Crisp?

5. Will Jay Triano have another “WTF you gonna do” moment when asked to explain why his team got dismantled by the Lakers?

Start time: 10:30 PM ET
Channel: TSN2
Liveblog: Natasha Alibhai on theScore.com and ScoreMobile
Probable starting lineups
Toronto: Jarrett Jack, DeMar DeRozan, Linas Kleiza, Reggie Evans, Andrea Bargnani
Utah: Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest, Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol

Tonight’s pregame song is “Party People” by N.E.R.D. featuring T.I. Hey, it’s Friday so we might as listen to some feel-good music before the Raptors get their asses handed to them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c_cStac_gQ

5 Comments
Newer Entries »