LAKERS -at- RAPTORS - 2/1 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

The Holy Crap Trade... After the tough loss going down the wire against Detroit, the Lakers bounced back with an energetic game tonight against the Raptors, winning 121-101. They got in at 3 a.m., but never showed the signs. Maybe the jump in their step was because they got word that the franchise just landed Pau Gasol in trade.

The help hasn't arrived yet, but until then you've got to be happy with the split of those two games...and really the overall effort even though we blew it against the Pistons.

Tonight, the Lakers didn't adjust well in the first half against the Raptors' Phoenix Suns-designed offensive scheme, but we still maintained the lead. Kobe owns the Raptors like no one else will, and despite their revamped roster since he dropped the 81, he ripped them apart tonight. He dropped 46 points and made it look easy.

The team got into the flow offensively and few freethrows made it an enjoyable watch. Still, before and after the game all anyone could talk about was the blockbuster deal that went down. I've added thoughts throughout this game report on how Gasol's game will work with various players.


Kobe -- -- Second night of a back-to-back where he played nearly the whole game, and Kobe destroys the Raptors. He looked sensational. The shot was dropping like it was late in the game yesterday, and the lanes were open for throwdowns. Only Jordan and Wilt have more 40 points game than Kobe. Kobe tried to hide it, but you could see the excitement in his eyes about the trade. Offensively, Pau will be a great teammate for Kobe. He can work the two-man games for scores as Pau goes to the hoop, but also for the pick and pops. Kobe can't do that will LO or any of our centers. He could do it with Cook, but we'd get killed on the D end. Late in the game, those high screens that are our bread and butter just became more effective. Pau is also a willing passer who can work in both the low and high posts, another vital Tri skill. Pau's impact game will also allow Kobe to rest more throughout the season, making him more effective. It should be a very good fit. The Stats: Kobe scored 46 points on 19-28 shooting (4-8 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal, just 1 turnover (that should have been a foul) and 2 fouls in 44 minutes. The Action: He sealed his man, took the entry from Fish and dunked. He slammed on the breaks and his man kept going, he then knocked down the elbow jumper. He stripped a bigman to save a hoop. He drained a wing jumper standing on the three line. He blew past his man, spun around Bosh and scored off a goaltend call. He went between the legs and attacked, drew the D and dished out to Ronny for the jumper. He turned it over splitting the double (he was clearly held with no call, this was his only turnover). He missed a long three against the shotclock. He took the pass from Ronny cutting behind him, dunked with both hands and barked at the ref for missing another foul. He missed a tough layup, working off the Mbenga screen. He swished a wing jumper on iso over his man. He missed a long three just beating the shotclock. He saw a lane to his right in transition, attacked it and dunked. He got speed heading into the offensive zone, pushed the ball between defenders and then hammered another dunk. He sank a wing catch-and-shoot out of the timeout. He pumpfaked Parker into the air, took hard contact on his left shoulder but still banked in the And-1 jumper, he made the FT. He ran down the clock at the end of the half, attacked to his right off the Turiaf screen, drew the D and dished to Sasha for a three (spreading the floor...that's our best play when we want to get a shot at the end of quarters...or games). Sensational first half by Kobe, scoring 21 points on 10-13 shooting. His man went under the screen, so Kobe swished the three. He forced up and missed the three on the next trip down. He attacked from the wing when the double team left, he got into the paint, pumped several times and drew FTs, he made both. He swished a wing three out of a timeout. He forced up a jumper on iso on the next set and missed way short. He took the long outlet and quickly dunked off the counter strike. He missed after creating to get into the lane. He swished an insane fallaway in the corner near the end of the quarter (only he makes that). He nearly topped that on a heave turnaround three that hit the back rim a few seconds later at the third-quarter buzzer. Another crazy make to start the fourth, he got contact on the swing through from the high elbow, then drained the tough And-1 jumper, he made the FT. As Stu says "Clock issues" and Joel says "Not anymore," Kobe finished a drive down the lane with a two-hand flush. He hit Farmar for the three. He shed a defender who was bodying him on the perimeter, he quickly rose up and drained a wing three. He drew the double twice on a repost and hit Sasha both times, who then sank a three. He missed a fade out of the timeout. He went up high on the other end, above all the bigs, to pull down a defensive board. Quick first step to blow past Parker, he then elevated, pulled it back and threw down with authority, staring at the crowd. He missed a layup, flipping it over his head. He took the behind-the-back pass from LO on the break and scored the layup (he wanted the foul).

Lamar -- -- With the opened up floor, Lamar was able to be more effective in the offense. He nearly pulled off the triple-double, just a couple assists shy of the mark. He was more aggressive throughout the game, and he made a sensational play late in the game off the dribble while pushing out the break. The trade for Gasol has interesting consequences for Lamar. On one hand, we now have an all-star level PF, which makes us less in need of LO at the 4 spot. On the other hand, Lamar's versatility and being able to slide between the 3 and 4 spots will allow us to toggle Pau between the 4 and 5 spots with ease. That kind of versatility is vital, especially when you have an injury...or when you need defensive flexibility in the playoffs. Long-term, we will probably prefer a shooter at the 3 spot to help spread the floor for Pau and Bynum. We do have those players with Vlad and Kobe right now. With a clear-cut second option in Gasol and a third option in Bynum, Lamar can play the versatile garbage man role and even disappear as he is prone to do without as much impact. Should be interesting to see how this plays out. In the near future, he'll still be at the PF quite a bit. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-10 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 8 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 5 fouls in 35 minutes. The Action: He blew past Bosh from the left wing, stopped on a dime as Bosh flew past and Lamar scored the layup. He sagged too far off Bargnani and gave up a three. He dunked when Vlad drove and fed him. He missed on an up -and-under, but Vlad tipped it in. He attacked from the top of the key and kicked to Sasha for a three. He missed a jumper on the baseline. He got a piece of Bosh's layup to prevent a fastbreak hoop. He attacked quickly off the pass, spun to get Bosh on his heels and scored the layup over him. He drew FTs on a quick attack to start the second half, he made both. He grabbed a missed shot, put it up and missed, grabbed it again and powered it through some contact for the layup. He got picked trying to cross over Bosh, it led to a layup the other way and a timeout as Phil had some words for him. He grabbed the board and quickly outlet to Kobe ahead of the D for a dunk. He picked up his fourth foul late in the third quarter trying to post up. Phantom foul on Lamar shortly after he gets back in the game, he held position, hands straight in the air and he was whistled for his fifth with 8:35 left. He quickly scored a layup off the entry feed from Ronny. On the other end, he swiped a pass, made a brilliant push out on the dribble, throwing the ball around the defender on left side while going around him on the right side to pick it up again (that's a soccer move), he then went behind his back to Kobe who scored the layup (that was your NBA TV No. 2 play of the night). He pushed out the rebound on the next defensive stand and hit Sasha for a reverse. He missed a long three as we ran the clock down.

Fisher -- -- He didn't have a good shooting night, but he still found a way to get to double figures. He played a lot of minutes the night before and tired legs might have had an impact on his shot. Phil got to keep him to his usual amount tonight. Fish will be the guy making a lot of entry passes to Gasol. When the timing gets down in the offense, DFish will hit him on those corner Tri sequences effectively. Fish will also benefit from the inside-out game we will add to the mix. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 5-14 shooting (1-6 from three), 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 24 minutes. The Action: He swished a wing jumper on our first attempt of the game. Great post entry to Kobe sealing his man, and it led to a dunk. He stripped his man, changed directions to lose him in transition, then choked the layup. He missed a three straight away. He hit Ronny for a layup. He missed a three. He missed an elbow jumper in transition. He threw a pass away from the corner out of a timeout. He got tapped on a floater in the lane. He missed a baseline jumper. He got stripped being indecisive about a pass. He missed another sideline jumper. He took a little contact but still made the baseline jumper. He swished a wing jumper off the high handoff. Good deflection on a pass out when Bosh had a mismatch against Kobe. He swished a long jumper with a toe on the three line. He missed a wide open three. He sank a three on the next trip down when Vlad found him. He missed a three on the next offensive sequence.

Radmanovic -- -- His D left a lot to be desired, but the Raptors and Bargnani appreciated it. Still, Vlad did a couple things well tonight. He shared the ball, not always settling for the shot and it led to several makes by teammates. He also hit the boards well, giving us some added rebounding from the SF spot. Vlad's minutes will be impacted with the Gasol signing. Lamar will play a lot more at the SF. Vlad, however, is a shooter we don't have at that position, so his skill set will be needed. You will see a lot of Pau/Lamar/Vlad on the floor in the near future. Down the line, this will likely be a second-unit combination Phil will use when Kobe and Bynum are getting some rest. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-9 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 9 boards, 5 assists, 0 turnovers and 4 fouls in 40 minutes. The Action: He missed an open three on his first attempt. He took the pass and quickly attacked the lane, then dumped it to Lamar for the dunk. He dunked off an interior feed from Ronny. He missed a layup off a great feed from Kobe. He tipped in a miss by Lamar. He missed a jumper in the lane. He missed a layup in the paint, but Lamar cleaned it up. He missed a long sideline jumper. He took a pass, attacked, put on the breaks and no-looked to Fish on the sideline for a three. He got swatted in the paint, showing the ball. He attacked from the perimeter, avoided the charge and fed to Ronny for FTs. He attacked and kicked to Farmar for the three. He faked the three and hit Sasha for the baseline jumper on the next trip down. He Kwame'd a behind-the-back pass from Farmar on the break and fumbled it right into the hoop.

Turiaf -- -- Great game from Ronny. He had to step up for us tonight, not only going against Bosh but also without any bigman depth. Bosh scored 22 points, but on 22 shots. You'll take that. Ronny made him work for everything. We're still having trouble controlling the glass, but help is on the way. As reported by Ireland, after Ronny was unable to wrap up a loose ball, Phil barked at him. Ronny replied, "I'm sorry, coach. I'm sorry." Got to love him. The Stats: Ronny scored 9 points on 4-8 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 6 boards (3 offensive), 5 assists, 4 blocks, no turnovers and 5 fouls in 36 minutes. The Action: He missed a long jumper. He erased Bargnani's attempt to finish with a swat. He scored a layup off a pass from Fish. He cut off Kobe in the post, took the pass, drew the D and fed Vlad for a dunk. He sank a wing jumper off a drive and dish from Kobe. He swatted Bosh's post up attempt. He pulled down a miss by Farmar and reset the offense, he then airballed a fade. He took the post entry pass and quickly dumped it off to a cutting Kobe for a dunk. Bosh attacked off the dribble (traveled with no call) and then Ronny rejected him at the end of the first quarter. Phantom foul call on a good swat on Bosh. He forced Bosh into a tough, contested fallaway that wasn't close. Nice challenge, switching off onto a smaller man, staying with him on the drive and sending him falling to the floor as he threw up a prayer. He missed an elbow jumper. He drew FTs when Vlad attacked and fed him in the interior, he made one. He surveyed the floor with the clock running down, attacked from the elbow and scooped in the layup softly with his left. He missed trying to hit over Bosh on the next sequence. Farmar drew Bosh to him on dribble penetration, fed Ronny who attacked and scored the layup on the other side of the rim. He picked up his fifth foul with 6:32 left and had to sit. Back in, he bit on the Bosh up and under and gave up a dunk.

Farmar -- -- There's the Farmar we need on the road. He was a consistent threat; he didn't cough up the ball; and he played some better D. Our second unit didn't get killed like it did last night. Can't wait to see the Farmar/Gasol two-man game. There should be some chemistry there.The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-10 shooting (3-5 from the line) to go with 3 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 fouls in 24 minutes. The Action: He missed a three from the wing on his first attempt. Quick attack at the end of the quarter and he reversed for a score (it would have been a two-for-one situation, but Farmar fouled on the other end). He sank a catch-and-shoot three to start the second quarter. He missed a sideline three. He missed a step-back jumper. He sank a long three on the kickout from Vlad. He swished the corner three off a Kobe feed. He got dribble penetration, drew the D and fed it to Ronny who powered in the layup. He pushed out the break with speed, threw a tricky behind-the-back bounce pass to Vlad who fumbled it into the hoop. He faded on a jumper from the wing when no one was on him and he missed. He missed a layup off nice dribble penetration. He pulled up on the wing, saw daylight, squared up and swished the jumper.

Vujacic -- -- Defensively, not a great game, but Sasha lit it up again on the offensive end. He was efficient and productive with his jumpers of death, sinking 4-5 from beyond the arc. He had 12 points in the fourth quarter. The Gasol signing will benefit Sasha as it gives us a consistent post threat, which is something the team has lacked. More inside-out play is only going to help the shooters on this team. The Stats: He scored 22 points on an impressive 8-10 shooting (4-5 from three, 2-3 from the line) to go with 2 points, 1 assist, 1 steal and no fouls in 26 minutes. The Action: He pulled up in transition when he should have kept going to the rim to get the pass, he missed the jumper but Mbenga cleaned it up. He sank a corner three on a drive and kick from Lamar. He picked his man on the sideline, then pushed it out for the uncontested layup (very nice). He drew three FTs when Kapono rushed out on him and got Sasha-tized, Sasha made two. He swished a corner three off a kickout from Kobe. Sasha had 10 points in the first half. He sagged off Kapono on the weakside and got burned. Kapono hit another J on the next trip. Sasha answered with a baseline jumper of his own. He gave up a layup to Kapono on the next defensive stand. Nice job setting up the offense with patience, he worked it in to Kobe, took the kickout, reposted to Kobe, got it again and this time swished the three. He missed an open three. He popped out behind the screen and hit the long wing jumper. He took the pass from Lamar on the break and scored the reverse. He drained a three on our last possession from the left wing.

Mbenga -- -- Mback for another 10-day contract and he played some quality minutes for the team tonight backing up Ronny at the C spot. They needed him badly, unless you want Vlad to play the C spot for us when our guys were in foul trouble. Props to Mbenga for the excellent minutes. If he does nothing else the rest of his 10-day contract, his 11 minutes tonight were well worth it. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-1 shooting to go with 4 boards (2 offensive), 1 block and 1 foul in 11 minutes. The Action: In to start the second quarter, he hustled down court in transition and cleaned up a miss by Sasha with a putback. Back in the fourth with 6 minutes left and both Lamar and Ronny with five fouls, he swatted Bargnani on help D to ignite a breakaway. Good job on the boards on both ends.

Karl -- -- He got in for Ronny with 2.7 seconds left in the third quarter. He later came back in with under a minute left. Nothing to report.

Phil -- -- This is a trade Phil absolutely loves. He had been pushing for an impact vet over youth. He now has a little of both and a chance at a series of playoff runs. Phil on the trade: "This is a good trade for our team. We hope it's a good trade for both teams. You want that to happen. We gave up a young talented kid in Javaris Crittenton and that's a prime place for him to develop his game."... Phil on putting Gasol in the mix: "I don't think there's a tremendous amount of things that will be difficult for him to do. There's just some little timing issues that will arise. He'll have to fight his way through that, but we'll give him two or three weeks and he'll be up to speed."... More before the game: "It gives us the mobility of having a twin tower effect...It really does advance our cause quite a bit. We still have to shore up some of our positions and our defense still has to come a ways before we are considered in the elite group of teams in this league, but this helps."... First quarter, the Lakers played with some good energy on D, rotating, switching and recovering and getting a little shotblocking. They needed to get to shooters a little faster, though. Offensively, Kobe was in the flow, as was the rest of the team. They led 26-23... They pushed out to a 10-point lead early in the second quarter, but it was quickly erased. They went back and forth for most of the quarter and the Lakers ended up with a 56-51 lead at the half. (Bargnani had 17 points for the Raptors)... The Lakers had just 3 turnovers in the first half and shot 54 percent to the Raptors 44 percent... The Raptors shot 6-12 from three as we were a little slow getting to shooters... Late third quarter you could see the pace changing to the Raptors favor. The 10-point lead we had was erased on a 9-0 run... The Lakers led 83-77 at the end of three with Kobe knocking down a crazy three from the corner... The Lakers pulled out to a 14-point lead after Kobe threw down with 4 minutes left... They killed the Raptors in the fourth with a couple of runs... The Lakers had 25 assists from their starters as they shared the ball well. The team had 29 assists with only 5 turnovers. Great numbers...

Game Flow -- LINK -- Not a single Laker with a negative in the +/-. The Lakers had two runs in the fourth that the Raptors couldn't answer.

Mitch and Jim Buss -- -- The apprentice of Jerry West and the son of Jerry Buss are making their marks. They exploded a team that went to the finals. They took their lumps, but good drafts and a couple trades this year and they are back to being contenders. "I have to tip my hat to Buss and Mitch for going forward with this," Kobe said. "Now it's on us to go out there and work hard." Does this help secure Kobe long term? "Doesn't hurt," Kobe said. Kobe said they showed a level of commitment. "It says a lot about the organization and the direction they want to go," he said. You can bet he's not going anywhere. Props to the front office for ending the "Kobe situation." They didn't do anything stupid with Kobe at the beginning of the season. They didn't bite on offers for Bynum (although they went after KG). And, they pulled in another impact player without getting rid of an (immediate) impact player. Crit is going to be good, the picks will be missed, but Kobe's "prime" is, indeed, now.

[Jeffs]

Thanks DB!

<3 Lakers FO!
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Jeffs

I feel like I just watched someone TRULY give 100%. Not the BS I'm-gonna-give-a-110%-just-like-everyone-else-says platitudes, but someone that went until he just....broke. - GT

[Omar Little]

There was a game tonight? I hardly noticed.

Serious props to DB, who seemlessly works the trade into his already brilliant re-caps. Bravo!
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[Vadorojo]

[LakerSanity]

Best one yet DB, really. Great, great day to be a Laker fan.

Lost in the Gasol stuff though is that we, short-handed with only 9 available players and on the second night of a back-to-back on the road, beat a Raptors team that has been pretty hot, especially at home. This was a solid win that many were marking as a loss. We could easily be 2-0 on this road trip so far.

It was also really cool to see "dominant" Kobe for one night.. it had been a little while. Good times, thanks again.
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[Sister Golden Hair]

I can't sleep.

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[PakaLOLO]

Thanks DB. Very Much Appreciated! SO excited about this trade.
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[Cardom]

[LakerLanny]

[Omar Little]

[lakerjoshua]

Yo DB,
Gotta do the Mitch/Jimmy review every game.

Awesome.

[Cardom]

[DancingBarry]

[LakerSanity]

[Omar Little]

[lakerjoshua]

[8750]

thanks, DB
tonight we saw what happens when opponents defense doesn't doubleteam kobe: a terrific proof of onnipotence... with gasol, crowding kobe will be much more difficult... gasol is a defensive liability, but now we are really the best offensive team in the game today...

[Jeffs]

[BigE32]

Great write up as usual, DB. Nice bounce back win. I have to admit that when I first heard about the trade, I was working out. I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. I didn't see it coming, but I'm very excited to see Gasol in the PNG. I'm looking forward to seeing them even more now when they play the Magic and Heat b/c I will be at both games.

[limchrc]

Nice to get the win. Thanks for the recap.

[LakerFan1972]

DB, Nice write up as always.

[LongtimeLakerLover]

Thanks as always DB. You are much appreciated.

AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it when I saw the trade! I was on the phone at work and saw the headline and actually stopped talking to the guy I was on with and grabbed my buddy and said "look at this!" The guy on the phone got about 1 percent of my attention after that.

I thought Kobe played in this game with a joy I haven't seen in a long time. The guys looked confident again. It was just too much fun to watch. Recently I'd felt like I couldn't hardly tune in because of Kwame and his fumbling freaking hands. But last night, well - they moved the ball and NO ONE bobbled it. It was a sight to behold.

That said, I can't wait 'till Sunday.
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I love LA........WE LOVE IT!

[Sage_10]

It's a celebratory day!
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"You Must Be Willing To Give Up That Which Can Be Lost In Order To Gain That Which Cannot Be Lost." - FORTUNE COOKIE

[maddprophet]

anyone else have the feeling during this game they would be fine if we lost? like it could be a throwaway game?

it wouldn't have fased me at all, and i always let losses affect me more than i should. i was just on such a high from the gasol news.

having lamar as a 4th or even 5th option on the starting 5 is a beautiful thing. he can play his role now like db said, disappear for long stretches and it's cool.

wow! all ican say. the lakers and the celtics back on top with 2 monster deals. i can see all other fans crying conspiracy now, and i can't blame em.

and we once again destroyed the bulls hopes and dreams this year. from the kobe move, to taking wallace off their hands, to stealing gasol from right under them as they've worked for a year to get him.

ahhhh, great to be a laker, always!!
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[patmcfar8]

Thank you DB! It's a great time to be a Laker fan.