L.A. Lakers @ Toronto

[The Artesticle]

- Ron Artest looked awful tonight. I don't know if it is a regular occurance, but he looked terrible defensively, and I have never liked his offensive game. I honestly think that if Turkoglu didn't suck so bad he Artest would've got lit up tonight. He really needs to lose some weight as the extra beef on him seems to really be slowing him down which hurts him defensively. Was very unimpressed by Artest tonight and thought that he looked awful.

 

Ron has plantar fascitiis in both feet. That, along with his weight, has really effected his mobility and his game. Pair that along with the fact that he still isn't used to the triangle or the team, explains why he has looked so awful.

 

He bulked up too much this summer, this isn't a bodybuilding contest. Phil needs to tell him to lose some weight this summer, or start doing it now if it isn't too late.

 

Lakers as a whole have terrible chemistry right now, we need to get things together and get healthy.

[Built Ford Tough]

Hedo was actually bailed out at the end of the game on a call that ultimately won it for Toronto...but it's still no excuse. We gave up a lead, so we deserve to lose.

 

I agree that he was bailed out in the sense that he was out of control and usually we don't see refs call fouls on players who are out of control, like Turkoglu was. However, lets not pretend that a foul didn't actually happen (not saying that you are). Hedo sold it, I definitely agree with that, and we rarely see a foul like that called at the end of a game, but there was definitely a foul committed on that play by Gasol. At least I think it was Gasol who had his hand on Turkoglu's jersey as he went up.

 

Personally, I was shocked to see a foul called on the play. I was watching the game with my dad and I said to him the moment that it happened that Turkoglu was bailed out and if I was a ref I wouldn't call that a foul just because of Turkoglu being so out of control on the play. There was definitely contact on the play though and its not like it can really be considered a bad call or anything.

 

The officiating looks lopsided in the Raptors favour due to the fairly significant difference in free attempts, but when you actually watched the game I don't think that there were too many plays that could be considered blown calls.

 

You would think that with the Lakers destroying the Raptors in the paint that they would've got more free throw attempts, but the Raptors would simply just let the Lakers score the two points rather than send them to the line. On the other hand, the Lakers weren't so content with giving up wide open looks down low, lol.

 

Ron has plantar fascitiis in both feet. That, along with his weight, has really effected his mobility and his game. Pair that along with the fact that he still isn't used to the triangle or the team, explains why he has looked so awful.

 

He bulked up too much this summer, this isn't a bodybuilding contest. Phil needs to tell him to lose some weight this summer, or start doing it now if it isn't too late.

 

Lakers as a whole have terrible chemistry right now, we need to get things together and get healthy.

 

Didn't know about the plantar fasciitis. Do you have a link or something that talks about it? I'd love to read it, if you have one.

 

EDIT: Nevermind, I found it.

 

I agree with everything that you said, but I would also like to point out that Artest isn't as good defensively as he was during his time with the Pacers. He is still a very good defensive player, but in my opinion his defensive capabilitites have been a little overrated ever since he was traded from Indiana. He has been a very good defender for the duration of his career, but I don't think that he has been worthy of the label of the best perimeter defender in the league since his time in Indiana.

Edited January 25, 2010 by Built Ford Tough

[BasX]

CHAMPIONSHIP TIME

[Check my Stats]

Now we have the easy part of our schedule, I forget what it is exactly but I saw it on RealGM, horrible teams. We better go at least 7-3 on this stretch.

 

EDIT:

 

I just went and grabbed the list:

 

JAN

Wed 27 vs Miami

Thu 28 @ New York

Sun 31 vs Indiana

FEB

Tue 02 @ Indiana

Wed 03 vs New Jersey

Sun 07 vs Sacramento

Wed 10 vs Philadelphia

Wed 17 vs Memphis

Fri 19 @ New Jersey

Sat 20 vs Washington

 

Every single one of those teams are inferior to us IMO, anything less than 7-3 is unacceptable IMO.

Edited January 25, 2010 by travesy3

[Real Deal]

Memphis isn't a bad team. In fact, I believe they have a better record at this point of the season, if I remember right, and they have a physical defender up front in Gasol that Bosh may not like by the end of that game.

 

But other than the Grizzlies, the rest of those teams should all lose to the Raptors.

[Built Ford Tough]

Memphis isn't a bad team. In fact, I believe they have a better record at this point of the season, if I remember right, and they have a physical defender up front in Gasol that Bosh may not like by the end of that game.

 

But other than the Grizzlies, the rest of those teams should all lose to the Raptors.

 

Yeah they have a better record than the Raptors do but the Raptors are 15-6 at home while the Grizzlies are only 7-14 on the road. Still, I don't consider any Raptor game a sure victory aside from New Jersey games.

 

Bosh doesn't really seem to have much trouble with Gasol though. In the 2 games that Bosh has played against the Grizzlies with Gasol is averaging 34.5/11/2.5 on 63.2%. Gasol has also picked up a combined 9 fouls in those two games.

 

Granted, Gasol isn't the same player he was last season, but he just doesn't have the quickness to handle Bosh.

 

Again though, I don't consider any Raptor game a sure thing. I've said from the beginning of the season that with the offense the Raptors have they can beat anybody on any given night, but with the defense they play they can lose to anybody on any given night.

 

PS: They also play the Heat, who aren't a team that should lose to the Raptors. They are very evenly matched.

Edited January 25, 2010 by Built Ford Tough

[Poe]

But other than the Grizzlies and the Heat, the rest of those teams should all lose to the Raptors.

Smart man.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Real Deal]

Haha, I honestly skipped over the Heat by accident. I have no idea why I didn't see them...and hell, they are even first on the list.

[BasX]

The schedule is very favorable, considering that the best teams we play are at home. The back-to-back at NY will likely be a loss. But man, this stretch will be huge.