When the NBA scheduled the Nets and Raptors to play two regular season games in London, England, they weren’t expecting either team to have a superstar among their ranks. Not anymore, the Nets scooped up Deron Williams, the biggest coup since the Lakers landed Gasol. Even though they are 0-3 in the D-Will era, the Nets are relevant again.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but since the All-Star break, the Raptors are 2-3; well above their season winning percentage. I know it doesn’t seem like much, but it made me take another look at things:

• The Raptors have a half place lead over the Nets for more ping-pong balls in the lottery
• With Johnson in lineup, the Raptors are playing a totally better brand of basketball that wont help them get more ping-pong balls
• I’m really liking James Johnson, the kid has a lot of the tools and toughness I look for in guys who would play for my team. I’m very interested to see how he does after a couple weeks of big minutes and reduced excitement of a fresh start
• Still not a fan of Weems, and he’s playing a lot better, but he didn’t do enough with the opportunity he had and it cost him a couple million on his next contract; he can thank Johnson for that

I had a chance to have a chat with Mark Ginocchio of Nets are Scorching about Deron and the Nets:

First of all, I hate you and your team. There couldn’t have been a better result for the Nets than landing a top 3 point guard in the league. Do you have any background on how this deal came about?
Let me start by thanking you for the hatred. It’s been a long time since anyone hated Nets fans for anything other than wearing bags on our heads to games. With that said, the Deron Williams trade came out of left field for everyone, media, bloggers, fans, everyone. I don’t think it was any coincidence that Al Iannazzone, the beat writer for the Bergen Record who was doing a super job during the Carmelo Anthony nonsense, got the leak first and not any of the national guys like Wojnarowski, Broussard, Spears, etc. who have been just beating the Nets to a pulp for the past two months in their attempts to attract a start to the organization. If you believe Nets GM Billy King, he called up Kevin O’Connor, Utah’s GM, first to talk about some peripheral deals, most likely involving Devin Harris and maybe Mikahil Prokhorov favorite Andrei Kirilenko. King mentioned, half-joking about DWill’s availability and a deal was hammered out in 24 hours. It’s funny what can happen when team’s don’t have to deal with a bunch of
juvenile children like ‘Melo and Masai Ujiri, Denver’s GM, who had been holding the Nets hostage knowing ‘Melo only wanted the Knicks, this whole time.

I’ve read that the organization is going to do a great deal to cater to him (who to trade for, what amenities the practice court should feature, etc); do you guys run the same risk that Cleveland ran with catering to LeBron’s every whim, or is Deron a different beast?
In a recent write-up, Woj made a great point about Deron. He’s not ‘Melo, he’s not LeBron – he’s not looking to be the center of some marketing campaign. He just wants to win, period. And I think the only way the Nets will keep him here is if they demonstrate a commitment to put pieces around him. The thing is, Prokhorov has proven very early that money is no object, so I believe that this will happen. Plus, Deron will be owed a sizable amount (more than $17M) on his option year headed into Brooklyn in 2012 and with the new CBA likely lowering the cap, it may not be fiscally prudent for him to opt-out in 18 months as many are reporting he might do.

I was very interested to see how Deron and Avery would mesh together, but so far on the surface they seem to compliment each other. What are your thoughts on this pairing?
I was nervous too, but Avery apparently “threw out half the playbook” when Deron came on board, which is a good thing because the Nets offensive playbook stunk. I know AJ is a micromanager with his point guards, but this his first “star” PG he’s dealt with, someone who tends to focus on all aspects of his game unlike Devin Harris, who was a professional, but seemed to suffer from tunnel vision where he would only look to score some games, pass in others, and defend, every once in a while.

So Dwight is next? …I hate you…
That’s the rumor, but who knows. My guess is it would have to be a sign and trade, and the Nets would have to blow Orlando away with an offer, because otherwise Howard would probably go to the Lakers. The Nets have Brook Lopez and a nice complimentary piece in Anthony Morrow, but they gave away their lottery picks to Utah and given Lopez’s rebounding and defensive issues, I wonder if Orlando would be more interested in Bynum as the centerpiece of a LA deal.

What are you thoughts on the games this weekend in London? How do the Nets match-up with the Raptors? Is Deron going to be playing (injuries and all)?
Oh yeah, this season. Well, the Nets are 0-3 in the Deron Williams era, so there are obviously some kinks, especially on the defensive end, which bodes well for the Raptors. Williams says he’s going to play, and Jordan Farmar is supposedly back to back him up, but I’m hoping for a split here.

Injury Report

Toronto
Reggie Evans – Out
Linas Kleiza – Out

New Jersey
Deron Williams – Day to day, should play
Jordan Farmar – Day to day, should play
Quinton Ross – Day to day

Player Report

Jose Calderon
If Jose can recreate the game he had against Paul, even a healthy Deron wont be able to do much. As it stands now, Deron is supposed to play, but he’s hurting. This is a great opportunity for Jose to attack the hell out of him since he doesn’t have a great deal of support behind him defensively. I’ve been calling for it for a while now, but when Jose is going off efficiently from the field, he is such a deadly point of attack for the offense. Defenses can’t cheat, and have to consider him. As always, defense is a concern, but if you’re matching output, then it gives DeMar/Bargnani the chance to take matters into their hands.
Box: 13pts 11ast 3rebs

DeMar DeRozan
16 trips to the line over the last five games (four if you consider he didn’t get to the line at all against the Bobcats); sure he’s hit all 16, but it’s not enough. Not enough when you consider he’s contributing 1.6 assists and 2.6 rebounds over the same five-game stretch. If he gets to the line more, it means he’s attacking off he dribble more, which means his defender is back-pedalling more, which means a help defender is rotating, which means the defensive is that much more vulnerable. That said, the British are gonna love this high-flyer, hopefully he gives them a couple things to cheer about. Against Morrow, he will have to deal with an outside-in player, who can stroke the three at a high percentage; 44% on the year. Morrow has been a nice pickup for this team with his efficient scoring, but his defense is brutal, and is exactly where DeRozan can put his mark on the game.
Box: 21pts 3rebs 1ast

James Johnson
Yea…I’m really liking him a lot. I tried tempering any enthusiasm for him the last pre-game, but as long as he remembers the things that make him successful on the court, and doesn’t forget what it’s like to log 30 minutes for the whole season, I think he’ll do fine. We could see a dip in his energy as the excitement of getting a second chance begins to fade, but as long as he’s still hustling, things will work themselves out. Truth be told, his inclusion in the starting lineup has this team playing a better brand of basketball that could really hurt their draft position come July. That’s probably the best compliment I’ve given any Raptor this season: that they make the team better. So I know very little about Damion Jones, who’s been getting the start since the trade went down. The guy is a big, active player who rebounds well and is starting to develop a perimeter game. Seems like the two of Johnson and Jones are somewhat similar in what they bring to the game.
Box: 8pts 9rebs 3ast 2blk

Amir Johnson
I did a double-take after glancing at Amir’s line after the Hornets game: 8pts 10rebs 2ast 7blk

It really should come as no surprise given how involved he was in every aspect of the game, not too mention he had to deal with West and Okafor all night. What has the smile on my face is the six swats he had. Given how close the score was, with the Hornets cutting the lead to 4 with time ticking down, Amir’s defense was huge in maintaining the Raptor lead, and eventually pulling out the win. Recreating that production will be tough, but the Nets front court consists of Humphries and Lopez and..yea, Amir/Ed/Andrea should take this.

Humphries will shoot the ball enough to remind us that even though he’s close to averaging a double-double on the season, his scoring aspirations disrupt the offense too much for him to be a starter. He does hustle, and give it his all, so he can’t be overlooked.
Box: 14pts 9rebs 3blk

Andrea Bargnani
Im just going to put this out there, but I think I’d rather have Bargnani than Lopez. Over the course of this season, both teams have equally stunk, but Andrea has done more with his playing time than Brook. It wasn’t always the case, and Lopez is a nice player,but he’s definitely had a disappointing season. Check the comparison:

Lopez: 34.6m 19.5pts 5.9rebs 1.5ast 1.5blk
Bargnani: 35.9m 21.8pts 5.5rebs 1.7ast 0.6blk

While Bargnani isn’t blowing Lopez away, and Brook has a higher PER (18.43 to 16.41), Bargnani is a better defender in the low post, and his rebounding is about the same. Lopez can step out and hit a jumper, but his range is stretched to the limit at 18 feet, and his post game isn’t as refined.
Box: 26pts 7rebs 1blk

The Line

The gamblers have the Nets as 3 point favourites with an over/under of 202.5. I’m expecting a nice pace to this game, and it should be close. I’m hoping the Nets win both these games weekend (to solidify the Raptors draft position), but I’m guessing the teams will split the games. Raptors pull out a tough win tonight, Nets storm back and win tomorrow.

Today’s game is at 3pm EST; if you’re stuck at the office, then come check out our live blog by Arsenalist.

Now this is a game that I’m feeling good about. Even though the Nets are tied for last in the East, they are only two games behind the Raptors (and could make up half that ground with a win tonight). 5 games is all that separates 7th and 15th in the East, and since it looks like you don’t have to be .500 to grab a playoff spot, making the playoffs has lost a bit of its cache in the East; for me anyways.

Finally spoke to a blogger who didn’t stiff me over the last week or so; Mark Ginocchio from the Nets are Scorching stopped in and answered a few questions I had about the Nets:

Avery Johnson was an interesting choice for such a young team (likes to control the entire game), but I always respected what he did
in Dallas, how is he working out? The whole Avery Johnson situation is very interesting as a Nets fan. The front office and owner clearly loves him (in fact, many believe Avery is the de facto GM of this team, not Billy King). As a coach, he’s got this bunch playing better defense, though they’re prone to lapses. The offense still isn’t clicking, though it doesn’t help when Travis Outlaw is awful and Anthony Morrow is hurt. The thing that worries me about Avery is he essentially handpicked this entire roster and only 4 guys from last year carried over, and I’m already getting a sense that he’s losing patience and drawing lines in the sand between guys who play “his” way, or some other way. That’s, in large part why Terrence Williams was shipped out, and that’s why Troy Murphy is rotting on the bench (more on that). And while I know this is going to make me sound extremely paranoid, there’s something about Avery Johnson’s behavior that reminds of John Calipari’s stay in New Jersey,
and I don’t think I ever want to relive that fiasco again. Again, I’m more than happy to be wrong about that. In fact, I’m hoping I’m wrong.

Why does Johnson hate Troy Murphy so much?
The whisperings around Troy Murphy centered around him arriving in camp out of shape, which led to early-season back injury, which I think irked Avery Johnson off. Factor in that Kris Humphries has actually been a solid starting PF this year, a young Derrick Favors who NEEDS minutes right now, and there’s just no place for Murphy on this team right now, except as an expiring contract to use in a trade.

Looks like the Nets are going to make another run at Carmelo after stockpiling so many picks (5 in the next two drafts); this is a three part question: 1) How likely do you think a Carmelo trade is? 2) Are there enough pieces to put a good enough team around Anthony so he resigns? 3) Will the Nets trade for him if he doesn’t guarantee to resign?
I respect your three parts, but I’m just going to provide you one long rambling answer here to “As the ‘Melo turns.” Yes, I do think the Nets have the pieces to make a ‘Melo trade happen. They have tons of draft picks, a big fat expiring in Troy Murphy and a potential stud in Derrick Favors. If Denver can’t find a match here, then they were never going to trade Denver in the first place. As for whether or not a trade will happen – this is all about whether or not ‘Melo signs on the dotted line for NJ, and I sense a big game of chicken leading to the trade deadline. He’s not going to leave that money on the table with a new CBA coming up but if you trust the media, even the non-Chris Sheridan media, they think he won’t extend in New Jersey. He wants to play for the Knicks, meanwhile, the Nets ownership/FO seems obsessed in besting the Knicks any way they can.

Long story short, if I’m a betting man, I think the Nets are going to overpay handsomely, get Carmelo, and then exist as the 5th-6th seed in the East for the next few years. Don’t really think I’m a fan of it, but that seems to be the MO of those in charge.

How do the Nets match-up with the Raptors? What will be the gameplan heading into tonight?
The Nets are desperate for some offense lately, and even though Toronto is one of the worst defensive teams in the league, I don’t feel good about any match-up lately. I can envision Bargnani getting Lopez out of the post on both ends of the court, which doesn’t behoove anyway. Meanwhile, after starting out the season in great fashion
defensively, Devin Harris has lost a step or two with some injuries piling up. I don’t sense a blow-out, but unless something changes fast, I see the Raptors winning comfortably.

Injuries

Toronto
Reggie Evans – Out
Peja Stojakovic – Out
Jose Calderon – Game time decision
Andrea Bargnani – Game time decision

New Jersey
Anthony Morrow – Out
Devin Harris – Hurting, but will play

Match-ups

Point Guard
I like Devin Harris a lot; shame he’s playing for the Nets, or I’d be a huge advocate for him. As it stands, he’s having a solid, injury-free, season. He’s another perfect storm type point guard against the Raptors with quickness off the dribble and an improving jumper off the bounce. Harris will always look to score first, but has good court awareness and makes good passes. He turns the ball over a bit, but he more than makes up for it by seemingly getting to the line at will (#3 amongst PGs). With Farmar backing him up, the Nets have a solid 1-2 punch at the point. With Calderon questionable for tonight, a lot of pressure will be on Bayless to maintain the solid play he’s displayed over the last couple weeks. Barbosa’s speed and aggressiveness will be huge off the bench, but only to counter what Harris/Farmar bring to the table, and not as an advantage for the Raptors. Wednesday against the Wizards, Harris went to the line 17 times, converting 14. Can’t have him attack Amir and Ed every time he makes up his mind or it will be a long night. Actually, it will be a long night at the point match-up anyways; but it should be fun to watch.
Edge: New Jersey

Shooting Guard
With Morrow out, Farmar has moved into the shooting guard role, and he should suffer against DeRozan’s size and athleticism, but that depends on what kind of mood DeRozan is in. While he has some hops of his own, he’s giving up 4″ and 40lbs to DeMar…you see where I’m going right? If DeMar is in the game, he should be able to do whatever he wants; I have nothing else to add here.
Edge: Toronto

Small Forward
Ross gets the nod at the small forward, and I know little about the guy. Hollinger has this to say about him:

1. Quick, pesky defender with wiry build. Moves feet and rarely gambles.
2. Can hit midrange jumper but otherwise useless offensively. Awful rebounder.

The Nets are pretty deep with under-performing small forwards (Travis Outlaw and Stephen Graham; always trips me out to see Stephen), but they match-up well with the Raptors under achieving 3s of Weems and Kleiza.
Edge: Even

Power Forward
I always liked Kris Humphries the guy, never the player who took far too many liberties offensively and shot the ball more than I would have liked. I also had a thing for his sister …something about big girls…I dunno…

So while he’s not a skilled offensive player, Kris works works hard and does a lot of things fans/teams appreciate: crashes the boards, hustles on defense (not a great defender but at least he tries his best *cough*), makes garbage plays around the rim. If there’s one way to exploit him, is to let him shoot the ball from the elbow. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him pass the ball when he gets it in the paint, and he’s not a great finisher; you can do the math. However, he’s having a career season averaging 8pts 9rebs 1blk a game; highlighted with a 17 rebound performance against the Wizards on Wednesday. I like Amir in this match-up with his size and athleticism. Kris isn’t a crafty offensive player, so he will have some trouble drawing fouls on the young one.
Edge: Even

Something to consider would be Triano doing some work, and putting Davis on Humphries, and matching Amir up with Lopez. That would be a better match-up for the Raptors overall IMHO.

Center
With Bargnani out, Ed Davis is in for a long night. This is going to be a serious trial by fire for the rookie, where he will have to deal with Humphries’ hustle, and Lopez’s…Lopez; I got nothing witty to say about him. Frankly, Amir has the best shot at covering Lopez, and should get the call for most of the time Brook sees the floor. Fortunately for Johnson, Lopez has tree-trunk legs and wont be able to keep up with him, or Ed frankly, on the break in an up-tempo game. Amir will have a big advantage on the glass, and should be able to get free enough on offense to counter whatever Lopez does offensively.
Edge: Even

With the Lakers in town on Sunday, and that ugly loss to Chicago on Wednesday, the Raptors need this one. The gamblers haven’t decided the line for this one due to the injuries, which in other words means they’re not trusting the Raptors to win this game without Bargnani.

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You might have also noticed that we’ve switching our commenting system so the replies actually go the right person and you get to use Facebook etc. more easily. One of the features that is currently missing is the highlighting of unread comments. Fear not, Arse has been heads-down on this and will get it up soon.

Tonight is also Raptor Fan Fridays at the SCC.

The next team on Bosh’s wish-list is the Los Angeles Lakers, who have the curse of needing to always field a contending team. Their current crop looks to be on path to get to the finals for the third straight year, having won the championship last season.

With their core aging, they need to bring in players who can help compete for championships now, while building a solid core for the future. I checked in with Phillip Barnett of the ESPN TrueHoop Lakers blog Forum Blue and Gold to get his thoughts on the Lakers championship aspirations, Bosh rumours and Phil Jackson. Heeerreeeeeee we gooooooo! (sorry Steve, couldn’t resist):

Sam Holako: Chris Bosh was linked to the Lakers around the trade deadline with Bynums name coming up as possibly coming back to the Raptors. Given that Bosh just gave his wishlist of 5 destinations. the Lakers being one of them, how interested would Kupchak/Buss be in making a deal work?

Phillip Barnett: It would be impossible for the Kupchak/Buss contingent to not take a look at possibly making a move for Bosh, but at this time, I don’t think any deal would happen. I think a lot of it will hinder on how effective Andrew Bynum is against the Celtics in the Finals (this is, of course, assuming that both Conference Finals play out the way they’ve began), but in the end, I see ‘Drew in a Lakers jersey next year. There are just too many factors that lead me to believe that the Lakers are, and will remain, content with their Gasol/Bynum front court, no matter how versatile they’ll look on paper with Bosh on the floor.

SH: Even though they are championship contenders for the next 3-4 years, you have to start looking to the future. Chris Bosh represents the type of player who fills both short and long term needs of a team that needs to be relevant at all times.

PB: It would be impossible for the Kupchak/Buss contingent to not take a look at possibly making a move for Bosh, but at this time, I don’t think any deal would happen. I think a lot of it will hinder on how effective Andrew Bynum is against the Celtics in the Finals (this is, of course, assuming that both Conference Finals play out the way they’ve began), but in the end, I see ‘Drew in a Lakers jersey next year. There are just too many factors that lead me to believe that the Lakers are, and will remain, content with their Gasol/Bynum front court, no matter how versatile they’ll look on paper with Bosh on the floor. Andrew Bynum has shown flashes of becoming a better center than Dwight Howard, he just hasn’t really had a chance to prove that he can be consistent because of injuries. If a deal is done that sends Bosh to Los Angeles, Bynum’s propensity to be injured for long stretches of the year.

Chris Bosh would open up the Lakers offense tremendously as he is a better face up player than Pau Gasol is. I think he could fit in great in the triangle offense playing at the pinch post and with Gasol on the low block. He wouldn’t have to shoulder so much of a scoring load with Gasol and Kobe on the floor with him and would immediately give the Lakers the most athletic front court in basketball. The Odom/Gasol/Bynum lineup hasn’t worked out as well as some thought it would, but I think it could work a whole lot better if Bynum is substituted for Bosh. But then again, with the economy not as solid as it once was, having three of the top 20 contracts on your payroll wouldn’t be such a great idea (Kobe, Gasol and Bosh). Also, ‘Drew has been a great anchor for the Lakers defense when he’s been able to stay on the floor. Although Bosh isn’t terrible defensively, I don’t think he can replicate what Bynum has been able to do for the Lakers this season.

Lastly, Jim Buss, Jerry Buss’ son, does not want to give up Bynum. ‘Drew was his personal project, his first draft pick and has been very stubborn when talks of moving him have come up. Jim is the future of the Lakers organization, or better or for worse, and when it comes down to it, I have a tough time seeing him giving up Bynum right now. Not when he’s seen flashes of Bynum’s potential.

Do you think Bosh showing up at the Lakers/Jazz playoff game has anything to do with him adding the Lakers to his list of teams?

SH: I don’t know how much of being at the game has to do with it as opposed to everyone wanting to play with Kobe for a first rate organization. If a trade was in the works, how much interest would there be in taking Calderon as well? With Fisher on his last legs, Jose’s ability to hit threes, and his connection with Gasol, there could be a great fit.

PB: I’m actually a big fan of Jose Calderon. I think he has great vision and is a much better shooter than Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown. Calderon didn’t have his greatest season last year and I think he could get back on track with a simple change in scenery. It wouldn’t take too long for him to fit in playing with the likes of Bosh and Gasol, both of whom he’s played with for years. Derek Fisher is, as he’s done in the previous two years, showing his worth in the post season. Just a month and a half ago, it was hard to imagine Fish coming back in a Lakers jersey next season, but if the Lakers put up another banner in the rafters, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Lakers brought him back for one more year. If he’s gone, there will be a definite need for a point guard. Both Farmar and Brown’s contracts are up, with Brown having a player option and the Lakers able to offer Farmar a qualifying offer, it is very realistic that all three of the Lakers point guards could be gone next season. So to answer your question, if the Lakers make a move for Bosh, I do think they’ll have to find a way to work Calderon in the deal.

SH: So what are your thoughts on the playoffs? This years playoffs have been very interesting to me, sweep after sweep, with both the Lakers and Celtics being able to turn “it” on when people said it’s not possible. How do you like your chances against the Celtics in the finals?

PB: I know it’s been discussed around the blogosphere ad nausium, but I really think the Lakers needed to be waken up and that’s exactly what the Thunder did. Now the Lakers are playing their best basketball of the season, finding their opposition’s weaknesses and taking advantage of them. Pau Gasol has raised his game, Kobe has found his shooting touch and the bench is contributing. During the Lakers previous seven games, Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown have shot over 50 percent from three point range. What were Lakers’ weaknesses during the regular season have been strengths after their first four post season games.

As far as the Finals, I still can’t really bring myself to look too far ahead. I’m a bit superstitious about those kind of things. But I will say this: The advantages that the Celtics had in 2008 aren’t as prevalent now as they were two years ago. I think Garnett isn’t as mobile, James Posey is one less defender they can throw at Kobe and the Lakers have home court. I am excited about the possibility of another Lakers/Celtics Finals, but I really want the Lakers to close out this Phoenix playing well. They were up 2-0 in 2006 to the Suns and ended up losing in seven. Anything can happen, I don’t think the Suns coming back is likely, but I’m not going to count them out until it’s actually over.

SH: Unless Gentry can make big adjustments, it looks good for you guys. By some accounts, this could be Phil Jacksons last season as the Lakers coach. I’ve read that Buss doesn’t wants to cut his salary to less than half the levels they are at now. I’m wondering why he wouldn’t want to keep this core together and compete for as many championships as possible while Kobe is the best player on the planet. What are your thoughts on the coaching situation, who could be lined up to take his spot if Jackson doesn’t return?

PB: This is one of the tougher questions to answer because we’ve heard about the Phil Jackson situation from so many angles. Is his salary going to be cut in half? Is he coming back for the same amount of money? Have Jackson and Buss even discussed his contract yet? Jeanie Buss said she wasn’t sure that PJax would be back with the Lakers next season. There are ridiculous rumors that Jackson is going to leave to go coach Lebron. The thing is, there hasn’t been any definite answer yet. I’ve heard that Buss would love to have Jackson back and I know that Kobe certainly would love to have him back. If I had to guess, I’d say that Jackson would be back next season with a contract paying him less, but not significantly less, than what he’s making now — especially if they go on to win another ring.

As far as his replacement, it seemed like they were grooming Kurt Rambis to take over, but he’s now in Minnesota. Knowing the Lakers history, they usually get what they want, and if they want Rambis to replace Jackson, they’ll have him. I’ve always been a fan of Brian Shaw. I don’t know if he’s ready to move into a head coaching position yet, but from what I’ve heard, the players (sans Vujacic), all respond really well to him. Fish and Kobe played with him back in the 3-peat years and both respect him. We saw what happened the last time they brought in an outsider (Rudy T in ’05). He didn’t last the full season. So with this Lakers group, I think they should stay within the organization with a guy who knows the system and can command the respect from a group of very strong personalities.

SH: Are Kurt Rambis and Brian Shaw really able to coach a championship calibre team though? I don’t know enough about them to make a judgement, but it would seem that to manage personalities like Kobe, Artest, Gasol and Odom, you would need someone like Jackson if your intention is to win championships.

PB: That’s really a question that can’t really be answered until they’re given the opportunity. Kurt Rambis is in his first head coaching job in Minnesota, a team that didn’t have a particularly good record, but they also don’t have particularly good talent. He’s over there trying to run the triangle with a relatively young core who are taking a while to figure it out. With the Lakers, he’ll have a veteran core that already understands the offense, and it would just be on him to make game-to-game adjustments. With the Xs and Os aspect of the game, I have no doubt that both Rambis and Brian Shaw have very good basketball minds, but when it comes with dealing with a group of such high profile players, you need to command the respect of your top rotations guys.

I don’t think the Lakers would have been grooming Rambis to take over the job if he didn’t command that respect nor would Brian Shaw have been added to Phil Jackson’s staff after playing with some of the very guys he’d be coaching. Besides, I don’t think any of the available coaches would fit within the Lakers system. Kobe is a very detail oriented basketball player who finally started meshing with Jackson when they both realized that they have the same attention to detail for the game. I don’t think guys like Mark Jackson, Mike Brown and Byron Scott share that same attention to detail. If you’re not going to find another Phil Jackson, why not keep someone who is at least going to keep the same system in place to keep this team on the same page going into another season where they’ll be in a position to contend again?

What infuriates me about this Raptors team is that if they somehow pull out a win tonight against the Lakers, I wouldn’t be surprised, but a loss to the 76ers blows my mind. It’s not so much that they lost, well it is, but mostly how they lost. You get your franchise player back after he goes down for two weeks with an ankle injury, and you come out flat. Everyone was flat, even Jay wasn’t arguing calls with the zeal he normally does.

The Sixers are an athletic team, and the Raptors aren’t. Frankly, I would have picked them to be doing better than they are, at least be fighting for a playoff spot. As things happen, they are out of the playoff picture, and the Raptors are two games out of the lottery.

Over the last 6 games, the Raptors are a dismal 1-5. They haven’t been playing with any sense of urgency, energy, determination, heart, grit, honour, pride….they’ve been playing like the Nets, but with better players. I’m not sure what’s worse.

The Lakers are on a three game losing streak of their own; but there’s no remedy better than going home after a tough loss to the Magic on the road. A game where Kobe took 30 shots to score 34, Gasol put up 20/15 and Odom & Artest combined for 16pts 12rebs 5ast. Needless to say, the highlight of the game was Artest’s hair.

I bet the Lakers had this game circled on their calender after Turkoglu won the game at the line, with 1.2 seconds left in the game back in Toronto. Kobe had plenty of time to take the winning shot, but Antoine Wright played him perfectly defensively, only allowing an aggressively-contested shot that rimmed out.

What’s exciting is the game the Raptors played put themselves into a position where they could win the game at the line in the dying moments. Defense was solid, even though the Lakers dropped 105 points. Their tight man defense and crisp rotations in the 4th quarter forced bad shots/turnovers, then they capitalized on the other end with big shot making. Jack kept Farmar in check, Bosh and Bargnani would collapse on Gasol, even Calderon forced a couple turnovers.

The other key for the Raptors was getting to the line, and hitting their free throws. The Raptors need to replicate both of these efforts to even have a shot at a win here. Sadly, I’m hardpressed to think of this as anything but a spectacular loss to a team out for blood. Almost like Tom Liston furiously refreshing his browser until Amir Johnson’s adjusted +/- for the last three years is updated online.

Remember this?

Lightning wont be striking twice.

UPDATE

Better late than never, but I had checked in with Andy Kamenetzky from Land O’ Lakers, the ESPN Los Angeles Laker blog he runs with his brother Brian (you can also catch them on Twitter) and asked him a few questions about the Lakers heading into tonights game:

Q. I thought that replacing Ariza with Artest was an upgrade for the Lakers. Was it really? How has Artest worked out? Living up to expectations? Comment about his latest hairdo?
A. All in all, I do consider Artest an upgrade. Offensively, he’s been inconsistent, but so has the team in general for reasons varying from injuries creating a lack of continuity to a pure lack of focus. The issues aren’t Ron’s alone and he’s hardly the cause. These problems would exist if Ariza were still around, so you have to ask how much would Trevor be able to help. Judging by how he’s performed in an increased offensive role in Houston, my guess is not much.

In the meantime, the Lakers defense has become, rather under the radar, among the league’s best, which I think has a lot to do with Artest. He plays EXTREMELY hard and the team often feeds off his energy. Not to mention his pure skills. While Ariza was capable of disrupting teams with his length and is certainly a solid defender, Artest often wrecks guys one-on-one. He hounds the likes of ‘Melo, Pierce, Joe Johnson, and Granger relentlessly, leans on them, pokes away balls and often prevents them from even taking shots, much less forcing a miss. The Lakers undoubtedly miss Ariza’s speed at times and the flexibility of putting him on someone like Tony Parker, but TA also can’t cover guys without help for as long of durations. I’d rather have Artest, because that ability to go solo allows everyone else to better concentrate on their man.

Ron Ron’s “Demolition Man” ‘do was both interesting and short-lived. He’s now chrome dome, although the dye remains seeped into the skin. Always something there to remind me.

Q. I recently read that Lamar Odom eats excessive amounts of chocolate, and passes out in bed. Does it concern you that a major cog for a team with championship aspirations has this problem? How is his conditioning otherwise?
A. Considering Lamar ate plenty of candy last season when they won a title, no. He’s also been eating more oranges this season (another reason Artest has been a positive addition), if that eases anybody’s concerns. But unless he quite literally overdosed from a chocolate excess (as opposed to simply falling drifting off and the treats happened to be part of the equation) I consider this a non-story.

Q. Does Cleveland adding Antawn Jamison worry you guys come the finals?
A. In theory, yes, although Cleveland now has injury issues of their own and it remains to be seen how they’ll perform once Z returns and the entire roster is available. But to the original question, yes, he does concern me. I think Jamison was a better fit for Cleveland and easier to work into their system than Amar’e Stoudemire, their other debated acquisition. Particularly on the fly, which became even more of the case than originally expected. But assuming everyone is presented and accounted for, Jamison makes the Cavs better. He’s a tough cover and, by all accounts, a very good teammate. You can never have enough of the latter during the pressure cooker that is a playoff run.

Q. What is Phil Jackson’s status going forward?
A. Nobody knows for sure, but it’s certainly been a point of local gossip and rumors. Speculation Dr. Buss will ask PJ to take a pay cut next season, particularly if the Lakers don’t win it all. Speculation the team is tempted to bring in Byron Scott and start writing the franchise’s next chapter. Speculation old family wounds and divides have resurfaced to complicate the issue. Speculation PJ’s unresolved status could somehow jeopardize Kobe staying on board. And as the team plays below expectations, even while winning, even more speculation results.

Having said that, let’s be honest, isn’t that what we do in Laker Land even when everything is peachy? The Lakers and drama go hand in hand even during the brightest of times.

Personally, I think Jackson will return next season, assuming he remains in good health. But I guess you never know until ink and paper meet.

Q. Thoughts on the cause for your 3 game losing streak?
A. It’s still odd at times for me to type this, but the Lakers have been increasingly struggling on offense, which was certainly case during the three-loss roadie. Beyond not scoring with ease, they’re not doing much of anything efficiently. The ball doesn’t move and when it does, it’s often in the process of creating a turnover. They’re missing free throws. Players (Pau Gasol in particular) are having trouble hanging onto the rock. Too much iso play around the arc. Too much iso period. Ironically, the defense has often been very good, but when you’re both unable to score and constantly giving the ball away, there’s only so long the D will hold. According to research provided by Elias, the Lakers surrender 15.2 ppg off turnovers this season. During March, it’s hit nearly 19. For obvious reasons, that can’t continue.

I actually wrote about the streak ending on the Land O’ Lakers blog. To me, it felt emblematic of issues rising throughout the season and finally catching up to them over three consecutive games. This is still obviously a very good team, but there pressing issues in need of fine-tuning and they’re running out of time to hit stride before the playoffs.

Apologies for the lateness of this wrap-up, but wordpress decided to throw up this morning while I was putting the finishing touches on my post-game, and poof…it was all gone. Needless to say, it’s brutal writing it a second time around, so please bear with me…

The Raptors hung in and absolutely stole the rug from under the Lakers with a thrilling 106-105 win at home. The Raptors play is much improved, but what you might not realize is how well they are doing against the West: 8-7 including wins against the Hornets, Rockets, Spurs, Mavs and the Lakers. Overall, the Raptors have beat 8 of the top 16 teams in the league (and still have to play a couple of them). Not too shabby.

Lets not get ahead of ourselves, but I liked what I saw during the game that I am going to put this out there: the Raptors are a good team. They aren’t a great team, but rather a team that will win about 45 games (like many of us expected), win some big games (like they have been doing) and lose some ones they should have no business losing (which they have done). Beating the Magic, Spurs, Mavericks and Lakers in the same 10 game stretch solidifies that they have turned the corner from the early season funk they were in, and should be taken seriously. So back to the game…

The 1st quarter saw the Lakers absolutely own the paint. 20 of their 24 points came in the lane with Gasol and Bynum contributing 12 (10 and 2 respectively) to the cause. Gasol in particular seemed to get and hit whatever shot he wanted. Bosh and Bargnani couldn’t stop them, but they answered with 8pts combined (8 for Bosh) to pace the Raptors. DeRozan must have been feeling the jitters of his family/friends watching him play his home-town Lakers and was atrocious offensively. Bricking shots, airballs, it was embarrassing for me because I had just got finished telling a room full of folks on ESPN that DeRozan is really coming along this season (link and scroll down to the Daily Dime Live Recap). What DeRozan did do was provide a lot of hustle/toughness in chasing Kobe around the court, which is no easy task. I have to say that his overall effort was pretty good for the game.

The Raptors got down 7 points with about 1:25 left in the game when the recurring theme for the game sprang up: never lie down. With the score 20-13, the Raptors went on an 8-4 run to end the first, spurred by Hedo and Calderon attacking the paint, which led to free throws, an open look for a three by Belinelli and Amir drawing a foul in the paint. 2 point Laker lead.

More of the same in the 2nd: Kobe dictating the tempo of the game and creating for everyone and Gasol/Bynum pummeling us in the paint to the tune of a combined 31pts in the 1st half. The Lakers built another 7 point lead, and thought it fit to let up just a bit. True to earlier form, the Raptors took advantage, again, and went on  a 14-8 run over the last 3:31 of the 2nd to finish the half down 56-54. What we saw was more impressive: Bosh getting doubled in the paint kicks out to an open Jack for a 3; Hedo creating off the dribble; Bargnani being an aggressive beast.

We saw the same story unfold in the 4th: the Lakers push the lead to 8 courtesy of Fisher sticking a couple daggers, and again, the Raptors mount a comeback and finish the last 3:47 of the quarter on a 13-7 run to keep within 2 points heading into the 4th.

The 4th quarter is where things get interesting. I was waiting for that surge that would put the Lakers ahead for good, but the Raptors simply didn’t allow it. If you didn’t know, it was the Raptors DEFENSE that won them this game. Their tight man defense and crisp rotations forced bad shots/turnovers, then they capitalized on the other end with big shot making:

• Jack forces Farmar to turn the ball over, Bargnani hits a jumper on the other end – 86-88
• Bosh/Bargnani collapse on Gasol and force him to miss a shot at the rim, Bargnani hits a pull-up jumper in the paint on the next play 88-88
• Calderon forces Walton to turn the ball over, Bargnani hits a trey from 25 – 93-90

After Belinelli hit another ridiculous fadeaway three to put the Raptors up 98-95, Kobe, who was quietly having a monster game (I say quiet because it didn’t really feel like he was playing next level, even though he was) took over and put the Lakers up 105-101 by finding Bynum in the paint and hitting clutch jumpers.

This is where things get interesting, Hedo finds Bargnani for a deuce – plus 1, Raptors down 105-104. The Raptors defense, once again, steps up, this time Antoine Wright on Kobe off the inbounds. He stays with him, doesn’t foul, but doesn’t give him enough room to really get a good look…Kobe rims out behind the arc and Bosh boxes out Gasol to get the defensive rebound.

Turkoglu gets the call on the next play, and this is where I eat crow. I’m man enough to say that I didn’t want the ball going to him because I couldn’t stomach watching him shoot a long jumper and miss like he’s been doing during clutch situations earlier in the season. However, instead of coming off the high screen and popping a shot, he turned the corner and took it HARD to the rim and got the call. With ice in his veins, he sticks both from the line giving the Raptors a 106-105 lead with 1.2 left in the game. Kobe rimmed out a desperation three as the game clock expired, and that was that.

A full team effort, with the defense anchoring the win. While the Lakers rebounded the hell out of the ball, giving them 16 more shot attempts, the Raptors shot the ball very well with a free throw rate of 31.7% (they got to the line on 31.7% of their possessions) and hit 81% of them, capped off with Hedo winning it from the line. Biggest win of the year.

It’s no surprise that we have a long ways to go before we can think of contending with real teams, or even with real teams missing two starters while playing at home. Didn’t the Lakers suffer an exhausting 1 point defeat in Detroit and arrived in Toronto at 4 AM? They sure didn’t look like the team that might be road weary, if anything it was the Raptors that looked tired and never got back on defense and got rightfully killed in transition. So much for taking advantage of the Lakers back-to-back, pushing the ball up-court only to launch a quick jumper isn’t “attacking” basketball, that’s more like bailing a tired team out. And don’t let Chuck/Jack fool you into thinking that we did anything to extend the Lakers by any means, they’re the ones who extended us out by spreading the floor and playing the triangle and leaving many a Raptor with the deer-in-the-headlights look. And then of course, there was Kobe.

You expect Kobe to explode against our perimeter defense but you’d think that we’d keep the likes of Jordan Farmar and Sasha Vujacic in check, no? Isn’t that what Sam’s philosophy is, let Kobe get his and slow the supporting cast down. Tonight the supporting cast was depleted and we still allowed 7 threes from the guard combo who led the bench scoring and out-gunned ours 37-18 with each three being of the killer variety. Now you can point to Anthony Parker and Jose Calderon’s noncommittal man-defense but at some point the Raptors as a team have to make an adjustment to hide this weakness in their games. Maybe asking Parker and Calderon to help is a really, really bad idea because it seems like we get burned every time they do. Our defense on Kobe ranged from helping-early, helping-late and not helping at all. Needless to say when you’re a poor defensive team like the Raptors are, deploying so many different defenses against him is bound to confuse the living shit out of your players. But hey, Kobe went off, not much you can do about it. Sleep easy Carlos, you’re not the first one to get burned and you won’t be the last.

Hold off on the trades and the D-league assignment people, Andrea Bargnani is alive and well, how well? 28 points, 4 rebounds well. Bargnani is actually looking athletic of late, he’s driving to the rim at a reasonable pace, his thinking speed and movement speed are aligned, he’s making the right decisions when his man is playing him tight or giving him space and he’s playing (or trying to play) with authority. His in-traffic dunk in the first quarter was the highlight of this season, if there’s one thing to take from this game, it’s Bargnani’s performance. The thing that is most noticeable is that he doesn’t have that scared look on his face every time he catches the ball; Sam is letting him play through his mistakes which helps. But the most and I mean the most important thing about his recent success is that he isn’t taking himself out of the game by picking up early fouls. Now this might have something to do with playing against Haywood and Turiaf who aren’t exactly aggressive centers but at least it’s a sign that Bargnani isn’t dead just yet.

Chris Bosh had 22 and 15 but shot only 7-22 and stayed on the perimeter for the better part of the game. I didn’t like the first shot he took although he made it, a baseline fadeaway which I was hoping he’d miss because that might’ve motivated him to attack Turiaf who had expected trouble guarding the quicker Bosh. Bosh completely bailed out the Lakers defense and you might point to his 15 rebounds and say that he was exhausted on the defensive end, but I don’t buy that. We had a day off and he played less than 20 minutes on Friday, no excuses here. The Lakers were playing a lot of single-coverage on him and that’s exactly the situation where he needs to dominate and force early doubles which would kick-start our simplistic offense. Coming off an all-star nod, you have to bring it against the best player in the league. Disappointing night for Bosh.

It was obvious that part of our strategy was to slow down Kobe by having him play some defense. Unfortunately, Parker isn’t the type of player that can wear an opponent out. After all, running around screens to shoot jumpers tires you more out than the defender. Although he hit his first couple shots you knew it wasn’t going to last and Kobe came back each time Parker scored to get the points back and send a message to the Raptors that they’re better off conserving Parker’s energy on offense so he can actually defend Kobe. Delfino played Kobe as well as you can, no complaints there, Kobe’s an awesome player and got his points through many a different mean. A few times our last line of defense (aka PF and C’s) weren’t there when Kobe had beaten his man to find a wide open path to the rim. It looked like they weren’t even supposed to help out and had delegated on the helping to the guards. Anyway, Kobe exploded like the superstar that he is. A real superstar. Kobe summed up the game and his success:

“We only come here once a year, for some people, it’s the only chance they get to see me. Sometimes it’s the first time, so I want to make sure that I go out and put on a good performance. I was just reading the defense, the fact that they were honoring our shooters made it easy for me to get to the basket and I just kept attacking. The times that they closed off the lanes, I kicked it out to our shooters and they were able to knock them down.”

As I said before, I agree with the above quote but what I don’t understand his why we keep helping off our guards when Kobe’s driving, let Bosh/Bargnani/Moon be the first to apply the rotations, not Parker and Calderon.

A word needs to be said about our our defense, we were utterly confused by the triangle. Even when the Lakers had just set it up and passed the ball to Turiaf in the middle, you could tell that the Raptors had zero idea of where the ball might go next. I was almost like we didn’t watch any game tape or if we did, failed to grasp anything from it. The thing with the triangle is that it has many options so once the baseline cut was taken away by say Rasho or Bosh helping out, it left the weakside open and all that was needed was a quick swing pass or two to completely carve us open. The Lakers played exceedingly well and didn’t give the Raptors even a remote chance in this game. We were unprepared and not ready for what was about to hit us, maybe we were still celebrating the Washington win.

Liners:

* The Pau Gasol trade makes the Lakers the favorite to come out of the pacific over Phoenix.

* Jamario Moon’s honeymoon is officially over. He’s regressed into playing some very risky cheating-type defense and is starting to take more and more ill-advised jumpers. To Sam’s credit he’s been quick in yanking him whenever he’s up to no good.

* Jason Kapono went 4-5, all of his points coming in a second-half stretch which saw us trade baskets. It never looked like we would ever get a meaningful stop and this game was decided in the third quarter when it became apparent that at best we could trade baskets with the Lakers.

* Checking the boxscore you notice that we out-rebounded them 41-40 but I could swear on my mother that it felt like they had about 20 offensive boards.

* Kobe going after the Toronto fans in the first row doesn’t feel too good.

* Derek Fisher’s defense on Jose Calderon can’t be ignored, yeah Calderon scored 17 points but Fisher wore him out on the other end and applied enough pressure to hold Calderon to only 5 assists.

* Every time we hit a three to get some momentum, they came and hit one back. We never had any momentum in this game on which we could ride. All in all, it was awfully familiar from last year’s game in Toronto except in that one Kobe didn’t need to score 46, not that he did today.

Podcast on Monday, later.