The “Lakers had 8 guys on the court in the fourth” edition.
Banks – he had more of a chance bowling a perfect game at Lucky Strike than getting the call in this one. Nice jeans, though.
Bargnani – horrible start that had the haters shaking their fists. Horrible shot selections, arms by his sides on D. Then, as usual, he heated up by standing tall on the defensive end and adding in 15 points by the end of the half. Rest of the way? 6 points and back to heaving the ball up with plenty of time on the shot clock.
Belinelli – I stayed up to see the epicness of Marco vs RonRon. It didn’t disappoint. Well, actually it did. Marco fared well, but the only reason he saw the floor was because of horrible early foul trouble by his teammates.
Bosh – for 3 quarters he looked like a beaten man. A step short, no drive to the hoop and Bynum was pushing him like Guido pushes homemade wine on St.Clair. In the fourth he seemed to come out guns blazing and capped it off with a 3pt shot (his second of the night) with 9 seconds left to tie the game. Not a game winner, but a nice lift at the time.
Calderon – an average game at best. Definitely a victim of fan interference late in the game, but on his way there he was close to invisible. Worked fine with Jack on the floor with him, but otherwise he seemed lost most of the game.
DeRozan – played a very good game in the first half. Back home, family in the crowd and unlike against the Clippers, he gave them a show early. Attacked the hoop, invited contact, got to the line but was hampered by some foul calls. No secret that I’m not a big fan, but he played well tonight, kept Kobe under control and deserves credit for showing up to work for the first time in a while.
Evans – how you fanboys doing? I kept saying he wasn’t worthy of your lust and now you are seeing why. 5 minutes of nothingness unless you count one hell of an ugly turnover. Sure, he accepted blame for it but let’s just hope he is as accepting as his role as benchwarmer for the remainder of the year.
Jack – wonderful game by Jarrett. He played a third quarter that was other-worldly for a Raptor in this calendar year. 13pts in the quarter only to see him yanked late and not see the floor again until mid-fourth. Jay needs to explain that move. Anyway, Jack ran the offense well, got his own (going for 50%), went to the line 8 times and hit all of them. 18/7/7 with no turnovers. A masterpiece.
Johnson – the hustle was back tonight and it was welcomed. What wasn’t welcomed was the 4 turnovers. Face the music: you will never be a playmaker and that isn’t your role. Do the grunt work, give us some second chance opportunities and shore up our D. Should be simple.
Nesterovic – while in LA, he auditioned for the remake of Harry and the Hendersons. Not the Lithgow role, but the Henderson one.
O’Bryant – still inactive. Still has as much a shot of being a 12min/game guy in the NBA as Oliver Miller has of being in next years SI Swimsuit Edition with his lady friend.
Turkoglu- I fluctuated between feeling sorry for the guy and wanting to hunt down where he lives and bashing his garden gnomes to bits. You have to know he has garden gnomes. Anyway, if he could find a hole and crawl into it, a) he would and b) 98% of Canada would probably shovel dirt on top of him. 2 absolutely hideous turnovers (4 in total), 4 fouls, 2/7 shooting, no trips to the line, 6 points. I’ve seen more pride in a profession from a 6 year old running a lemonade stand in winter.
Weems – deserving of some more minutes tonight? I ended up being on the fence. He didn’t stand out when he was out there, but you still had to wonder if his energy would have been infectious. Still, his ground game wouldn’t have worked well against the size the Lakers have in the paint. Should be rested for tomorrow, though.
Wright – quick….have you been led to believe that fouls were an issue tonight? Well, Antoine is the parade marshal: 3 fouls in 4 minutes and 5 by the end of the game. Obviously this rendered him pretty much useless, but his ability to cover Kobe on that last play made up for some of it. Kobe hit the shot, but Wright forced him to use 75% luck and 25% ability. Couldn’t have played him much better.
Driving The Bus: Jarrett Jack
Under The Bus: Hedo Turkoglu
Game Theme:
