The Mavs game was a very expensive one on two counts: 1) they lost a winnable game against a good team that would have shut a lot of people up about how good this team is 2) they lost DeMar for up to an indefinite amount of time (or 4-6 weeks, depending on who’s reporting you trust more). It will be weird to watch the Raptors without DeMar since he’s become such a mainstay for us over the last five years. Missing only 11 games over that stretch tells you the kind of shape he’s in, and how well he treats his body, which should also come as no surprise given his famous work ethic.
Listen, we’re not so deluded a fan base that we think the Raptors are the best team in the league, but not giving them credit for handling business early in the season is a slight, but what can you expect when the rest of the league has watched less Raptors games over the last few years as they’ve already won this season.
The Lakers are….a mess. It’s barely a team; more an assembly of players who’s collective salaries add up to the minimum amount of money the Lakers organization can legally spend until they figure out how to turn this around and win another for Kobe in his twilight. The fact that they’ve won 3 games is stunning given two of those came against The Hawks and Rockets (Disclaimer: Howard was injured, but still should have lost to them).
What else about the Lakers…?? They have three of my least favourite players in the league in (order) Boozer, Kobe, and Young. Speaking of Young, he really isn’t a good basketball player. At least Boozer can do two things well (score and rebound); Young is more inefficient than Kobe and puts up shots like he thinks he’s Melo.
I’m really not looking forward to the brick-fest the Lakers are going to assault us with, but to dig into things a bit, I spoke with Rey Moralde, who blogs everywhere about everything to get a sense of Kobe, Ed Davis, and the lackluster-Lakers.
Sam Holako: Kobe recently came out and said that owners forcing star-players to take a pay cut is a huge coup for them. Even if Kobe took less, how much better off would the Lakers have been over the next two seasons?
Rey Moralde: Maybe a little better? I don’t even know why I was a little bit shocked that Kobe Bryant didn’t take much of a paycut; I assumed he would be like Tim Duncan and take a 2-year, $20 million deal or something. But here’s the thing: the big free agents (LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony had the first move, really) still wouldn’t have gone to the Lakers knowing what we know now. It still looked like a dire situation and stars would have to take less money to go to the Lakers. They probably would’ve gotten some of the better role players, though. Maybe Trevor Ariza would’ve returned to the Lakers? Maybe even Paul Pierce would’ve went there? It would maybe have some sort of domino effect where older player would’ve gone to get one last run with Kobe. But they were better off rebuilding, regardless. Lakers losing Julius Randle for the year was something we definitely didn’t see coming.
Sam: Would Ariza and Pierce been enough to keep Gasol? Would those three plus Kobe and Lin been enough to win a round in the West? The contract was shocking at the time, but given what we know, it doesn’t seem like him taking 10m per would have done much to improve things over the next couple years. In fact, feels like this is the rebuild (watching Kobe put up 24 a night because he HAS to is rough) and the discount will come when you can’t score 26 a night on 24 shots.
Rey-Rey: Probably not. Gasol has been mistreated by management/coaching staff (fans, too!) that he needed to go. Lakers are also in their third coach in four years so some players might have been turned off by that instability. Would someone like Pierce or Ariza move the needle? Maybe just a bit but title contention is too far away. I’m thinking that you and the Lakers are on the same page that it didn’t matter what money Kobe got. I think it did but ultimately, no one bit for the max spot, anyway.
So rebuilding is what the Lakers should do (are doing?). But Kobe’s situation isn’t making it easier for the team. He wants a crack at a 6th title.
Sam: Is high usage, low efficiency Kobe a realistic 2nd fiddle on a championship team? I mean, it’s understandable why he’s doing what he’s doing this season, but does he have anything left to make # 6 a reality?
Rey-Rey: As a second fiddle, sure… if HE accepted that role. Kobe is always going to think of himself as the #1 guy (one of the reasons why Dwight bolted the Lakers). If you put Kobe in, say, Chicago as a #2 guy, I don’t see why they wouldn’t be the favorites. He’s almost like the perfect final piece for a contending team SHOULD he accept that. But we’re not in a perfect world plus Kobe is very, very loyal to the Lakers (at least, the last seven years).
However, as far as 2006 Kobe goes? That’s long gone. He can pad the stats but he can no longer singlehandedly carry a team to 45 wins.
Sam: How is Nick Young still alive?
Rey-Rey: The funny thing is that while people think that Kobe would kill guys that are shoot-first like him, he actually LOVES those type of players. It’s because he likes it when guys have enough courage to go against him if it makes sense. In the last few years, Kobe’s had aggressive teammates like Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic, and Derek Fisher. Yeah, Kobe might look mad on the court when it happens but he actually really appreciates those guys that have the balls to shoot those shots. That’s why he keeps telling Jeremy Lin to be aggressive. So he has no problem with Nick Young.
Sam: Kobe still doesn’t know who he is does he?
Rey-Rey: For a while, he thought he was Michael Jordan. Then he said he emulated his game after Dr. J, which is a pile. Now he’s talking like Phil Jackson. You figure it out.
Sam: With respect to rebuilding: Randle IS the youth movement…poor bastard; lots of cheap short term deals; uhmmm….top-5 protected pick…is the plan really to somehow get Love this offseason, then try and entice Westbrook? What other stars, true-Laker-level-stars, are left to be had? I’m sure it will get figured out, cause it always does, but I just don’t see it right now.
Rey-Rey: Well, we’ll have the Love rumors for a while but I’m not confident the Lakers will get him; the Cavs will figure out in due time. But if it does happen, I will see that domino effect of excellent role players going to L.A. We’ll figure it out as the days go by. Who knew LeBron was returning to Cleveland? Maybe Durant decides (I doubt it) he wants to try the Lakers in 2016.
Sam: That’s quite the luxury of knowing everything will just work out…this is why people hate the Lakers… How has Byron Scott been working out so far?
Rey-Rey: Horrible unless they’re tanking secretly. And I don’t think they’re doing that; I know Kobe definitely doesn’t want to. But Byron’s playing him too many minutes and his rotations are as bad (or even worse) than Mike D’Antoni. Most of all, I don’t even know what their identity is.
It’s not just Byron’s fault, really, but the roster is so mismatched. A lot of castoffs, a lot of veterans that are better served in better teams, and some young guys, too. And Byron’s not making the most of it. It’s been like this with Mike Brown and Mike D’Antoni. This season is definitely a watch but if you’re asking about performance, they can stand to do a little better. Play Ed Davis more. Maybe Wesley Johnson is better off the bench. Use Jordan Clarkson more. But what do I know?
Sam: That was my next question; lots of people around here love Ed Davis and still think he would be solid on this team. what has been your assessment of him?
Rey-Rey: I think Ed Davis really needs more playing time but he’s been pretty much the same guy his entire career. That’s what happens when you don’t get on the court much. I thought he was a low-risk, high-reward guy to begin with and he’s paying dividends so far. He really should be starting over Carlos Boozer, who is just all midrange and yells at this point in his career.
Sam: Finish this sentence: “The Lakers lose by ___ points, but ___.”
Rey: The Lakers lose by 12 points but… who am I kidding? This team is terrible. 12 might be generous.
Match-ups
Backcourt
Once you get past Kobe’s ability to drop anywhere from 20-50 points on you, you realize that you can get that back, in spades, PLUS you really want that to happen since it implies bad mid-range jumper after bad mid-range jumper going up at an epic rate, meaning no ball movement, meaning no need to play helter-skelter help defense, meaning good things for the Raptors. Lin has played well, but I mean, so have most of the players in the league. He deserves to be here, but he’s not special; at least we’ll always have Linsanity (worth the read). DeRozan’s injury really hurts this team, especially his new found low-post game, but the depth is there to fill-in by committee. Lowry is shortlisted in MVP conversations (not going to happen, but the respect is the key aspect of this), and Lin doesn’t do enough to counter him. I don’t even know who else they have, so lets move on. Raptors with the edge.
Wing
Nick Young is the one-dimensional-poor-mans-Kobe. He can only score, but the cost is in efficiency. Yea, he’s not good, and even if he came free, I would prefer Landry Fields at $6.25m…probably…maybe.. Between Ross’ offense (he’s usually on for two than off for one…tonight it should be on) and JJ’s defense, they should be able to cover Young and Wesley Johnson (who I’m shocked is still in the league). Raptors with the edge.
Frontcourt
Is Amir back? One game is no sample size, but he showed us a lot of heart against a better front court than the Lakers in the Mavs. Regardless, while the Lakers have a bit more depth up front with Boozer and Hill…depth is not the right word…they have a decent starting front court with no help on the bench. Hill could provide some challenges in the paint, he’s having a career season, but relative to Jonas, hes having an ok season. This is a perfect game for Jonas to drop a double-double WITHOUT a pump fake or hesitations of any sort. It’s there for him if he wants it. Raptors with the edge.
Line
Raptors are 6.5 point favourites. This has all the potential of Bruno getting some run in the 4th quarter. The Lakers are just really bad, and even without DeMar, this should be a gimme for the road team. Raptors by 11.
