Blame Canada
by DexterFishmore on Jan 24, 2010 8:41 PM PST
in Game Recaps
Email
PrintYou can drive yourself insane analyzing a game like this. When two teams play 90+ possessions and finish a point apart, there's no end to the what-ifs. What if Kobe Bryant's fadeaway three at the buzzer had been two inches longer? What if the refs hadn't called a phantom foul on Pau Gasol with 1.2 seconds to play? What if the Lakers - with the ball, a four point lead and 1:30 left in the game - had milked the clock instead of pushing the ball imprudently and turning it over?
That way madness lies. In losing to the Toronto Raptors, 106 to 105, today, the Lakers fall to 1-2 on their road trip and behind Cleveland in the standings. In the process a couple memes have died, and if there's any justice in the world a third will join them.
Remember when Andrew Bynum couldn't play with Gasol? They scored 22 and 21 points, respectively. They each had nine boards and combined for a pair of turnovers. Minty.
Remember when the Lakers only lost big? That wasn't an underlying attribute of the team so much as a flukey short-term trend. They've now dropped two nail-biters in four days. Winning tight games isn't really a skill.... it's largely a matter of catching a break at the right time. As I once heard Daryl Morey say, great teams don't win close games; they avoid them.
The third meme that I hope will die a similar death, but I know will not, is that the Lakers get all the calls. The Raptors shot 26 free throws today to the Lakers' nine. Anyone committed to the REFS HEART THE LAKERZ!! worldview will trot out the tired "But Toronto was more aggressive!" theorem. Sorry, but no. The Raptors are more jumpshootery than almost anyone, and today they looked it.
Then, you know, there was that Pau call at the end.
I'm not putting this L on the refs. Games like this, where the whistles for whatever reason don't go your way - they happen. I just want the anti-Laker paranoiacs to remember this data point the next time they're on the verge of a whining jag.
I have zero confidence my hopes will be realized.
In addition to Bynum and Gasol, a gold star - ehh, let's make it silver in light of the loss - goes to Kobe for a strong multi-category stat line (27 points, 9 assists, 16 reebs). It still wasn't Classic Mamba in terms of shooting accuracy, but an Effective Field-Goal Percentage of 48% is real improvement. And hey, how about Jordan Farmar? The kid hit for 17 points in 21 minutes, with four boards and a single turnover.
See anything you like, Jerry Colangelo?
|
|
Poss. |
TO% |
FTA/ |
FT% |
3FGA/FGA |
2PT% |
3PT% |
EFG |
TS% |
OReb Rate |
DReb Rate |
PPP |
|
Lakers |
93 |
14 |
0.09 |
100 |
0.19 |
44 |
32 |
49 |
51 |
33 |
78 |
1.13 |
|
Raps |
94 |
12 |
0.32 |
81 |
0.22 |
50 |
39 |
52 |
57 |
22 |
67 |
1.13 |
59 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
You switched the Raps/Laker's free throw %
I think a lot of the issues in the Cleveland game reared their head here as well; letting okay players look like all stars, no real defense, no keeping a lead, choking down the stretch.
If anything, this game makes the Cleveland loss look a lot more bearable.
It almost seems to me, after the whole Donaghy thing with him talking about certain players getting calls (Kobe), that the refs are under-calling the Lakers this season.
And free throws to win a game where they guy drove out-of-control against 3 Lakers? Heh, badness all around.
Ron-Ron's got Plantar Faciitis in both feet i believe
His feet usually start to hurt in the 4th quarter
well
the way hes been playing… maybe its more then just the 4th quarter..
ughhh tough losses today for the two purple and gold teams....
i predicted a 5-3 trip before it all started but I’m starting to get a little skeptical of that prediction. Kobe seems really pissed at his teamates right now and the team as a whole doesnt look very close. But shit, we can lose the rest of the games this week but if we win in Boston, I’ll forget all about this debacle and even the Cleveland disaster(s).
by desecrator09 on Jan 24, 2010 8:58 PM PST reply actions 1 recs
I didn’t see the game, but from the replays it doesn’t look like Gasol fouled Hedo. It looked like there was definitely some contact but I couldn’t really tell who to blame it on. I’m surprised it was called the way it did.
It was legit
There was clearly a hand on Turkeylue’s shoulder, and it was definitely a foul. Though It was surprising that the refs called this foul given the overall lack of whistles throughout the game and all the contact they had let go earlier. They usually don’t call those type of fouls at the end of games but the Lakers should never have let it get to that point.
by KBZ on Jan 24, 2010 9:17 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Fair enough
Like I said, I didn’t see this game and the replays I saw were from Yahoo Sports and they aren’t the best quality… they always skip and only showed the play from two angles. I got too frustrated to bother letting it load again. Haha. But from what I did see, it looked like there was contact, just maybe not on Gasol. I’m surprised by the free throw discrepency though.
Bynum bosh doesn't sound to good now
Andrew bullied Chris today. And after watching bosh play, I feel like he too much like gasol. So let’s keep bynum
those damn Canadians!
go back to Canada!
"Just by the aura of D.J. Mbenga being there, the shot missed."
if you want to look for silver linings,heres one
you know how turkoglu made the game winning shots
well at least he didnt make the ones in game 4 of the finals
his and dwights missed FTs
kept the lakers in the game in the 4th quarter and set up the fisher 3 and OT…
"Just by the aura of D.J. Mbenga being there, the shot missed."
yea silver lining for the day
drew & pau can obviously co-exist
bench looking better
kobe—less isolation plays. it’s not just the stats. there was considerably more interior passing today.
"We’re going through a malaise a little bit," Bryant said. "Things have kind of plateaud right now. At this stage of the season it happens, but you’ve still got to put a whole lot of effort and kick it into high gear and get it going."
And this made me laugh
Bynum was punished with a fine, and had to pay his own fare to Toronto.
Lakers gotta get going
from what I saw, they had things under control, with some bad luck they loss, hopefully things turnaround as Jan. turns into Feb.
There are basic Fundamentals that are needed to move forward in this game. Always keep your guard up at all times to avoid being caught in a trap. Overcome the fouls that will be commited against you REBOUND AND PRESS ON. ADJUST to the LimeLight: ALL-STAR PLAYERS ARE ALWAYS THE CENTER OF ATTENTION. Know what your role is and play your position. Find a game plan and execute it. REMEMBER YOU ONLY GET OUT OF THE GAME WHAT YOU PUT INTO IT.
I'm puzzled at the Laker game plan in the 4th.
It seems like lately we have been starting the games off hot by pounding the ball inside to Bynum and Gasol. Both start off sizzling then fade as the game wears on.
One problem is foul trouble. Bynum often starts hot but has to hit the pine after picking up a few quick ones. Bynum needs to work on this and I’m sure he will.
As the game wears on, the Lakers turn in to a perimeter team. I think a major factor is the bench. Farmar and Shannon are obviously perimeter players and Odom is too (to some extent). Farmar and Brown control the ball when their in and don’t dish down low to either Gasol or Bynum.
To my point, when the fourth comes around, Bynum and Gasol have cooled off and the game is owned by Kobe. Kobe controls the ball and does what he wants with it. Every team knows its coming and it makes it easier for the Lakers to turn the ball over with little ball movement and out of control passing deep in the shot clock.
What I would like to see is a steady diet of feeding the ball down low to Bynum and Gasol…all game long. Especially tonight, with the undersized Raptors. Now I know that we owned paint scoring but I’m looking for Bynum and Gasol to spend some serious time down low with the ball. This is spread the floor big time and allow for open outside shots later in the game instead of forced outside shots. We just seem somewhat frantic lately late in the 4th.
Hopefully we can have a decent week and beat the Cs on Sunday.
Lamar = Laker for Life...Go Pads...Go Bolts
by mrbarneydangles on Jan 24, 2010 11:14 PM PST reply actions 6 recs
I agree that the items you identified are continuing problems
Except in tonight’s game a lot of those things went well better but we still lost.
- While Drew is often in foul trouble, but not tonight. He only had 2 fouls for the whole game.
- And while our bench often hasn’t been contributing especially on the road, Jordan was 7 of 11 for 17 points (and as important he was not just jacking up badly timed 3-pointers). But unfortunately Jordan’s good night wasn’t enough to offset Lamar (2-6), Shannon (1-3), Fish (2-6) and Ron (2-8). (Ron gets a pass ‘cause he’s playing hurt.)
- I too was disappointed that Drew and Pau didn’t handle the ball more on offense in the 4th quarter. I think they started to swarm Drew when he caught the ball. So maybe Kobe & Gasol could play that 2-man game they successfully played in New York.
Bottom line it is disappointing to drop such a winnable game but I think we have won so many close games this year we were bound to lose a close one at some point. Now let’s go have a good week and beat the eastern bottom dwellers and Boston.
Which of these things is not like the others? 15 NBA Championships, most wins in NBA history, current NBA champions, lost by 20 to the F'ing Spurs.
Nice post and Recd, but I think our defense is ... weird
I don’t know what it is, really. We’re back on the tip of letting teams hang around and we’re not putting them out.
Yah Bynum can only be awake on offense or defense not both at same time.
Agree that they need to always feed ball inside and work from there, this was Shaqs complaint to. He was always blaming Kobe but it is not him, it is Phil the bulls did the same thing with Jordan.
by so.cal.native1952 on Jan 25, 2010 7:13 AM PST up reply actions
Love the title of this thread haha.
I really can’t in good faith blame any loss (NFL Ed Hockely games aside) on the refs. Sure the call was questionable at the end, but the Lakers didn’t play particularly great. Sure we got great individual performances, but I’m getting to be very skeptical about “our cockiness” being a good excuse for why we don’t play defense. Our interior defense is extremely weak right now, and Artest seem content to let people drive by him putting far to much pressure on Bynum’s already weak help defensive skills.
I gotta say this game really highlighted some Defensive problems we have. Fisher cannot be allowed such a big leash. Sure he is our general and a vet, but damn… that guy has gotta make some stops.
In Kobe we trust!
Ron injured with plantar fascitis as cited by someone else above.
Can’t really move like he wants to
I think Farmar fits better with the second unit and Fish fits better with the first.
Maybe next year if they re-sign him, but not this year. And you definitely HAVE to start Fish in the playoffs, too many big shots not to.
Lamar = Laker for Life...Go Pads...Go Bolts
by mrbarneydangles on Jan 25, 2010 7:53 AM PST up reply actions
No sir
I think we need to start Farmar NOW notice he was in the Majority of the 4th and Fish cant hit the broadside of a barn this year…Give Farmar the Keys to the cadillac and let the kid roll!!! he makes us so much more dangerous as another person who can penetrate and break down the defense, especially since Kobe hasnt been doin a whole lot of that since the Finger injury….Im sorry and i understand fish has been huge but his time is done time to play for the rest of the year and the future…Im willing to take my chances with farmar he’s playing fearless right now and the more he starts the better he is gonna get by playoff time
fouls are easy to explain
The Raps were horrible at defending at the basket. They were nowhere near the LA players. That’s why the calls were so lopsided. The Raps were not putting any pressure on LA under the net leaving the refs with nothing to call. How can you not have seen that?
LOL
Nobody fouled Turkoglu at the end.
This game didn’t matter so it wasn’t a big deal, but had this game been anything else; LA would have been entitled to its anger.
That said, it’s nice to see everyone here take the game so lightly and not whine and call the game fixed. Mistakes happen.
Gasol was right, yeah...
Gasol was right – on that last play, and only on that one, NBA refs did not do what they typically do for Lakers team, and what is required of them – exercise an enormous bias on behalf of Lakers, which is the part of the NBA office campaign to support the team featuring one of the best gifted players. Twisted perception of the NBA office is that league fans across the world will be thrilled by the fact that this team wins all the games, and that the fans will keep purchasing NBA league products and services based on that fact. Therefore, league office has instructed officials to render desired outcomes by favouring this team with their calls. That is how Lakers team always has 8 players on the court – hard to beat, now is it? That is where Gasol’s complaint comes from. After all, he should have fouled out half way through second quarter last night. And not only him: rewind the last night game against the raptors and playback it slowly – on average, a Lakers player HAD TO COMMIT 3 fouls to get called ONCE. Now, that is called a good defence. Just a frown towards a Lakers player would be sufficient to call a foul on any Raptors player. Else, how would you describe a team of non athletic, less than skilled players surrounding one gifted player reaching the championship? Ask the refs, and D.S’ office. Back to Gasol – the true metric of his contributions on a team level should be measured during his tenure with Memphis team. Exactly – foul prone complainer with an ugly mug and vertical leap of less than 10 inches. Easy to play so called “defence” when your fouls are suddenly overlooked, your 3 seconds in the key are now stretched to a full minute, and your each posession will be free throws if you miss the basket. Oh, and by the way, this applies collectively to the whole Lakers team: very effective use of a sound signal reminder for the refs, that you are expecting them to call a foul for you. It was ridiculous to listen last night to the high pitched sissy voice of a gigantic center Bynum each time he cried for a foul: “AAAAH, EEEY!!!”, it brings memories of the memorable tennis court matches featuring Monica Seles!!!
You're almost as bad
as Denver fans with their theories. Gasol shot 2 fts, Kobe shot 4 fts, and Bynum shot 3 fts. Those were all the fts in that game for the Lakers. The Lakers had 18 fouls to your 13 fouls. You even got the foul call for the game winning fts. What are you complaining about?
Watch all of the games in the season, and then come back with conspiracy theories except you’ll have none. Every team gets missed calls in their favor and against them every game.
Not worried
With league pass preview I’ve been catching some other games and I just watched the Celtics barely win in overtime against Portland at home and the Cavs almost lose to the Thunder at home. Both of those were games that should have been won by a big margin yet they barely squeaked out with a win.
No one is playing dominant basketball right now. No need to worry.
Lamar = Laker for Life...Go Pads...Go Bolts
by mrbarneydangles on Jan 25, 2010 7:55 AM PST reply actions
No one is playing dominant basketball right now. No need to worry.
Yeah, as long as we are generally healthy and specifically Kobe’s finger issue gets settled, we’ll be OK.
Which of these things is not like the others? 15 NBA Championships, most wins in NBA history, current NBA champions, lost by 20 to the F'ing Spurs.
PHANTOM FOUL
Oh, so you mean the phantom foul when Gasol clearly is holding and grabbing Turkolololou’s right arm? THAT phantom foul? Watch the replay.
Wow, in the sore winners vs. sore losers debate.....
I think we can now safely classify the Raptor fans.
Billy Mac: "Lamar, can you see yourself actually getting in the (boxing) ring"?
Lamar Odom: "No. My face is too pretty."
Yes, that phantom foul
Thanks for clarifying! That is indeed the one I meant.
by DexterFishmore on Jan 25, 2010 1:48 PM PST up reply actions
doesn't matter, phantom or not. The Lakers should've played better.
They shouldn’t be playing a “down to the wire” game with toronto. If they don’t play well (offense or defense), the blame should go to their play regardless of refs.
Maybe those sac/miami/mil games didn’t teach the lesson well enough, with them thinking they’ll get bailed out in the end (the NY game almost falls in this category, too). Hopefully this one will hit harder. Or maybe it’s just wishful thinking.
Gasol needs to make the plays in the crunch time
I didn’t see a lot of the game (NFL championship), but I watched the last 5 minutes or so (based on the clock). twice during the final minutes I saw Gasol get the ball in a position to score and twice he made a pass that led to a turnover. If he had scored on either play, Lakers would have won. The last play, Kobe gave him a beautiful pass that Gasol would normally put in the hoop instead he makes a dumb pass to shannon in the corner. The ball was deflected and the Lakers had 3 seconds left on the shot clock . desperation shot fails.
Kobe should also made a triple double on that play. Farmar also muffed a Kobe pass that should have led to an assist when instead of shooting an easy mid range jumper , he forced a pass that lead to a turnover. It was nice to see Kobe trying to involve his teammates in the final minutes, but I can understand his frustration when they don’t seem to have the cojones to shoot in crunch time.
COME ON GUYS
Why do you do this everytime the Lakers lose? if you’re gonna put free throw stats, put it every game. The Lakers probably shoot more free throws than the opposing teams if you put ’em all.
Fta breakdown
The Lakers have a 1.4 fta differential than their opponents, which is good for 7th in the league. You know whose right below them? The Raptors at 1.3 fta differential, please go somewhere with conspiracy theories.
In case thats not enough for you. The Raptors also shoot almost five more fts per game than the Lakers at 28.2 fts a game, good enough for second behind the Nuggest who shoot an absurd 32.1 fts per game. Lakers are middle of the pack at 23.7 fts per game.
In case thats still not enough for you. Here is a list of the fta all season by team.
Hawks – 981
Celtics – 1039
Bobcats – 1110
Bulls – 988
Cavs – 1166
Mavs – 994
Nuggets – 1378!!!
Pistons – 1091
Warriors – 1129
Rockets – 1012
Pacers – 1109
Clippers – 1050
Lakers – 1043
Grizzlies – 1144
Heat – 1051
Bucks – 858
Wolves – 1056
Nets – 1073
Hornets – 878
Knicks – 973
Thunder – 1144
Magic – 1191
Sixers – 993
Suns – 1137
Blazers – 1142
Kings – 1069
Spurs – 1022
Raptors – 1270
Jazz – 1125
Wizards – 1083
The freakin Nets shoot more fts than the Lakers. I don’t want to hear it.
And in case you wanna make a the refs favor Kobe argument. Kobe is number 12 in terms of fta at 7.3. He’s the least favored of superstars with fts. Melo, James, Durant, Wade, Bosh, G. Wall, Dirk, Billups, Howard of course, and even Maggette and Kevin Martin are ahead of him.
So there you go bruh. Every single stat out there points to a great big NO! with capitals and exclamation marks for emphasis.
But Just in case you were wondering. Lakers are also middle of the pack in terms of avg fouls on the other team at 21.5 and in fact the Lakers actually on avg receive less calls than their opponents with a -1.7 differential between foul calls. So there you go. The Lakers are no more favored than your Raptors and if anything they are less favored.
by Marty Mart on Jan 25, 2010 10:39 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Dude...
We do post the FT stats every game.
by DexterFishmore on Jan 25, 2010 1:49 PM PST up reply actions
boy you really put a lot of thought into your FIRST post here ever.
At least you were smart enough to put “probably” into your last sentence to give yourself an out. Good thinking.
Billy Mac: "Lamar, can you see yourself actually getting in the (boxing) ring"?
Lamar Odom: "No. My face is too pretty."
YEEEEAH BOYEEE
Raptor Nation, Trade Bosh 4 Bynum, No way, Bosh only wants to play for a team with effort and heart like T.O. Keep it up Boys. SHOOK UP THE WORLD!
Bosh will not stay.... its too cold up there no beaches, atleast in New Jersey, they got a Jersey shore...lol
He’ll follow the money dude, I would too.
The RaiderLaker
I'm going to enjoy watching your reaction
When Bosh leaves this summer. It’s going to be priceless.
To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.
Um we will give hom Max Money Boys
Like the title says, funds is not the issue, I dont know how u can expect him to leave when hes the leader. His best friend Jack is on the team and we pretty much gave him the keys to the city. If he DUI’s and kills somebody, i say left him off. Cant get away with that anywhere else. Go Raps, reminds me of the Blue Jays ’92 baby. SHOOK UP THE WORLD.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Silver Screen and Roll
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
Featured Stories
FanShots
Quick hits of video, photos, quotes, chats, links and lists that you find around the web.
Recommended FanShots
Recent FanShots
In Association With
Ball Don't Lie - NBA - Yahoo! Sport
- Days of NBA Lives: Wherein Hamed Haddadi goes to the zoo
- David Stern changed the competition committee to push new rules, report says
- Nazr Mohammed films Oklahoma City Thunder fans welcoming the team back at 5:30 in the morning (VIDEO)
- The Orlando Magic finally part ways with both Stan Van Gundy and GM Otis Smith
- Mike D’Antoni breaks silence on New York Knicks exit: ‘An obstacle had to be removed’
