# Raptors @ Lakers, Jan. 22nd



## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

<center>
















*Toronto Raptors* (14-26) @ *Los Angeles Lakers* (21-19)
January 22nd, 2006, 9:30 PM EST
The Score








<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/speedythief/raptors/mpeterson0.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com"> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/speedythief/raptors/jrose0.jpg" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket"> <IMG WIDTH=100 HEIGHT=150 BORDER=0 ALT="BOSH, CHRIS" TITLE="BOSH, CHRIS" SRC="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/speedythief/raptors/cbosh0.jpg"> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v129/speedythief/raptors/mbonner0.jpg" alt="Image hosting by Photobucket"> 
*Mike James, Morris Peterson, Jalen Rose, Chris Bosh, Matt Bonner*





























<img HEIGHT=150 WIDTH=100 SRC="http://www.basketballboards.net/img/headshots/100x150/lakers/MIHM,%20CHRIS.jpg">
*Smush Parker, Kobe Bryant, Devean George, Lamar Odom, Chris Mihm*</center>


----------



## shookem (Nov 1, 2005)

Raps +6, take them to cover.


----------



## nwt (Apr 24, 2005)

Bryant scores 47, Odom has a double-double
Raptors win


----------



## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

The Lakers have won five in a row at home but have lost their last two games, both on the road.

Kobe is averaging over 40 points in January.


----------



## Porn Player (Apr 24, 2003)

hopefully we get this win... i hate the lakers so this is important for me...

GO RAPTORS


----------



## Dee-Zy (Jan 12, 2006)

Bonner is starting C?



damn


----------



## Sporty G (Sep 19, 2004)

This could be an intersting matchup. Great oppurtunity for Bosh to shine in LA, though. I hope we can pull out the W.


----------



## AirJordan™ (Nov 21, 2005)

This will be a tough game for the Raps, I expect Kobe to get 35+ points, but I predict the Raptors will get the win.

*Lets Go  Raptors!!!*


----------



## JS03 (Jan 5, 2005)

Shutting down Kobe is the key in winning this game.


----------



## Turkish Delight (Mar 17, 2004)

Hopefully Mo Pete stays out of foul trouble, we'll need him to stay on Bryant all game.


----------



## BaLLiStiX17 (Mar 27, 2005)

Hope Bosh gets another big game today


----------



## anniebananerz (Jan 8, 2006)

i'm expecting mo pete to do a great job defending kobe.


----------



## Dee-Zy (Jan 12, 2006)

I'm prayin on that too ^^^





Juzt_SicK03 said:


> Shutting down Kobe is the key in winning this game.





don't forget that the last time we played, Kobe had a season low points and season high or career high Assists (forgot) and that's what kicked our ***.



the way I see it ...


Kobe can beat the whole mavs team in 3 quarters or he can dissapear and kick the raptors *** .... that's kinda ****ty situation.


----------



## anniebananerz (Jan 8, 2006)

Dee-Zy said:


> don't forget that the last time we played, Kobe had a season low points and season high or career high Assists (forgot) and that's what kicked our ***.


hopefully the raps will remember that and they'll not only shut down kobe, but they'll shut down everyone else too.


----------



## madman (Oct 20, 2003)

good point, we will also need Joey to step defensively

Bosh hopefully will be able to shut down Odom


----------



## Turkish Delight (Mar 17, 2004)

madman said:


> good point, we will also need Joey to step defensively
> 
> Bosh hopefully will be able to shut down Odom


The best way to do that would be to take it to Odom on the defensive end.


----------



## anniebananerz (Jan 8, 2006)

Turkish Delight said:


> The best way to do that would be to take it to Odom on the defensive end.


yeah, tire odom out. =) lol.


----------



## martymar (Jan 5, 2006)

the key to the game is not shutting down Kobe, just look at the stat - Raps vs Lakers first game

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/boxscore;_ylt=AqUAGes3RceJ_ahf1novAMSkvLYF?gid=2005120728

the key to winning the game is control the board, Kobe will have a big game but don't less anyone else have a big game


----------



## CHRISBOSH4 (Aug 16, 2005)

Well the shots were even out and Bryant just played 25 minutes.

The key is getting rebounds team chamistry and CB4.


----------



## Blink4 (Jan 17, 2005)

Lakers by 19


----------



## CHRISBOSH4 (Aug 16, 2005)

Blink4 said:


> Lakers by 19


You'd love that to happen wouldn't you?
Too bad it's not going to happen.


----------



## southeasy (Jun 11, 2003)

Toronto by 15.

Just let the Kobe play.


----------



## bball_mvp88 (Aug 26, 2005)

Raps gonna win dis gamee :biggrin: 

GO RAPS GO

prediction: raps 97-93


----------



## AirJordan™ (Nov 21, 2005)

Mike James and Mo Pete both with threes.


----------



## AirJordan™ (Nov 21, 2005)

Bonner fouls Smush Parker.
Bonner with 2 fouls.
Charlie V comes in for Bonner.
Mike James with another three.
15-9 Raptors with 6:39 left in the 1st Quarter.


----------



## JS03 (Jan 5, 2005)

Raptors are playing great right now.
21-11. Timeout Lakers


----------



## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

Charlie putting on a show.

Lakers frontcourt looking like hot garbage.


----------



## Like A Breath (Jun 16, 2003)

Wow, CV goes coast to coast and finishes. What a talent.


----------



## AirJordan™ (Nov 21, 2005)

Villanueva with a flashy layup.
Timeout L.A.
21-11 Raptors with 5:18 left in the 1st Quarter.


----------



## superdude211 (Apr 3, 2004)

CV lookin good so far, i think he can have a big game today


----------



## AirJordan™ (Nov 21, 2005)

Raptors are coming out strong so far tonight.


----------



## JS03 (Jan 5, 2005)

End of 1st
36-29 Raptors.


----------



## Dee-Zy (Jan 12, 2006)

I can't watch the damn game, can somebody sumerize me what's really good so far?


----------



## AirJordan™ (Nov 21, 2005)

36-29 Raptors after the 1st Quarter.


----------



## Dee-Zy (Jan 12, 2006)

AirJordan™ said:


> 36-29 Raptors after the 1st Quarter.



I mean as far as how the players are doing on the floor, cuz I can't see. The score I can follow on espn.com or nba.com


----------



## crimedog (Jun 3, 2003)

charlie v playing great. 
mjames hit a bunch of 3s in the first. 
jrose and calderon solid. 
bosh rebounding well. 
great D...lakers not handling the zone. 
kobe hasn't played in the 2nd yet...look for the lakers to make a run now.


----------



## TDrake (Jun 8, 2003)

I'm listening to the Lakers radio feed - they say the Lakers are lethargic and the Raptors are playing great defence - "perfect" rotations ... They're really down on Kwame.


----------



## crimedog (Jun 3, 2003)

bosh just called for a charge. 

good D on kobe, but he just had a dunk...need to keep him down. 

mike james still hot. 

mo pete picked up his third off the ball. 

eric williams looks out of it...trade him if you can get ANYTHING.


----------



## JS03 (Jan 5, 2005)

Mike James makes the 3 pointer!!!...
63-49 Raptors. Half-Time


----------



## Turkish Delight (Mar 17, 2004)

Lakers are starting to get it going offensively though. Mo Pete missed much of the 2nd quarter due to foul trouble, good thing he'll start the second half. The Lakers are really out of it right now, and the Raptors have to go for the throat early in the 3rd quarter, and stop the LA from making a big run.


----------



## Turkish Delight (Mar 17, 2004)

Mike James with 19 points, 9 assists, 7/8 from the field and 5/5 from three point land at the HALF!


----------



## Turkish Delight (Mar 17, 2004)

Charlie V and Matt Bonner have also played well, combining for 17 points on 8/12 shooting in just 18 minutes of play.


----------



## Turkish Delight (Mar 17, 2004)

The Raptors need to start getting on the glass, the Lakers are outrebounding them 26 to 15 now.


----------



## Team Mao (Dec 17, 2005)

TDrake said:


> I'm listening to the Lakers radio feed - they say the Lakers are lethargic and the Raptors are playing great defence - "perfect" rotations ... They're really down on Kwame.


Which radio feed? When I got to XTRA 570, i get the message that 'due to agreements, we can not stream online'.


----------



## Dee-Zy (Jan 12, 2006)

Turkish Delight said:


> Mike James with 19 points, 9 assists, 7/8 from the field and 5/5 from three point land at the HALF!




daaaamn

5/5 3pts?


wooooooooooooooooooo!!!


raps with a 61.5% of shooting vs 40% lakers



I'm so pissed I can't watch this game


----------



## crimedog (Jun 3, 2003)

yeah, it's a good one. raps showing they can score with anyone. 

they really need to keep it up though, cuz la will make a run. 

and kobe WILL score 50.

too bad the refs thought juan dixon tripping on himself was a reason to give portland a win. just kidding, we didn't deserve that one, but it would have been sweet.


----------



## Dee-Zy (Jan 12, 2006)

Odom with 0 points in almost 19 minutes


3 assist, 1 rebound and 3 fouls


hahahahahahaha


and 3 TO



wow, am I seeing this right? Sow has more minutes than Bonner!?!?!?!?!!!


----------



## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

I don't know what's going on with Eric, he is lost and uncoordinated right now.

Pape Sow with quality minutes, getting a board, a block, and playing with a little more control than we've seen him in recent days.

Mike James likes the big Hollywood lights. So does Charlie.

Don't forget about Chris, guys.

Zone defense killing the Lakers so far.


----------



## Turkish Delight (Mar 17, 2004)

Man, Charlie Villanueva's 1st quarter dunk was just sick. So was that silky smooth layup on the next play.


----------



## Turkish Delight (Mar 17, 2004)

speedythief said:


> I don't know what's going on with Eric, he is lost and uncoordinated right now.
> 
> Pape Sow with quality minutes, getting a board, a block, and playing with a little more control than we've seen him in recent days.
> 
> ...


Yeah, Eric Williams cost us two posessions on the offensive end, and was nowhere to be seen when Kobe had that wide open dunk. His defense used to be one of his strong points, but I guess you can't expect him to play up to his abilities when he sits on the bench so much. Jack pointed out last week that he seems out of shape, which may be true, I'm not really sure.

Either way, it'll be a relief to see Mo Pete back in the game for the second half.


----------



## Turkish Delight (Mar 17, 2004)

I don't want to go too off topic here, but is anyone keeping an eye on the Seattle vs Phoenix game? 
They are in 2nd OT right now, 149-147 Sonics.


----------



## JS03 (Jan 5, 2005)

oooooo Mike James is now 6 for 6.


----------



## TDrake (Jun 8, 2003)

Team Mao said:


> Which radio feed? When I got to XTRA 570, i get the message that 'due to agreements, we can not stream online'.


via NBA Audio League Pass ...


----------



## Team Mao (Dec 17, 2005)

TDrake said:


> via NBA Audio League Pass ...


S***, I'm too damn cheap after living in China for two years. $20 is like a month's salary for these people.


----------



## JS03 (Jan 5, 2005)

Turkish Delight said:


> I don't want to go too off topic here, but is anyone keeping an eye on the Seattle vs Phoenix game?
> They are in 2nd OT right now, 149-147 Sonics.


awww Ray Allen with the buzzer beater win.


----------



## XRay34 (Nov 2, 2005)

will u freakin guard kobe?


----------



## Rhubarb (Mar 19, 2005)

Turkish Delight said:


> I don't want to go too off topic here, but is anyone keeping an eye on the Seattle vs Phoenix game?
> They are in 2nd OT right now, 149-147 Sonics.


...and then there was Raymond.

Back to our little contest, the notion of letting Kobe 'get his' and fixing up the rest of his crew instead is seeming plausible right now. Sam's zones are working nicely.

Need to keep the Lakers off the boards though. Allowing them 15 offensive rebounds is not healthy.


----------



## XRay34 (Nov 2, 2005)

47 pts with 5 min to go in 3rd


----------



## Dee-Zy (Jan 12, 2006)

damn, laekrs pulling in to 5


----------



## crimedog (Jun 3, 2003)

zone killer...kobe's going crazy. 

he might get 70 tonight. 

c'mon guys. chris needs to start getting to the line.


----------



## BaLLiStiX17 (Mar 27, 2005)

crimedog said:


> zone killer...kobe's going crazy.
> 
> he might get 70 tonight.
> 
> c'mon guys. chris needs to start getting to the line.


Yeah why isnt Bosh driving inside hes just taking jump shots


----------



## Dee-Zy (Jan 12, 2006)

85-85????



wtf???? We were up by 15!!!!





and cald T/O


87-85 lakers


----------



## crimedog (Jun 3, 2003)

we were up 17...brutal. 

kobe might get 80. we lose.


----------



## Dee-Zy (Jan 12, 2006)

O_O



91-85


Lakers score 45 points in the quarter with 30sec left...



WTF!?!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## no_free_baskets (Jan 4, 2006)

what is mitchell doing? calderon on bryant? wth??!


----------



## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

What can you do but shake your head at this. Just incredible. Not only has he lost all consciousness on his own, he's lit his team up and they are all over the place.

Patience is key with us right now I think.


----------



## aizn (Jun 19, 2005)

wow, mental breakdown by the raps. we're juss letting kobe have his way against us


----------



## aizn (Jun 19, 2005)

oh, and another thing, its mainly due to the fact that mo pete has 4 fouls. look to see him guard kobe in the 4th.


----------



## anniebananerz (Jan 8, 2006)

boy oh boy. raptors got embarassed in the last three/four minutes of the third. =S


----------



## anniebananerz (Jan 8, 2006)

kobe with a tech


----------



## aizn (Jun 19, 2005)

check out the rebounding numbers. 40-19 in favour of the lakers...the lakers have 17 offensive boards, which is almost more than we have total rebounds!


----------



## anniebananerz (Jan 8, 2006)

crowd is chanting MVP


----------



## JS03 (Jan 5, 2005)

aizn said:


> check out the rebounding numbers. 40-19 in favour of the lakers...the lakers have 17 offensive boards, which is almost more than we have total rebounds!


Ouch.


----------



## Team Mao (Dec 17, 2005)

Can someone please fill me in as to why Charlie is sitting on the bench so much after going off in the first quarter? What exactly is Bonner bringing to the table this game? And Eric Williams, WTF? Sam is bush-league, all the way, I wouldn't hire the guy to coach an ABA team.


----------



## anniebananerz (Jan 8, 2006)

oh snap. the raps are filling up the box score...under personal fouls. =S

mo pete and bosh are playing with five fouls each.


----------



## Rhubarb (Mar 19, 2005)

Argh...Bosh joins Mo on 5 fouls.


----------



## anniebananerz (Jan 8, 2006)

i envy the people with kobe on their fantasy nba teams. =S


----------



## Team Mao (Dec 17, 2005)

I envy fans whose teams actually have a coaching staff.


----------



## anniebananerz (Jan 8, 2006)

this is offtopic, but history is being made all over the nba tonight.

Seattle 152, Phoenix 149, 2OT

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap;_ylt=AuoEnkdvbHjkJG5Q5k9l5Ky8vLYF?gid=2006012221

and now kobe has a new career high =S


----------



## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

Pretty fun to watch Kobe tonight. Not too often you'll see a show like this one.

Where is Charlie?


----------



## anniebananerz (Jan 8, 2006)

speedythief said:


> Where is Charlie?


i'm wondering that too. =S

kobe with 67 points now.


----------



## no_free_baskets (Jan 4, 2006)

aizn said:


> oh, and another thing, its mainly due to the fact that mo pete has 4 fouls. look to see him guard kobe in the 4th.


yeah, i kinda realized that...but why not have james guard him? graham, williams, rose?? outside of freaking martin, calderon is probably the worse option to guard kobe...just a terrible move by mitchell...


----------



## anniebananerz (Jan 8, 2006)

kobe with SEVENTY POINTS

EDIT: make that seventy-two


----------



## Rhubarb (Mar 19, 2005)

When Kobe heats up like this, I don't think it matters all too much who guards him. He'll get his, and some more. Yes, Mo is a better option than JC, but all in all, would that have stopped Kobe's night? Somehow, I doubt that.

And there's the big 7-0.


----------



## anniebananerz (Jan 8, 2006)

Rhubarb said:


> When Kobe heats up like this, I don't think it matters all too much who guards him. He'll get his, and some more. Yes, Mo is a better option than JC, but all in all, would that have stopped Kobe's night? Somehow, I doubt that.
> 
> And there's the big 7-0.


kobe with seventy four now. and i agree with what you said. i don't think anyone can stop kobe now.


----------



## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

He went beyond NBA talent in the third quarter. Nobody can guard him--not on our team, not on any team. Most of his shots have been under pressure, off-balance, with no team offensive rhythm... pure insanity.

Legitimate scoring, too. Not the David Robinson garbage.


----------



## aizn (Jun 19, 2005)

game should b over, bosh fouls out.


----------



## anniebananerz (Jan 8, 2006)

kobe is taking the raptors to school BIG TIME.

kobe with seventy nine


----------



## no_free_baskets (Jan 4, 2006)

Rhubarb said:


> When Kobe heats up like this, I don't think it matters all too much who guards him. He'll get his, and some more. Yes, Mo is a better option than JC, but all in all, would that have stopped Kobe's night? Somehow, I doubt that.
> 
> And there's the big 7-0.


maybe, but thats not even the pt.... the pt is calderon should never have been assigned to guard bryant in the 1st place...the game was still within reach at that pt...i dont care what anyone says to me, that was just a sign of ineptitude by mitchell...


----------



## BaLLiStiX17 (Mar 27, 2005)

this is just stupid now


----------



## anniebananerz (Jan 8, 2006)

it's all kobe with 81 points now and he'll end with that. that's now the second highest single-game, single-player score in nba history.


----------



## Rhubarb (Mar 19, 2005)

no_free_baskets said:


> maybe, but thats not even the pt.... the pt is calderon should never have been assigned to guard bryant in the 1st place...the game was still within reach at that pt...i dont care what anyone says to me, that was just a sign of ineptidude by mitchell...


I don't agree on a Calderon/Kobe match-up as much as the next guy, but honestly, there is no 'maybe' in this situation. Kobe is on another plane right now. No one on this team can touch him.

The loss hurts, as all do (especially considering we had our chance to come away with the W), but part of me is glad I'm witnessing history here.

81 points is phenomenal.


----------



## anniebananerz (Jan 8, 2006)

Rhubarb said:


> I don't agree on a Calderon/Kobe match-up as much as the next guy, but honestly, there is no 'maybe' in this situation. Kobe is on another plane right now. No one on this can touch him.
> 
> The loss hurts, as all do (especially considering we had our chance to come away with the W), but I'm just glad I'm witnessing history here.
> 
> 81 points is phenomenal.


i agree with everything you just said.

i'm looking at the boxscore on yahoo, and kobe's picture is smirking at me.


----------



## no_free_baskets (Jan 4, 2006)

amazing performance...never thought id see a 80pts performance like that in my lifetime...kudos to kobe...


----------



## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

Sucks to bring a losing record home to Toronto for this road swing. We could've used this win.


----------



## madman (Oct 20, 2003)

****


----------



## anniebananerz (Jan 8, 2006)

speedythief said:


> Sucks to bring a losing record home to Toronto for this road swing. We could've used this win.


Yeah. =( I'm completely speechless. What makes this loss even harder to accept is that the Raptors were winning by 18, and now they've lost by 18, and Kobe scored 81 on us. 18, 18, and 81. I hope the Raps are mad at themselves right now. Hopefully they'll carry this frustration and anger over into tonight's game and somehow beat the Nuggets.


----------



## ansoncarter (Dec 22, 2004)

when did Adnand Virk become "the baller" lol


----------



## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

The server is sucking hard right now. Is everyone having trouble viewing threads?


----------



## ghoti (Jan 30, 2005)

Was there _any way_ this could have been avoided?

C'mon. :no:


----------



## anniebananerz (Jan 8, 2006)

speedythief said:


> The server is sucking hard right now. Is everyone having trouble viewing threads?


I am. I guess everyone's logging on after that 300-game and kobe's 81 point game.

I'm actually confused. I think the yahoo box score says 81, but the nba.com box score says he has 80. Which one is it?


----------



## Mr_B (Mar 6, 2004)

speedythief said:


> The server is sucking hard right now. Is everyone having trouble viewing threads?


I'am having trouble as well


----------



## no_free_baskets (Jan 4, 2006)

Rhubarb said:


> I don't agree on a Calderon/Kobe match-up as much as the next guy, but honestly, there is no 'maybe' in this situation. Kobe is on another plane right now. No one on this team can touch him.
> 
> The loss hurts, as all do (especially considering we had our chance to come away with the W), but part of me is glad I'm witnessing history here.
> 
> 81 points is phenomenal.


i agree, no raptor could have guarded kobe one-on-one tonight...theres no great revelation in that...no one is disputing kobe's greatness tonight...what drives me nuts is yet another display of mitchell's terrible in game adjustments...can anyone tell where the double teams on kobe were??? you'd think someone that scored 60 on us by the 3rd would have merited a double by the start of the 4th quarter....


----------



## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

ghoti said:


> Was there _any way_ this could have been avoided?
> 
> C'mon. :no:


Get outta here with that. Did you watch the game? If not, do so. If so, how can you ask?


----------



## ansoncarter (Dec 22, 2004)

yeah I am

kobe's destroying our messageboard too


----------



## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

Not as many people disrespecting his effort as I expected out on the main board and on the Nets forum.

Some are saying he took too many shots, but christ, look who he's playing with. Odom had like 1 point in the first quarter. Plus Kobe shot 60%+ (it seems) with every shot being contested.

I've never seen anything like it. Unreal.


----------



## ghoti (Jan 30, 2005)

speedythief said:


> Get outta here with that. Did you watch the game? If not, do so. If so, how can you ask?


That was not meant as baiting. I want to know why the Raps gave up the 2nd most points in NBA history yet no one here seems upset.

Kobe is not a superhero. He can be stopped no matter how hot he is.

I apologize, but I'll ask again.

Seriously. What the hell?


----------



## ansoncarter (Dec 22, 2004)

ghoti why so upset?

(hope it's nothing to do with Vince vs. Kobe arguments)(kobe>Vince btw)


----------



## hellrell (Jan 23, 2006)

> Kobe is not a superhero. He can be stopped no matter how hot he is.


uhh if you watched, you'd know they put like 4 different guys on him.. and that didn't make the slightest difference... he just had the rhythm tonight, and the real reason he put up those numbers is because phil jackson let him play until the final 4 seconds... he could of easily had 90 against dallas but he sat out the 4th... anyway not to take anythin away from him.. he made almost all his shots in the second half.. including some insane 3 pointers .. and even got fouled on two 3 pointers  

anyway hopefuly the raps will be pissed and just take it out on denver tonight..


----------



## ghoti (Jan 30, 2005)

ansoncarter said:


> ghoti why so upset?
> 
> (hope it's nothing to do with Vince vs. Kobe arguments)(kobe>Vince btw)


Nah. I'm a Nets fan, not really a fan of any particular player.

I'm really not upset. I'm just wondering why Raps fans aren't.

Kobe has been scorching hot against far worse teams than the Raptors, and they didn't give up 81 points.

I thought the Raps could have won that game, even in the 4th quarter.


----------



## anniebananerz (Jan 8, 2006)

ghoti said:


> That was not meant as baiting. I want to know why the Raps gave up the 2nd most points in NBA history yet no one here seems upset.
> 
> Kobe is not a superhero. He can be stopped no matter how hot he is.
> 
> ...


I'm upset that the Raps lost and I'm upset that Kobe's 81 point output happened against the Raps, but you know what? Kobe put on a fantastic show tonight and to be able to say that I watched it sort of erases a bit of the pain.


----------



## speedythief (Jul 16, 2003)

ghoti said:


> That was not meant as baiting. I want to know why the Raps gave up the 2nd most points in NBA history yet no one here seems upset.
> 
> Kobe is not a superhero. He can be stopped no matter how hot he is.
> 
> ...


Well I'm not trying to confront you about it, so don't worry about it. :cheers: 

This game was essentially a miracle performance. The Lakers were down by like 15 points at the half, with Kobe scoring ~30 in a losing effort up to that point.

He came out in the third and with his team flat as piss on a plate he put them on his back and carried them to a tie. It energized the whole team, who started playing full-court press and causing turnovers. They took the lead and didn't look back.

People are going to look at his two assists and say he didn't impact the game in a total way. Untrue. He was everything for that team. He singlehandedly ripped Toronto's heart out in the third quarter and then buried the corpse in the fourth.

I understand people not being upset because they are busy being awed. It wasn't like we rolled over and everyone stopped guarding him. We kept the effort up until it was totally out of hand with around four or five minutes left, and even then we were sending doubles at him and trying to get the ball away from him until the last minute.

Nothing short of fouling him could stop him from hitting his jumpshot, and when we fouled him he converted anyways. That's the ****ing way she goes.


----------



## anniebananerz (Jan 8, 2006)

speedythief said:


> I understand people not being upset because they are busy being awed.


It's been 45 minutes since the game ended and I'm still sitting here gaping at the box score.


----------



## ghoti (Jan 30, 2005)

anniebananerz said:


> I'm upset that the Raps lost and I'm upset that Kobe's 81 point output happened against the Raps, but you know what? Kobe put on a fantastic show tonight and to be able to say that I watched it sort of erases a bit of the pain.


If Kobe scores 81 against the Nets, I'm jumping off my roof.


----------



## ansoncarter (Dec 22, 2004)

ghoti said:


> Nah. I'm a Nets fan, not really a fan of any particular player.
> 
> I'm really not upset. I'm just wondering why Raps fans aren't.
> 
> ...


personally, I'm happy everytime we lose. Only real negative was how easily our team quit on themselves (which is the biggest reason he was able to pad his stats imo) but that doesn't bother me either since I want most of them replaced

can't speak for anyone else, but I think most raps fans are in holding-pattern mode (emotionally) until the roster is overhauled. Probably tempers the outrage


----------



## ghoti (Jan 30, 2005)

ansoncarter said:


> personally, I'm happy everytime we lose. Only real negative was how easily our team quit on themselves (which is the biggest reason he was able to pad his stats imo) but that doesn't bother me either since I want most of them replaced
> 
> can't speak for anyone else, but I think most raps fans are in holding-pattern mode (emotionally) until the roster is overhauled. Probably tempers the outrage


That is sad, man! 

I don't think I'd even watch if I felt that way.

I saw the Raptors play some games this year and really fight, too.

I am also of the opinion that the Raps have bottomed out and are currently heading in the right direction.


----------



## TRON (Feb 29, 2004)

81 points, what the heck did I miss??????

Damn, Kobe took 46 shots...that's more than half the teams shots(88)

I missed the game but what was our strategy guarding Kobe after he hit, say 40 points??
double, triple teams, anything???
Did Sam do anything to stop this one-man show???


----------



## martymar (Jan 5, 2006)

TRON said:


> 81 points, what the heck did I miss??????
> 
> Damn, Kobe took 46 shots...that's more than half the teams shots(88)
> 
> ...


it didn't matter how many Kobe scored if raptors outrebounded the lakers they would have won this game, but the fact is Lakers almost doubled the raptors in rebounds


----------



## MonsterBosh (Feb 9, 2005)

... good learning experience for the Raptor rookies ... motivational too ..... wouldn't ya say ....??!!!


----------



## ansoncarter (Dec 22, 2004)

martymar said:


> it didn't matter how many Kobe scored if raptors outrebounded the lakers they would have won this game, but the fact is Lakers almost doubled the raptors in rebounds


and 18 offensive boards to our 4 

we gave up on so many levels lol


----------



## trick (Aug 23, 2002)

I couldn't even stand to watch the post game show. But if anyone caught it could you recap Sam's comments?


----------



## AirJordan™ (Nov 21, 2005)

Kobe scored 81 pts??????? OMFG. That is just craaaaaazy. What happened to the Raptors defence?
We gotta bounce back today against the Nuggets.


----------



## Benis007 (May 23, 2005)

The way that Kobe has been playing this year it isn't a suprise that he hit 81.. One question though

why did he pick us?


----------



## Turkish Delight (Mar 17, 2004)

At half time I had a bad feeling about this game. Sure, we were knocking down our shots, but Kobe was heating up, and our best defender, Mo Pete was in foul trouble.
In the second half not only was Kobe killing us on one end, but we started taking too many jumpers on offense. 

It's funny how in the 1st half Chuck was saying how it may be too late for the Lakers to come back, what was he thinking?


----------



## lucky777s (Nov 13, 2003)

A lot of overreacting to Kobe's point total. It was an impressive performance, and a very efficient 81 if such a thing exists. But does it really matter that it was one guy doing the scoring? Would it be any better or worse if 3 Lakers put up 90 combined? (Well, actuallly you could say 3 Lakers combined for 90 tonight I guess, LOL, but you get the point).

What Kobe's performance did was clearly shake the Raptors and throw their offence totally out of whack. Kobe was hitting all those 3's so we just kept taking long Js with no rebounders.

And Kobes night also hid some major weaknesses in the game. The rebounding differential of 51-27, nearly doubling our output. Mihm and Kwame looked like MONSTERS out there against Charlie and Bosh. Lakers had 18 offensive rebounds with 9 by Mihm and Kwame. Most early in the game. Our interior D is a joke. 

Pape looks small out there as well, and hasn't shown anything that Hoff wasn't doing since being called up. Now we know why he was sent down and that his nbdl stats mean nothing.

We miss Hoff, even for his 12mpg. Its non stat-line stuff like rebounds the other team doesn't get because of Hoff boxing out, and his D rotations. We are just too weak and small inside without him.

Still, with all that, our biggest lead was 18 in the 3rd Q and the Lakers had us by 20 in the 4th Q. That's a 38 point swing in about 15-20 minutes. We really fell apart at both ends. But it was mainly the D with 73 second half points. Even if we scored 50 we would have lost by 9.

Just a loss to a hot shooter while we went cold and lost focus. Not a huge deal. 20 point leads go bye-bye every night in the league. And we were never even up that much.

People ragging on Kobe for shooting too much tonight are just haters. He won that game by himself. The rest of the team did nothing all night and were heading for a big loss. Kobe had 26 at the half and they were getting spanked. 

He would have put 70-80 on the Mavs last month too. He had 62 after 3 quarters and sat out the 4th. The guy is just a machine. 81 points on 46 shots is efficient.

Sam said he tried man, zone, and even a box and 1 with one guy shadowing Kobe everywhere. Nothing mattered this night. Thats the beauty and the difficulty of basketball. You can't tackle guy to stop him. And when a shooter is on it doesn't matter how many hands are in his face.


----------



## undefined_playa (Oct 23, 2005)

Alright guys, I'm gonna just vent a bit now so listen up:

1) Why did Mitchell take off Pape Sow? He was playing with great intensity...grabbing boards, contesting shots, being a big presence down low. Suddenly he takes him off for...Bonner? Can somebody please explain that?

2) Where the double or even triple teams on Kobe? Yeah they DID do it...but it should've been done every trip down the floor. Play Kobe as you would Jordan. Stop him and just let others try to score. I think everyone agrees with me that you'd rather have anyone else on the team have a wide open shot than Kobe even taking a fade-away. 

3) What happened to Bosh schooling the Lakers? In the beginning he looked almost unstoppable, then the Raps stopped running their O through him. Just sad.

4) Same as the Pape Sow situation, what happened to Charlie? The combo of Chris & Charlie was working really well & for some retarded reason, Mitchell says, "i've had enough of this." 

5) Why the hell couldn't we break out of their double teams? It's like Calderon & James froze everytime the Lakers double-teamed them? Shoot, how could they NOT find the open man?

All in all, I blame this coach on Mitchell. He just hasn't been a very good coach for the Raps in my eyes.


----------



## aizn (Jun 19, 2005)

wow, kobe is juss amazing, that is juss an unbelievable feat. out of 46 shots, and 20 from the free throw line, how many PEOPLE can say they can score 81 points, let alone playing in an NBA game and having a hand up in ur face on all those shots.


----------



## Benis007 (May 23, 2005)

ESPNradio was bashing Sam for his coaching during the game.. why no double team?


----------



## ansoncarter (Dec 22, 2004)

wheres that "KOBE IS KING!" poster

the one time he should be posting that stuff he disappears lol


----------



## USSKittyHawk (Jul 22, 2005)

Benis007 said:


> ESPNradio was bashing Sam for his coaching during the game.. why no double team?


I asked that in another thread, but I heard he was double him. If Sam ordered the double, I would have triple his behind if that wasn't working. 

BTW Love the sig Benis! :smilewink


----------



## martymar (Jan 5, 2006)

Benis007 said:


> ESPNradio was bashing Sam for his coaching during the game.. why no double team?


They did double Kobe, but they really can't double Kobe when he is outside the arc...

I still don't understand why the focus of raptors losing the game because Kobe scored 81 and they didn't triple team him, as I said before raps lost cuz they got out rebound 51-27


----------



## TRON (Feb 29, 2004)

^ forget doubling him when he gets the ball, how about draping two players on him before that, how about denying him the ball before he gets it, how about a trap, pressure anything.....For someone that missed the game it's unfathomable that a player, even as talented as Kobe Bryant could do that to a team in the modern era of NBA Basketball.

I think as Speedy mentioned, Sam's theory was to let Kobe shoot all day and hope he takes his team out the game. Can anyone that heard Sam's post game comments, please post what he was thinking



> Originally posted by *lucky777s !*
> 
> We miss Hoff, even for his 12mpg


Wow, that really puts into perspective how bad our frontcourt is.


----------



## no_free_baskets (Jan 4, 2006)

lucky777s said:


> A lot of overreacting to Kobe's point total. It was an impressive performance, and a very efficient 81 if such a thing exists. But does it really matter that it was one guy doing the scoring? Would it be any better or worse if 3 Lakers put up 90 combined? (Well, actuallly you could say 3 Lakers combined for 90 tonight I guess, LOL, but you get the point).


of course it matters...when the coach blatantly disregards the most obvious way to slow a hot player down, (double kobe out like how we defend mcgrady) its speaks volumes on the ineptness of the coach...yeah, me personally, i would have much preferred 3 lakers going for 90 then what kobe did to us....but what is the likelyhood of those 3 plyrs going for 90 on us, when practically no one but kobe shot all 2nd half? dont u think if we forced the ball out of kobes hand, those players would have been ice cold and out of rhythm from their lack of shots? no one knows for sure what would happen if we did...it could be that it wouldnt havent work, it could be it that it would have...but the question of if it would have worked or not is not even the pt.... the pt. is mitchell didnt even ATTEMPT to explicitly double kobe out until late in the game, when kobe already had 70+ and the game was out of reach...(anyone that say mitchell explictly sent double teams on kobe before calderon and sow came in, in garbage mins., is flat out wrong.) i dont buy the spin mitchell puts on it, it just inexcusable to me how there wasnt a double sent down on kobe even thou there were pts in the game, where it would seem , the situation clearly dictated it...

e.g 1: peterson picks up 4th foul late in 3rd quarter...mitchell brings in calderon to guard him, which he explain in not so many words in his post game interview, as bringing in a smaller guard (calderon in this instance) to deny kobe the ball...there are 2 part i dont understand in mitchell's logic here...1, why let calderon guard him, when james was out on the floor at the same? would it not have made more sense to put the quicker james on bryant if the objective was to deny kobe the ball? secondly, once kobe had the ball in his possession, why wasnt the double team sent seeing as calderon clearly cant guard him one-on-one? were we playing a box and one defense at this pt?

e.g 2: calderon gets abuse for a good min or 2, and mitchell sends out rose to guard bryant...now we all know rose isnt the best defender, so knowing that, why isnt there a double sent as soon as kobe touches the ball? what is mitchell excuse? were we playing box and one defense again?

e.g 3 rose is overwhelmed by bryant and peterson is sent early in the 4th as mitchell probably believes the balance of the game will probably be dictated in the next few mins. peterson picks up a quick 5th foul...peterson now has 5 early in the 4th quarter with the game still within reach...with 5 fouls, peterson obviously cant guard bryant as aggressively as he wants, so wouldnt it have been prudent to send a double team on bryant seeing our man guarding him has 5 fouls? or were we playing box and one defense again? please....in each of these 3 cases, each man was playing head up against bryant...the only defensive system which mitchell brought up that warrants not doubling kobe is the box and one...but if the box and one didnt work in any of these 3 cases, why did he not do the obvious and send out the straight double team? someone pls explain this to me......


----------



## no_free_baskets (Jan 4, 2006)

lucky777s said:


> Sam said he tried man, zone, and even a box and 1 with one guy shadowing Kobe everywhere. Nothing mattered this night. Thats the beauty and the difficulty of basketball. You can't tackle guy to stop him. And when a shooter is on it doesn't matter how many hands are in his face.


yeah, its a damn shame, not one of those defensive system dictates a double team on someone...you can believe what you want, but when u have two guys guarding you, it DOES make things more difficult for you..i dont buy this "if a shooter is on, it doesnt matter how many hand are in his face" business..having 2 guys guard u, will slow u down, no matter who you are...


----------



## lucky777s (Nov 13, 2003)

Kobe splits doubles better than anyone in the league. And against our slow guys it would be easy. Also just sets you up for give and go's if he passes out of the double and moves toward the rim, especially if its from deep past the 3pt line.

Nothing is as simple as people make it out to be. The game we totally shut down TMac he was hurting badly and didn't even try to attack hard. That was a fluke.

Plus the way the Lakers were rebounding the ball, even if he missed it would have been Kwame and Mihm dunking it on us.

The other Lakers still contributed 18 points in the half, almost a quarter worth of Raptor points.

And another big factor was FT's. We fouled Kobe way too much, including behind the arc. Doubles may have just given him more FTs.

Lakers won by 18. The last 10 Kobe points were irrelevant to the game. It looked like the Lakers were letting the raps score quickly at the end just to get a few more possessions for Kobe. Best defense would have been to use the full 24 second clock and shorten the game. Or just foul another Laker and put him on the line.

Kobe had 26 at the half and the Raps were up 14. So letting him get 52 shouldn't have mattered. The last 10 didn't really matter either. 

Take away his 20 FTAs or take away the 18 points the other Lakers scored in the second half and we at least go to OT. Lots of ways we could have actually affected the game without changing the D on Kobe directly.


----------



## no_free_baskets (Jan 4, 2006)

yeah, and kobe also has the reputation of forcing up ill-advised shot even when hes doubled...

to not even attempt doubling him was stupid...i mean, how mitchell attempted to defend him last night, worked so well, right?


----------



## arcade_rida (Jun 23, 2003)

ghoti said:


> Nah. I'm a Nets fan, not really a fan of any particular player.
> 
> I'm really not upset. I'm just wondering why Raps fans aren't.
> 
> ...


Why would be upset things happen. Kobe had a great game and if you saw even when we fouled him and held his hands and tugged him he still got and 1. So we had to stop that and start playing hard 1 on 1 defense then he shreaded that. Then we had to go to the 2 on 1 and then he passed it to Odom and he hit a 3 pointer. Basically what happend. Have you played basketball in a league? DO you know what happends when someone is hot? Everyone starts running leaving some else open. So then we tried to avoid that which lead to Kobe killing us.


----------



## arcade_rida (Jun 23, 2003)

ghoti said:


> Was there _any way_ this could have been avoided?
> 
> C'mon. :no:


2nd of all seeing history doesnt really get you mad. How are you suppose to be mad after MJ makes that sick fadeway or scores 60. You cant get mad because the player must be really good to score 81. I mean put 2 and 2 together the Raptors werent just allowing him to go uncontested. 3rd of all again on the history part. Im sure everyone was happy that they got to see such a good game. I mean the Raptors held the rest of the Lakers to 40 points and the Raptors had 100+ points. Wouldnt you think thats a good game? Kobe just exploded what can you do about it.


----------



## Rhubarb (Mar 19, 2005)

Well, here's the transcript of the Post Game Interview:

"Well, I mean, the tough thing about it was, he hit some tough shots. I mean, you look at that 3rd quarter, I thought my guys were there. We had two guys on him at that time. We doubled him, he split 'em. We played zone, and he shot the ball from the half mark. We played box and one - I hadn't played a box and one since my college days. We played box and one, played four guys in a zone and had one guy chase him, he caught it, took a dribble, pulled up for a three. I mean, without a doubt, he's a great player - that's the most amazing thing about him, he's relentless. Look, we played as good a first half as we could play. And we, man to man, zone, box and one, we tried to not put smaller guys on him to deny him, but when he gets it going like that...I saw the game against Dallas where he had 62, and what can you say? You can't say much"


----------



## Team Mao (Dec 17, 2005)

no_free_baskets said:


> yeah, and kobe also has the reputation of forcing up ill-advised shot even when hes doubled...
> 
> to not even attempt doubling him was stupid...i mean, how mitchell attempted to defend him last night, worked so well, right?


Just finished watching the game.

Agreed, I just finished watching the game and I don't recall seeing too many double teams in the second half. Occasionally, there would be someone cheating on a bit on their man but too far away from Bryant to really do much. Sam and the players mailed this in after about the 8 minute mark in the 3rd quarter.

Jesus, at least try to do something different. Try to stop him. What do teams do with us when Bosh gets the ball down low? They collapse and double and triple team him knowing that the other players on the floor don't have much scoring ability (sorry, I'm a Raps fan, but it's true). The Lakers are the same, they've got one uber-talented guy, a decent, overrated player (Odom), and a bunch of scrubs. So let the scrubs take their shots, they're not going to get hot like Kobe can. 

This loss goes on the coaching staff. Whose strategy was to 'let Kobe get his' (to quote Jim Todd talking to Nohma). You've got to think that maybe our team's not going to continue to shoot 62% all game and that your half time lead could be a bit misleading. Well, Sam and Jim's strategy worked, Kobe got his and the Raptors are started to look more and more like players in the ping-pong ball rally.


----------



## MjM2xtreMe (Sep 1, 2005)

Sportsnetnews had a small tribute to Kobe's 81-point game and showed his stat compared to Wilt. The they compared Araujo-Kobe stats:

Kobe : 81 points (sunday's game)
Araujo: 80 points (2006 season)

lol


----------



## no_free_baskets (Jan 4, 2006)

Rhubarb said:


> Well, here's the transcript of the Post Game Interview:
> 
> "Well, I mean, the tough thing about it was, he hit some tough shots. I mean, you look at that 3rd quarter, I thought my guys were there. We had two guys on him at that time. We doubled him, he split 'em. We played zone, and he shot the ball from the half mark. We played box and one - I hadn't played a box and one since my college days. We played box and one, played four guys in a zone and had one guy chase him, he caught it, took a dribble, pulled up for a three. I mean, without a doubt, he's a great player - that's the most amazing thing about him, he's relentless. Look, we played as good a first half as we could play. And we, man to man, zone, box and one, we tried to not put smaller guys on him to deny him, but when he gets it going like that...I saw the game against Dallas where he had 62, and what can you say? You can't say much"


yeah, if i was mitchell, i would embelish the truth too, after that debacle...nice example of coach 101 media spin....ok, but forget for a sec. about mitchell's post game interview...what did you see with your own eyes against the lakers? can you honestly say you saw an aggresive double team coming at kobe anytime before late in the 4th quarter with sow and calderon, because if you did, you saw a completely different game then i did...


----------



## [email protected] (Sep 27, 2005)

a) yes this could have been avoided
b) the raptors fans ARE upset
c) kobe bryant is NOT the best player
d) gilbert arenas or vince carter or dirk nowitski or dwyane wade or kevin garnett could all potentially score 81, he's not that special, if i was on a roll and never saw double teams and various other defensive rotations, i think I could score 181 personally, and so could you
e) i think this feat accomplished vs. Toronto has set off several bombs and landmines and we are about to witness a Toronto Franchise filled with tons of drama and suspense


*SO STAY TUNED FANS BECAUSE WE'RE GONNA SEE SOME SH*T WE NEVER THOUGHT WOULD HAPPEN!!!!*


----------



## no_free_baskets (Jan 4, 2006)

apparently, mike james saw the same things i did...i'll let you decide who is the more impartial party... a vet like james, who knows the implication of calling out your coach in the media, or mitchell, an inexperienced coach looking to save his rep. after his team just got humiliated...

from yesterday's globe and mail:

"You can't point fingers at anyone, but at the end of the day, when a person's that hot, you can't allow somebody to be on a deserted island," James said in an interview on Sirius Satellite Radio's Full Court Press. "And we kept our players on an island the whole night trying to play him one-on-one and now he's so aggressive and the referees are giving him every call."

"I felt like we should have been double-teaming. Let Lamar [Odom], let Smush [Parker], let anybody else get 30, but he can't score another basket. And I just think there really wasn't a scheme."


"You got to do something to let him know it ain't going to be this easy," James said. "I think some of the guys found themselves watching also and I think even the coaching staff almost got mesmerized by it because after a while it just became a fiasco. It became like a little sideshow and that was the most frustrating thing about it."


----------

