It's been a long couple of weeks here at VHP... I think the same can be said for the Lakers.
The Lakes handled the pressure of the road by putting up the best record on a nine-game road trip in the history of the NBA (at least that's what the media told me... *see bottom of page). With a tremendous (yes, tremendous) 117-92 win over the
(cough. 10 win) T-Wolves tonight, the Lakers locked up a 7-2 showing
over the tour of the eastern seaboard.
Sooo, remember when I did that preview of the trip
awhile back? Well, some of you made predictions in the comments
section, and I'm here to out you all! Now, before I list these, keep in
mind that these predictions were made prior to the Gasol trade, so they
likely hold no relevance whatsoever.
Hats
off to Hoffman for having the faith early on. Really though,
Lakersfan19II's prediction was as good as anyone's off the bat. Had the
trade not gone down, we likely could have seen a 2-7 outing. One final
time (because I know someone is going to say something about it), the
predictions were made before the Gasol trade.
...Moving on... It
may have been nearly 10 days since my last post, but don't be fooled...
I'm still drooling over the pure elegance and beauty of Pau Gasol's
game. I've said it before, and I'll say it again; that trade was HUGE.
There's no denying it now. February 1st might as well be Pau Gasol Day
in Los Angeles. I've never been a big fan of finesse centers, but in
(reportedly) a month, Gasol will be a finesse power forward... a
finesse power forward that averages 20 PPG, alongside a (hopefully)
80%-90% Andrew Bynum.
Pau Gasol Has A Posse.
In
Gasol's six games with the Lakers, he's keeping continuity with his
season averages, with 20.5 points and 8.3 rebounds. Some analysts have
pointed out the pressure that is being taken off Odom, now that he's
not the first option down low. Odom's PPG over the Gasol-era games has
stayed put at 13, however, he's managed to pull down 12.6 RPG, as
opposed to his season average of 9.7.
Don't let Kobe's might be
overshadowed in lieu of all of this Gasol back-scratching... Kobe
averaged 29 points on the trip... and, that includes a six point game
and an 11 point game (NJN and ATL respectively). Don't forget about the
dislocated finger, either. What's to come?
All-Star Weekend! (times are in Pacific... as usual)
The fun
kicks off on Friday at 4:00pm on ESPN with the celebrity game... What's
better than watching Taylor Hicks ball it up with Alyssa Milano?
Unfortunately the time slot is going up against the LPGA SBS Open on
the Golf Channel...
Also on Friday, is the Rookies vs.
Sophomores game. Jordan Farmar and the sophomores will do battle with
Kevin Durant and the rookies at 6:00pm on TNT. Oddly enough, I'm
actually looking forward to this game more than practically anything
else all weekend... unless, of course, Chuck and #### Bavetta decide to go at it again.
Saturday
brings the corporate-sponsored assorted skills challenges. Kobe is
listed as a participant for the three-point contest, but we'll get into
that in just a second..
The All-Star Game itself is going down
at 5:00pm on Sunday. Kobe is on the roster as a starter for the West,
however, AP reports "Kobe Bryant's finger is still bothering him, and
the Lakers star was set to see a
doctor in Los Angeles on Thursday to determine whether he'll play in
the All-Star game this weekend." [Full Story]
Not
to be forgotten (at all), is the Lakers Wednesday (2/20) matchup with
the Suns. The game is at 6:00 on ESPN, and is truly what the fans are
looking forward to. The Suns currently have a one game lead over the
Lakers for control of the Pacific Division, so this game could be a go-ahead contest.
[edit] Merry Christmas! "It's like Christmas every day," Bryant said. "We have so many
weapons here. I really just use my abilities to be a bait, continue to
create easy shots for my teammates and just move the ball and play well
together." [Full Story @ latimes.com] [edit: 12:03pm] Best nine-game roadie ever? Maybe not... In the comments of this post, GR8UN54 pointed out that the Spurs, in fact had gone 8-1 on a niner back in the 02-03 season. I checked it out, and as far as I can tell, he's right. Look: [edit: 12:15pm] Lakersfan19II pointed out that the Spurs' streak was broken up by the All-Star break. He's right. The 2003 All-Star Game was on Feb. 8th. Thus, the Lakers' 7-2 is best record on an uninterrupted nine-game road trip in the history of the NBA.
I was thinking the same thing in regard to FG%. Not sure what that is due to. Probably a combination of the triangle and playing with Kobe. He has allready gotten alot of great looks for Gasol.
congrats to the lakers and their fans for the recent success on the 9 game roadie. they far exceeded my expectations.
this is the part where i'm supposed to take away from their accomplishments by stating how bad the competition was, or throw out a bunch of IF'S and hypotheticals. but i won't. the results speak for themselves.
oh, and kobe is playing real nice. letting the game come to him, and not forcing the action.
classy move to give recognition to the lakers recent successsss' and not downplay their accomplishments by pointing to the weakness of the competition.
and as a sidenote.......
last night john ireland reported that the lakers 7-2 record over this 9 game road trip was an NBA record.
whatever.......
44 Mon, Jan 27, 2003 @ Minnesota Timberwolves L 95 106 28 16 L 1
45 Wed, Jan 29, 2003 @ Indiana Pacers W 106 97 29 16 W 1
46 Fri, Jan 31, 2003 @ Orlando Magic W 109 108 30 16 W 2
47 Sat, Feb 1, 2003 @ Miami Heat W 67 65 31 16 W 3
48 Wed, Feb 5, 2003 @ Golden State Warriors W 103 99 32 16 W 4
49 Thu, Feb 6, 2003 @ Denver Nuggets W 83 74 33 16 W 5
50 Tue, Feb 11, 2003 @ Portland Trail Blazers W OT 116 111 34 16 W 6
51 Fri, Feb 14, 2003 @ Los Angeles Lakers W 103 95 35 16 W 7
52 Sun, Feb 16, 2003 @ Sacramento Kings W 104 101 36 16 W 8
Alaska --- good point. The triangle was very good for the Bulls centers as well. Bill Cartwright, Stacey King, Will Perdue, Scott Williams, Bill Wennington, and Luc Longley never succeeded anywhere else in their careers like they did in PJ's triangle, did they.
Boy, that doesn't bode well for poor Kwame Brown, does it?
that road trip record was set for teams that were on the road for the complete trip. according to sports center, the spurs went back home during the trip.
I'm a realistic observer of the vast world that surrounds the Los Angeles Lakers. You can thank Nick Van Exel, Eddie Jones, Elden Campbell, Cedric Ceballos, and Vlade Divac for making that possible. The greatest person of all time is Francis Dayle "Chick" Hearn. There's no getting around that. Me? I'm eighteen years old and working my way to a journalism degree.
