Its time to look at the reigning champs and this called for another switch up. I didn’t think there was a need to reiterate how the Lakers are going to annihilate teams that cross their path this season. Instead, you get a witty breakdown from Brian Spaeth of YAY SPORTS! fame. He isn’t even a Laker fan, but I wanted an excuse to have him do a guest post for HoH and I figured living in la la land should suffice…
Brian Spaeth is the writer and star of Who Shot Mamba?, a Broadband Motion Picture debuting October 13th on Koldcast.tv. You can see the second teaser trailer exclusively at the Facebook Page – get your first look at Bill Walton in the film therein. Brian has also published two novels, and writes regularly at his own blog.
I’m a Cavaliers fan, so I’m entirely sure why I’ve been recruited to talk Lakers – I suppose because I live in Los Angeles. That said, I don’t really like Los Angeles either, and have spent more time outside of it than inside this calendar year.
Add in that most of the HoH previews are “…against the Raptors” thematically, I’m at a complete loss as to what to write. All I really know is that the Raptors and Lakers are supposed to play nine times this season.
1. Raptors at Lakers (Nov 4): This early season game is gonna be crazy cause like the Lakers have better players at every position. The only place it’s close is PF, and I’d expect Chris Bosh to be having his teen angst already.
2. Raptors at Lakers (Nov 5): The back-to-backer will be crazy too, because I don’t know anyone else on the Raptors except Jose Calderon, and I wouldn’t put money down that he even plays there anymore. Kobe will only score 18 points here, cause like that’s all he needs to, and he’s matured into a man who like only cares to do his important winning.
3. Lakers at Raptors (Nov 5): I never knew it was spelled Turkoglu. Does this mean I can pronounce it “ter-ko-glue”. The day-night double-header leaves the Raps 0-3 against the Lakers.
4. Lakers at Raptors (Nov 6): About a week into the season, Ron Artest will be having his first incident, and like Lamar Odom will be getting his first divorce to the reality show girl. Wasn’t he married to someone else. For real – wasn’t there a deceased child some years back. I’m not doing jokes here – I stopped reading TMZ, so I don’t know anything important anymore. :/
5. Lakers at Raptors (Nov 7): I don’t know what happens in this game, but Andrew Bynum is at last officially declared average, and everyone realizes that Kevin Duckworth would be like the 4th best pure center in the NBA if he were playing today.
6. Lakers at Raptors at Lakers (Nov 8): In a reverse home game, Pau loses his electric, Bynum has one good game, and Lakers fans re-declare him the next great LA CENTER.
7. Raptors at Lakers (TBD): They’re not sure when this one happens, because Phil Jackson wants to take a couple weeks off at some point, and they’re still messing with the schedule.
8.Raptors and Lakers at Celtics (Mar 29): Triangle Basketball Attack Game is where Ron Artest finally finds his LA Zen, and the Lakers start their we’re-in-a-groove-against-all-odds-based-on-how-tumultuous-this-season-was march to clinching the #1 seed in the West.
9. Raptors at Lakers (Apr 14): By this point, the entire Lakers team is resting for the Playoffs and eventual run to the Finals.
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My Take
Toronto went 0-2 last season and I am having a hard time convincing myself that this year will be different. Yes the Raptors improved this summer but one can argue that so did the Lakers. Adding Ron Artest to fill in for the loss of Ariza may be the most high risk high reward move of the the off-season, and despite the doubters it should pay off in spades. Chris Bosh is good, but Pau Gasol is a better all around player right now. Kobe is still as unstoppable as he has ever been. Raptor fans know all about that. Andrea Bargnani at C can make a player like Bynum look like an all-star. The only bright spot here is, Jose Calderon is a better PG than any of his Lakers counterparts. Even still, Derek Fisher has quite the resume and added to it en route to the championship last season. The Raptors also hold a slight edge looking down the bench and they should get a chance to play when the game is out of hand… which should be midway through the 3rd Q.
Predicted Record: 0-2 (New Raptors… Same Result)
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A Kevin Duckworth mention. I love it.
It's so true though – he was good!
Kobe is still as unstoppable as he has ever been.
You're absolutely right! keep us updated this coming season!
Do you know that he Lakers lost all their NBA final matches in the1960s.They won their first title in Los Angeles in 1972, their 6th since their inception in 1946. It was in the 80′s that the Lakers reputation soared once they gained 5 championships with giants like Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar and James Worthy playing under the guidance of coach Pat Riley.