GT #17: Lakers @ Wizards 7 PM (CSN/99.1 FM) [12/3/14]

[FAH1223]

YOUR Washington Bullets are 11-5! Coming off a huge division victory vs. the HEAT, they will continue their homestand vs. the struggling LA Lakers. Who would have thought even two years ago that the mighty Lakers would be in tanking mode while the Wizards would turn it around to be a playoff team? Former Wizard Nick Young aka Swaggy P has given the Lakers a boost but he seems to be a curse everywhere he goes as he's rarely on playoff teams. LAL has lost Nash and rookie Julius Randle for the season. Ed Davis has been their best big man. And Gasol left and LAL picked up Boozer off the amnesty scrap heap.

Kobe Bryant is still Kobe Bryant. The NBA's leading scorer is having one of his most inefficient seasons but has played more efficiently as of late. The Lakers have no rim protection and their perimeter defense leaves much to be desired. This is a team with no identity offensively besides letting Kobe go to work and getting out of the way. The Wizards should be able to exploit the matchup and get open threes and Wall should live in the paint.




-------------------------AT-------------------------

Last game:
HEAT vs. Wizards (W) 86-107
Lakers vs. Pistons (W) 106-96


Lineups:











Bench:

[RustyMagoo]

Swaggy P scares me a little bit.

[fishercob]

Swaggy P scares me a little bit.

[Higga]

Me and one of my best friends usually go to the Wiz-Lakers game every year but this is the first year where he has no interest in going.

Man LA fans are spoiled. One terrible year and they lose interest. I really hope the Lakers suck for like a Redskins-like length of time. Show those spoiled fans what real suffering is about.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Swaggy P scares me a little bit.

Me too, RustyMagoo.

Nick got his swag back the other night against Toronto. His three ball was money. Deep range. Young was making difficult shots look effortlessly easy for him.

Also, I am wondering if sharing the ball, "Venomous Mamba" Kobe Bryant will appear vs Washington. The Raptors board dubbed him that. He was absolutely brilliant against Toronto. When Bryant got teammates going first, spacing was so terrific even Carlos Boozer was converting in transition and making energy plays.

Jeremy Lin, has played well in the past against John Wall.

Ronnie Price is capable of being a good scoring PG.

I hope LAL beats DET tonight. The Lakers would have won two straight. Let them be due to lose. But also if the Lakers beat the Pistons the Wizards won't sleep on them.


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[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

The Wizards need to share the ball and attack the paint against the Lakers. Should be a win at home if they keep grinding away.

[Kanyewest]

Lakers are undefeated against the Eastern Conference so far this season with wins over the Raptors (minus Deroazan) and the Hawks. Wizards should win but the Lakers shouldn't be taken lightly.

[tontoz]

Anyone read the ESPN the magazine article on Kobe sabatoging the Lakers from within? I knew Kobe was a bit nuts but he is worse than i thought. There is no point in having big cap space as long as he is there. No star will even consider playing with him.

[McFilthy]

Me and one of my best friends usually go to the Wiz-Lakers game every year but this is the first year where he has no interest in going.

Man LA fans are spoiled. One terrible year and they lose interest. I really hope the Lakers suck for like a Redskins-like length of time. Show those spoiled fans what real suffering is about.

I have a similar situation to Higga in that every year a good friend of mine and I go to the Wizards-Lakers game. We are going again this year, but there will be a little less enthusiasm from Laker fans I think. They certainly are spoiled having a good/great time almost every year until recently. My friend is from LA, but the thing that gets me is DMV-raised fans of the Lakers. I guess decades of suck can result in sports fans looking elsewhere.

The Lakers are playing better then earlier, but I still think the Bullets win.

Wizards have beaten the Lakers in DC the past couple of years. Two years ago I remember Seraphin going off against them.

I have a way from to prevent Nick Young from having a good game: Play Nick/Javale's cinnamon challenge Youtube video on VC's Jumbotron a couple of times to bring Swaggy P back to when he was a nabob of the knuckleheads during his tenure in DC.

[JWizmentality]

Keep Nick Young from inciting any form of run and we crush these fools.

[FAH1223]

Anyone read the ESPN the magazine article on Kobe sabatoging the Lakers from within? I knew Kobe was a bit nuts but he is worse than i thought. There is no point in having big cap space as long as he is there. No star will even consider playing with him.

I saw the article but to be honest, Kobe is being made to be a scapegoat. Yes, he's a chucker. Yes, he's a difficult teammate. But it isn't Kobe's fault that the children of Dr. Buss have no idea how to run the franchise. After the 2011 lockout, they got rid of a lot of longtime staff and their scouting department was gutted. They traded so many draft picks as well... the Nash trade is going to really hurt them even more if they don't get a Top 5 pick in 2015.

I think Mitch is a decent GM but he's basically living off of a Jerry West trade (1996 for Kobe) and then the 2008 Gasol trade which produced 3 straight finals appearances. But based on the organizational changes, Mitch might not have as much pull as he used to as when Dr. Buss was still alive and in health. Jim Buss has really changed everything and he's done it for the worse. It's like everything he touches ends up sucking.

But hey, the Lakers were due for years like this. Its going to be a long time before they are relevant again, especially in that conference.

[dlts20]

you guys are different than me as I have no fear Swaggy P. He is still a low iq idiot. Has size, handles, and athleticism but still just settles for pull up J's all day. He's worst then Wall with that stuff and doesnt have any excuse of coaching, system, or bigs to fall back on like Wall does. Even if he's hot, he wont decide whether they win or lose.

They are 3-0 against the East which has there idiot fans thinking they could win the East so I would love to smack them back down to earth. I think Wall again found his groove last game and will kill them like last year. Lakers have played there best when stupid coaches have doubled Kobe. IDK why. He's an inefficent chucker right now. Play him straight up and make him beat you and we will win

[tontoz]

Anyone read the ESPN the magazine article on Kobe sabatoging the Lakers from within? I knew Kobe was a bit nuts but he is worse than i thought. There is no point in having big cap space as long as he is there. No star will even consider playing with him.

I saw the article but to be honest, Kobe is being made to be a scapegoat. Yes, he's a chucker. Yes, he's a difficult teammate. But it isn't Kobe's fault that the children of Dr. Buss have no idea how to run the franchise. After the 2011 lockout, they got rid of a lot of longtime staff and their scouting department was gutted. They traded so many draft picks as well... the Nash trade is going to really hurt them even more if they don't get a Top 5 pick in 2015.

I think Mitch is a decent GM but he's basically living off of a Jerry West trade (1996 for Kobe) and then the 2008 Gasol trade which produced 3 straight finals appearances. But based on the organizational changes, Mitch might not have as much pull as he used to as when Dr. Buss was still alive and in health. Jim Buss has really changed everything and he's done it for the worse. It's like everything he touches ends up sucking.

But hey, the Lakers were due for years like this. Its going to be a long time before they are relevant again, especially in that conference.

Keep in mind they got screwed out of Chris Paul when the league veto'd the trade. Then they landed Howard who didn't want to resign there because of Kobe. None of the big names would take their calls this summer because of Kobe.

[FAH1223]

Keep in mind they got screwed out of Chris Paul when the league veto'd the trade. Then they landed Howard who didn't want to resign there because of Kobe. None of the big names would take their calls this summer because of Kobe.

Thats not 100% true. Carmelo went to LA and had a big meeting with them. He was deciding until the last minute between LAL and NYK.

Pau Gasol also talked about tough it was to leave LA because he and Kobe formed a bond there. The Lakers even offered contracts with no trade clauses. But the damage was done with management and Chicago (or the Spurs who he was looking at) were much better options.

But yeah all the other big names didn't entertain them.

LAL is focused on getting big names, they didn't even attempt to sign mid-level free agents at positions of need for some illusion of luring big name free agents. Kobe does complicate that because of his rep but its also not an attractive spot because they have no direction in a loaded conference.

[CntOutSmrtCrazy]

Swaggy P scares me a little bit.

Are you afraid of the dark too?

[AFM]

Swaggy..... PPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Get that Iggy Azalea booty poppin on a handstand

[tontoz]

Keep in mind they got screwed out of Chris Paul when the league veto'd the trade. Then they landed Howard who didn't want to resign there because of Kobe. None of the big names would take their calls this summer because of Kobe.

Thats not 100% true. Carmelo went to LA and had a big meeting with them. He was deciding until the last minute between LAL and NYK.

Melo came close to going to the Bulls. They just couldnt offer him enough money. I think you are getting LA confused with Chicago.

e New York Post reports: How close was New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony to joining the Chicago Bulls during his free-agency tour last summer? In a documentary to air Tuesday on the MSG Network, Anthony says, “There was one point in time I was like, 'Oh, I’m going.’’’

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/ba ... story.html

[CntOutSmrtCrazy]

Lakers are undefeated against the Eastern Conference so far this season with wins over the Raptors (minus Deroazan) and the Hawks. Wizards should win but the Lakers shouldn't be taken lightly.

Yep. They're 3-0 with wins @ATL and at home against Charlotte and Toronto. There also 8th in the league in scoring at around 104 points per outing. Jeremy Lin also appears to be playing better as of late, hope Wall doesn't have a brain fart game.

On the other hand they allow a league worst 112 per game. They're literally in the bottom five (league worst in a bunch) in just about every defensive team statistic you can imagine. In the end they are 4-13 and will be playing on the second night of a back-to-back, there no reason we should lose even if Kobe plays like he did versus Toronto. If we lose the board should understandably lose its mind.

I expect a big game from Wal, he's played well against them throughout his career.

[FAH1223]

Keep in mind they got screwed out of Chris Paul when the league veto'd the trade. Then they landed Howard who didn't want to resign there because of Kobe. None of the big names would take their calls this summer because of Kobe.

Thats not 100% true. Carmelo went to LA and had a big meeting with them. He was deciding until the last minute between LAL and NYK.

Melo came close to going to the Bulls. They just couldnt offer him enough money. I think you are getting LA confused with Chicago.

e New York Post reports: How close was New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony to joining the Chicago Bulls during his free-agency tour last summer? In a documentary to air Tuesday on the MSG Network, Anthony says, “There was one point in time I was like, 'Oh, I’m going.’’’

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/ba ... story.html

Yeah I remember CHI being #1 but the Bulls weren't going to let Gibson go

There was reports from July putting LAL as a contender and Melo viewing their presentation positively

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Lakers are undefeated against the Eastern Conference so far this season with wins over the Raptors (minus Deroazan) and the Hawks. Wizards should win but the Lakers shouldn't be taken lightly.

Yep. They're 3-0 with wins @ATL and at home against Charlotte and Toronto. There also 8th in the league in scoring at around 104 points per outing. Jeremy Lin also appears to be playing better as of late, hope Wall doesn't have a brain fart game.

On the other hand they allow a league worst 112 per game. They're literally in the bottom five (league worst in a bunch) in just about every defensive team statistic you can imagine. In the end they are 4-13 and will be playing on the second night of a back-to-back, there no reason we should lose even if Kobe plays like he did versus Toronto. If we lose the board should understandably lose its mind.

I expect a big game from Wal, he's played well against them throughout his career.

Seconded that. Watch out for Lin getting to the rim at will and dishing. If his outside drops Jeremy historically will take it right to Wall. John needs to at least bring his B game, but he better try and bring his A game. Jeremy has gotten the better of John more than once before.