Coach's Diary
I decided on my lineup heading into the regular season:
Starters:
C: Vlade Divac
PF: Kwame Brown
SF: Lamar Odom
SG: Kobe Bryant
PG: Sarunas Jasikevicius
Bench:
SF: Devean George
SF: Jumaine Jones
SG: Reggie Miller
PF: Brian Grant
SF: Luke Walton
C: Andrew Bynum
PF: Ronny Turiaf
Reserves:
SG: Sasha Vujacic
C: Chris Mihm
PF: Brian Cook
Bynum and Turiaf really impressed me, so I'm going to reward them. I'm gonna give them some playing time, so we'll see how they do in our first game of the season...
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Los Angeles Lakers
vs.
Denver Nuggets
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TLPS (The Laker's Pregame Show)
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"Hi, and welcome to TLPS. I'm Tony Verucci. Tonight we will be breaking down the Laker's offseason moves, as well as from around the league. We'll also look at games from around the league, and taking a look at tonight's matchup between the Lakers and the Nuggets. All this and more, coming up!...(break to a commercial)...And we're back! The infamous "Shaq trade" did not seem to help the Lakers at all, leaving a gaping hole in the middle, and propelling LA to a dismal 34-48 record. They have made several offseason moves to correct their lack in the middle, trading for the man-child Kwame Brown, drafting two big men, and signing veteran Vlade Divac. They have also signed veteran Reggie Miller, to give them a threat on the bench, and rounded out the point guard position by signing undrafted rookie Sarunas Jasikevicius. Whether or not they can produce is another thing. There haven't been any other signings, but tune in here before every Laker's game for all league news. LA's matchup against Denver, and other games after this!...(another commercial break)...Welcome back! Let's take a look at the Lakers/Nuggets game coming up:
Lakers' Keys To Victory:
1. Contain Kenyon Martin. K-Mart grabbed a double-double against San Antonio yesterday, collecting 26 points and 10 rebounds en route to Denver's 112-83 blowout victory.
2. Protect the paint. In their win, Denver took only 8 three-pointers.
3. They need help off the bench. If the bench can score respectively, the starters can actually rest a bit.
Nuggets' Keys To Victory:
1. Don't settle for the outside shot. They got inside vs. SA, and won.
2. Make Kobe score all of LA's points. If Denver can force Kobe to score LA's points, they can absorb 40 points.
3. Punch it in the middle. If they can establish inside dominance, they will get a lot of easy buckets.
Prediction: Lakers- 105 : Nuggets- 98
Kobe will get the help he needs, while still scoring big points. Denver will get scoring, but not enough.
Let's take a look at the past games this week:
November 1, 2005:
Phoenix- 110
vs.
Dallas- 102
Four starters in double figures including a double-double from their two big men overshadowed Nowitzki's 17 points and 11 rebounds. Joe Johnson and Steve Nash scored 31 and 30 points, respectively.
Philadelphia- 121
vs.
Milwaukee- 67
AI led all scorers with 38 points, and Chris Webber had a double-double of 29 points and 11 rebounds. Michael Redd scored 24, but got no other help.
Denver- 112
at
San Antonio- 83
Kenyon Martin's 26 points and 10 rebounds, combined with Andre Miller's 29 points was too much for Duncan's 14 points and Parker's 19.
Injury update:
Nazr Mohammed has suffered a bone spur in his foot, and is unplayable.
November 2, 2005
Toronto- 99
vs
Washington- 90
Antawn Jamison had a double-double of 32 points and 14 rebounds, but a very spread out effort from Toronto, including a double-double of 19 points and 16 rebounds from Chris Bosh gave the Raptors the win.
Orlando- 103
vs
Indiana- 92
Stephen Jackson scored 27 points for Indiana, but Francis' 32 points(plus a lot of team help) gave Orlando the win.
New York- 104
at
Boston- 87
Stephon Marbury's 31 points, including going 4-6 from downtown, combined with Boston's shooting woes (2-15 3pt) propelled the Knicks to a win.
New Jersey- 106
vs
Milwaukee- 83
Redd (21points) got help, but not enough. Vince Carter scored a game-high 32 points, and Kidd and Jefferson both scored 26 apiece. Andrew Bogut scored 16 points, and grabbed 9 rebounds for the Bucks.
New Orleans- 115
at
Cleveland- 104
LeBron's 18 points and 11 rebounds could not overcome a spread out attack from the Hornets, and 11-15 3 pointers.
Chicago- 102
vs
Charlotte- 90
Ben Gordon dropped 24 points, and a team effort by Chicago overcame Okafor's 21 points and 12 rebounds.
Injury update:
Kirk Hinrich has strained his calf muscle and is unplayable.
Memphis- 107
vs
Miami- 87
Six Memphis players in double figures, led by Eddie Jones with 24 points, pushed the Grizzlies to a blowout win over Shaq's (32 points and 10 rebounds) Heat.
Houston- 83
vs
Sacramento- 81
T-Mac's three with 0.5 seconds left grabbed Houston the win. Bibby scored 28 for the Kings.
Portland- 94
at
Minnesota- 88
KG's 25 points and 17 rebounds could not overcome 5 Blazers in double figures.
Other games today:
Dallas
at
Utah
Dirk Nowitzki takes the Mavs into Utah to take on AK-47 and the Jazz.
Atlanta
at
Golden State
Baron Davis, J-Rich, and company host high-flying Josh Smith and the Hawks.
LA Clippers
at
Seattle
Elton Brand takes his team into Seattle to take on Ray Allen and the Sonics.
Philadelphia
at
Detroit
It's AI vs. former finals MVP Chauncey Billups. Who will come out on top? Only time will tell!
Remember, check out here often for all your league news. Up next--Lakers/Nuggets; only on NBATV! This is Tony Verucci signing off, and saying so long for now!!
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Lakers/Nuggets Recap Next!
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Sarunas for ROY
...I convinced them out of retirement for 1 more season!
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