January 2006: Kobe's Big Night
Let's break this down Harper's Index style...
Number of points scored by Kobe Bryant on January 22nd, 2006: 81
Rank of Kobe's 81 points on list of greatest scoring games in NBA history: 2nd
Deserved rank of Kobe's game in list of Dubious Moments in Toronto Raptor history: 4
Points scored by remainder of LA Lakers team: 41
Number of points scored by Kobe in 2nd half of game: 55
Points scored by entire Toronto Raptors team in 2nd half: 41
Size of Toronto Raptor lead with 9 minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter: 18
Ratio of points scored by Kobe versus points scored by Raptors during key 12-minute stretch starting at 9 minutes left in 3rd quarter: 29 to 19
Size of Laker lead at end of game: 18
Defensive adjustments made by Raptors as Kobe began to dominate: 0
Number of lay-ups or dunks made by Kobe: 8
Additional baskets made from inside Raptors' key: 4
Number of fouls committed by Toronto Raptors: 27
Number of hard fouls committed by Toronto Raptors: 0
Player drafted by Raptors in 2004 in order to do the dirty work, make the team tougher & grittier, and give it a "hockey mentality:" Rafael Araujo
Minutes played by Rafael Araujo during game: 0
Possible hard fouls left on bench by Raptor coaching staff: 6
Offensive rebounds recorded by Raptors in 2nd half: 2
Offensive rebounds recorded by Raptors after Lakers took 18-point lead: 2
Words used by ESPN.com, in order, to describe Raptor performance as Kobe took over: Rattled, Distracted, Overwhelmed
Number of Raptors who appeared embarassed by Kobe's feat: 0
Rank of Charles Oakley on list of former Raptor players most Raptor fans wished played for Raptors on January 22nd, 2006: 1st
Rank of Alvin Robertson: 2nd
Number of days later that Raptor GM Rob Babcock was fired: 4
Just the facts and damn do they hurt. That game is the one reason I have a hate-on for Mitchell. And I'm not saying he doesn't have good qualities, but that game will burn forever, and I (and maybe it's just me) think it's Mitchell's fault. IMHO, he should have sent someone in to hack at him at 65. Does anyone know why he didn't?
Posted by: arsenal | October 30, 2006 at 01:11 PM
obviously mitchell has a problem with substitutions near the end of close games. think about how many close games we had last year out of those 55 loses. he himself said that we were in around 20 of them. no adjustments in +20 games? errr..okay, about 1/3 of them could be attributed to mike james' ridiculous one-man show. but still.
Posted by: rachello | October 30, 2006 at 03:20 PM
Despite Mike James' ridiculous one-man show, Mitchell never pulled him during crunch time. And I believe 82games.com will testify to the fact that the Raptors were the worst close game team in the league last year and the 1-9 OT record begins to show it.
Posted by: B-Huge | October 30, 2006 at 04:53 PM