This week on The Doctor Is In with phdsteve, the newest member of Raptors Republic – talkhoops.net and cowbellkingdom.com (Sacramento’s ESPN True Hoop Affiliate) blogger Zach Harper drops by to talk about the Kings and the Raps. Zach shares insight into the development of Tyreke Evans, the Calderon for Kevin Martin rumours, the future plans of the Kings, and which of the two franchises has the brighter future.

You can click the play button below or listen directly in iTunes (26:51 min). You may also download the file (24.5MB).

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A contingent of NBA players and coaches led by NBA Global Ambassador Dikembe Mutombo will travel to Dakar, Senegal Aug. 5-8 for the eighth edition of Basketball without Borders Africa it was announced today by the National Basketball Association (NBA), the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the Senegalese Basketball Federation (FSBB).

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Toronto Star

An only-in-L.A. moment also factored in the final decision moments earlier, when Toronto’s Jose Calderon went racing to the sidelines to save a loose ball with 1:48 to play. Before Calderon could get there to attempt an out-of-bounds save, the ball was tipped away by Lapo Elkann, the Fiat heir and international playboy watching from a courtside seat.

Elkann got a loud ovation when he was shown on the overhead scoreboard moments later.

Toronto Star

That Turkoglu is at the point of having to salvage a much-hyped season is disappointing for Raptors fans, of course. Turkoglu’s improbable off-season acquisition was a joyous moment for a franchise whose depth chart could have been far shallower if not for some nifty navigation of the NBA’s salary-cap regulations. But after playing at a high level in a contract year for the NBA finalist Orlando Magic last season, Turkoglu has clearly slacked off for parts of this season. The team gave him time off for fatigue to open training camp. He since has been plagued by poor conditioning and nagging injuries.

And though his numbers aren’t abhorrent – he is slightly below his career averages in most major statistical categories – there is a sense he has under-delivered. He has blamed his role instead of adapting to it, publicly stated his wish to have the ball more often on a team that sometimes plays point guards Jarrett Jack and Jose Calderon simultaneously.

But those arguments are old now. And a lot will be forgotten if, as the Raptors steer themselves into the final quarter of the regular season, Turkoglu finds his form. Still, it won’t be easy for him to ramp up his production. On Tuesday, as the Raptors prepared to open a four-game Western road swing against the Lakers, Turkoglu was still nursing the sprained left ankle that kept him out of Sunday’s loss to the 76ers, the latest in a lengthening list of weak spots.

Globe and Mail

Bosh scored 22 points in his second game back from a seven-game injury absence, and Andrea Bargnani had 21 as the Raptors opened a four-game road trip by struggling from the field in the final minutes of their sixth loss in seven games. Jarrett Jack added 18 points, but Toronto managed just four field goals in the final eight minutes.

“They’re the defending champs for a reason and everything,” Bosh said. “It’s always tough bouncing back (from injury), but I just wanted to get a feel, and I didn’t want to force anything.”

Orange County Register

After Chris Bosh hit a 3-pointer with 9.5 seconds left to forge a tie, Bryant went to the right baseline and nailed a 17-foot fadeaway over Antoine Wright and Andrea Bargnani’s too-late trapping help. It was a more important winning shot, for sure, than the ones Bryant previously hit this season against Miami, Milwaukee, Sacramento, Dallas, Boston and Memphis.

With most of his teammates playing tight, Bynum seized the deep post-up opportunities he got from teammates who moved the ball very poorly early in the game. Bynum scored 11 of his 22 points in the third quarter to pull the Lakers back from a 58-50 halftime deficit. Lamar Odom also shook off a terrible start and finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

Big Lakers Fan

Yeah, Andrew Bynum was big on the offensive end, but the Lakers frontline was again reverting back to its "soft-as-marshmallows" form by getting out-rebounded. Can someone explain to me how Amir Johnson, a Toronto forward generously listed as 6-9, and Jack, a short shooting guard, get more rebounds than Bynum?
I share Kobe Bryant’s words after the game: the win against Toronto was garbage.

Sporting News

With an Eastern Conference playoff berth in danger of slipping away, the Toronto Raptors are hoping Chris Bosh continues to recover quickly from his recent seven-game absence.

Perhaps facing the Sacramento Kings will help the All-Star forward return to form.

Bosh seeks his second excellent performance against the Kings this season Wednesday night, when the visiting Raptors try to bounce back from a demoralizing loss and avoid their seventh defeat in eight games.

The Raptors (32-30) had won 18 of 25 before Bosh sprained his left ankle. They went 3-4 in his absence, with the wins coming at the expense of three struggling clubs – New Jersey, Washington and New York. Toronto has also dropped both games since Bosh’s return, including a heartbreaking 109-107 defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night to open a four-game Western road trip.

Bosh hit a rare 3-pointer – his eighth of the season and second of the contest – to tie the game with 10 seconds remaining, but Lakers star Kobe Bryant answered, draining a game-winning 17-foot fallaway jumper with 1.9 seconds left.

"It’s always tough bouncing back (from injury), but I just wanted to get a feel, and I didn’t want to force anything," said Bosh, who finished with a team-best 22 points.

Sacramento Bee

Kings update: This is the second and final time the Kings face the Raptors, and they’ll have to do a better job slowing Chris Bosh if they’re going to exact revenge. The Toronto star scored 36 points in the Kings’ 115-104 loss at Air Canada Centre on Feb. 7, with 12 of his points coming in the fourth quarter. It was the Raptors’ third consecutive win over the Kings and their sixth in a row in Toronto.

Forum Blue & Gold

But, in order for Kobe to hit a game winner the game has to be close at the end and this is where things weren’t as positive.  In an ugly 2nd quarter, the Raptors outscored the Lakers 34-21 as we could not convert on shots and couldn’t stop Toronto either.  The Lakers struggled with Toronto’s various P&R sets and allowed the Raptors to get a lot of open shots.  Shots that Toronto happily knocked down as Lakers defenders were either slow to rotate to the perimeter or caught in no man’s land confused as to whether they should recover to the paint or find a shooter.  Granted, Toronto has the ability to put a shooter at every position on the floor and that leads to tremendous spacing that is difficult to cover, but there were still long stretches where defensive struggles were more the norm over strong execution and it was a problem against the Raps.  What is most frustrating about the Lakers defense, though, is how they saved their worst defensive lapses for late in the game.  When up by 4 with just under thirty seconds to play, the Lakers allowed a quick inbounds and layup to cut the lead to 2.  Then, after Lamar made one of two FT’s, the Lakers didn’t effectively switch on defense on a high P&R that allowed Chris Bosh (who I already respected a great deal but gain more and more respect for as a PF every game) to shake loose and nail a game tying three pointer.  It really was some poor defensive execution in those closing possessions.

Orange County Register

Raptors coach Jay Triano called Bryant one of the game’s great players and wasn’t surprised that Phil Jackson called up a play to get the ball into Bryant’s hands.

“It’s no secret that he’s going to take the shot there and that they’re going to run the play for him,” Triano said. “We’ve all seen it happen.”

While Bryant was flattered by Triano’s comments, he was less-than-impressed with his team’s overall play. The Lakers needed Bryant’s bailout shot to avoid their first four-game losing streak in three years.

Did you see any positives tonight?

“None. This was… garbage,” he said.

Silver Screen and Roll

Tonight’s selection from the Kobe Game-Winner Platinum Series took the form of a baseline fall-away over Antoine Wright with 1.9 seconds left. Yes, monsieur, that will do just fine! The shot put the Lakers up a deuce and, as the Raptors had no timeouts left, effectively sealed the win. What’s that, you say? Why did the Lakers need a dramatic end-game shot to snag a home victory from the Raptors? I… *fake static sounds*… I can’t hear you that well. *more fake static sounds* I think my phone’s going out….

HoopsWorld

- Admittedly the Raptors don’t have a true inside game but there was an awkward stretch where LA got the benefit of a number of calls.

- On Kobe – "That’s just him.  That’s what he does regularly," said DeMar DeRozan.  "It’s tough but at the same time, we’re not going to be the last team he does it against and surely not the first."

- "When Bosh stepped out and hit that three, everybody’s heart sunk a little bit," said Jackson, "but we were able to get the ball to a player where Kobe wanted to shoot it and he made the shot again."

- "We knew it was going to be an isolation," said Coach Jay Triano.  "[Kobe] doesn’t like to have screen-rolls because it brings somebody else there.  We ran at him anyway, he saw the trap coming – he escaped away from it and made a tough shot."

NBA.com

Turkoglu, who missed a game with a left ankle sprain, struggled in his return with six points on 2-for-7 shooting in 29 minutes. He also had four turnovers, one of which was a costly one to Derek Fisher in the final minute with his team down 104-102.

It was a parade to the charity stripe with both teams combining to shoot 74 free throws. The Lakers were 36-for-44 from the line, season highs in makes and attempts.

Los Angeles played little defense early. Toronto made 14-for-21 shots in the second period to outscore the Lakers 34-21. The Raptors built their eight-point halftime lead, 58-50, thanks to a 14-5 run in the final three minutes of the second quarter.

ESPN

"Tough play, because it was a two-point game," Calderon said. "I was looking to pass to my teammate. I wasn’t looking, and I look back and the guy just hit the ball."

Elkann offered an apologetic shake of his hand to Calderon. Ron Artest came over, patted Elkann on the head, and told him "Good D."

Elkann truly was sorry he hurt the Raptors.

"Having two Italians [Andrea Bargnani and Marco Belinelli] on the team and being Italian, I wished for them to win," Elkann said. "I saw the ball coming on me, and I pushed it."

"I’m not an expert in basketball," he said, explaining his ignorance of the rules. "I know more about soccer than I do about basketball."

He pulled up his sleeve to reveal a tattoo of the Juventus Italian football club logo. But if he’s a soccer guy, he should know you’re not supposed to use your hands.

"You can’t," Elkann said. "The only one who’s allowed to use them is Maradona, in the World Cup."

Toronto Sun

Hedo Turkoglu’s recovering left ankle didn’t turn out to be a limiting factor because foul trouble did that for him. Turkoglu was on the bench with two fouls eight minutes into the game and had four and was back on the bench midway through the third quarter.

All of Turkoglu’s offence came from the three-point line with a pair of triples accounting for all six of his points. He also had four assists and four rebounds.

In his second visit to the Staples Center as an NBA player, Compton, Calif., native DeMar DeRozan made amends for a subpar visit the first time in against the Clippers. This time around, he managed 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting before his own foul trouble landed him on the bench prematurely.

On the other side, Andrea Bargnani started out the game looking like he would never find the basket. He was 0-for-5 before he found the mark and then went 6-for-7 from the field, including a pair of threes.

Bosh, who didn’t get to the line at all Sunday against the 76ers, went the whole first half without a visit but then got there in the first two minutes of the second half on a determined drive to the hoop with a pair of Lakers draped all over him.

Zan Tabak Herald

Chris Bosh finally came around in the second half and started to look like an All-Star.  He drove the lane, brought energy on the defensive end and was clutch down the stretch.  He capped off a very strong fourth quarter with a huge 3-point shot to tie the game.  The stage was set for an overtime thriller.  That was until Kobe Bryant got the ball on the next possession.  He saw Chris Bosh’s great shot and raised him a game winner.  Kobe hit a shot under pressure from Antoine Wright and nailed it.  It was a great shot, made by a great player.  Plain and simple.  Nothing you can do about that. Brush it off and come back tomorrow.

The Picket Fence

Just a quick comment on the refs. I never complain about bad calls or get on the bandwagon that claim that refs favour other teams, but I have never, EVER been so frustrated watching what were offensively bad calls, all in favour of the Lakers. At first, Gasol seemed to be getting foul calls the moment any Raptor made contact on defense, and then Turkoglu got several phantom calls. Then the second half, where I actually had to turn the channel out of frustration. The Lakers were getting EVERY call, and the Raptors weren’t getting similar ones on the other end. The “foul” that Kobe drew after he missed the layup was laughable. Well, it would have been if you were a Laker fan. Of course, the Raptor players took about 6 jumpshots in a row after that, so it’s pretty hard to get a makeup call when you do that, but it should never have been called in the first place.

Found on raptorsrepublic

BADALONA (Eurocup) – Alba Berlin joined the Eurocup Quarter-Final party on Tuesday night by winning at DKV Joventut in Badalona, Spain. In a battle of 3-2 teams on the final night of Last 16 play, the German outfit erupted for 33 fourth-quarter points and prevailed 68-62 to improve to 4-2. Immanuel McElroy led a balanced Alba attack with 14 …

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BAYAMÓN (BSN) – Vaqueros de Bayamón eged out Gallitos de Isabela 87-83 to take their win of the season. The signing of import Robert "Tractor" Traylor paid immediate dividends as he had 18 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks to help the defending champions improve to 1-2 with this road win. Christian Dalmau had a …

Found on FIBA

MILWAUKEE (2010 FIBA World Championship for Men) – Australian big man Andrew Bogut had game-highs of 25 points, 17 rebounds and four blocks to lead the surging Milwaukee Bucks past the Boston Celtics 86-84 on Tuesday night. After the game, Boston head coach Doc Rivers made no secret of the fact that his team's inability to stop Bogut is what cost them …

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Make no mistake, Jay Triano did all he can to help us lose this game. He subbed out an on-fire Jarrett Jack with 1:15 left in the third and brought him back with 5:52 left in the game, by this time the Raptors’ five point lead had vanished and to make matters worse, we saw the dreaded “three guard” lineup of Turkoglu, Jack and Calderon where those three only produced 4 points in the final half of the fourth. That lineup became too jumper-happy and relied too heavily on Bosh, however, some Laker misses and good Raptor rebounding later, we had a chance to tie the game late but Hedo Turkoglu committed his fourth turnover on the night. It looked like the game was over, but an Odom FT miss left the door open for a deep Bosh three (Jose leaving him out to dry) which he nailed (second on the night). Then Kobe happened and the Raptors didn’t have any timeouts left.

It really is an utter shame to waste the effort, energy and enthusiasm we played with only because our coach can’t figure out what lineups to put out, here’s a thought: go with what’s working. He basically iced Jack who had scored 13 points in the third quarter but only managed two FTs once he returned. Just like Triano had done against Portland, he shutdown Jack when nobody else could. I’m not saying we would’ve won the game, I’m saying we would’ve been in a better position to win the game. Even Jack Armstrong couldn’t believe his Irish eyes when he saws Jack glued to the bench; in fact, the “boys in the truck” were like WTF as hey kept focusing on Jack sitting on the bench all confused wondering what the hell he had done wrong.

Let’s recap a bit of the game. The first was all about the Lakers trying to come out aggressive and intimidate the Raptors, Artest’s aggressive foul on Turkoglu set their defensive tone early as they were extending their defense to try and pressure us. We did a good job of responding through DeRozan drives/cuts and great outside shooting, 7 of our 9 threes came in the first half and it kept us in the game. We had no answer for the Lakers establishing Bynum with deep post position on the break, feeding it to him and him turning for scores or great offensive rebound opportunities for them. Chris Bosh still looked a little rusty as the drive-game was out of sync early and he had obvious trouble coping with the length of the Laker bigs. Bargnani struggled early with poor shot-selection and went 1-5 in the first quarter but the Raptors were only down 5. A decent start considering how we were getting hammered in the paint; another good sign was our defense was showing signs of life, forcing some turnovers and picking up points on the break – an area we won 16-10 on the night. DeRozan did a solid job on Kobe early while at the same time getting his on the other end.

Bargnani exploded in the second quarter with 13 points, his teammates did a good job of looking for him in transition and he delivered some nice finishes going to the rim. Weems and Calderon outplayed their bench counterparts as the Lakers struggled to score without one of Gasol or Kobe in there. We also saw how comfortable Calderon and Johnson (9pts, 7rebs in 22min) are becoming with each other, he fed him for two assists and a few touches last night. Kobe at this time was still deferring to his teammates, I’d say the Lakers offense was more big-man oriented than Kobe-driven at this juncture. We dropped in a 2-3 zone which was broken a couple times by the three, but overall was a solid option as the Lakers bench couldn’t execute the triangle as fluently. Jack Armstrong made a great point about how the triangle is a read-and-react type of offense and once you see a shallow zone which isn’t moving, it’s hard to figure out what option to take. We were up 58-50 at the half and it was all thanks to our bench which got the better of the Lakers’ 29-22 overall.

Antoine Wright, Hedo Turkoglu and DeMar DeRozan picked up three first-half fouls, this meant Belinelli saw some playing time in the first half, he did well going a +11 with a three and a few rebounds while playing decent defense. I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t higher up in the rotation today, wasn’t he the guy that won us the Laker game at home? Turkoglu was typically trash, he had 6/5/4 with those ugly four turnovers where he looked like he was just learning to dribble the ball. The only good thing I can say about him is that he drew the Laker defense a couple times and found Bargnani and Bosh for open jumpers. Other than that he continues to be an eyesore.

So after Bargnani scores 13 points in the second, how many do you think he had in the whole second half? 6. Yup, that’s it. Whose fault is it? I don’t know, he only took 5 shots in the second half so he wasn’t exactly looking for his offense. My take is that his early shot-selection in the second half was so poor that after he missed a couple bad shots, he shied away from taking any more. Call it losing confidence. Bosh finally started getting to the line in the third quarter had notched 8 points in the frame, but this quarter was all about the Lakers running their offense through Kobe Bryant and not their bigs. They came out with better defensive energy and we were about to crumble if it weren’t for Jack taking the initiative and willing the Raptors into the lead until he got subbed off. Jose didn’t play all that bad when he came in (other than getting burned by a Shannon Brown three), but the offense definitely lacked the zip which we saw in the third.

Jack had singlehandedly withered the Lakers third-quarter assault but Triano didn’t give him the chance to succeed by absolutely killing his rhythm with the long benching. I’m trying to understand what compelled Triano to not retain Sonny Weems in the fourth quarter lineup instead of Calderon, by all accounts Weems was having a great game (3-5FG 6pts) and wasn’t conceding on defense. I have no idea why he didn’t stick with the Jack-led lineup of the third quarter which had done so well in the face of great Lakers pressure. No idea.

I have to give credit to Amir Johnson for playing very hard tonight, he was on the offensive glass, contested the Laker drives and worked well with his PGs. He was part of some crucial scores in the fourth quarter that kept us within striking distance. We were able to counter Lakers’ frontcourt length through him, the same can’t be said about Reggie Evans who basically kills any positive he brings by not being able to kick-out the odd offensive rebound he gathers. His man-defense today was also quite shite; I’m not sure why he’s complaining to the refs because he fouls multiple times on the same possession so when the ref finally blows his whistle, he should be thanking him for not doing it sooner instead of moaning about it.

Down 102-104 with 0:52 seconds left, Calderon missed a makeable three pointer, the tip was missed by Bosh but Jack managed to get the offensive rebound. I’m thinking if Turkgoglu isn’t on the floor, Jack takes matters into his own hands and gets something going to the rim, instead he’s almost forced to pass it to Turkoglu who is advertised as being Mr. Fourth Quarter. He does so and Turkoglu makes a bush-league turnover, something you’d see a freshman PG in high-school make the first time he’s on the floor. Fisher picked off his pass too easily, one of the easiest steals he’ll ever get.

Bosh had a poor shooting night going 7-18 but was better as the game went along, perhaps it was his legs coming back. His three tied the game but 9 seconds is an eternity for Kobe who drilled a fairly tough baseline jumper over Antoine Wright.

Tonight we’re in Sacramento and you have to wonder how much is left in the tank after that solid effort which deserved better.

I thought I had a lot more to say but it’s 4:30AM and my head isn’t working. Probably because of this which was mandatory after this one.

Found on raptorsrepublic

BAYAMÓN (BSN) – Vaqueros de Bayamón eged out Gallitos de Isabela 87-83 to win their first game of the season. The signing of import Robert "Tractor" Traylor paid dividends immediately as he had 18 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks to help the defending champions improve to 1-2 with this road win. Christian Dalmau had a …

Found on FIBA

You can probably count on both of your hands the number of times that Kobe Bryant has scored the game-winning basket and saved the Los Angeles Lakers from the jaws of defeat.

As it would turn out, Bryant would help the Lakers rally from a deficit and drain the game-winning basket with 1.9 seconds left, snapping Los Angeles 3-game losing streak and nipping the Toronto Raptors 109-107 at Staples Center.

The Raptors took a 58-50 lead going into the intermission with 15 points from Andrea Bargnani, who hit a pair of three-pointers and played his usual up-tempo game. They would maintained their lead in the third quarter with 13 points from Jarrett Jack and Pau Gasol got whistled for a technical foul on a non-call right after the end of the period.

Bryant put Los Angeles ahead on two free throws with 3:54 remaining in the game, and Derek Fisher stole Hedo Turkoglu’s pass and hit a pair of free throws with 30 seconds left to put the Lakers up by four. Lamar Odom missed a free throw moments later to allow the Raptors a chance to tie the game, and Chris Bosh nailed a three-pointer. But as happened on more than one occasion, Bryant would hit a baseline jumper, this one with 1.9 seconds left, to seal the win for Los Angeles.

Bryant led the Lakers with 32 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and a steal while Andrew Bynum poured in 22 with 6 rebounds and 2 blocks; Gasol added 17 with 9 rebounds, an assist and a block.

The Raptors were led by Bosh with 22 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and a block while Bargnani added 21 with 8 rebounds and 2 blocks; Jack chipped in 18 with 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals and a block.

Los Angeles (47-18) plays again on Friday when they visit Phoenix to take on the Suns while Toronto (32-30) flies north to Sacramento to face the Kings Wednesday night.

Found on slamdunkcentral

Charlotte 83-78 Miami; Indiana 107-96 Philadelphia; Orlando 113-87 LA Clippers; Washington 88-96 Houston; Chicago 108-132 Utah; Milwaukee 86-84 Boston; Portland 88-81 Sacramento; LA Lakers 109-107 Toronto

Found on Eurosport