Tonight, the Los Angeles Lakers meet for one of their two annual meetings with Chicago Bulls. Last year, Lakers took both games from Bulls and collectively have won last four of their five meetings.
Games between these two teams are always intriguing, as one team had the greatest player of all time, and other has the player who some thinks might pass him one day. All in all, it should be a good game to watch, with a few interesting matchups.
First, let's take a look at both teams progress in this young season, and then we'll move on to the individual matchups.
Chicago Bulls
They currently stand at 5-5 mark. But don't let that fool you. This team has been playing good ball and are better than what their record is showing. Their losses have came at the hands on teams Boston, Orlando, Cleveland (twice), and Atlanta. Three of five losses are with less than 10 points and two of the losses are five points or less.
This team could easily be sitting at at 7-3 mark. This team is led by a promising young point guard Rose, coupled with some veteran players like Gordon, Deng, and Gooden.
Los Angeles Lakers
They currently stand at a 7-1 mark with their lone loss coming at the hands on Detroit Pistons last Friday. Some thinks of them as the best team in the league, and definitely a front-runner to win the championship this year. This team has the best player in the league in Kobe Bryant, who has the help of veteran players like Gasol, Fisher, and Odom.
This teams probably has the deepest bench in the league, as they can go 12 deep any given day. Heck, one of these night, they might even let Jack Nicholson play last few minutes of a blowout game. All in all, this team is stacked from top to bottom, with at least two deep on any position.
Let's break the individual matchups that will be seen today.
PG: Derek Fisher vs. Derrick Rose
This one is definitely one of those "old dog vs. young blood" type of battles. Fisher is as smart of a role player as there is in this league, and Rose is as promising of a young point guard as this league has seen in a while.
One has all the court vision, athleticism, and play-making abilities you want in one, while the other one great at playing sound man-to-man defense and great team defense. Their jobs are completely different for their respective teams, as Rose tries to break the defense down with dribble and dish or look for his own shot if nothing is available.
Fisher, on the other hands, brings the ball up the court and passes it into the post to Bynum or Gasol, and then let the offense run through them and wait for a kick out from them for an open jumper or a three.
Rose wont have to worry too much about guarding Fisher and chasing him around all day, so he should have lots of energy left for the offensive side of the game.
SG: Kobe Bryant vs. Ben Gordon
Gordon has been on a tear as of late. He has had some good offensive games that has helped bring some W's to his team. He is averaging a team high 21.3 ppg with 47 percent FG percentage and 41 percent from downtown.
On the other side though, he has to worry about the best and complete offensive player in the game in Kobe Bryant. Good thing for Gordon, Kobe shot has been off a little this season, but I don't know how much you can rely on that, as he can get hot in a hurry.
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