I thought Raja Bell did a good job of playing Rip a different way every time. You got a guy that can score off screens like Rip, you can't do the same thing every time. He'll pick you apart. They did a good job of switching things up. It kind of confused Rip for a minute. I think when he went and sat down and saw how he was playing defense, when he went back in there, he made some adjustments.
Quotes about raja (11 Quotes)
My teammates know if they are going to use Raja Bell and Eddie House on me, it's a mismatch and they are gonna get me the ball.
The main thing is we got Steve and Raja back, and they both looked good.
Not even one time I fouled him. Because he's Kobe and I'm young, he gets the call. I bet Raja would not get one of them. I'm learning. Hopefully, in the playoffs, I'll get a chance to guard him.
People speculated that signing Raja was an insurance policy. That is not the case. We signed Raja Bell because we thought we were greatly improving our team, the makeup of the organization.
There were a couple of elbows thrown. I saw Raja on the floor twice before he got ejected. Raja got hit many times. It probably was frustration.
Raja was fine. He even asked to go back in (for the final seven minutes) because he wanted to keep working a little bit. Boris is sick, but he probably could use the rest. He's played a lot of basketball (a month of the European Championships before training camp) and a lot lately when we were short-handed.
For many reasons we missed Raja tonight. But we were up 17 in the third (quarter), so you can't make too many excuses. We didn't play well. We had the game in our control, we gave it up, and we couldn't get it back.
You can't appreciate how hard Raja was guarding him and how little time he needs to get the shot off. That last shot was seven feet behind the line with Marion running at him.
Raja represents everything you look to add to your team to help you win basketball games. Raja is another piece that will radically improve our efforts on the defensive end, but you can't overlook his offensive skills.
Raja and Kurt are always there for us, physically and mentally. They always make it difficult for the other team and always give us a chance to win.