Spurs Brazil
01-24-2009, 06:15 PM
Lakers, Spurs Battle For Western Conference Supremacy
By Hubie Brown
ESPN
(Archive)
The Lakers and Spurs have dominated the Western Conference for years, and that trend should continue this year. But first, the Lakers have to be healthy if they are going to come out of the West. If their nine-man rotation -- starters Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Vladimir Radmanovic plus reserve forwards Trevor Ariza and Lamar Odom and reserve guards Jordan Farmar (expected back soon after recovering from knee surgery) and Sasha Vujacic -- can stay healthy, they should be the favorite at playoff time to make the Finals.
When that second unit is on the floor, either Gasol or Bynum will usually join the reserves, making the second unit as good as many first units in the NBA. But the Lakers have to get healthy and also get back to the type of defense they played earlier in the season, when they were pressing and trapping, both in the full-court and half-court sets. Every one of those nine guys has a definite role, and the Lakers are terrific when all of them are healthy.
Sunday's ESPN on ABC Schedule
• Mavs at Celtics, ABC, 1 p.m. ET
• Spurs at Lakers, ABC, 3:30 p.m. ET
• Rockets at Pistons, ESPN, 6:30 p.m. ET
The Spurs are in a battle with a number of teams for the second spot. I don't know whether we will see Carlos Boozer back healthy for the Jazz this season, but if he returns, I honestly feel it could be up for grabs between the Spurs, Jazz, Hornets and Rockets, who have their own issues with Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest. Still, I'm a big fan of San Antonio's coaching staff and the organization, and the Spurs are probably the second-best team in the West as long as Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are healthy. They do have somewhat of a different look this season with the addition of Roger Mason in the backcourt and Matt Bonner in the middle, but their results have been similar thus far.
San Antonio has been an excellent road team for a long time, and is 12-6 on the road this season. The Spurs know how to win away from home, plus they always seem to play well on national television. On the big stage in the big games, their big three -- Duncan, Ginobili and Parker -- always seem to be able to answer the call. The Spurs almost always seem to do well in the spotlight, such as on Christmas Day, when they played great and won at Phoenix on Mason's buzzer-beater.
As I noted previously, the Lakers' nine-man rotation needs to be healthy for them to be at their best. But that won't be the case Sunday against the Spurs. Farmar's health when he returns bears watching, and something that also needs to be closely watched is Kobe's finger. Let's hope that it will give him the freedom to be himself.
The Lakers are not as good defensively as they were earlier in the season. They are not playing with the same intensity they showed in November and early December. Furthermore, their rebounding has become somewhat questionable because of a lack of overall production out of Bynum, Gasol and Odom.
There has been a lot of pressure on Bynum to perform, and we've only just recently begun to see the first big rebounding numbers in a while from him. We keep waiting for this kid to snap out of it, and maybe Wednesday's 42-point, 15-rebound performance will help him do that. Bynum's play is a big-time concern for the Lakers. Dwight Howard killed them with eight offensive boards and 20 overall Jan. 16, and if they can't correct that, it could be a problem for them if they make the Finals and play a team like Cleveland, Boston or Orlando -- all of which are very good offensive rebounding teams.
Now that we are starting the second half of the season, the Spurs should only improve. Even back during their title runs we would worry about them in November and December, and then they would always make their push in the second half of the season, when they always upgrade their offensive production and their defense improves. Coach Gregg Popovich spends the first half of every season experimenting, but in the second half he locks in and makes his push.
The frontcourt battles between the Spurs and Lakers should be interesting to watch. It will be important for Duncan to stay out of foul trouble in this game because Bynum and Gasol can put a lot pressure on opposing teams to take care of defensive rebounding. Those guys are all over the offensive boards. That's a great matchup to keep an eye on.
ESPN analyst Hubie Brown was the NBA's coach of the year in 2003-04.
http://proxy.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dime-090125
By Hubie Brown
ESPN
(Archive)
The Lakers and Spurs have dominated the Western Conference for years, and that trend should continue this year. But first, the Lakers have to be healthy if they are going to come out of the West. If their nine-man rotation -- starters Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Vladimir Radmanovic plus reserve forwards Trevor Ariza and Lamar Odom and reserve guards Jordan Farmar (expected back soon after recovering from knee surgery) and Sasha Vujacic -- can stay healthy, they should be the favorite at playoff time to make the Finals.
When that second unit is on the floor, either Gasol or Bynum will usually join the reserves, making the second unit as good as many first units in the NBA. But the Lakers have to get healthy and also get back to the type of defense they played earlier in the season, when they were pressing and trapping, both in the full-court and half-court sets. Every one of those nine guys has a definite role, and the Lakers are terrific when all of them are healthy.
Sunday's ESPN on ABC Schedule
• Mavs at Celtics, ABC, 1 p.m. ET
• Spurs at Lakers, ABC, 3:30 p.m. ET
• Rockets at Pistons, ESPN, 6:30 p.m. ET
The Spurs are in a battle with a number of teams for the second spot. I don't know whether we will see Carlos Boozer back healthy for the Jazz this season, but if he returns, I honestly feel it could be up for grabs between the Spurs, Jazz, Hornets and Rockets, who have their own issues with Tracy McGrady and Ron Artest. Still, I'm a big fan of San Antonio's coaching staff and the organization, and the Spurs are probably the second-best team in the West as long as Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are healthy. They do have somewhat of a different look this season with the addition of Roger Mason in the backcourt and Matt Bonner in the middle, but their results have been similar thus far.
San Antonio has been an excellent road team for a long time, and is 12-6 on the road this season. The Spurs know how to win away from home, plus they always seem to play well on national television. On the big stage in the big games, their big three -- Duncan, Ginobili and Parker -- always seem to be able to answer the call. The Spurs almost always seem to do well in the spotlight, such as on Christmas Day, when they played great and won at Phoenix on Mason's buzzer-beater.
As I noted previously, the Lakers' nine-man rotation needs to be healthy for them to be at their best. But that won't be the case Sunday against the Spurs. Farmar's health when he returns bears watching, and something that also needs to be closely watched is Kobe's finger. Let's hope that it will give him the freedom to be himself.
The Lakers are not as good defensively as they were earlier in the season. They are not playing with the same intensity they showed in November and early December. Furthermore, their rebounding has become somewhat questionable because of a lack of overall production out of Bynum, Gasol and Odom.
There has been a lot of pressure on Bynum to perform, and we've only just recently begun to see the first big rebounding numbers in a while from him. We keep waiting for this kid to snap out of it, and maybe Wednesday's 42-point, 15-rebound performance will help him do that. Bynum's play is a big-time concern for the Lakers. Dwight Howard killed them with eight offensive boards and 20 overall Jan. 16, and if they can't correct that, it could be a problem for them if they make the Finals and play a team like Cleveland, Boston or Orlando -- all of which are very good offensive rebounding teams.
Now that we are starting the second half of the season, the Spurs should only improve. Even back during their title runs we would worry about them in November and December, and then they would always make their push in the second half of the season, when they always upgrade their offensive production and their defense improves. Coach Gregg Popovich spends the first half of every season experimenting, but in the second half he locks in and makes his push.
The frontcourt battles between the Spurs and Lakers should be interesting to watch. It will be important for Duncan to stay out of foul trouble in this game because Bynum and Gasol can put a lot pressure on opposing teams to take care of defensive rebounding. Those guys are all over the offensive boards. That's a great matchup to keep an eye on.
ESPN analyst Hubie Brown was the NBA's coach of the year in 2003-04.
http://proxy.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dime-090125