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They led the West in Point Diff prior to getting Gasol as well.
The analysts, like Hollinger, are making a big deal out of the Lakers' huge point differential since Pau Gasol joined the team. What they aren't saying is that against all but the 4 worst teams in the league, the Lakers were +5.2 ppg. And against everyone but New Orleans, the Spurs were +6.3 ppg. And that is since Feb. 5, when Pau Gasol joined the Lakers.
I know that may seem crazy, especially considering what all the statisticians and analysts are saying. But it's true. LA won 8 games by a total of +200 points, and in their other 38 games they were +199 points. (Those 8 games were against the teams averaging 7-9 ppg less than their opponents.) During that same time, the Spurs lost 4 games to the Hornets by a total of 84 points, and were +284 points in their other 45 games.
If Hollinger wants to look blindly at point differential, he should take note of the fact that since they got Pau Gasol, the Lakers are -3 ppg against New Orleans. Does that mean that the Hornets would have swept LA if they had played each other in Round 2?
Is it valid to pick and choose games like that? If you are going to try and use point differential to predict a future series, you damn betcha it is. Averaging in those blowout wins and losses skews the stats terribly. But LA won't be playing Seattle or the Clippers in the WCF, and the Spurs have already eliminated the Hornets. Doesn't it make more sense to compare something that might actually be indicative of the series about to be played?
The thing that doubting Spurs fans should keep in mind is that the Spurs won 4 of 5 against the Suns. They made it look so easy that the Monday morning quarterbacks all said that Phoenix wasn't really that good. And then, after getting pounded in the first 2 games, the Spurs won 4 of 5 against the Hornets. Would you bet on LA, Boston, or Detroit to win 4 of 5 against New Orleans this year?
The Lakers are an explosive team, and they win in blowouts when everyone is clicking. Especially against weak teams. San Antonio has nights when it seems that none of their players show up, and they lose in blowouts. Especially against New Orleans. But a win is a win, even it is by 25 points. It still takes 4 wins to make it to the Finals, as the Hornets recently learned.
Remember - as badly as it seemed the Spurs sometimes played in the second half of the season, they averaged +6.3 ppg against everyone except New Orleans. And as great as everyone says the Lakers played in the second half of the season, against everyone but the league doormats they averaged +5.2 ppg. The Lakers are a long, long way from being untouchable - no matter what the statisticians say. If the Spurs execute, and keep the games close in the 4th quarters, they can put LA away in 5 games.
But don't be surprised if the Spurs throw in a blowout win or two of their own along the way.
They led the West in Point Diff prior to getting Gasol as well.
+1
Nice Post.
Spurs fans fawned over Hollinger's every word last year when everybody knows the Suns were the real champs. This year he's off the bandwagon so they hate him even though he speaks the truth about their impending doom.
Really? Who has the rings?
I hate hollinger, the guy is a moron who doesn't have a feel for the game, just uses statistics. This is going to be a close series, not a 5 gamer...
That's nice and all. Now take your 2007 virtual championship and go catch some fish with Stevie Nash and the boys..
Excellent analysis. But there's one factor that doesn't need analyzing: We have Manu.
The Lakers can have their stats. We'll take The Sickness.
LOL...dumbass Laker fan. You had something like a 28-16 record when Gasol joined? If you were leading the West in point differential, what does that say? You win some games in blowouts. But you definitely lose your share.
You aren't playing Seattle or the Clippers... or even Denver this time.
Great, so when you cherry pick the stats just right, you can convince yourself the Spurs aren't about to get reamed!
Nobody is playing basketball like these Lakers right now. Sorry.
You haven't played the Defending Champs yet.
Spurs finished off the Suns, a team about 100 x more tougher than the Nuggets in just 1 more game than it took the Lakers to beat the Nuggets. Then they came back from 0-2 to win a series and Game 7 on the road against a team about 10x more superior than the Utah Jazz.
It's easy to say no team is playing like the Lakers when the Lakers have arguably had the easier route to the conference finals. Which, by all means they deserved by getting the #1 seed. But to state that no team is playing like the Lakers right now is downright dumb.
Arguably? Nothing arguable about it. Spurs have definitely had the tougher series thus far.
Actually the lakers had argueably the worst sched in the West prior to Bynum going down and were leading the division as well as point diff.
* on that series. The Spurs resorted to the de able Hack a Shaq to win. They didn't play Phoenix straight up!
Last edited by LakeShow; 05-21-2008 at 04:46 PM.
It's called exploiting a weakness, assclown.
The OP was what occurred to me when I read Hollinger's reasoning.
He went on about point differentials a bit too much, and seemed to miss the essence of the Spurs' defensive/offensive style.
Damn skippy.
If you don't like being "hacked", then make your ing freethrows.
Not that I didn't feel sorry a little for Shaq, but if you are paid that much money, have such an obvious glaring weakness, and don't work to fix it, you don't get a whole heckuva lot of pity from me.
It's called PUSSY BALL! MORON!
The Laker will be able to hang their Point Differential Banner right next to the Suns' Ratings Banner.
Spurs win.
End of story.
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