Lakers under or over-rated as Spurs top WC threat?

[greyforest]

lakers have good ref bias, and not just at home. dont overlook these "intangibles"

[pjjrfan]

The lakers have a strong front line with Gasol, Bynum and Odom. They have Bryant and they have Phil. The bench does seem to be a weakness but the team's length is legit and with a money player like Bryant, and a savvy coach they will be hard to beat. The Spurs will have to be smart, physical and on top of thier game. I still believe that Manu, tony and Duncan along with Pop can beat any combination or any team if all of them are healthy and on top of their game.

[HarlemHeat37]

The Lakers are definitely overrated when people compare them to historic teams IMO, but they're still a level above every team in the West by a good margin..we don't have the tools to beat them IMO, particularly in the frontcourt..this next game should be a good test, since the Lakers always being their A game vs. the Spurs..it should be a good indication of our team needs..

Some glaring weaknesses for the Lakers..

-They have very poor spacing due to their poor shooting on the outside..
-Their bench is very weak..
-Fisher is the Michael Finley of their team..

Thankfully we can exploit all 3 of those weaknesses..when Parker is on his game, he should torch any of the Laker PGs..hopefully Tony will be fresh by then..the 3-point shooting is obviously something that COULD be huge to this team, since we can beat anybody when the 3s are falling..their short rotation will help in the playoffs, but their starters have been putting in A LOT of work and energy so far this season, and having depth always helps in the long run, which is something the Spurs have..

Sadly, the Lakers have 2 huge strengths over the Spurs, which is the main reason they would easily beat us in a 7-game series at this point..

-There's the issue of guarding Kobe..TBH, I'm not THAT worried about this..Kobe always kills the Spurs, even when Bowen was here..it's going to be even tougher now, but I don't think that's going to be the main key..obviously it's a huge strength in their favor though..

-The frontcourt is their huge advantage..Duncan will have to outplay his counterpart, which he will do if he's healthy IMO..our 2nd and 3rd bigs are at a HUGE disadvantage though, which is the main reason we'll have trouble with the Lakers..

McDyess and Blair guarding Bynum?..those guys staying with Odom on the boards?..Odom doesn't worry me at all as an offensive threat, but the guy is a very good rebounder and defensive player with very good energy to spark a team..

Bynum is very skilled and has a huge size advantage over any of our non-Duncan bigs..a HUGE size advantage..

I agree with 024 that Blair can be useful with his quickness, but he's going to pick up fouls very quickly..we desperately need another legit big man to battle them..a legit defensive stopper on the perimeter would be nice too, but I don't want to get too greedy..

So I'd say we need(ignoring health, obviously)..

-Parker playing the way he did last year..
-Manu, Bogans and RJ to make Kobe work on the defensive end..
-Duncan to not wear down by that time..
-A legit big man next to Duncan..
-NEED to make 3s at a high rate, especially Bogans, that's our best chance..
-Consistent bench play..

[ElNono]

^^^^ I would add that Manu has been historically fairly inefficient when guarded by Artest. He has struggled at times when Ron Ron is guarding him. Obviously, Ron Ron is not what he used to be either, especially on lateral movement, but we'll see how those two respond to the challenge.

I also would like to see Theo on Bynum for stretches. Just get an idea if we have something there.

[HarlemHeat37]

Ratliff BETTER play good minutes vs. the Lakers in the next game..we have to see what he's capable of against them..if he can hold his own defensively, I'll feel a little better..if not, at least we'll know that we need a trade..

[td4mvp21]

We won't beat the Lakers in the playoffs. Maybe in regular season games, but not in a 7 game series.

[z0sa]

We won't beat the Lakers in the playoffs. Maybe in regular season games, but not in a 7 game series.

Hey!! We're raising the bar here. At least state why we we're gonna lose.

[td4mvp21]

Hey!! We're raising the bar here. At least state why we we're gonna lose.

Yeah, the whole raising the bar thing is going to conflict with my laziness.

We do not match up well with the Lakers. Parker is really the only advantage we have, and PJ usually does a good job of neutralizing that advantage. Gasol and Bynum should have little to no trouble controlling the paint on offense and defense. We have no one to guard Kobe - Bogans is going to get torched, and Hill does not have enough experience under his belt. We also have no one to guard Artest or Odom. Overall, the matchups favor the Lakers way too much.

[mavsfan1000]

I think they are right where they belong as WC threats. They are supposed to win and they likely are.

[blkroadrunners]

Ratliff should have a bigger role when Gasol comes back, but w/ him sideline possibly, Pop may just play more Duncan/Blair or RJ, or Dice at the C this upcoming game. These are times the Spurs could really use Bonner though, since he can (somewhat) keep up w/ Odom and rebounding, along w/ spreading the floor.

[Obstructed_View]

I'm curious to see how Kobe Bryant performs come playoff time and close to it.

Kobe's going through his "Hero" stretch where he takes too many shots and hits enough of them at the end of games for Laker nation to call him the best finisher in the league©. Come playoff time he'll more than likely dial it back so his teammates can carry him to a championship.

[TD 21]

Under rated. They are the Spurs' top threat in the West. They have a huge front line. They rebound like no other when Pau is playing and not sitting. They are a top-shelf defensive team, much better than San Antonio in the first third of the season. They have the NBA scoring leader, who also happens to rank 4th in steals/game.

It will be interesting to see how effective the Spurs are using a small lineup against the Lakers. Going small, using RJ at the 4, has been an effective weapon against some teams but Lamar Odom or Ron Artest are pretty quick. The Lakers don't have many weakenesses, except when Kobe controls the ball too much (sometimes, that is not a weakness either). When Bogans gets in foul trouble, the Spurs won't be able to go small and Kobe is going to get his 30 - no doubt.

Kobe really does a nice job defending Manu, so it will also be interesting to see just how healthy and mobile Manu is when this matchup occurs.

LA has several players with high FG% and efficiency ratings. It's a great team and ranks right up there with the great teams the NBA has seen over the decades. Under rated, indeed.

How can anyone say that the Lakers are underrated when they get far and away the most publicity in the league and have the media slobbering over them relentlessly? Maybe you don't think they're overrated, but underrated? I don't see a case to be made.

Depends on how you quantify what a good rebounding team is; is it total rebounds or is it rebound differential? If it's the former, then the Lakers are a better rebounding team than the Spurs; if it's the latter, then it's the Spurs. The Lakers actually have more weaknesses than they're often recognized for having and that's mainly because their strengths often cover up those weaknesses, but nonetheless, they have plenty. Lack of front line depth, lack of a bench, lack of a starting quality point guard, lack of shot creators on the perimeter and less than stellar outside shooting. Here's the Lakers misnomer about the Lakers: they're a middle-of-the-road offensive team. Basically, if Bryant isn't going nuts offensively or they're not absolutely dominating in the post, they don't have a consistent attack.

That being said, only two teams have the savvy, intelligence, experience and talent to potentially exploit these weaknesses: Celtics and Spurs. Both have aging cores and in the Celtics case they're not particularly deep, so just getting to a playoff series with the Lakers in one piece will be a significant challenge. But should either do so, then they're both capable of taking this overrated team down.

Here's what's encouraging as a Spurs fan: Gasol's having persistent hamstring issues and admittedly being worn out from playing a lot the past few years and the load Bryant is carrying. Close to 39 mpg and whether he has to or not, carrying the offense for long stretches. Plus, he's got a lot of supposed injuries and I get the feeling that at some point, this all catches up to him. He's already got a ton of mileage on his body to begin with.

[Spursfan 87]

IMO the key to beating the lakers is stopping their supporting cast (Odom, Artest, Fisher). The lakers are not that good when Kobe shoots too much and puts up big numbers, but lakers are great when kobe is managing the game, passing the ball and making everybody better.

[iggypop123]

the key is first of all health. if the lakers have it i am comfident against anybody, however in terms of basketball its about the 3. if the spurs go nuts and the lakers stink it up from 3 it can block out the points in the paint advantage the lakers should have should the spurs be stupid enough to play dice on bynum or pau

[ElNono]

The Lakers are a very good team, and deserve a lot of respect. They're the defending champs, and that means they're the favorites. That said, they don't look unbeatable so far, they've had to deal with some injury concerns of their own, and there's still plenty of basketball to be played.
I think that if we're healthy and improve our defense a notch or two, we can compete with the best of them.