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You wish the Spurs had lost the first round instead of mopping the Mavs and getting to the semis?
Talent wise-no question.
However, another team could come up. Paul and Anthony in NY. Paul in Orlando with Dwight (if he gets a post game). OKC is to be respected.
Never know how things can change. Some other team might make a Pau or Miami FA move.
Not to mention the potential for dissension over glory in the team.
So I only put 2 for sure in the bank.
You wish the Spurs had lost the first round instead of mopping the Mavs and getting to the semis?
Yes, I'm afraid of the Lakers. With the exception of Parker being faster, they are bigger, stronger and faster at every position. They defend well and they put the ball in the hole (efficiently - especially the front line). They've been to 3 straight finals (winning 2), been through all the wars and have more chemistry than any other team. The only other team with championship experience and chemistry is Boston. Duncan, Parker and Ginobili have that but not the rest of the team.
While we fans are busy discussing Splitter (who I think will translate eventually - maybe not this year), Neal and Anderson who are all unproven in the NBA, the Lakers are adding proven veterans to their bench. Boston looked all washed up in the regular season, but they performed magnificently in the playoffs. Rondo and Perkins have gained valuable experience and helped carry them through the regular season. The Spurs should have started the transition (using young players like Hill and Blair) earlier - specifically after the 07 championship. Now I'm afraid that it's too late.
Ginobili is the only one who I would say truly does not fear the Lakers. Remember his scuffle in the last game with Artest - he doesn't back down against anyone. Parker, (I don't know if it's because he's French) comes across as arrogant sometimes and not "in awe." Even Duncan throughout the years has seemed "afraid" of them (with the exception of game 6 in 03 when he was just so determined). Popovich, whom every other coach would be looking up at, is in the position of looking up at Phil Jackson. He should not say things like "Kobe's the best player in the game" or "Gasol is the most skilled big man in the game" even if he believes it. What message does that send to the team?
The rest of the team with the exception of Dice is so young and unproven or useless (RJ and Bonner). If the Lakers play SA in the playoffs and Jackson packs the lane with his 7 footers as he does every time they play (in effect neutralizing Duncan, Parker and Ginobili) and dares the outside shooters to beat them, I won't be putting my money on Bonner or any of these young, unproven players to beat them.
On paper alone Miami will crush the Lakers. On the court the Heat will just beat the Lakers. I just do not know what the lakers could do against a lineup of James-Wade-Miller-Bosh-BigZ. The heat also has J.Howard,Haslem,J.Jones,Chalmers now thats is not a bad bench. The only weakness vs the lakers throughout the game is the center postion. Is bynum really going to win you a championship. When BigZ is I dont even think Bynum is a big advantage.
I was really hoping for a laker/spurs first round match--but everyone was scared and trying to avoid them---from Pop down to long-time spurs fans...I felt like they would have finished what OKC could not...
this year... the lakers...they are going down!
Even on paper LA wins.
Fisher > Chalmers
Kobe > Wade
Artest < LeBron (although he defends him well)
Pau > Bosh
Bynum > Haslem
Miami has Miller and a few old bigs, slow bigs off the bench while LA has Odom, Blake, Barnes, and Mitch is confident they bring Shannon Brown back as well.
So Wade is going to be seeing Kobe/Blake/Brown guarding him, while LeBron is busy with Artest/Barnes. Whats more, whereas Wade and LeBron have been able to hide on defense, there are no perimeter defensive players on that team now. Heavy lifting for the big two.
Whats more, none of Miami's Big 3 has a real post game. LA is going to pound it inside time and time again. And Miami's bigs are slow compared to LA.
Styles make fights. Miami, albeit talented, doesn't have counters for what LA does best while LA can neutralize what Miami does.
How is Miami going to win? By LeBron dominating Artest? By Wade dominating Kobe? By Bosh dominating Pau? Please.
Playoffs are half court basketball (which Miami will mostly run without having a true PG). Miami is loaded with talent but LA still has the talent edge overall among the top of the rotation. Plus better coaching and chemistry.
When it really counts L. James is going to have to run the pg so the heat can have a shooter on the court with james and wade. So fisher>chalmers does not really matter. All fisher can do is shoot so him being better than chalmers doesnt really mean anything, all chalmers has to do is recover on defense. It seems to me that fisher's shot is starting to diminish with his age. If this is true then his only strength on offense is gone. Fisher this year will have a lower % shooting the wide open kickouts.
In the past Kobe was way better than wade but with age it is only a slight advantage. The advantage will be even slimmer next year. Kobe has regressed a lot in terms of quickness and he is the lakers only penetrater. So you can put kobe>wade all you want but next year it is basically kobe=wade. Wade should be able to contain kobe now that his quickness is dropping. A drop in quickness will result in less kickouts because the heat will not have to double team kobe.
Not only is james better than artest he is way better than him. It is not close to equal like kobe and wade. Artest can not guard James he is way to slow.
Pau is better than bosh but bosh is still really good. Bosh should out score pau because he can pickn'roll or pickn'pop. Bosh will get tons of wide open mid range shot and dunks.
Bynum>haslem yes but haslem has consistently put up 10pt-8rbs. BigZ should be able to contain Bynum for 20min a game.
Usually a entire team is focused on james on defense but not any more because they cant. If they try to double james on a pickn'roll then the ball will go to bosh for a dunk or to bosh and then to a slashing wade for a dunk. The lakers cant guard wade or james but he just have to deal with a diminished kobe. It doesnt matter how many positions you have better on paper but the disparity of your players talent to the other players. James>>>>Artest is what makes the heat better than the lakers on paper.
.The.Lakers
None of LA's gaurds can match up with either Wade or James, not even Bryant. And do you honestly think that LA has 2 of the top ten big men?? Sure, I would agree with you but as we have seen, Bynum can't even stay on the floor. How does that make him top 2??
The way I see it, Miami will always have two of their big three on the floor especially the second unit. And you are kidding yourself if you think Artest and Barnes can stop James. Also, Bryant can't stop Wade one on one. That's a fact.
what it does it add depth you can count on. last yr the lakers were basically forced to go with an 8 man rotation and even then it was an uncomfortable one for phil jackson. realistically he only trusted 6 guys out there. the nice additions off the bench helps with minutes limiting fisher to 25 when he was averaging, kobe down to 36 instead of close to 40 and artest as well. the spurs know well their bench helped them out last yr.
Well, the Lakers are the two time defending champions, for one. Except for the Heat, they have the most talented S5.
Who is going to defend Kobe? Will Duncan and Splitter really be able to match up with Gasol/Bynum?
Last time I checked, the Spurs were given a pretty solid beating by the the likes of Channing Frye and Goran Dragic.
Don't get me wrong, I expect the Spurs to be better than last year because of Tony being healthy and Splitter being an upgrade (to which extent, remains to be seen), but there is still every reason to "fear" LA in a good sportsmanlike way.
Three finals in a row, back to back championships, and you're still praying for the Spurs to fail.
Wow, you're a class act arent ya?
The Spurs ended the Lakers' three-peat in '03.
They'll stop the Lakers' (potential) three-peat in '11.
for once I agree with a laker fan, these are valid points
They are back to back champs, back to back 1st seeds and have only gotten better from last year now that they have played together. Plus they added Ratliff Blake and Barnes. Blake is a upgrade over Farmar.
This. I respect them, but I don't think they still have a huge edge over us anymore. They're still the best tea, but they're berstomping days all over the league are over.
Thing is, the Lakers are trying to reach the Finals for the fourth straight time this coming season. And all those playoff battles in the past three years are going to start to take their toll on their players around this time.
The L.A Lakers and the San Antonio Heat will beat the out of the San Antonio Spurs
Truth hurts, eh?
LOL @ Lakers' fans grasping at straws looking for reasons the Lakers are head and shoulders above the Spurs.
13 years and we're still here with a decent chance at dethroaning LA once again.
there's really been nothing that has transpired over the last couple of years to tell me the Spurs don't have a chance. in fact, we've played LA very well.
we'll shut down Staples this time.
Chew on this.
Q- Can the Lakers stop the Heat from scoring?
A- No
Q- Can the Heat stop the Lakers from scoring?
A- More often than the Lakers can stop the Heat because they can leave Artest wide open and help defend Kobe or Gasol.
Q- Who will that roaming defender be?
A- Lebron, one of the best off the ball defenders in the league. Not a bad on the ball defender as well.
Q- Who can play help defense for the Lakers?
A- No one. If they do Mike Miller will hit a wide open three.
theyre a great team, san antonio fans arent as dumb as other nba fans we know how bad ass the lakers are, and will respect their talent.
however i think people are underestimating tim duncan and manu ginobili yeah theyve been knocked out of the playoffs the past few years, but our role players that we obtained couldnt even produce role player numbers and the cast behind the big 3 have been pretty terrible. and it seems as though they played better when manu,parker were hurt which screwed us royally.
im not making an excuse, merely stating the reason for us sucking.
even during those years we were always splitting W/L during the seasons with the lakers i dont think the spurs/pop/manu/duncan ever have feared the lakers or anyone for that matter they show them respect rightfully so but not an ounce of fear and i think the additions such as jefferson need to buy into the spurs system in order to be successful here, he needs to be a spur in his mind not an ex NJ net.
i honestly believe san antonio/portland maybe thunder are the only ones capable of stopping the lakers. if you watch the playoffs it amazes me how kobe punks his opponent. ill tell you who i see become a when they play the lakers Deron williams,chauncey billups turn into females sorry for the rant but no the spurs dont fear the lakers
i definitely don't see anyone in miami stopping gasol/bynum/odom in the low post on a nightly basis.
until the spurs, heat, or anyone else proves otherwise, the le is LA's to lose.
I'm not afraid.
Oh, you will be. You will be.
Q1 - How exactly is Miami going to score a lot? Artest is one of LeBron's toughest matchups and LA has a lot of physical perimeter defenders to throw at LeBron and Wade. LA also has 7-footers who block shots protecting the basket as well and LA's bigs are plenty mobile enough to guard outside shooting big men and rotate to protect the basket.
Teams just don't get a lot of inside shots against LA. So that means Wade and LeBron pulling up for jumpers. I like.
Q2 - LA will pound the post against Miami like every other team. Boston had the best interior defenders and even they got overwhelmed eventually. Who does Miami have defending the paint? Leaving Artest wide open has gotten teams burned in the playoffs - and he'll be better in the offense next year.
Q3 - LA has too many offensive weapons you can't roam on anyone. If the plan is to leave Artest wide-open, he'll make teams pay. Ask Phoenix or Boston about that. Not a single Laker can be disrespected like that without a team getting killed by it.
Q4 - LA has great help D. However they have great individual D as well - they rarely have to help except on drives and they recover well from that. Mike Miller? Please. It might be good for one game in a series (ala Ray Allen) but for the series Ray sucked from 3. Same goes for Kyle Korver (only 1 good 3 pt shooting game), and Channing Frye. Designated snipers get locked down vs LA.
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