Are you afraid of the lakers???

[spurs10]

I have to say, the gay guy Lakaluva is always hilarious, but the Spurs this year look intriguing.

[xellos88330]

I wouldn't really call it fear, but respect. Respect must be given to all teams because on any given night they can whoop your teams ass regardless of how terrible their team is.

Lakers are the champs right now and deserve the most respect. That is all.

[timtonymanu]

Lakers dont scare me, but I do respect them. I'm not gonna be a homer and act like the Spurs will magically beat them in a series. I do wanna face them in the playoffs though. Win or lose, I wanna see a matchup just to see how we compare to them.

[Nathan89]

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.

A1- Miami will score a lot because they have a team with three players that usually get double teamed. That will not happen as much and if it does well then someone else will punish you. Artest has struggles guarding ginobili but you think he can lock down james. James is stronger and faster than artest. Artest is way to slow. Did Artest and your seven footers beat the cavs last year? Oh yeah and one of the big men for the cavs is now on Heat. BIGZ

- So you think Bynum is going to beat the Heat. Bynum will not destroy big z. As for pau, i do not expect bosh to do much worst than kg. I think kg defense is way over rated. It is easy to double bigs when the three point threats are artests, barnes, and a declining fisher. Bosh will also score as much as pau to offset his contributions.

- Artest sucks at shooting. He will never make a team pay an entire series. He hit a couple of threes at the in game 7. He was shooting terribly.

-Its easy to play help d off of one star because they ussually pass it to a sorry roll player. That will not be the case for the heat.

It seems to me with all your logic you are trying to convince yourself that the Lakers are still better than the Heat. I believe deep down you know the truth.

Chew on this-

The only big the heat are lacking that the cavs had when they beat the lakers is shaq(for 20-25min).

The Nba all-defensive team could not hold this miami team to 83 points in a game 7.

[ohmwrecker]

We're going to pound them in the taint just like we do every team.

OK. Now I'm afraid.

[ambchang]

I'm more worried about piranhas. Did you see that movie where they send a nuclear submarine to fight the piranhas, and one of them swims right down the periscope and bites the guy in the eye, and he goes, "Aah! Aah! Aah!", and that old lady told him it would happen?

[Sportcamper]

The Spurs are used to losing to the Lakers…Why should they be afraid of them?

[quentin_compson]

I'm more worried about piranhas. Did you see that movie where they send a nuclear submarine to fight the piranhas, and one of them swims right down the periscope and bites the guy in the eye, and he goes, "Aah! Aah! Aah!", and that old lady told him it would happen?

Haven't seen that one, though. I only know the Piranha movie by Joe Dante.

[Solid D]

The Spurs are used to losing to the Lakers…Why should they be afraid of them?

Lol

[Man In Black]

I'm curious N89. How is it that you can bestow all kinds of accolades on a team that hasn't done anything yet, is yet to complete their entire roster, and despite the math that shows that they have 3 players who scored over 24 points per as #1's for their team last season, will find it hard to that together all on the same team? Wade 33, James 29 & Bosh 24. Unless they bring back Paul Westhead's Fast Break Offense, there is no way they get enough possessions to score those averages. I can see 25, 19, & 15 though and stat total increases in things like assists or rebounds but not all those guys are going to put the ball in the hoop like they did in seasons past. If they do, then they aren't going very far. Balance is key and selfishness does not lead to balance.
The Lakers seem more balanced than the Heat, and so do the Spurs. It's easy to say so because both team's core players have accomplished much in the league and on their own teams respectively.

[Solid D]

I guess the Lakers are trying to jettison Sasha. Room for Delonte or just for extra salary relief.

[2Cleva]

I guess the Lakers are trying to jettison Sasha. Room for Delonte or just for extra salary relief.

Salary relief. If LA makes that deal they can sign their 2nd round picks, bring Shannon back for 2-3 mil and still have the same payroll as last year. Combine that with a higher salary cap and therefore higher lux tax threshold and LA actually would spend less on salary this season than last season even with a deeper team.

That move and getting Walton to retire will be icing on the cake.

[RobSM64]

I'm more worried about piranhas. Did you see that movie where they send a nuclear submarine to fight the piranhas, and one of them swims right down the periscope and bites the guy in the eye, and he goes, "Aah! Aah! Aah!", and that old lady told him it would happen?

[carib]

the only ppl who should be afraid of the lakers are young white female hotel workers

EAGLE, Colo. - Prosecutors said they had no choice but to drop the sexual assault charge against the NBA star because the alleged victim did not want to testify. District Judge Terry Ruckriegle threw out the case under a deal that means no charges will be refiled. (MSNBC)

KB and his family have already moved on, the NBA, the court system, and I am sure the young lady also. She got her few minutes of so called eminence.

What else can you find to say about the guy?

[carib]

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.

You sound like a great hype guy

[howbouthemspurs]

they is a bunch of showboating crybabies... who would be afraid of that?

[koriwhat]

gotta always support and believe your team has a chance to win it all every year.

[Ginobili2Duncan]

I'm more worried about the officials than the the Lakers themselves. It seems like the only way the NBA gets respectable ratings nowadays is if the Lakers are in the finals. I can easily see the Spurs suffering the same misfortune that the Celtics had in Game Seven.

[duhoh]

A1- Miami will score a lot because they have a team with three players that usually get double teamed. That will not happen as much and if it does well then someone else will punish you. Artest has struggles guarding ginobili but you think he can lock down james. James is stronger and faster than artest. Artest is way to slow. Did Artest and your seven footers beat the cavs last year? Oh yeah and one of the big men for the cavs is now on Heat. BIGZ

- So you think Bynum is going to beat the Heat. Bynum will not destroy big z. As for pau, i do not expect bosh to do much worst than kg. I think kg defense is way over rated.

ginobili is agile and quick. artest really doesn't do too well against lithe, quick players. someone like kevin martin/brandon roy will torch artest. against bigger, physical players, artest's D really shines.

artest is perfect against the likes of lebron/melo and showed he could take durant out of games. artest and battier shut down lebron in 2008-2009 one of the games, and i couldn't believe how good they were defending him. artest is a great match up against lebron. will he shut him down alone? nope. but it's more favorable than than people think it is.

you had decent points until you mentioned bosh being as good as KG defensively. i don't think you understand how soft bosh is. bosh is amare's level on the defensive end. no debate on that. he should be a SG to be honest, the way he plays on both ends.

KG is losing a lot of steps, but he's still a very capable defender down low. good reason why pau never had a breakout game in the finals.

yes, miami is going to be a handful. but let the season and post-season prove that. i personally think that wade as the lead man will torch it up, seeing how he doesn't have as much pressure to carry the team on his back alone.

[DazedAndConfused]

What exactly have the Spurs done lately to make anyone think they are on the Laker's level?

You guys are funny.

The Lakers are the champs until proven otherwise. You don't have to fear them, but you better believe they are going to be one of a team next season. The bench will be the best it's been in years, and the core has another year of experience together.

If by some miracle Bynum has a healthy season the Lakers will be a tough out.

[HarlemHeat37]

ginobili is agile and quick. artest really doesn't do too well against lithe, quick players. someone like kevin martin/brandon roy will torch artest. against bigger, physical players, artest's D really shines.

artest is perfect against the likes of lebron/melo and showed he could take durant out of games. artest and battier shut down lebron in 2008-2009 one of the games, and i couldn't believe how good they were defending him. artest is a great match up against lebron. will he shut him down alone? nope. but it's more favorable than than people think it is.

you had decent points until you mentioned bosh being as good as KG defensively. i don't think you understand how soft bosh is. bosh is amare's level on the defensive end. no debate on that. he should be a SG to be honest, the way he plays on both ends.

KG is losing a lot of steps, but he's still a very capable defender down low. good reason why pau never had a breakout game in the finals.

yes, miami is going to be a handful. but let the season and post-season prove that. i personally think that wade as the lead man will torch it up, seeing how he doesn't have as much pressure to carry the team on his back alone.

Artest was absolutely horrible against Lebron this past season..he looked extremely slow next to him, and Cleveland ran Lebron in various types of plays, and Artest was killed against all of them..

Another reason is that Artest's main strength as a defender nowadays is that the refs allow him to handcheck more than any other player in the NBA, and it's not even close, TBH..

Against Lebron, he doesn't have this luxury..refs will call any contact against King for the most part..

[HarlemHeat37]

What exactly have the Spurs done lately to make anyone think they are on the Laker's level?

You guys are funny.

The Lakers are the champs until proven otherwise. You don't have to fear them, but you better believe they are going to be one of a team next season. The bench will be the best it's been in years, and the core has another year of experience together.

If by some miracle Bynum has a healthy season the Lakers will be a tough out.

For the Spurs fans that don't go downstairs, DazedAndConfused is a Laker fan that actually quit on the Lakers during the Thunder series, saying they weren't going to win the le and he was looking forward to next year instead..

[Nathan89]

ginobili is agile and quick. artest really doesn't do too well against lithe, quick players. someone like kevin martin/brandon roy will torch artest. against bigger, physical players, artest's D really shines.

artest is perfect against the likes of lebron/melo and showed he could take durant out of games. artest and battier shut down lebron in 2008-2009 one of the games, and i couldn't believe how good they were defending him. artest is a great match up against lebron. will he shut him down alone? nope. but it's more favorable than than people think it is.

you had decent points until you mentioned bosh being as good as KG defensively. i don't think you understand how soft bosh is. bosh is amare's level on the defensive end. no debate on that. he should be a SG to be honest, the way he plays on both ends.

KG is losing a lot of steps, but he's still a very capable defender down low. good reason why pau never had a breakout game in the finals.

yes, miami is going to be a handful. but let the season and post-season prove that. i personally think that wade as the lead man will torch it up, seeing how he doesn't have as much pressure to carry the team on his back alone.

Artest is perfect for guarding melo because melo is a big and strong player that will bang in the paint with artest. Melo blow by his defender to often. Durant is a dominant shooter and not going to blow by the defender as well. James will be able to battle in the paint and blow by artest. If artest can lockdown james why did the lakers lose both games to the cavs last year? Was it because the cavs roll players are so dominating.

I did not say that bosh was going to be just as good as kg on defense. I mentioned that kg was overated on defense and he did not get destroyed. I think bosh will step up his defense now that he is on a team that is a contender. If steps up he should be able to hold his own on a guy like pau. He is going to have to muscle up though he is a little soft. Like I said he should be able to off set any contribution pau has on offense with his own offense.

Something to chew on:

Heat lineup-BigZ,Bosh,Miller,Wade,James

With that lineup the heat will have two bigs and one sf that can shoot from midrange or the three point line. Who will be protecting the paint on the lakers?

[Nathan89]

For the Spurs fans that don't go downstairs, DazedAndConfused is a Laker fan that actually quit on the Lakers during the Thunder series, saying they weren't going to win the le and he was looking forward to next year instead..

I hardly ever look downstairs. Now I know what kind of fan DazedAndConfused is. I guess he underestimated the power of the official in the NBA.

[DJ Mbenga]

i think it has less to do with handchecking as harlem wants to talk about its more about the type of attack against artest, and similarly kobe. if you isolate against these two, give up they will shut you down, but the second you set a screen its over for the defense, they cant go through them which is why teams just zone up or load up on the strong side