Preview: Spurs vs. Lakers - Apr. 11

[boutons_deux]

Lakers-Spurs matchup: Five things to watch

http://www.latimes.com/sports/lakers...tory?track=rss

Lakers finally get reacquainted with their old rivals, the Spurs

http://www.latimes.com/sports/basket...,6428312.story

[birdy219]

GO GO

[Cant_Be_Faded]

How is barley winning a morale crusher?

Very good post, EVAY





Tbh, even though I feel like a Suns fan just for typing this, I do think tonight is basically a must-win for the sake of the team's confidence. A loss tonight would cause a lot of second guessing, which isn't something you want with ten games remaining.

The Spurs don't necessarily have to blow them out but they need to win, IMO.

I think a last second prayer win, or a dog fight deep into the fourth quarter would be almost as mentally damaging as a loss. No Kobe says it all.


Parker never seems to hit ANYTHING at the rim against these lakers.
so Evay is spot on about that

[Cant_Be_Faded]

An understated aspect of a spurs lakers game/series:

Coach Pop is spurs coach, and the lakers are coached by Mike freaking brown.
This is a guy who needed an assistant coach to draw up game winning plays for him.
Its gotta count for something in our favor

[Seventyniner]

On paper, it seems like the best choice to start next to Duncan is actually Matt Bonner. He would draw one of the bigs out of the paint when the Spurs have the ball, allowing a TP/Duncan pnr to get the other big moving, and Bonner's post defense is actually pretty good. Defensive rebounding would be the concern, but is Bonner that much worse than Diaw or Blair there? I'm assuming no Tim/Tiago pairing.

[polandprzem]

that's all bad

[Nathan89]

Coach Pop is spurs coach, and the lakers are coached by Mike freaking brown.
This is a guy who needed an assistant coach to draw up game winning plays for him.
Its gotta count for something in our favor

Even more of an advantage to play them three times so close to the playoffs and also together.

[TD 21]

I'm confident we'll see the Duncan-Splitter pairing against the Lakers, Grizzlies and Rockets (Pop likes to have Splitter guard Scola). I don't think we'll see it as much as we'd like though, especially down the stretch. Bonner will probably get the call.

EVAY, I disagree that Duncan can't score with his back to the basket on Gasol. He can, because he still has an advantage over him and that is strength. It's the Bynum's and Marc Gasol's of the world that he has the most trouble against at this stage in his career, because he has no physical advantage over them. He's still slightly quicker than both, but not to the point that he can consistently beat them off the dribble.

And Duncan's got to be able to guard Gasol mostly straight up. He's about as long as a defender as Gasol faces and he's stronger than him, too. I still maintain that the Spurs should actually have Duncan guard Gasol, when he's paired with Bynum and basically concede the Bynum match-up. They can't physically match-up with him anyway, so they might as well gift wrap Bynum 30, if it means holding Gasol in check. And between Duncan and Splitter, they're about as equipped to do that as possible.

[TheSkeptic]

I'm confident we'll see the Duncan-Splitter pairing against the Lakers, Grizzlies and Rockets (Pop likes to have Splitter guard Scola). I don't think we'll see it as much as we'd like though, especially down the stretch. Bonner will probably get the call.

EVAY, I disagree that Duncan can't score with his back to the basket on Gasol. He can, because he still has an advantage over him and that is strength. It's the Bynum's and Marc Gasol's of the world that he has the most trouble against at this stage in his career, because he has no physical advantage over them. He's still slightly quicker than both, but not to the point that he can consistently beat them off the dribble.

And Duncan's got to be able to guard Gasol mostly straight up. He's about as long as a defender as Gasol faces and he's stronger than him, too. I still maintain that the Spurs should actually have Duncan guard Gasol, when he's paired with Bynum and basically concede the Bynum match-up. They can't physically match-up with him anyway, so they might as well gift wrap Bynum 30, if it means holding Gasol in check. And between Duncan and Splitter, they're about as equipped to do that as possible.

Great points. I think if they approach the big situation like this we should be okay for this game anyway. Between their coach and their bench, I think the Spurs should be able to take this one if they can mitigate one of the Laker bigs and Gasol is obviously the best one to match with. 100% agreed.

[benefactor]

As I said in a different thread...let Gasol get whatever by defending him straight up and flash double Bynum in the post when he starts to make his move. He sucks at passing out of double teams. The perimeter speaks for itself...the Spurs should handle them on both ends easily. Add those things to a good defensive rebounding game and the Spurs should win comfortably.

[ElNono]

Watched both teams all season long and if they play their regular game, Spurs should tap that ass... even more so with Kirby out. This is really Spurs' game to lose.

[EVAY]

I'm confident we'll see the Duncan-Splitter pairing against the Lakers, Grizzlies and Rockets (Pop likes to have Splitter guard Scola). I don't think we'll see it as much as we'd like though, especially down the stretch. Bonner will probably get the call.

EVAY, I disagree that Duncan can't score with his back to the basket on Gasol. He can, because he still has an advantage over him and that is strength. It's the Bynum's and Marc Gasol's of the world that he has the most trouble against at this stage in his career, because he has no physical advantage over them. He's still slightly quicker than both, but not to the point that he can consistently beat them off the dribble.

And Duncan's got to be able to guard Gasol mostly straight up. He's about as long as a defender as Gasol faces and he's stronger than him, too. I still maintain that the Spurs should actually have Duncan guard Gasol, when he's paired with Bynum and basically concede the Bynum match-up. They can't physically match-up with him anyway, so they might as well gift wrap Bynum 30, if it means holding Gasol in check. And between Duncan and Splitter, they're about as equipped to do that as possible.

Well, if I remember correctly, (and I'm pretty sure I do since I wrote it not long ago) I didn't say that Duncan couldn't score against Gasol, but I specifically said that he would be blocked if he tried to do that by Bynum. As you yourself point out in the quote above, it is the Bynum's of the world he has problems with these days. That was sort of my point as well.

I aslo indicated that Duncan would be guarding Gasol, not Bynum, although I went further than you in suggesting that he (Duncan) would might need help from, perhaps, Kawhi Leonard in guarding Gasol without getting in foul trouble.

I don't mind a disagreement at all, and I appreciate the civility with which you post. It may be that we just disagree a bit. I may think that Tim is a bit slower than you think he is, but I clearly agree with you that Bynum is the larger problem...assuming, of course, that Bynum's emotional state allows him to be functional.

And, I still believe that Tim's best scoring threat is from the elbow, partly because that scoring allows the Spurs' offense to maintain a quicker flow than watching Tim back a post player down. And, keeping one of their bigs away from the basket still helps our cutters and drivers, imo.

But I thank you for your civil input.

[Brazil]

EVAY with the goods

[Obstructed_View]

I noticed over the last week or so that the Spurs have been doubling the post a lot more. And not just to help Bonner; they've been doing it in situations where Duncan has the matchup in hand. It's possible they've been doing that to practice for Gasol and Bynum.

[TD 21]

Well, if I remember correctly, (and I'm pretty sure I do since I wrote it not long ago) I didn't say that Duncan couldn't score against Gasol, but I specifically said that he would be blocked if he tried to do that by Bynum. As you yourself point out in the quote above, it is the Bynum's of the world he has problems with these days. That was sort of my point as well.

I aslo indicated that Duncan would be guarding Gasol, not Bynum, although I went further than you in suggesting that he (Duncan) would might need help from, perhaps, Kawhi Leonard in guarding Gasol without getting in foul trouble.

I don't mind a disagreement at all, and I appreciate the civility with which you post. It may be that we just disagree a bit. I may think that Tim is a bit slower than you think he is, but I clearly agree with you that Bynum is the larger problem...assuming, of course, that Bynum's emotional state allows him to be functional.

And, I still believe that Tim's best scoring threat is from the elbow, partly because that scoring allows the Spurs' offense to maintain a quicker flow than watching Tim back a post player down. And, keeping one of their bigs away from the basket still helps our cutters and drivers, imo.

But I thank you for your civil input.

You weren't very clear with your thoughts.

Duncan will predictably be the primary Bynum defender. I suspect he'll rarely match-up with Gasol. Duncan is one of the best ever at defending the post, without fouling. Of course, he could get into foul trouble guarding Gasol, but the odds of it happening aren't good, so I wouldn't worry about it to the point of consistently offering help. Digging down when Gasol drives middle, or occasionally doubling from the blindside, is a good idea. But not automatically on the catch. Especially early.

[EVAY]

You weren't very clear with your thoughts.

Sorry.

[timvp]

Last year in the 46 minutes Bynum was on the court against the Spurs, Duncan had six points on 2-for-12 shooting from the field

[ElNono]

But that has a lot to do with Dice being the "jumper" guy and thus Tim had to be the low block guy. There's no reason for that this season. Tim has actually been taking more and more jumpers this season and he should keep doing that against this Lakers team. Let Blair and Tiago go down low.

[therealtruth]

But that has a lot to do with Dice being the "jumper" guy and thus Tim had to be the low block guy. There's no reason for that this season. Tim has actually been taking more and more jumpers this season and he should keep doing that against this Lakers team. Let Blair and Tiago go down low.

Taking jumpers is inefficient and really lets the defense off the hook. I think a defense will take a bigman taking jumpers rather than forcing them to defend and drawing fouls. So while it can help space the floor it has to be balanced with low post scoring and forcing the other team to defend and possibly get in foul trouble.

Duncan in his prime used to routinely get the other bigs in foul trouble. The only other guy on the roster who can do that now is Splitter. Blair's too short and Bonner's can't draw fouls.

[therealtruth]

I noticed over the last week or so that the Spurs have been doubling the post a lot more. And not just to help Bonner; they've been doing it in situations where Duncan has the matchup in hand. It's possible they've been doing that to practice for Gasol and Bynum.

And we saw how well that worked against the Grizzlies. We made a bad perimeter shooting team seem like they couldn't miss anything.

[ElNono]

Taking jumpers is inefficient and really lets the defense off the hook.

70% of Tim Duncan shots this season have been jumpers.

If he's been effective that way so far, there's no need to change it.

[mingus]

Duncan has been able to turn back the clock this year and I think it will continue. The key for him offensively is his outside game. He can counter Gasol's and Bynum's size by stroking it from the outside with confidence like he has been doing all year. It is going to be a test for Duncan and Splitter defensively though. I think they will play together because I am pretty sure Mike Brown saw how our frontcourt got raped by Memphis' frontcourt last year. Not sure though because without Kobe LA is lacking offense and I can see us being up by 10-15 through most of the game in which case the Duncan-Splitter pairing would not be needed.

[therealtruth]

70% of Tim Duncan shots this season have been jumpers.

If he's been effective that way so far, there's no need to change it.

I agree Duncan should continue to save wear and tear by taking jumpers. Yet when you have a guy like Tiago who can put more pressure on the other team's bigs I think you have to use him.

[Man In Black]

I agree that Pop's best strategy against the LAL is to use both Duncan and Splitter together on the floor. However, why do it today? I mean why reveal anything to the LAL coaches and scouts of which many used to be part of the Spurs organization? I would just rather that the Spurs win this game with superior depth and solid execution and then if the OLD 2 tower strategy needs to be employed, then Pop could bring it out as another strategy that forces a team to adjust.

[therealtruth]

I agree that Pop's best strategy against the LAL is to use both Duncan and Splitter together on the floor. However, why do it today? I mean why reveal anything to the LAL coaches and scouts of which many used to be part of the Spurs organization? I would just rather that the Spurs win this game with superior depth and solid execution and then if the OLD 2 tower strategy needs to be employed, then Pop could bring it out as another strategy that forces a team to adjust.

Because you need practice and repe ion.