Lakers vs Spurs: Tale of the tape

[Gutter92]

If you count lux tax, LO makes $15 mil (7.5 this year). That's about what SA is paying Jefferson (14.2) before tax.

LA kept LO at a steal price.

15mill is a steal price?

and in 2 years almost 18 mill?

[DrHouse]

The Lakers by every conceivable margin will be a better team next season.

Championship mettle goes a long way.

[My Fault]

If you count lux tax, LO makes $15 mil (7.5 this year). That's about what SA is paying Jefferson (14.2) before tax.

LA kept LO at a steal price.

If he keeps his PO performance up they did. The mismatch he creates would make it one for sure.

[crc21209]

The Lakers by every conceivable margin will be a better team next season.

Championship mettle goes a long way.

Of course the road was somewhat easy as the Lakers went thru an injury depleted Jazz team, a Houston team who lost their #1 player in the middle of the series, and a Nuggets team who was talented enough, but not smart enough to beat the Lakers, and then take on a very inexperienced Magic team who wasnt ready for the Finals.

[DrHouse]

Of course the road was somewhat easy as the Spurs went thru a horrific Nugget team, a PHX team that played no defense and had their best players suspended for a game for merely getting up off the bench in the middle of the series, a Utah team that had no business being in the WCF, and then take on a inexperienced Cleveland team who wasnt ready for the Finals.

[resistanze]

This is why DrHouse is the best antagonistic Laker Fan.

[Muser]

Stop with the "Lakers had an easy path to the le" bull , you can only beat the team that is put in front of you, be that a good team like the Lakers or a suck ass team like the Kings.

[hater]

but they did have an easy path. facts are facts

[DrHouse]

but they did have an easy path. facts are facts

As did the Spurs in '07. Facts are facts.

At least the Lakers were the undisputed best team in both the regular season and post season.

[DPG21920]

Didn't the Cavs have the best RS record?

[hater]

As did the Spurs in '07. Facts are facts.

At least the Lakers were the undisputed best team in both the regular season and post season.

in 07 the Suns were clearly the best team after the Spurs. They even had a chance to go up on the Spurs in the series if not by Amare's dumbass. (read a rulebook for a change)

The same cannot be said about the Lakers 09* championship. (Celtics, the defending champ suffered major injury)

[lefty]

Pop has a secret combo to beat L.A:

Mason as SF
McDyess as backup PG
Manu in street clothes

[carrao45]

Starters:

PF- McDyess < Gasol: As solid a player is McDyess still is, Gasol is a top 15 player in the world at this point. McDyess is good enough to not have this be a landslide, but it's still a clear Lakers advantage. No, it is a landslide

SF- Jefferson = Artest: For now I'll hold off on declaring who has the advantage, because we haven't seen how they'll fit into their respective new teams, but Jefferson is a slightly better player. He's a more complete scorer, and if he's not quite the defender Artest is, he figures to get back to being an above average one in his new role. True, it's hard to tell

C- Duncan > Bynum: This post will be long enough by the time it's done, I'm not wasting my time writing a detailed write up of something so obvious.

SG- Mason < Bryant: See "C- Duncan > Bynum:"

PG- Parker > Fisher: This is hands down the biggest advantage either team will have. The Lakers are known to struggle defending quick, penetrating point guards and defending the pick-and-roll. Too bad Parker is the best of the former, and one of the best in executing the latter. This one, more than any other could decide a potential playoff series between the two teams.
I don't know Kobe regularly s on the Spurs, but yeahDerek cannot guard Tony. But the Lakers are not the 2008 Lakers, they are good at defending the pick&roll now

Bench:

PF- Bonner/PF- Blair/C- Ratliff < PF/SF- Odom: Who knows what backup big man combination the Spurs deploy against the Lakers, but it won't change this verdict. All three are basically specialists: Bonner is a 3 point shooter, Blair a dominant rebounder, and Ratliff a good shot blocker, but none can match the versatility and all around game of Odom. This is true considering Odom is as good at their specialties as they are

SF/SG- Finley > SF/PF- Walton: Even at his advanced age, Finley is still a lethal marksman from the outside and is cold blooded in the clutch. Walton is a decent facilitator and devoted prac ioner of the triangle, but isn't especially good at anything.

SG- Ginobili > SG- Vujacic: Speaking of complete and total mismatches, this one ranks second to the starting PG's. Disregard Vujacic's pesky defense on a severely injured Ginobili in the '08 West Finals, and look at it logically: Vujacic is a mediocre player who's had one good season, and Ginobili is a top 15 player in the world, when healthy. Ginobili is not close to top 15. Kobe, LeBron, Wade, Melo, CP3, Dwight, D-Will, Dirk, Duncan, Tony Parker, Gasol, Garnett, Paul Pierce, Al Jefferson, Brandon Roy, Vince Carter, Joe Johnson, Derrick Rose, Danny Granger. They are all better than Ginobili, In fact, i proobably missed a few as well

PG/SG- Hill = PG- Farmar/SG/PG- Brown: All three are young, developing players who have yet to truly carve out a niche. Hill and Brown are very athletic and show the capabilities to be good defenders at both guard spots, while Farmar has the most upside offensively. Again, I'll hold off on declaring who has the advantage until I see who, if any, takes the biggest step forward in their development next season.

[carrao45]

Is Blair laterally quick enough and defensively sound enough to effectively guard Odom off the dribble though? No Also, he'll be giving up about 3.5 inches defensively in the post, so can he keep Odom from getting deep post position, or can he get into his legs and root him, a la Hayes on Gasol? Obviously, with Blair having not yet played an official NBA game, these questions can't be answered, but they're things to ponder and watch for when these two teams meet in the regular season.

Last but not least, will Pop trust a rookie against the Lakers when he has veterans such as Bonner and Ratliff to turn to? I'm guessing that if Bonner continues to seem nervous and unsure of himself against elite teams and if Blair shows even a modi of confidence and poise, the answer will be yes.

[lennyalderette]

yeah you are right laker fan, but i think since the weight drop blair is going to guard mr.crack head artest, not odom as far as odom haislip is yes unproven in the nba as of now, but does have nba experience. he was also one of the most sought after euro players by elite teams in the nba. so upadate your arguements against us please

[iggypop123]

blair=craig smith. guy that works hard even though he is 6'8 gets rebounds. nothing else

[DPG21920]

Craig Smith > Sasha or Luke

[The_Game]

Hasilp is garbage..the guy can't cut it in the NBA hense why he had to go to europe.