Spurs-Lakers Series Breakdown (SI)

[Deuces88]

The thing is this:

1) No one will stop Kobe, but with Bowen guarding him, one of two things will happen
a) Kobe's scoring is limited
b) Kobe shoots more to overcome Bowen's defense and takes away the chemistry the Lakers have

2) No one can stop Parker, Ginobili, and Duncan from doing their thing. Odom and Gasol can be stopped and Fisher isn't going to produce like Parker. To me, Odom is this series David West. Kurt Thomas did an excellent job on West by keeping in front of him (denying the driving lane), keeping up with West's speed, and contesting West's shot to make him miss more. However, Thomas likes to pick up stupid, unnecessary fouls so West had a chance to school Oberto most of the time. Gasol will get points and Duncan will as well. Difference is Duncan is a way better defender than Gasol and Duncan will limit Gasol's scoring (Duncan's good at making you change your shot), but Gasol won't be able to limit anything Duncan does. The only person who can stop Duncan is Duncan.

If you can't stop the big 3 of the Spurs and Bowen is good at making Kobe uncomfortable, how do you expect to win? You don't have a dominant center to consistently score inside and breath down Duncan's neck like Shaq. So basically the Lakers need their role players to somehow come up and play above and beyond their normal game.

Hornets were a harder team because Chris Paul is like the friggin best PG in the league. No one can deny that. I mean all of Chandler's points come from lobs. Peterson can only score when Paul finds him open. West plays better than he gets good openings from Paul early. Paul was dangerous because of his passing and court vision, not because of his scoring. Kobe is primarily a scorer. He's not as good at getting his team involved as Paul is, which is why I don't think Spurs will need 7 games to dispatch the Lakers.

[TampaDude]

Spurs-Lakers Series Breakdown
TampaDude

Spurs in 6.

'nuff said...