This one will be a Tony Parker series

[ducks]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Kobe Bryant to switch on to Parker for stretches of games. I would also assume that Phil Jackson may try to use Trevor Ariza on Parker as well at some point.

love kobe on tp
why make kobe spend energy on d

[JamStone]

love kobe on tp
why make kobe spend energy on d

Because Kobe loves the challenge.

It wouldn't be the entire game, and probably not early on in the game. But, I can definitely see it happening if Parker is getting a lot of easy buckets inside.

[Cry Havoc]

Keeping these two guys out of the paint is a priority. If the Lakers can employ a similar defensive strategy as NOH they should be OK.

You mean play no perimeter defense and hope the Spurs miss wide open 3s and 18 footers?

Their offense is definitely on another level compared to NOH, it sounds simple but if the Lakers execute their offense correctly and play good enough defense it will be enough to win.

David West had a lights-out post-season, and Chris Paul is playing some of the best PG in the history of the league. The Lakers offense might be slightly better than NO, but to say it's on another level is just a little too much homerism.

Trevor Ariza is sort of the ace in the hole. He's a wildcard at this point, nobody knows what he'll be able to give. When he was healthy he was our best perimeter defender. He played the passing lanes well, rebounded extremely well, stayed in front of his man, and was an extremely good finisher at the rim and fastbreak player. Part of the reason Farmar has struggled in the 2nd half of the season is because he lost his running mates in Ariza and Bynum.

I would agree with this, but one of the real strengths that Pop has is that he loves to exploit weaknesses in young players. He won't waste time trying to figure out schemes to fool Kobe on that end of the floor, because Kobe's pretty much seen it all at this point.

He WILL, however, use any weakness Ariza has shown on game film. I think that's one of the reasons Pop hates younger players -- because as talented as they can be, they usually have one or two gaping holes in their game that he cannot rely on.

I really think this series (assuming Duncan returns to form) boils down to the Spurs 3 point shooting. Hit those, and the LA defense will have no answers. Miss, and it allows them to collapse on Tony and Manu and discombobulate the offense.

Spurs in 6. I see LA struggling a lot in San Antonio and the Spurs swooping up one of the first two games in LA. But I think this series will be the polar opposite of NO. Every game is going to be close and winnable by either team.

It might even come down to Robert Horry, standing alone at the top of the 3 point stripe, staring down a triple with the Spurs down 2 as time expires.

[thiste]

Haha it would be ace if Horry was to kill the Lakers at the end of the day

[Spurs Brazil]

I think TP will have a great series

He always plays well against Fisher and LA don't have a big guy to meet him at the rim