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LOL @ Oberto posting up anyone.
Please, you didn't watch much of the Utah series, did you? Okur looked like an All NBA 1st team, and that was Gasol assignment...The Lakers have Kobe Bryant... and Gasol isn't as soft as everybody thinks he is. He shut down Boozer in the Utah series. Odom is also a definite x-factor who is playing the best basketball of his career. To think this is gonna be easy is ridulous.
LOL @ Oberto posting up anyone.
lakers length bothered boozer
also lakers are faster then the jazz
Permanent cross-matchups and efforts of last-second saviors don't win championships -- just ask the Shawn Marion Suns of 07 and the LeBron James Cavs of 08. If Kobe wants to guard Manu, whoever guards Bowen will eventually roam and Bowen will knock down the 3s like he always does. And there is no way D Fish stays in front of TP for more than 15 minutes a game.
The only chance the Lakers have against the Spurs is if they come up with some genious defensive scheme that conceals these 1-on-1 nightmares. Now, I think coach Phil can think of some good schemes...and the Spurs will be a bit winded. So, the series may be a long one, but I believe the Spurs will prevail due to an advantage in both talent and team chemistry.
New Orleans was equal with SA in talent and chemistry. I think NO is the toughest opponent that Spurs will have faced in 07-08 when all is said and done.
Last edited by phxspurfan; 05-20-2008 at 03:48 PM.
I think NO is the toughest opponent in the West - they were the one who scared me the most going into the playoffs. But I think Detroit will be equally tough if we meet them in the Finals.
Tim Duncan is far better than Kobe, not even close.
Advantage Duncan
rebounding
shot blocking
low post moves
footwork
making teammates better
setting picks
moving without the ball
defense
team defense
help defense
man to man defense
starting the fast break
passing out of the low post
leadership
at ude
clutch rebounding
clutch shooting
switching on defense
height
coordination for size
setting high picks & pick & roll
boxing out on D
bank shots
not going for ball fakes
managing fouls
Advantage Kobe
making low percentage circus shots
showboating
ball hogging
Last edited by Galileo; 05-20-2008 at 04:18 PM.
I didn't see Ginobli attacking the basket with any sort of success against NOH. He was being guarded by Peja and Mo-Pete.
Dude pretty much hit a load of 3's in the last two games.
Manu and TP are our biggest mismatches this series. Fisher, Farmar and Vujacic cannot stay in front of TP. Kobe is one of the best on-the-ball defenders out there, but he is a poor screen-and-roll defender. If Manu has Radmanovic, Walton or Vujacic on him he needs to take them off the dribble. If its Kobe he needs to ask for a pick to gor around.
Lakers are tough to beat since they get so many easy points off of dunks, layups and offensive boards. The Jazz got burned time and time again because they failed to keep the Laker bigs away from the rim. Tim, Fab, Horry and Kurt need to change that. That will be the biggest determining factor. No shots within 8 feet of the rim for either of them - let them get their points off jumpshots.
You missed game 3 then. Plus Manu was constantly doubled whenever he ran the point and tried to run a pick and roll at the top of the key.
Chandler and West are legit shot blockers.
On the other hand, this is what happened the last time Gasol tried to block Manu on a drive:
I think the guards pretty much even out, Kobe + Fisher=Manu + Parker with the Laker guards getting an edge in close games.
The key to the series will be the play of the bigs. Can Duncan guard Pau (without getting foul calls) and can Fabricio guard Odom.
The Lakers can play in both the half court set and the fastbreak and play very good small ball. Pau getting in foul trouble is no big deal but Duncan in foul trouble is a problem.
Looking through this thread, i'm amazed at how many Spurs fans think bowen is gonna shut down Kobe. Bowen will change a few of his shots (more than anyone else in the league) but he's not gonna shut him down...hopefully he can just slow him down.
Kobe is an absolute monster...Spursfan has a short memory.
a little blue bird told me that Ariza is gonna guard Parker....
Bowen on Kobe shuts down the Laker offense.
Kobe may score a bunch of points on Bowen. But in doing so, the game gradually transforms from Lakers vs. Spurs into into Kobe vs. Spurs. The Spurs have used that system to produce in-game momentum shifts for years: 'just keep executing the system, and they will eventually crack.'
Once Kobe begins to take the matchup personally, Bowen has gotten into his head. An at ude shift in a team's star player is detrimental to the team's offense -- especially one like the Lakers' triangle, which focuses on crisp passing into and out of the paint.
I think if Bowen can play Kobe with his hands in the passing lanes and feet active, the Lakers' offense will stagnate and the role players' effect will be diminished. For many fans it's boring to watch this brand of basketball, but it will help the Spurs survive long enough to deliver knockout punches in every game.
Duncan's been there, done that...TWICE!Oh I think we got someone that may give you a bit of a challenge...
Anyway, you guys underrate Thomas' defense. West was a quick player too and I've closely watch Thomas play defense on West and Thomas totally shuts down West's driving lane. Thomas can keep up and stay in front and he's big enough to force West to either pass the ball or take a jumper that will surely miss.
I see Thomas keeping up with Odom as well and turning Odom into a jump-shooter this series. That's if Thomas can stop his petty fouls that he always picks up. He doesn't even pick up his fouls while defending his man when his man has the ball. He just does dumb stuff to get called for a foul. If he can stay out of foul trouble, Odom won't be a factor. It's going to be whether Kobe can get through Bowen's molestation defense.
Anyway, this team had trouble with the Jazz when Boozer played like hot garbage. I don't see Lakers taking this series.
lmao at Tim Duncan being better than Kobe today. Not even close, Duncan was putting up Lamar Odom numbers last series. 15 pts on 42 percent shooting is the most recent stats on Duncan. 33 pts on 50 percent shooting was Kobe's most recent stats. Kobe vs Bowen/ Manu or whoever the you guys put on him will be a bigger mismatch than Duncan vs Gasol. Duncan's two MVP trophies have little bearing on who's the better player today.
Kobe gets a lot of junk points at the ends of games on free throws when his team wins. The other team does a lot of fouling. Kobe gets 10 to 15 per game on this stuff.
Against the Spurs, he won't get junk points, because his team will be playing from behind.
As usual, Laker fan only see one side of the floor.
He's just shooting some shots man. Nothing special about that.
Let's not forget Udoka, okay?
lmao at Spurs fans thinking Duncan's defense is what separates him from Kobe. West basically got whatever he wanted,whenever he wanted to the whole series.
The matchups are going to change constantly in this series as both sides adjust to the unexpected. We will be surprised with what we see! This is high-class basketball, but you all know that....
Ginobili is playing on a bum ankle and cannot slash to the basket right now. It's questionable whether this can heal before the playoffs are over. This really sucks for us right now because his slashing ability is key. This was one of the main reasons we didn't have a huge mismatch against NO and also a reason the series was drawn out.
Sucks for us right now but he's still out there finding a way to win using his perimeter game.
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