West conf finals Lakers-Spurs pre-series analysis

[hotsizzle]

Also the Spurs coming off of a 7 game series being the old group that they are is a huge advantage for the Lakers.

Lakers in 6

[hotsizzle]

lol Basically.

I find it another stroke of Laker luck that they'll be getting Ariza back juuuuust when they actually need him.

Oh ****, I totally forgot about Ariza. Hes going to be big for us this series... makes the bench that much more dependable. Not to mention the defense and the hustle

[3stat2]

What are the chances of the Lakers doing what the Suns used to do with Marion - i.e. put Ariza on Parker and use his length and athleticism to disrupt him? (while having Kobe on Manu and Fisher on Bowen)

If the Lakers want to win, I think they'll need to contain at least one of their top 3 players, while containing 2 would almost guarantee a win.

This is definitely going to be worth watching

[Eldrunko247]

Not really. When it comes to being a complete team the Hornets and Jazz look much better. Better shooters. Better PG. Kobe's excellence is what makes them better than a 'good' team. Look at the Hornets and Jazz, they've got good players at every position along with a pretty nice bench.

yeah the jazz or more complete. that's why we eliminated the jazz in 6.

[SCdac]

What's going to help the Spurs in this series is their mid-season trade for Kurt Thomas, and conversely the absence of Andrew Bynum. Before, it was a tandem of Duncan and Oberto, but there's now another capable defender, and 6 more fouls the Spurs can throw at big men. Of course they did this to counter the Shaq and Gasol trade. The Spurs have already gone through one of those players, now comes Pau. Thomas has been one of the better roleplayers for SA thus far. In this last game versus the Hornets, he came up with some crucial rebounds (5 offensive boards), and the win before in SA he put up 9 reb. Against phoenix, he helped contain Shaq/Amare, and had a couple of 10-reb games. Obviously he's not in the roster for scoring, but he's been a steady defensive presence for the Spurs.

[GMW]

lol Basically.

I find it another stroke of Laker luck that they'll be getting Ariza back juuuuust when they actually need him.

yeah it's really lucky to get an injured player back

[iggy>]

lakers in 7

[john_d]

Ariza should guard Manu. Ariza's a really athletic and talented perimeter defender.

Kobe should play TP at times, his height , speed, and strength will go a long way and cutting him off from penetrating our interior.

I'm looking forward to the Duncan/Pau matchup. Duncan's a better player, but Pau will cause some problems. Spurs aren't as physical as the Jazz, I can see Pau having a big series.

Lakers bench > their bench

It should be a good series. Lakers in 6, with the lakeshow holding down home court and stealing 1 game on the road.

i second that.

ariza is playing on this series...

[SCdac]

What makes the Lakers bench better?

Personally, I'd take that second group any day of the week. They're deeper, have more experience, and make more clutch plays (not just shots). Count Ginobili as a bench player, and it's only that much more convincing, but he's a starter at heart.

S. Vujacic
L. Walton
J. Farmar
R. Turiaf

M. Finley
I. Udoka
K. Thomas
R. Horry (has come to life)
B. Barry
J. Vaughn

[eliteballer]

lol Basically.

I find it another stroke of Laker luck that they'll be getting Ariza back juuuuust when they actually need him.

Ya, we're soooo lucky that Bynum is out for the season too. ISHiot

[brandonislegend]

ariza > manu

[go-lakers]

Kobe should play TP at times, his height , speed, and strength will go a long way and cutting him off from penetrating our interior.

lol I read that as "Kobe should play TD at times" and I was like what??

[insidehoops]

Discuss the upcoming Lakers vs Spurs Western conference finals matchup.

The Lakers have homecourt advantage, which has been pretty important so far in this year's playoffs.

Discuss the matchups, the pros and cons of each team, advantages they have over each other, x-factors, and anything else you can think of.

Predictions are fun, but they need an explanation, too.

Enjoy the series and discuss your views on the matchup!

[Kobe=MVP07`]

there are 2 X-factors in this game

1: Lamar Odom; Kobe will be slowed a bit by bowen/udoka, Gasol will be slowed by duncan, but Odom is the 1 mismatch with either a kurt thomas or ginobli on him, he's gotta be consistantly big!

2. 3 pt shooting, gotta shoot a high percentage, both the lakers and spurs dominate if they can shoot well from 3 to compliment the rest of the game..

Game 1 is really important!!!!!! if spurs win, then they won 1 on the road and stole homecourt with a chance to go to sa up 2-0

if lakers win then they have so ground on the spurs

[w00terz]

Much to my dislike, I predict a Lakers victory in 6 games. They are simply too good right now to be stopped, especially by an aging Spurs team. The X-factors for the Lakers are their perimeter shooters.

Vlad, Vujacic, Fisher, Farmar, Walton have to step up and knock down their shots. Odom and Gasol will get theirs (Kobe demands too much attention for them not too).

For the Spurs, Finley, Udoka, and Fab have to step up as well. Duncan will be drawing a ton of double teams leading Fab to be open. Manu, Parker, and Finley will get theirs. Bowen will play great D on Kobe as usual.

Overall though, Lakers will win out. They're simply too good. There is a possibility that they choke, however, I can't really see it happening. I'm interested in how Gasol will play against the Spurs bigs.