<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">EL SEGUNDO - With the Lakers set to face one of two 60-win teams in the first round of the playoffs, Kobe Bryant said Tuesday he would just as soon play the Phoenix Suns, if only so that he could eat at one of his favorite restaurants. There's a familiarity when Bryant sits down with a knife and fork in Phoenix as well as when his Lakers take the court against the Suns, the team they pushed all the way to a seventh game before losing in last season's playoffs. If they finish the regular season with a victory tonight at Sacramento, the Lakers would play Phoenix as the Western Conference's No. 7 seed. A loss to the Kings and a victory by Golden State at Portland would have the Lakers facing Dallas the eighth seed. The Lakers built their playoff game plan against Phoenix around "Inside Man," the Denzel Washington movie that coach Phil Jackson spliced into game tape. The message was self-explanatory: Get the ball inside against the undersized Suns. There's a sequel to the movie in production for 2008. The Lakers expect their blueprint for playoff success against the Suns also would be more of the same. "It'd be very similar," Luke Walton said. "You've got to go inside against them. You've got to slow the game down. That's what we tried to do last year in the playoffs. If we play them again, it's not a secret. "I think everyone knows it gives you the best chance of beating a team like that because you can't run and outscore Phoenix." </div> Source: LA DailyNews "Revenge is a dish best served cold." - Pierre Ambroise Francois Choderios de LaClos
<div class="quote_poster">shapecity Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Source: LA DailyNews "Revenge is a dish best served cold." - Pierre Ambroise Francois Choderios de LaClos</div> That was deep fellow.
Im thinking Phil has some kind of secret weapon, a tactic they would use against the suns coz going to the post will be too obvious
There is no secret to it. To beat the suns, you have to slow the tempo, bang them up inside, and play the post up game. Its all about execution. Can the Lakers execute and finish plays?? If the Lakers can execute the plays and find some way to play some sort of defense, I think we have a chance. Plus we have Kobe on the team. Anything is possible. Its a matter of getting the other players to have big games. If Odom can have a terrific series like last season, Kwame can hold on to the ball and stay out of foul trouble, and smush can play some kind of defense, I really believe we can get to the 2nd round. I believe that Luke will shine in this series so he is not mentioned with the above players.
