Re: NBA Finals: Lakers vs. Magic (Series 0-0) Congrats Lakers, you guys deserved this. Honestly, I'm pumped. Either the Magic win the title who Kobe snags his first post-Shaq ring. Win-win really. I'm hoping we can steal one of the first two in L.A. and then close out in Orlando but I doubt it will happen.
Re: NBA Finals: Lakers vs. Magic (Series 0-0) Keep in mind the Finals switches to the 2-3-2 format. Only one "expert" on ESPNs panel picked Orlando. http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2009/matchup/_/teams/magic-lakers
Re: NBA Finals: Lakers vs. Magic (Series 0-0) Unless Orlando dominates LA enough to where they could win in 5 games, no it does not help them.
Re: NBA Finals: Lakers vs. Magic (Series 0-0) I can't wait for the Finals to start. I wish they'd start tonight or tomorrow, but no, I have to wait 'til Thursday. As it is, I think we got the opponent who will give us the best series. My biggest concern is going to be stopping Dwight, but hey, we have 6 freebies with Mbenga if we need them. I'm not as worried about them as I would be if they had a healthy Jameer Nelson though. He gave the Lakers fits with his ability ot shoot and create off the dribble. Without him, they have to resort to Rafer Alston, who while good, isn't a guy that's going to hurt us too bad. He's got the ability to light it up from 3 point range, but he's much more schizophrenic than Nelson. The other concern is going to be guarding the 3 point line. The Magic shot something like 42% against the Cavs last series, and the Cavs were one of the top defensive teams in the NBA and were good at defending the 3. We're terrible at defending the trey, and if we don't close out on shooters, they could absolutely torch us from 3 point range. Hedo, Rafer, Turkoglu and Lee can all stroke it in their starting lineup, plus they have guys like Redick Pietrus who can come off the bench and hit the three, so they are absolutely loaded with shooters. However, how do they stop Kobe? And how is Lewis going to fair against Odom and Gasol at the 4 spot? Those are 2 advantages we have, because both of them are athletic enough that they can guard Lewis out on the perimeter, but I don't think he has the ability to guard either of them inside if we pound it down there. Overall, I think it's going to be a fantastic series that we should take in 6. Will it get the ratings a Kobe vs. LeBron final would have? Probably not, but it's going to be the better series as a whole.
Re: NBA Finals: Lakers vs. Magic (Series 0-0) I don't really think it does. As long as the Lakers take care of business at home, the Magic are going to wish they could have a game 6 on their HC instead of a potential closeout game in LA. I personally don't like the 2-3-2 format, though it does cut down on travel time, which is probably the idea behind it. But no, unless the Magic take both games in LA to start the series, the format doesn't help, because the Lakers will win at least one of those 3 in Orlando. They're too good on the road to drop them all.
Re: NBA Finals: Lakers vs. Magic (Series 0-0) http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-lakers2-2009jun02,0,7208803.story some clarification on matchups
Re: NBA Finals: Lakers vs. Magic (Series 0-0) The magic have been underrated all season, yet here they are in the finals after defeating the defending champs and then LeBron's dominant (8-0 going into the series) team. Believe it or not, I see Odom as the guy who has to be the difference maker for the Lakers to win the series. Bynum has to stay on the court or else Howard will manhandle Gasol. As much as I like Gasol, he's going to lose a match up against Howard and badly. Bynum seems good for 18-20 MPG only in the playoffs, though it was widely anticipated that he'd come back from his surgery and continue improving on the very nice game he was developing before that. The Magic may prove that small ball can win a championship. Their forwards, Hedo and Lewis are both tall but play small, they're effectively playing two SFs. Odom playing his best can win the match up against Lewis. Pietrus has been extremely effective at defending guys like Pierce, Allen, and LeBron. If he is what he appears to be, Kobe will get his points, but on 11-30 type shooting, which is downright inefficient. Thus the Lakers better be prepared to look elsewhere for some production to keep up with Hedo, Howard, and Lewis. I don't think Fisher is a difference maker. He's almost certain to be outplayed by Alston. In fact, we may see the Magic back court play the Lakers back court even. Courtney Lee is no slouch either. The Magic are not only extremely strong through their first 6 players, they also play very smart team basketball. If they find a mismatch they can exploit, they'll do it over and over again. The Lakers' best chance to do the same is Odom vs. Lewis, or Gasol against Lewis. For the latter to happen, Bynum has to stay in the game so Howard has to guard him instead of Gasol. As I see it, the Magic's top 3 players are better than the Lakers' top 3; Kobe may be the best of the 6, but I'm talking about the threesomes overall. When you get to top 4 vs. top 4 it's even more skewed in the Magic's favor. At top 6, the Magic are obviously superior. And if you think the Magic don't have a guy who'll be living at the FT line, consider that Howard shot on average 15 FTA each of the last four games against the Cavs (16, 13, 9, 19). Don't get me wrong, I would love to see PJax get his 10th championship to solidify his place as greatest coach in history.
Re: NBA Finals: Lakers vs. Magic (Series 0-0) Last year, Rashard shutdown Chris Bosh in our first round series. He's good against soft big men like Pau.
Re: NBA Finals: Lakers vs. Magic (Series 0-0) Bosh is the softest big man in the league. Pau's so called "softness" (he can be soft, but he mans up when needed) is no where close to Bosh's.
Re: NBA Finals: Lakers vs. Magic (Series 0-0) No it doesn't help either team. It's really tough to beat an opponent 3 times in a row in an NBA Finals. Especially when these two teams are evenly matched.
Re: NBA Finals: Lakers vs. Magic (Series 0-0) Chris Bosh: 24.0 PPG, 9.0 RPG (4.0 ORPG), 3.6 APG, 47.0% FG 83% FT 1.6 SPG in playoffs last year. Not really "shutting down".
