The spurs are finished. Minnesota and Sacramento have already proved they can't beat the lakers in the postseason. Can ANYBODY STOP THESE GUYS??
Even though I'm a Laker fan i dont know yet. I hope so but the Spurs are good and perhaps can still do it. I dont think so but in the NBA you never know. Also Kings and TWolves are very strong. Dont get me wrong. I still think the Lakers will do it but it will be though. And to answer your question no, nobody can stop them now. They are in the zone now.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting olskoolFunktitude:</div><div class="quote_post">The spurs are finished. Minnesota and Sacramento have already proved they can't beat the lakers in the postseason. Can ANYBODY STOP THESE GUYS??</div>Alright, who are you and what have you done to olskool? Glad to see you here again Although this series isn't over and Sacramento came pretty close to eliminating the Lakers, I also believe that the Lakers will win their 4th title in 5 seasons.
i don't think the lakers match up very well with the kings. the kings can torch the lakers on the pick and roll especially with bibby hitting the jump shot over the top.
Gee, couldn't have seen a thread like this coming. I can understand this kind of bandwagonism in the Lakers Forum, but if it's going to be put in the NBA forum, then you're going to have to deal with the ineveitable response: All Aboard the bandwagon!
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting olskoolFunktitude:</div><div class="quote_post">The spurs are finished. Minnesota and Sacramento have already proved they can't beat the lakers in the postseason. Can ANYBODY STOP THESE GUYS??</div> That is such a dumb thing to say. First of all, Minnesota and Sacramento (on a lesser level) both made significant changes in the offseason. You can't judge their ability to beat the Lakers in the postseason because neither of these revamped teams have ever played the Lakers in the playoffs. That would be like saying that Minnesota wouldn't get out of the first round this year because they never have before. However the additions of Cassel and Spree, the fact that Minnesota won the west, and the fact that they met up with an inexperienced Denver squad implies otherwise. Things change from year to year. Try and move past you blind love for LA and see the big picture please.
hagrid, I can assure you that olskool is NOT a Laker fan, quite on the contrary to tell you the truth. olskool a Laker bandwagoner
The team that has the best chance to stop the Lakers are the Pistons... I don't see Spurs coming back after Fish's Crazy shot... And Minny& Sac-town aren't able to stop Shaq & Malone in the middle... So it'll be a Shaq&Malone - The Wallace 'Brothers' battle..
Impossible... There is no way Derek Fisher, caught the ball, turned around and let go of the ball in 00.4 seconds. There is no way. They started the clock late, there is no freegin' way.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting ThaLord:</div><div class="quote_post">The team that has the best chance to stop the Lakers are the Pistons... I don't see Spurs coming back after Fish's Crazy shot... And Minny& Sac-town aren't able to stop Shaq & Malone in the middle... So it'll be a Shaq&Malone - The Wallace 'Brothers' battle..</div> Thats a funny statement since I could swear you were still tied 2-2 with the Nets who embrassed the Pistons in games 3 & 4. And despite the game being played in the Palace seeem to be the team with all the momentum. I think you should start worrying about how you are going to stop the Nets in the open court & stop thinking about the Lakers. If you lose tonight then the series is over for your Pistons. J.Kidd sets a tempo in New Jersey, that has been proven time after time in the playoffs every year, that nobody can match in the east. BTW what has Rasheed Wallace shown you that makes you believe he is ready to play on the championship level against the likes of SHAQ & Karl.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Henacy:</div><div class="quote_post">[/B] Thats a funny statement since I could swear you were still tied 2-2 with the Nets who embrassed the Pistons in games 3 & 4. And despite the game being played in the Palace seeem to be the team with all the momentum. I think you should start worrying about how you are going to stop the Nets in the open court & stop thinking about the Lakers. If you lose tonight then the series is over for your Pistons. J.Kidd sets a tempo in New Jersey, that has been proven time after time in the playoffs every year, that nobody can match in the east. BTW what has Rasheed Wallace shown you that makes you believe he is ready to play on the championship level against the likes of SHAQ & Karl.</div> I didn't say they would win the series against your Nets... I just think the Pistons have more chance of winning against the Lakers than the Nets do... C'mon be honest... Shaq would kill you guys in the middle , just like he did 2 years ago...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting ThaLord:</div><div class="quote_post">I didn't say they would win the series against your Nets... I just think the Pistons have more chance of winning against the Lakers than the Nets do... C'mon be honest... Shaq would kill you guys in the middle , just like he did 2 years ago...</div> And Shaq wont kill you? I love Ben Wallace but Shaq is a totally different type of beast he has never played before in the playoffs. I think we matchup with this current Laker team better than you do. One the Nets are an open court team, the Spurs proved that when you get the Lakers in an up & down game they struggle. I dont know if its due to age or what have you. The Pistons are not an open court team, they are a jump shooting half-court team realistically cant cant shoot. They are going to struggle in a half court set against the Lakers. Where are the points in the paint going to come from the Pistons vs the Lakers? Both teams will get killed at the center spot please dont ever get that confused.
Myself personally i think the only team that can beat the Lakers are the Lakers. There lackluster bench proves that this team is all heart. But the problem I see as of late is Kobes fatigue. Now the Spurs have great defense but unless there defense starts fastbreaks, (that should be led by Kidd if he went to San Antonio) then there D means nothing. I think Parker is just a little overwhelmed with all the media in his face. I believe if he calmed down and let the game come to him he would be fine. The lakers have shaq and a great shooting Power Forward in Karl Malone that spread the floor out for Shaq to work. And they also have three point shooters to spread the floor even more for the diesel in Kobe Fisher Rush and the developing Walton. They also have the Glove and Phil Jackson. Phil really wowed me with his last .4 second play. I thought up until this point that Phil just sat there while his team played on the floor being coached by all those guys sitting beside phil. He really is a great coach.
Whether or not they started the clock late, the league isnt going to overturn the results. Lakers won that game and have so much momentum and even more talent (at least in their starting five). You cant convince me that shaq wont be able to take over ONE game for all the bannanas (that is to say all the bannanas in this series). The spurs are finished. As for sacramento they have proved more than once they cant beat LA in the playoffs and even though the wolves are much improved Garnett is still no match for shaq. The pistons is an interesting prospect. They might have the best chance of anyone with their inside and outside D but how could they score on LA? besides they have to get past new jersey first. AS for the nets, the fact that theyve been to the finals twice in a row speaks less of what a great team they are and more of how pitiful the east is. its better if they dont make it this year because everyone wants an exiting NBA finals and any of the four teams in the west would likely sweep them. Detroit and INdy would actually have a chance but I think the leagues only chance to stop the lakers from caputring their 4th in 5 is san antonio and it owuld take a miracle to win a game in LA on the brink of elimination much less a game 7
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Henacy:</div><div class="quote_post">And Shaq wont kill you? I love Ben Wallace but Shaq is a totally different type of beast he has never played before in the playoffs. I think we matchup with this current Laker team better than you do. One the Nets are an open court team, the Spurs proved that when you get the Lakers in an up & down game they struggle. I dont know if its due to age or what have you. The Pistons are not an open court team, they are a jump shooting half-court team realistically cant cant shoot. They are going to struggle in a half court set against the Lakers. Where are the points in the paint going to come from the Pistons vs the Lakers? Both teams will get killed at the center spot please dont ever get that confused.</div> Agreed, but if the pistons can double-team Shaq in the paint and Malone is having a bad series they would have a chance on D... And I think 'Sheed's talented enough to dominate Malone... Karl's getting old and if Sheed can play a hell of a series it would be close... Again, the Nets have K-Mart to dominate the Mailman, but you have no one to stop Shaq... Even if they double him with K-Mart and Jason Collins Shaq would dominate... And, if Rip, Chauncey and Tayshaun have a good shooting series it would be closer than you might think... But as there's said before, the only one who really can stop a talented as the Lakers are the Lakers themselves...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Henacy:</div><div class="quote_post">And Shaq wont kill you? I love Ben Wallace but Shaq is a totally different type of beast he has never played before in the playoffs. I think we matchup with this current Laker team better than you do. Both teams will get killed at the center spot please dont ever get that confused.</div>I wouldn't say that exactly. I think the Pistons have a waaaay better chance at defending Shaq than the Nets. You are severely underrating their front court duo of Wallace's. I think that is the main point. The Nets would be utterly raped down low while the Piston's would definitely cause some problems for the big Aristotle. Remember in this playoffs Shaq has not squared off against a PF and Centre duo. Ming and Cato? Nope. Nesterovic and Duncan? Sorry not there either. To say that BOTH teams will get killed down low is a exaggerating it a little. The Nets will get killed, not the Pistons.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">hagrid, I can assure you that olskool is NOT a Laker fan, quite on the contrary to tell you the truth.</div> Given the timing of the post and the abscence of any other information on the poster, you'll have to forgive my assumption. My apologies if I offended.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting CourtVision:</div><div class="quote_post">I wouldn't say that exactly. I think the Pistons have a waaaay better chance at defending Shaq than the Nets. You are severely underrating their front court duo of Wallace's. I think that is the main point. The Nets would be utterly raped down low while the Piston's would definitely cause some problems for the big Aristotle. Remember in this playoffs Shaq has not squared off against a PF and Centre duo. Ming and Cato? Nope. Nesterovic and Duncan? Sorry not there either. To say that BOTH teams will get killed down low is a exaggerating it a little. The Nets will get killed, not the Pistons.</div> I never said they didnt have a better chance of defending Shaq. I said both teams are going to get killed by shaq anyway so it doesnt really matter. I know the Pistons game plan already if they did play the Lakers. They are going to try to front Shaq with Ben Wallace athletism & then Drop Rasheed Wallace down to be a help defender. But that isnt going to work because the Lakers have changed their offense in the playoffs to prevent such a thing. The Lakers have put Karl Malone in alot of screen & rolls at the top of the high post which keeps the help defender(aka Karl man, this case it would be rasheed) busy. That opens up alot off opportunity for shaq to be one on one with Ben Wallace. And he just to small. And I remember a during Portland's hay days they tried a similar method which included Rasheed. They would put Dale Davis(who was a similiar player to Ben Wallace as far as on the ball defense & strenght but he wasnt as good as Ben Wallace but extremely similar) & then drop Rasheed down as a help defender. But it had little effect on Shaq. And on the offensive end I dont see what problems Ben Wallace will give shaq except maybe on the offensive boards. And Rasheed Wallace will be guarded by Karl Malone. And as we have seen Karl is still an extremely crafty defender. And Rasheed Wallace has brought pretty much nothing to the table on the offensive end so far in the playoffs, so what makes me thing he will start in the NBA finals? I dont think Iam underratting the Pistons frontline. I thinkl alot of people are overatting the Pistons' frontline. I know they are good but people heard the name Rasheed Wallace being added ,everybody went crazy
^He does make a difference though and that is something to be looked at. Rasheed is not all offence and he does have a good defensive game that is hardly talked about. Pair that up with last years DPOY and I don't see why they can't give Shaq fits up front. I see that the Lakers would still be able to control the paint with the Pistons regardless of what plays they run. But back to my original point: The Pistons will FAIR better than the Nets in regards to guarding Shaq. You said BOTH teams would get killed and I don't see that as the case. Probably the Nets will get killed but the Pistons have the size and talent to at least make it a good series and contest Shaq.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting CourtVision:</div><div class="quote_post">^He does make a difference though and that is something to be looked at. Rasheed is not all offence and he does have a good defensive game that is hardly talked about. Pair that up with last years DPOY and I don't see why they can't give Shaq fits up front. </div> I never said Rasheed doesnt make a difference on defense or that he isnt a good defender. All I said was that the Lakers have put a new game plan into their offensive sets which keeps the help defender(Rasheed in this case) business. The Lakers are keeping Karl Malone on the move & away from Shaq by using screen & roles at the top of the key in the High post. That makes it hard for the help defender get over quick enuff to double Shaq, which mean when Shaq catches the ball & goes quickly one on one against Ben Wallace. Its buckets! Its not to disrespect Ben's defense but he is just to small. Of course he will get he strips here & there. And maybe a block or 2. But for the most part it will be just to easy for shaq.
