Not starting a ruckus cause everyhting is pretty positive so far but honestly Manu cannot guard Kobe bryant, he just can't. And I doubt that Bruce Bowen will be very succesful guarding him either. Now before you say anything let me explain why. This is not the same Kobe Bryant. This is a suped up Kobe a bigger, stronger Kobe. If Kobe keeps throwing up jumpers then Bruce will be able to frustrate him...a little. But if he starts bodying him up taking him into the post bruce is in trouble becuase Kobe is just to big and atheletic. And for that same reason I say manu just can't hang with him Kobe has become too big. I'll also be looking for Kobe's impressive new shot the "foul jumper" it's what has gotten him to the line so much lately. Now the lakers have come off a big loss and will be looking to get things stable again. There success will depend on their reconigtion of kobe being single or double teamed. And just making an assertive effort to get lamar Odom the ball to get him on track. Like I said before he showed signs last night in the post, and he was just a few roll ins away from going 6-10. Don't forget he also got to the line and shot ten times hitting 80%. As for the Spurs I expect them to play a very sound defensive game with Duncan scoring 30 to 35 pulling down 13 boards. I expect this game to not be very pretty. And although i'm leaning towards the Spurs to win it I think that if the lakers can hit 90 they will win the game.
Two things...Odom needs to come out and play, and the Lakers need to avoid a first quarter blowout. If the Lakers can establish either a lead or tie...or even being down by a bucket at halftime...then that should give them enough time to work the most effective defensive strategy they have and take it back into the locker room and talk about it. This win for the Lakers will be big if it goes down. If not, it'll be just another day of criticism and defining "failure" to all of the analysts and critics that the Lakers face everyday...although I won't be as disappointed, because I for one wouldn't bet for or against the Lakers in this one. I'm still sticking by my word, however. The Lakers will play zone defense, and intercept the passing lane between the guards and Duncan...and will win this game, but it'll be the toughest win of the season, also.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting realdealbneal:</div><div class="quote_post">Two things...Odom needs to come out and play, and the Lakers need to avoid a first quarter blowout. If the Lakers can establish either a lead or tie...or even being down by a bucket at halftime...then that should give them enough time to work the most effective defensive strategy they have and take it back into the locker room and talk about it. This win for the Lakers will be big if it goes down. If not, it'll be just another day of criticism and defining "failure" to all of the analysts and critics that the Lakers face everyday...although I won't be as disappointed, because I for one wouldn't bet for or against the Lakers in this one. I'm still sticking by my word, however. The Lakers will play zone defense, and intercept the passing lane between the guards and Duncan...and will win this game, but it'll be the toughest win of the season, also.</div> If the lakers put on the zone d all game, hopefully the spurs wont spread the floor letting duncan isolate odom 1 on1, you know the you have to be able to reach a player rule with the zone. i think you should start kobe at point, odom at sg, butler at sf, grant at pf and mihm at c. mihm can take on vasho no prob. grant can try and play aggresive while having odom-kobe-butler(whoever is on duncan's side double team him from up top, maybe steal a couple from him not lookin on his post up. i think that would work great for the lakers. i think also dont let duncan get in any kind of runs at all, he makes like 2-3 in a row foul him next time and maybe that will get him out of sink. also foul him hard, not some tic tac foul.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Billa_Bong:</div><div class="quote_post">If the lakers put on the zone d all game, hopefully the spurs wont spread the floor letting duncan isolate odom 1 on1, you know the you have to be able to reach a player rule with the zone. i think you should start kobe at point, odom at sg, butler at sf, grant at pf and mihm at c. mihm can take on vasho no prob. grant can try and play aggresive while having odom-kobe-butler(whoever is on duncan's side double team him from up top, maybe steal a couple from him not lookin on his post up. i think that would work great for the lakers. i think also dont let duncan get in any kind of runs at all, he makes like 2-3 in a row foul him next time and maybe that will get him out of sink. also foul him hard, not some tic tac foul.</div> That's why I really don't want the Lakers to play the zone defense against the Spurs...but it's the most effective for this squad IMO. When they switched to zone against the Jazz, they ended up winning the 3rd quarter and trying to pull to within 10, after being down by as much as 26 or so (I believe). I don't know yet. I need to see the Spurs play before I make the decision, because I don't know how they use Barry when he's out shooting. I don't know if Manu is trying to pull up for more shots this year or anything...because I've yet to see the Spurs play.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Billa_Bong:</div><div class="quote_post">If the lakers put on the zone d all game, hopefully the spurs wont spread the floor letting duncan isolate odom 1 on1, you know the you have to be able to reach a player rule with the zone. i think you should start kobe at point, odom at sg, butler at sf, grant at pf and mihm at c. mihm can take on vasho no prob. grant can try and play aggresive while having odom-kobe-butler(whoever is on duncan's side double team him from up top, maybe steal a couple from him not lookin on his post up. i think that would work great for the lakers. i think also dont let duncan get in any kind of runs at all, he makes like 2-3 in a row foul him next time and maybe that will get him out of sink. also foul him hard, not some tic tac foul.</div> It would be nice to switch those, Butler at SG, and Odom at SF
Brandon, do you predict the Lakers are going to win EVERY game? This will be a fun game to watch, but I think the Spurs will win. How long will it take for Kobe to bust out with a 50 point game?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting og15:</div><div class="quote_post">It would be nice to switch those, Butler at SG, and Odom at SF </div> my bad, typing fast
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Milkboiblue:</div><div class="quote_post">Not starting a ruckus cause everyhting is pretty positive so far but honestly Manu cannot guard Kobe bryant, he just can't. And I doubt that Bruce Bowen will be very succesful guarding him either. Now before you say anything let me explain why. This is not the same Kobe Bryant. This is a suped up Kobe a bigger, stronger Kobe. If Kobe keeps throwing up jumpers then Bruce will be able to frustrate him...a little. But if he starts bodying him up taking him into the post bruce is in trouble becuase Kobe is just to big and atheletic. And for that same reason I say manu just can't hang with him Kobe has become too big. I'll also be looking for Kobe's impressive new shot the "foul jumper" it's what has gotten him to the line so much lately.</div> I have to agree and disagree with you. I don't think that anyone in the NBA can stop Kobe but Bruce can harass Kobe all game long more then anyone else in the NBA. Phil new that and he didn't want Kobe to play one on one with him(Bruce) because Kobe would score 28 or even 35 but he would have to shoot 9-26. thats not good if you don't have someone named Shaq on your team who can get some rebounds. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=240404013 another thing that you said was that Manu can't guard Kobe but that works both ways . I Know that Kobe can't guard Manu either. Don't get me wrong I love Kobes game who wouldn't. but i hope people can look at both side of the floor. We will see tonight what will happen. I can't wait.
Lakers need to stay close San Antonio is a veteran team with a great addition in Barry. I watched them dismantle the Kings in the last game and I expect them to beat the New Lake Show this time, but it will be very important for the Lakers to at least keep this a game and not implode like they did against Utah. Heart is not something that can be coached and it will be important that they do not give up if they get down to the Spurs, which is likely at this point in a transition year for the Lakers. It will be a victory if the Lakers stay close and make San Antonio work til the end for a win. If the Lakers can keep inproving this year I still feel they can win the Pacific with 50 wins
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting durvasa:</div><div class="quote_post">Brandon, do you predict the Lakers are going to win EVERY game? This will be a fun game to watch, but I think the Spurs will win. How long will it take for Kobe to bust out with a 50 point game?</div> No, actually...I made a prediction that the Lakers would start out really well, then run into Memphis and Orlando on the 10th and 12th of this month, and get beat...then take those losses to Houston and have a really tough game there.
Expect another near franchise low game again. The Lakers are quite simply helpless to the Spurs. Their up against probably the second best defensive team in the NBA. That means not alot of points in transition which the Lakers this year will have to live off of. Bowen will be guarding Kobe not Manu. Besides nobody can guard McGrady look what happened to him. Duncan will dominate the paint. When the Lakers double team the Spurs will bomb them with threes. The Lakers will get crushed off the boards as well. Atkins will get abused as we all know and Bowen will cause Kobe alot of problems. Duncan will wait for any Laker with the gall to attack the basket and promptly swat his shot. The Laker bigs will get in foul trouble. Basically the same stuff that every team had to deal with against the Lakers when they had Shaq. There really is nothing the Lakers can do. If they do single coverage against Duncan he'll murder them but that looks like their best bet. I say Spurs dominate the Lakers. The Lakers will give up towards the end. And will lose faith in themselves which will show in following games. In other words the game against the Spurs will be very fun to watch.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I say Spurs dominate the Lakers. The Lakers will give up towards the end. And will lose faith in themselves which will show in following games. In other words the game against the Spurs will be very fun to watch.</div> are you saying this game is great cuz this is gonna crush the lakers? if yes, then.... whatever you say buddy.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">if Odom can get back into the game defensively, he'll hold Duncan to a 15 or 20-point performance</div> Wow that is a HUGE 'if'. I'm really curious as to how Odom is capable of doing this, when he couldn't even stop Boozer from getting 27 the other night. Also, some earlier said that they hope San Antonio doesn't spread the floor. Are you serious? Do you really think that a team with Parker, Manu, Barry, and Bowen is not going to be able to spread the floor? 3-pointers are the only real way to break down a zone (which the Lakers are potentially going to use) so the Spurs will easily break it down.
If the Lakers are to win, they are going to need to play Mavericks basketball. If you look at the box score against the Jazz, you will see that the points in the paint is where the Lakers got killed on Wednesday. Their inability to control the middle is due to inferior big men. That is not going to change in my opinion because the Lakers big men are not going to improve enough to come close to playing at the level of the other big men in the western conference. The Lakers only hope is to get players to contribute offensively, which they were unable to do against Utah. Face it, Lakers are going to roll over on defense all year long. Their only hope is to outscore a team to win. San Antonio upgraded its already above average shooting over the offseason with the pickup of Brent Barry. This is going to be a game of pick your poison. If the Lakers want to have a chance, they are going to have to stop perimeter shooters from getting hot. Its the only chance they have, and even then, players other than Kobe are going to have to step it up offensively.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Tribute to H2O:</div><div class="quote_post">Expect another near franchise low game again. The Lakers are quite simply helpless to the Spurs. Their up against probably the second best defensive team in the NBA. That means not alot of points in transition which the Lakers this year will have to live off of. Bowen will be guarding Kobe not Manu. Besides nobody can guard McGrady look what happened to him. Duncan will dominate the paint. When the Lakers double team the Spurs will bomb them with threes. The Lakers will get crushed off the boards as well. Atkins will get abused as we all know and Bowen will cause Kobe alot of problems. Duncan will wait for any Laker with the gall to attack the basket and promptly swat his shot. The Laker bigs will get in foul trouble. Basically the same stuff that every team had to deal with against the Lakers when they had Shaq. There really is nothing the Lakers can do. If they do single coverage against Duncan he'll murder them but that looks like their best bet. I say Spurs dominate the Lakers. The Lakers will give up towards the end. And will lose faith in themselves which will show in following games. In other words the game against the Spurs will be very fun to watch.</div> So why should the Lakers even show up right? The Spurs might have a better team than the Lakers this year, but its not like the Spurs are invincable. The Lakers are capable of beating the Spurs or any other team in the NBA. I completely understand someone picking the Spurs over the Lakers, (In my opinion the Spurs are gonna win it all) But to say the Lakers are helpless is rediculous. And the last sentence in your post proves that your are simply a Laker hater.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting bdubb:</div><div class="quote_post">So why should the Lakers even show up right? The Spurs might have a better team than the Lakers this year, but its not like the Spurs are invincable. The Lakers are capable of beating the Spurs or any other team in the NBA. I completely understand someone picking the Spurs over the Lakers, (In my opinion the Spurs are gonna win it all) But to say the Lakers are helpless is rediculous. And the last sentence in your post proves that your are simply a Laker hater.</div> Good question. The Spurs definetely have a better team than the Lakers this year not "might". And of course the Spurs arent invincible. The starless Pistons proved that last season in the Finals when they went up against the Four Future Hall of Famer team the Lakers had. I hope you do understand why someone would pick the Spurs over the Lakers although I doubt the Spurs are going to take it all. To say the Lakers are helpless isnt ridiculous. Barring a ridiculously good game and an equally ridiculous bad game from the Spurs while being hit by injuries the Lakers wont win. Everyone has their biases. I can just as easily call you a Laker lover. So what? I do love to see teams humbled. Whether its the Lakers or a team from any other sport. And this year the Lakers have been or will be humbled. It's obvious I dont have any love for the Lakers but my points above are still valid. And the Lakers I believe will be again embarassed.
Man, I didn't even know the Lakers got whomped against Utah in that last game, and I sure hope the Lakers can pull it off against the Spurs tonight. Lamar Odom is gonna have to step up his defense and we'll need more Lakers besides Kobe to also kick it up a notch offensively. It'll be a tough game, but I'm sticking to my guns on this one. Lakers by 4.
Gotta side with Jurrasic on this one...with the addition of Brent Barry the Spurs obviosly increased their abilities as a contender. Zone defense works unless you have guys who can shoot, like Barry. But there aren't any guys who can take Tim Duncan one-on-one. The Lakers NEED to run. Getting stuck in the half-court set like they did with Utah will kill them again. Especially with Timmy defending the post. As far as game plans...tough question. Double teams on Duncan could work if there are quick rotations on the perimeter defense, and ONLY if you let guys like Parker, Manu and Bowen take the three (assuming they don't get hot). But the man-to-man will allow the Lakers to get killed inside again. In my mind there's only two options. Double Duncan and play zone on the perimeter, or go man and allow Duncan to have his way but try to shut down the rest of the team. But once again, the Lakers NEED to stay away from the half-court set, as they will get killed.
^ why do the lakers deserve to be humbled? you dont hear them proclaiming that theyre gonna get the championship. the only reason people want to see the lakers lose is because they feel insecure about their team being not as good as the lakers. haters are like insecure teenage girls, they degrade other people because it makes them feel good about themselves.
