Assuming we make it to the next round, I thought the Spurs would be our biggest challenge, but after watching the Hornets totally dismantle the Spurs in the second half Monday night, it really got me thinking as to how well we really match up against the Hornets. PG - Chris Paul SG - Morris Peterson SF - Peja Stojakovic PF - David West C - Tyson Chandler vs. PG - Derek Fisher SG - Kobe Bryant SF - Vlad Radmanovic PF - Lamar Odom C - Pau Gasol I haven't really seen the Hornets play much during the regular season, but it seems like their starting line-up is actually pretty similar to ours. They got Chris Paul and David West, we got Kobe and Gasol. Vlad and Peja are actually pretty similar in play style but I'll have to give Peja the upper hand (obviously...) We got Odom, they got Chandler (Odom wins I guess.) Now, Pau Gasol is known to have troubles against physical play. Can he be effective against Tyson Chandler? Can Chris Paul be contained? Can Lamar Odom stop David West? And what about Peja? And they also have our boy Byron Scott at the helm manning the crew, with years of play off experience around his belt. But... we got Phil Jackson, the granddaddy of all coaches. We got a formidable bench in The Machine, Sparkplug, and Turiaf. And of course, we have the greatest player in the NBA in Kobe Bryant. It's going to be a tough match up, no doubt. But then again, it's the West, where there isn't really an easy win. I'm really looking forward to see how we can handle the Hornets though if it's going to be the Lakers and Hornets in the Western Conference Finals. Are the Hornets really that good, or are the Spurs just having a bad run of games? I guess we'll see.
I'll make a brief summary of the potential series with the Hornets. I'll try to add some more detail later. The Spurs aren't what they used to be, they got ran out of the gym in the third quarter in Game 2 (they're too old to win in NO it seems). The Hornets are certainly talented but their inexperience will hurt them when trying to steal that home court advantage from us. In the regular season, we did pretty decently against them and we only had Pau for 3 minutes in one of our matchups (on the road). We're 2-2 officially, but it should really be 2-1. Sometimes our team loses focus and makes costly turnovers or fails to Box out (Pau), so I think we'd take a series against the Hornets to 6/7 games (our team lacks some experience as well), with the Homecourt being the ultimate decider in all of this.
Seriously... i dont know who will come out of this series... i would be confident in saying the lakers would win IF we had bynum but i dont think that will happen. The hornets ride on CP3 running everything and the only way to stop the hornets is if we stop him. I doubt Pjax will put Kobe on CP3 coz Kobe will also have to dictate our own offence. Sh*t guys i really dont know.
I'm not looking past Utah, but let me throw something out there. We ran them out of the building twice this year. The two times we lost were the first time we faced them, and the third time. The first time--Bynum wasn't on his roll, yet. The second time, Bynum was out with injury and Gasol went down with injury within 3 minutes of the start of the game. We hung with them until halftime, when they pulled away. I'm not scared of New Orleans, at all. Both times this year, when we were healthy, we completely owned them. I love our chances against New Orleans and would much rather face them, then San Antonio.
I really expect Kobe to take over when we face the Hornets. Hornets doesn't have a guy who can stop Kobe, who plays always well against them. So, I predict, Lakers in 6.
That's not Jackson's philosophy, IIRC. Doesn't Phil like making the PG into a scorer (what he does with Nash, Deron, and Paul) and let the PG get theirs, but cut everyone else off?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Crue24Ball @ May 6 2008, 05:15 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I really expect Kobe to take over when we face the Hornets. Hornets doesn't have a guy who can stop Kobe, who plays always well against them. So, I predict, Lakers in 6.</div> bonzi did a good job last game.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Crue24Ball @ May 6 2008, 01:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I really expect Kobe to take over when we face the Hornets. Hornets doesn't have a guy who can stop Kobe, who plays always well against them. So, I predict, Lakers in 6.</div> Do the Lakers have anyone who can guard Paul? It goes both ways.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Black Mamba @ May 6 2008, 05:05 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I'm not looking past Utah, but let me throw something out there. We ran them out of the building twice this year. The two times we lost were the first time we faced them, and the third time. The first time--Bynum wasn't on his roll, yet. The second time, Bynum was out with injury and Gasol went down with injury within 3 minutes of the start of the game. We hung with them until halftime, when they pulled away. I'm not scared of New Orleans, at all. Both times this year, when we were healthy, we completely owned them. I love our chances against New Orleans and would much rather face them, then San Antonio.</div> I agree as well, we completely dominated them. We haven't played as well against SA, maybe they're doing us a favor.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Trench @ May 6 2008, 06:03 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Ariza possibly on Paul? Shut down Paul, you shut down the Hornets. Bottomline.</div> No way. As a fan of Ariza, I know that he can't match up against Paul. He doesn't have the speed and Paul would take advantage of that. You're better off putting Kobe on him during key times in the game.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Trench @ May 6 2008, 04:03 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Ariza possibly on Paul? Shut down Paul, you shut down the Hornets. Bottomline.</div> Is Ariza even cleared to play? He didn't even suit up on Sunday. Anyways I think we have a good chance of beating the Hornets if we could shut down there main guy Paul, if we do that then we got that series.
Again, you can say the same about NO winning the series if they shut down Kobe. The winner will be the team which wins the role player battle, not the Kobe vs Paul one.
Well, just like kobimei said, if we try to shut Paul down, he has other options on the team he can turn to such as David West and Peja, much like how when other teams try to shut Kobe down, he's able to give the ball up and trust his teammates to make a shot. We've also seen that Paul is very capable when it comes to giving the ball up and creating shots for his teammates. Plus, as Mamba said, Phil usually likes to let the PG be the scorer and try to cut everyone else off like he usually does against Phoenix. The problem is, Chris is a better scorer than Nash is, and unlike Amare, West is capable of creating his own shot. I underestimated the Hornets coming into the playoffs, but the more I look at them the more they seem to be a legitimate title contending team. I would say they're almost a mirror image of this Laker team without Bynum and Ariza in the line-up. Playoffs experience? I'll have to give the upper hand to Kobe and Phil over Scott and Peja. Rebounds? It's hard to tell. We got Odom and Gasol, they got West and Chandler. 3-point shooting? They got Peja, we got... a guy that likes to shoot 3's but only makes them every once in a blue moon in Radman. But we also have other capable 3-point shooters on the team, so it's hard to say. Bench? I can't say much for the Hornets bench since I'm not really familiar with them, but I think we have the upper hand with Farmar, Vujacic and Turiaf coming off the bench. In the paint scoring? This, along with how we play defense, will probably determine who wins the series. Odom and Pau's gotta step up for this series, and Phil needs to show his magic and make the adjustments and plays that made him the 9-time champion, granddaddy of all coaches that he is. Hahah... it's funny how I'm already jumping to the potential match up between the Lakers and Hornets in the Western Conference Finals. But, just from the way things are looking right now, with the Hornets manhandling the Spurs the last two games, and the Spurs' history of failing to win a series when being down 0-2, it looks like it's really going to happen. Plus, I'm a Laker fan, so of course I'm going to assume the Lakers get past Utah.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (kaishek @ May 6 2008, 03:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Well, just like kobimei said, if we try to shut Paul down, he has other options on the team he can turn to such as David West and Peja, much like how when other teams try to shut Kobe down, he's able to give the ball up and trust his teammates to make a shot. We've also seen that Paul is very capable when it comes to giving the ball up and creating shots for his teammates. Plus, as Mamba said, Phil usually likes to let the PG be the scorer and try to cut everyone else off like he usually does against Phoenix. The problem is, Chris is a better scorer than Nash is, and unlike Amare, West is capable of creating his own shot. I underestimated the Hornets coming into the playoffs, but the more I look at them the more they seem to be a legitimate title contending team. I would say they're almost a mirror image of this Laker team without Bynum and Ariza in the line-up. Playoffs experience? I'll have to give the upper hand to Kobe and Phil over Scott and Peja. Rebounds? It's hard to tell. We got Odom and Gasol, they got West and Chandler. 3-point shooting? They got Peja, we got... a guy that likes to shoot 3's but only makes them every once in a blue moon in Radman. But we also have other capable 3-point shooters on the team, so it's hard to say. Bench? I can't say much for the Hornets bench since I'm not really familiar with them, but I think we have the upper hand with Farmar, Vujacic and Turiaf coming off the bench. In the paint scoring? This, along with how we play defense, will probably determine who wins the series. Odom and Pau's gotta step up for this series, and Phil needs to show his magic and make the adjustments and plays that made him the 9-time champion, granddaddy of all coaches that he is. Hahah... it's funny how I'm already jumping to the potential match up between the Lakers and Hornets in the Western Conference Finals. But, just from the way things are looking right now, with the Hornets manhandling the Spurs the last two games, and the Spurs' history of failing to win a series when being down 0-2, it looks like it's really going to happen. Plus, I'm a Laker fan, so of course I'm going to assume the Lakers get past Utah. </div> i love Sashas 3 pointerss, Kobe, D-Fish are good 3 point shooters as well. I think it´s gonna be a tough match up but i would love to see dat. But at first we have to beat utah in 4 .
I'm not worried about shutting down Paul. Hell, the philosophy is likely going to be let CP get his, just make sure you keep everyone else in check. That's what they do against Nash, and I fully expect Chris Paul to get the same treatment. I'd rather let him try and beat us as a one man show then getting everyone else involved.
Um...yeah. Fun thread. Rebounding seems even, IMO. The Odom-Gasol, Chandler-West frontcourt seems pretty even, when it comes to rebounding. Defensively in the paint, the Hornets own. Chandler will hold down Odom, Gasol, and anyone else who dares step in the paint. David West ain't too shabby defensively either. When it comes to shooting, it's pretty even. Lakers have Fish, Radman, Sasha, and of course, Kobe. Hornets have MoPete, Peja, West, Paul, Pargo, and even James, if need be. When it comes to players taking over...Kobe owns. Paul is good at it, can do it most games...Kobe can do it whenever he feels like it. Neither Paul nor Kobe can be stopped, though. The thing I noticed the most, however, was the strategy of holding down Ginobili by the Hornets. They'd come at him out of nowhere with a double team and frustrate him at every moment possible. He really could do nothing against them. Hell, their whole team defense has been on point, especially against the Spurs. They can't do shit against the Hornets. I don't know who would win this series, at this point. 7 games, either way.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Black Mamba @ May 6 2008, 05:05 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I'm not looking past Utah, but let me throw something out there. We ran them out of the building twice this year. The two times we lost were the first time we faced them, and the third time. The first time--Bynum wasn't on his roll, yet. The second time, Bynum was out with injury and Gasol went down with injury within 3 minutes of the start of the game. We hung with them until halftime, when they pulled away. I'm not scared of New Orleans, at all. Both times this year, when we were healthy, we completely owned them. I love our chances against New Orleans and would much rather face them, then San Antonio.</div> we didn't completely own them that last game. Did you forget they came back from a 30+ pt deficit after Chandler got back in the game from foul trouble?? I'm very concerned about the Hornets, I'd rather get the Spurs .. but all this talk is crazy talk .. we haven't even won a road game at Utah yet.
