Comments on: Why the Lakers will Win

By: Jermaine

Jermaine — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:18:00 +0000

I think it all rest on the leader of the team Kobe his decision making willing to pass the ball and get his team involved cause we all know he can heat up when he want and the 2 game magic won against la during the season dont mean nothing this is the playoff lakers are the best raod team in the nba and we are quite good at home we have the best player also playing for us so this is not gonna be a walk in the park but I xpect us to win it just 4 more games we need to win guys. Go La ohhh almost forget i wanna see Kobe take it to Dwight lets see how he can handle foul trouble. Go LA

By: sketch

sketch — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 23:00:59 +0000

It’s definitely smart to revisit the Gold Medal game and see how Spain played Howard with Pau. The thing is that the Lakers and the Magic are very different from Team USA and the Spanish Team. The way they both utilize their players down to the kind of offense that they run. The International rules are also different from the NBA. The good thing is that Phil can take some positives from what Pau had done against Howard and implement that into the game plan, but I couldn’t see Phil not having already explored that option.

Also, the Gold Medal game was last summer, while the Lakers and the Magic met twice during the regular season and was much more current. The fact of the matter is that how we played each other during the regular season is more likely how we would have to attack one another as opposed to the Gold Medal game. Although, all options needs to be exhausted if the Lakers want to bring the championship back home to LA this year!

GO LAKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By: Caleb Johnson

Caleb Johnson — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:03:51 +0000

Courtney Lee is an exceptional 1-on-1 defender, FWIW. Much better than Pietrus.

And I really hope the Lakers try to man up Bynum on Dwight. That will be ugly.

By: Buzzy

Buzzy — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 03:08:34 +0000

Okur is in NO means Lewis, if Gasol can get out to Lewis in time (doubtful) lewis will just pump fake and drive to the Hoop ,Okur never had that option cause he’s slow…… Gasol will have as much trouble guarding Lewis as Lewis will with guarding Gasol!!!.
The major concern is foul trouble… for both teams,
(howard, and Lewis for the Magic) (bynum and Gasol for LA)

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:06:46 +0000

Why Shaq will lose:

http://www.ocregister.com/video/index.php?bcpid=1127694947&bclid=1127690720&bctid=24954092001

By: Rod

Rod — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:20:31 +0000

We should have got the job done last year so let’s make up for it this year boys!!!!!!!

By: Colorado Dave

Colorado Dave — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 01:47:27 +0000

Excellent, mature analysis and comment on this site. As a lifelong Lakers fan in the Rockies, it was sweet to see the less than big league Nuggets meet their demise in Game 6. The upcoming Finals will be an intriquing series with several matchups to watch. In the end, Kobe’s drive and the team’s overall hunger will put them over the top. Lakers in 6 games. Ariza will be a revelation once again.

By: Mark Sigal

Mark Sigal — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:39:16 +0000

Well my take is less deeply analytical (to be clear, I love the analysis on this site) and more big picture:

1. The Lakers have repeatedly risen to the challenge this year when confronted with adversity; a tiger doesn’t magically change its stripes and this team is no paper tiger.

2. One manifestation of this toughness is that unlike past years, in ultra close games that come down to the final 2-4 minutes, the Lakers win those games consistently this year. Most of Orlando’s wins came down to the final handful of minutes, and the Lakers are a most resilient bunch at this time (not to mention Mr. Closer in Kobe).

3. Kobe has emerged as a true quarterback, something that he showed major glimpses of throughout the season, but came to full fruition against Denver. Not only does this make the Lakers a better team with more dimensions, but when it comes together for them, they are “scary good.”

3. This year the Lakers have exhibited what I call the Anaconda Squeeze, a stretch of the game (typically) between 3rd/4th quarters when they go into lock-down mode and squeeze the life out of the competition (usu. resulting in 21-7 types of runs). They did this to Denver down stretch in Game 5 and had a couple such runs in Game 6 that basically broke Denver’s will, and Denver was feeling every bit as confident as Orlando is right now.

That said, just as with Denver, it’s not hard to see a scenario where the Lakers lose, as the competition is playing on top of their game and is disciplined, patient and has a good scheme on both sides of the ball.

That said, my money is on the Lakers because of what they have shown me all year; their unity of purpose/hunger; the experience from last year; and because the one player that most disturbed the Lakers — Jameer Nelson — is unlikely to play, and even if he does, will be mega-rusty (I remember a similar return by Magic Johnson against Houston that did not end well).

Plus, as noted by Bill Bridges, we have been fortified by Houston/Denver in areas that are our historical weaknesses.

Btw, I have blogged on my take in a post called:

The Anaconda Squeeze: Why the Los Angeles Lakers Will Beat the Orlando Magic (http://bit.ly/kTZN9)

Check it out if interested.

Mark

By: Kurt

Kurt — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:34:42 +0000

Evan, both of those are a concern. For some reason, Gasol did not put up big numbers against Lewis. I don’t have access to those games to go back and watch them and pick them apart. But I think you still have to try to exploit the mismatch.

By: Evan

Evan — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:28:55 +0000

A little confused…What about Dwight getting the bigs into foul trouble? And how come Gasol had bad numbers against the magic this year?