Lakers vs Nuggets - Thuggets fo life!!!!

[WayOutWest]

Unlike the Magic/Cavs series, I can see why people are picking the Nuggets.  The Nuggets are playing consistent-high-energy-playoff level basketball.  The Lakers are STILL in "on again/off again" mode.  I know the Celtics did the same thing last year BUT their defense was always something they could fall back on to pull out a game/series.

IMO the Lakers should have an easier time with the Nuggets front court because they are not as physical and only Nene likes to stay in the paint.  Kenyon of more of a perimeter guy with a tendency to crash the boards.  I don't think Billups can penetrate like Deron or Brooks so the Lakers defense should be able to stay in tact for the most part.  Obviously the Lakers are going to have a hard time dealing with the perimeter game and 3 point shooting of the Nuggets, the Lakers practically concede the wide open jump shot for the sake of packing it in the paint.  The series looks more like a "score-fest" and the Nuggets are one of the VERY few teams that can outscore the Lakers, but I still feel the Lakers have the advantage in a high scoring series.  The Lakers inside game is going to have to win this series cause Melo can outscore Kobe in any and every game. 

IMO this series goes 7 games with each team defending home court.

[westkoast]

Sorry but I just don't believe the Nuggets hype.  While I think they are much improved due to the leadership of Billups, I just don't see how they will be able to deal with the Lakers size in the middle.  Nene has problems guarding players in the post who are taller than he is.  Especially against the Lakers in 3 meetings this year.  So far in the playoffs they've played jump shooting teams.  Will they be able to make an adjustment from playing jump shooting teams to a team that has two guys who can operate in the paint?  I am going to say no.  I don't think it's reasonable to expect Nene to be able to deal with Gasol and Bynum (for 2 games lol)

The other thing is Kobe Bryant didn't look spectacular in this past series because the Rockets had two guys who play him better than anyone else.  The Nuggets have 0.  I don't quite think people realized just how important it was for the Rockets to have not 1 but 2 guys who can guard Kobe very well.  On the other hand Melo can be guarded by Ariza.  Artest was able to use his strength to deal with Ariza's defense but Melo is not built that way.

Honestly, call me a homer or whatever, but all the 'Lakers can't do this' 'Lakers are finished' talk is much easier to report and people eat it up than hearing 'The Lakers are going to the finals'  There is no drama in the later.  Doubting them does create something to talk about and a bit more 'drama' for the playoffs.

edit:  Melo is not going to out score Kobe in every game.  In fact I hope he tries to do that.

[Lurker]

The Nuggets became one of the top defensive teams in the league after the all-star break.  koast, you have to be kidding to think KMart is a perimeter player...he is a thug who lives to give hard fouls.  I wouldn't be surprised at all that he ends up with at least 1 flagrant.  The Nuggets are a vewry physical team that will give LA flashbacks to last year's finals.

Having said that I pick the Lakers in 7.  Only Billups has big game experience for the Nuggets.

[westkoast]

The Nuggets became one of the top defensive teams in the league after the all-star break.  koast, you have to be kidding to think KMart is a perimeter player...he is a thug who lives to give hard fouls.  I wouldn't be surprised at all that he ends up with at least 1 flagrant.  The Nuggets are a vewry physical team that will give LA flashbacks to last year's finals.

Having said that I pick the Lakers in 7.  Only Billups has big game experience for the Nuggets.

K-Mart being physical doesn't mean he scores in the paint on the regular....I never said anything about their strength in the post.  I talked about their inability to deal with height, not strength.

[Lurker]

The Nuggets became one of the top defensive teams in the league after the all-star break.  koast, you have to be kidding to think KMart is a perimeter player...he is a thug who lives to give hard fouls.  I wouldn't be surprised at all that he ends up with at least 1 flagrant.  The Nuggets are a vewry physical team that will give LA flashbacks to last year's finals.

Having said that I pick the Lakers in 7.  Only Billups has big game experience for the Nuggets.

K-Mart being physical doesn't mean he scores in the paint on the regular....I never said anything about their strength in the post.  I talked about their inability to deal with height, not strength.

KMart is not a scorer...he is their enforcer.  They don't care if he scores along as he bangs the hell out of Gasol.  And decapitates any guard who drives the lane too often.

[westkoast]

The Nuggets became one of the top defensive teams in the league after the all-star break.  koast, you have to be kidding to think KMart is a perimeter player...he is a thug who lives to give hard fouls.  I wouldn't be surprised at all that he ends up with at least 1 flagrant.  The Nuggets are a vewry physical team that will give LA flashbacks to last year's finals.

Having said that I pick the Lakers in 7.  Only Billups has big game experience for the Nuggets.

K-Mart being physical doesn't mean he scores in the paint on the regular....I never said anything about their strength in the post.  I talked about their inability to deal with height, not strength.

KMart is not a scorer...he is their enforcer.  They don't care if he scores along as he bangs the hell out of Gasol.  And decapitates any guard who drives the lane too often.

He is also undersized which comes back to my point that I don't think they can deal with the Lakers height.  Obviously no one on this team is 'strong' the same way Artest or K-Mart are.

They better hope he really beats up Pau Gasol with out getting fouls because he's giving up 4 inches ( not including his arms) to Pau Gasol in the paint/on the glass.

[Laker Fan]

I said it before and I will say it again, The Nuggets are a paper tiger. Nene has ZERO chance of impacting LA in the paint and while Martin is a thuggish beast, he is only a 6'9" beast and that is not enough for LA's front court, in fact, he is the only one remotely capable of defense against LA's size and they have no one to match LA's guard speed. Anthony isn't called MarshMelo for no reason, he is punk soft and will have trouble banging in the paint with the likes of Trevor and Bynum and if Odom will man up, not be intimidated by Martin's presence down low and drive the lane and display his James Wothyesque moves around the basket, Denver will be reeling by halftime every game. Their only hope is a perimeter, I say bring it on!

Billups has made these cats look better than they are, and he is their only x factor, but he is no speed merchant and that means Farmar and Brown will torch him on the offensive side of the court. I agree with Koast, let Anthony try to win it all on his scoring, the same thing applies as applies when Kobe tries that, except Kobe can close out a game, Anthony can't.

Lakers in 5.

[WayOutWest]

...except Kobe can close out a game, Anthony can't.

Lakers in 5.

I've read and heard many and ESPN article about Melo being the best closer in the game today, at least the most accurate clutch shooter in the game.  IMO Melo is just as tough to handle physically for Ariza as Artest.  Melo is a big strong SF, bigger and stronger than Pierce but not quite as strong as Artest.

I think the Lakers take this series as well.

[Lurker]

The Nuggets became one of the top defensive teams in the league after the all-star break.  koast, you have to be kidding to think KMart is a perimeter player...he is a thug who lives to give hard fouls.  I wouldn't be surprised at all that he ends up with at least 1 flagrant.  The Nuggets are a vewry physical team that will give LA flashbacks to last year's finals.

Having said that I pick the Lakers in 7.  Only Billups has big game experience for the Nuggets.

K-Mart being physical doesn't mean he scores in the paint on the regular....I never said anything about their strength in the post.  I talked about their inability to deal with height, not strength.

KMart is not a scorer...he is their enforcer.  They don't care if he scores along as he bangs the hell out of Gasol.  And decapitates any guard who drives the lane too often.

He is also undersized which comes back to my point that I don't think they can deal with the Lakers height.  Obviously no one on this team is 'strong' the same way Artest or K-Mart are.

They better hope he really beats up Pau Gasol with out getting fouls because he's giving up 4 inches ( not including his arms) to Pau Gasol in the paint/on the glass.

And those Laker big men absolutely, positively destroyed Scola, Landry and Hayes.  Which one of those are taller than 6'9"?

[westkoast]

The Nuggets became one of the top defensive teams in the league after the all-star break.  koast, you have to be kidding to think KMart is a perimeter player...he is a thug who lives to give hard fouls.  I wouldn't be surprised at all that he ends up with at least 1 flagrant.  The Nuggets are a vewry physical team that will give LA flashbacks to last year's finals.

Having said that I pick the Lakers in 7.  Only Billups has big game experience for the Nuggets.

K-Mart being physical doesn't mean he scores in the paint on the regular....I never said anything about their strength in the post.  I talked about their inability to deal with height, not strength.

KMart is not a scorer...he is their enforcer.  They don't care if he scores along as he bangs the hell out of Gasol.  And decapitates any guard who drives the lane too often.

He is also undersized which comes back to my point that I don't think they can deal with the Lakers height.  Obviously no one on this team is 'strong' the same way Artest or K-Mart are.

They better hope he really beats up Pau Gasol with out getting fouls because he's giving up 4 inches ( not including his arms) to Pau Gasol in the paint/on the glass.

And those Laker big men absolutely, positively destroyed Scola, Landry and Hayes.  Which one of those are taller than 6'9"?

So none of those guys got killed in game 3 5 or 7?

[Laker Fan]

Melo is a big strong SF, bigger and stronger than Pierce but not quite as strong as Artest.

Big and strong doesn't equal physical, nor does it make him tough, Anthony is soft, almost euro-soft. He may be a closer but I don't see the competitive edge in him there is in Kobe, that is the difference, at least in my opinion, we'll see soon enough.

[msc]

I like that all of the "pundits" are picking Denver.  I can't blame them.  The Lakers have shown their inconsistencies that plagued them all regular season in the playoffs too often.   

I like it though because I'm hopeful it will help fuel the Lakers fire.  I always accuse them of believing their own press clippings, so I'd rather have them being called out in the media versus lauded and predicted to coast to the Finals. 

I heard Mark Jackson on the radio today.  They replayed his comments from during the game where he picked the Nuggets to beat the Lakers.  They asked him if he was going to stick with his pick and he basically said that he thought the Nuggets would win unless the Lakers show up.  Geez.  That's so insightful.  Way to go out on a limb, Mark.  If the Lakers show up, they win, if they don't, they won't.  You know, I'm going to go with that prediction too. 

In all seriousness, I think this will be a tough series.  Denver has improved significantly since last season.  With the obvious addition of Billups, Nene back and playing his best ball, JR Smith scoring more consistently, etc.  They play much better D than they used to.  This is a team that has shown growth and improved during the season where the Lakers look like they're pretty much the same team they were in November.  Shoot, they're maybe worse, considering how Bynum was playing back then vs. now. 

I can argue Denver has yet to be challenged in the playoffs, but they beat their opponents by an average of 20.5 points.  That's legit and the sign of a team that is focused. 

I do think the Lakers match up better with Denver than Houston.  Denver doesn't have a super speedy point guard which has been the Lakers Achilles heal forever.  Scola is good.  This guy has incredible moves and footwork in the low post and can hit the open jumper from consistently.  I don't think Denver has a post player even close to as good as Scola offensively.  And while Houston was depleted, they play an aggressive defense first mentality and while Denver's D has improved, routinely giving up well over 100 points to Dallas isn't exactly the sign of a defensive masterpiece.  They want to get up and down the court and the Lakers can do well in that tempo as well and I think play better D than N.O. or Dallas. 

I'm going to pick the Lakers in 7.  I think between home court advantage and the league-wide conspiracy to get them to the Finals will be too much for the Nuggs to overcome. 

[westkoast]

Melo is a big strong SF, bigger and stronger than Pierce but not quite as strong as Artest.

Big and strong doesn't equal physical, nor does it make him tough, Anthony is soft, almost euro-soft. He may be a closer but I don't see the competitive edge in him there is in Kobe, that is the difference, at least in my opinion, we'll see soon enough.

He's played tougher this year than previous years but he's not a tough player.  Just because you put a flame up to a marshmellow and the outside gets a little tougher doesn't mean its not soft inside.   He is not physically tough.  He has more of a finesse game and likes to shoot jumpers.  Mentally he is not tough either.  He is rattled easily.  So...survey says he's not 'tough'

So far the only argument I've heard is based on the Lakers getting their defense exploited by mismatches that were already there for another team. Brooks, Scola, Artest were mismatches coming into the series regardless if Yao was in or not.  The Nuggets are playing solid basketball but they've played well against similar teams.  This Laker team is a different team than what they've faced so far.  They also had troubles with the Lakers over the past few years where the Rockets have played them well over the last 3.   IMO you can't base an entire argument that this Denver team will beat the Lakers on the fact they (the Lakers) had problems with a team that is much different than the Nuggets.

I think this series is not going to be easy but all this talk of Nuggets being favorites?  I know the Lakers are heavily disliked the world over but let's really talk basketball around here.  I'd be curious to hear why Skandery, Joe, Ted, Ziggy or/and Lurker (in more depth) why you feel the Nuggets will win.    Surely we can't leave it up to Marc Jackson right?

[rickortreat]

I wouldn't call the Nuggets the favorites in this series by any means.  They have a lot more to prove than the Lakers.

On the other hand, Carmello is a better post player than Scola, and Nene is much more physical than anyone on the Rockets including Artest.  The Lakers bigs looked pretty pathetic most of the time against Houston, but Denver is bigger and stronger than Houston without Yao.

Billups isn't super quick, so Fisher might be able to stay with him, on the other hand Billups is a crafy vet, and I can see him making Fisher look very foolish.

The thing that's keeping me from picking Denver is that they haven't been able to win agains the Lakers, but then again most of those games, Denver didn't have Chauncey.  We should know a lot more after the first game.

[WayOutWest]

Billups isn't super quick, so Fisher might be able to stay with him, on the other hand Billups is a crafy vet, and I can see him making Fisher look very foolish.

I highly doubt that, Farmar and Brown are another story.  It's the flip of Brooks, he makes Fisher look weak and Farmar had more success against him.  Billups will be the opposite, Fisher will have an easier time against Billups than Brooks.  I'm more concerned with the energy and speed the Denver front court will bring to the series.