Put away the Puppets, let the real contest begin!

[westkoast]

Looking back at the Lakers success this year it's critical that Odom have a good series.  It would be really nice if Bynum could contribute and if Fisher could get back his shooting eye then the Lakers would be deadly.

Game 1 is going to be exciting, I feel the same thrill as I did before game 5 vs Denver.

Me too.  This week has inched along due to anticipation for the first game.  Guess it doesn't help that work has been super slow and I've been on this board arguing for the past few days.

[westkoast]

Rick,  still a 'nightmare' match up?  Is Kobe really going to be an easier cover than Lebron James?

[WayOutWest]

Rick,  still a 'nightmare' match up?  Is Kobe really going to be an easier cover than Lebron James?

I was surprised that the Magic flinched first and tried to matchup with the Lakers.  IMO Lewis was causing a lot of problems for Gasol on offense, and that was with Lewis not hitting many shots.  On the flip, Gasol was having his way with Lewis in the paint, but he to was also missing some shots he typically makes.  IMO part of the reason the Magic were forced to matchup with the Lakers was becuase Dwight needed help on the boards and he was not getting it from Lewis and Hedo.

Petrius is the WEAKEST defender that Kobe has faced in the playoffs.  After watching him guard LeBron I thought he might do ok vs Kobe but Kobe is way too quick for him, plus the best thing Petrius can do is force Kobe to play on the perimeter.  The problem with making Kobe a perimeter player is that is what Kobe WANTS!  The Magic are going to have to double Kobe and that's going to become a big problem if the Laker role players continue to play they way they've played in this years playoffs.

On the flip, the Lakers don't seem to need to double Dwight.  I didn't know that Dwight does not like to spin baseline since I've seen him do it in this years playoffs, but the Lakers dared him to spin baseline and the first time they did it he got to the rim.  I was a little upset that Bynum was so overplaying him for the middle of the paint BUT that turned out to be the right move.  Dwight did not go baseline very often and it only worked for him once.  Dwight did get the Lakers into foul trouble so that's something they are going to have to work on, some analyst are saying that the Lakers frontline, expecially Bynum, need to use their fouls smarter and conceed some baskets.  That is a fine theory if the game is close in the end but you never know how the game is going to look like in the 4th.  In game one fouling Dwight like they did was a good move because he never got going and the game turned into a blowout.

[msc]

Well, it is only one game, so I'm not going to celebrate yet, but the Lakers are playing at a high level and have been for the past three games.  With this team, I'm never confident, knowing full well they can come out on Sunday and lay an egg.  

The Magic missed some open shots, no doubt, but it's the old live by the three die by the three adage.  If they're not hitting those they're done.  That is not a successful recipe in the playoffs.  

The Magic will no doubt play better and I expect them to come back strong on Sunday.  They have no one that can contain Kobe.  Boston as a team, and Pierce and Posey individually, did a fantastic job making Kobe's life miserable in last season's Finals, Orlando just doesn't have the personnel or the team D to do that.  Kobe will not let this team lose this year.  

[westkoast]

Well, it is only one game, so I'm not going to celebrate yet, but the Lakers are playing at a high level and have been for the past three games.  With this team, I'm never confident, knowing full well they can come out on Sunday and lay an egg.  

The Magic missed some open shots, no doubt, but it's the old live by the three die by the three adage.  If they're not hitting those they're done.  That is not a successful recipe in the playoffs.  

The Magic will no doubt play better and I expect them to come back strong on Sunday.  They have no one that can contain Kobe.  Boston as a team, and Pierce and Posey individually, did a fantastic job making Kobe's life miserable in last season's Finals, Orlando just doesn't have the personnel or the team D to do that.  Kobe will not let this team lose this year.  

I am not celebrating by any means but I wanted to ask Rick why this is a nightmare match up for the Lakers but not vice versa....

Clearly the Lakers are a nightmare match up for the Orlando Magic. 

[msc]

Well, it is only one game, so I'm not going to celebrate yet, but the Lakers are playing at a high level and have been for the past three games.  With this team, I'm never confident, knowing full well they can come out on Sunday and lay an egg.  

The Magic missed some open shots, no doubt, but it's the old live by the three die by the three adage.  If they're not hitting those they're done.  That is not a successful recipe in the playoffs.  

The Magic will no doubt play better and I expect them to come back strong on Sunday.  They have no one that can contain Kobe.  Boston as a team, and Pierce and Posey individually, did a fantastic job making Kobe's life miserable in last season's Finals, Orlando just doesn't have the personnel or the team D to do that.  Kobe will not let this team lose this year.  

I am not celebrating by any means but I wanted to ask Rick why this is a nightmare match up for the Lakers but not vice versa....

Clearly the Lakers are a nightmare match up for the Orlando Magic. 

Totally agree, westkoast. 

I don't think Orlando has been challenged in the playoffs until now.  Cleveland's supporting cast completely disappeared and cowered under the big lights of the ECF allowing Orlando to essentially play 5 on 1.  They went seven games against a Boston team that was not only without Garnett, but Pierce and Allen all but disappeared as well.  You can't tell me Turkoglu's defense is so great that he shut down Paul Pierce.  No, Pierce was horrible in that series and I have no idea why, but it wasn't stellar D. 

The Lakers are a match up problem for everyone.  They have the best offensive player in the game and two, almost three, athletic seven footers and a fantastic wing defender in Ariza.  If they play their game, they're a match up nightmare for anyone.

If anything, Houston is a tougher matchup for the Lakers.  They have two guys that can give Kobe fits.  They play excellent team defense.  They have a super speedy point guard who can dish and score.  They have very physical bangers down low that give our bigs fits.  Howard's a great shot blocker and rebounder, but it's really just him down low.  Their forwards think they're guards out there shooting three's on the perimeter and I guess not rebounding is part of their guard like play as well. 

[rickortreat]

It wasn't the Lakers defense that made Orlando shoot that way.  LA's offense was ok, but aside from Kobe it wasn't fantastic, it only looked that way because the Magic shot under 30% from the floor.  That's a real outlier from a statistical perspective. It's only an issue if it happens again.

LA's rebounding edge is a result of all those missed shots, and the fact that the Magic do not stay and rebound, but run back on defense on a miss. Not hitting outside shots most of the game killed them and allowed the Lakers to get and maintain a huge lead.

46% from the floor isn't that great. Consider that the Magic got to the line for 11 more shots and had 4 more steals.  Turnovers were equal.

The addition of Jameer should help as the series goes on and he gets into better condition.  Maybe Stan should shorten the time he's out there until he can manage better.  They shouldn't need to rely on him to create their offense, he adds an extra dimension, but it's something that Hedo and Lewis do as well. 

Really the Magic played fine in the first quarter, and should have kept playing the same way, getting into the paint and scoring. They got too many open looks from the outside, and settled for them instead of continuing to break down the Lakers interior defense.  The Lakers have no answer for Howard, and couldn't stop him. It seems to me, the Magic had everything going the way they needed but couldn't hit a shot. I doubt very much that they will continue to miss from the floor like that. They could have played the same game and made 40% of their three's and been right in it.

[msc]

Really the Magic played fine in the first quarter, and should have kept playing the same way, getting into the paint and scoring. They got too many open looks from the outside, and settled for them instead of continuing to break down the Lakers interior defense.  The Lakers have no answer for Howard, and couldn't stop him. It seems to me, the Magic had everything going the way they needed but couldn't hit a shot. I doubt very much that they will continue to miss from the floor like that. They could have played the same game and made 40% of their three's and been right in it.

Isn't that part of the problem though for Orlando?  Live by the 3.  I don't care how good of a three point shooting team you are, the three point shot is a lower % shot than a shot from or near the paint.  The Lakers dominated points in the paint and that wins games more often than not, especially in the playoffs.  I think we've all said all along if Orlando knocks down their 3's they're going to win, if they don't they lose.  They didn't last night.  Part of that might have been jitters.  None of these guys have been there before ... that does matter.  Rarely does a team do well in the playoffs and/or Finals until they've climbed the ladder and taken a few lumps along the way.  Orlando's still young and getting there, but they didn't look confident last night.  The Lakers got their butts handed to them in the Finals last year and that has toughened them up some and they've used it as motivation.  It's part of the process for any team. 

Or maybe they just had an off game.  That happens.  I'm going to reiterate that I think Orlando comes back tough on Sunday and hit a lot more of those open three's.  They can't play much worse than they did last night. 

[Laker Fan]

Really the Magic played fine in the first quarter, and should have kept playing the same way, getting into the paint and scoring. They got too many open looks from the outside, and settled for them instead of continuing to break down the Lakers interior defense.  The Lakers have no answer for Howard, and couldn't stop him. It seems to me, the Magic had everything going the way they needed but couldn't hit a shot. I doubt very much that they will continue to miss from the floor like that. They could have played the same game and made 40% of their three's and been right in it.

Really Rick? You were the one saying this 3 point shooting team will kill LA because they are so good at it, now you're saying they should break down LA's interior defense and go inside, because LA has no answer for Howard? The Howard who never got going and never had an impact last night? Seems to me putting him on the line and disrupting his game in the post pretty much did  stop him.

I've already said it in this thread but allow me to repeat myself, teams who live by the 3, DIE by the 3. Orlando had great looks but LA also did a decent job keeping them from getting any kind of rhythm, best defense they've played in a while. On offense LA did have 3 in double figures and 3 with 9 point each so they weren't exactly standing around watching Kobe play, and he dished 8 assists by himself, which was more than DOUBLE anyone on either team. Gasol is going to have a field day with Lewis if this is the way the Magic choose to defend him, this cat cannot stop him from scoring, and Van Gundy is going to be forced to adjust and bring Howard out to defend him, game over if no help defense can get to Odom or Ariza after Gasol passes out of the coverage.

You are right this is a matchup nightmare, problem is, it is for Orlando, not LA, judging from last night's game.



 

[westkoast]

I was thinking about this earlier....

Why doesn't Orlando try taking a few steps in from the 3?  This is not like the Cleveland series where 4 other players on the court were not a threat and they did not have to play tough defense on them.  All 5 Laker players need to be guarded because they can score.  Pretty much everyone not named Pietrius got to take a lot of plays off and watch Lebron operate.  The legs were not quite used as much and so they had plenty of spring in them to hoist up 3s.  I think an adjustment should be made.  Not only will their shooting % shoot up simply because they are closer to the rim but the Lakers are going to expect them to shoot a 3.  Instead of semi-open 3s they could get wide open mid range shots.  If someone comes out to help, easy lay up/dunk.  You will live and DIE by the 3 but you can live and not die by wide open mid range jumpers.  They have enough shooters to make that a legit plan of attack with Dwight still working in the paint.

Hopefully Stan Van Gundy is spending more time talking to his team about that then he is talking to the media about point guard minutes.  That's not even an exploitable spot with out Nelson being healthy so I don't see why he's focused on that so much.  He spent more time talking to the media about who will start, what his thoughts were on the PG situation than he did trying to tell his team not to give up on the game in hand.  No wonder his team seemed unfocused, he himself did not seem that focused.

[Joe Vancil]

I was thinking about this earlier....

Why doesn't Orlando try taking a few steps in from the 3?  This is not like the Cleveland series where 4 other players on the court were not a threat and they did not have to play tough defense on them.  All 5 Laker players need to be guarded because they can score.  Pretty much everyone not named Pietrius got to take a lot of plays off and watch Lebron operate.  The legs were not quite used as much and so they had plenty of spring in them to hoist up 3s.  I think an adjustment should be made.  Not only will their shooting % shoot up simply because they are closer to the rim but the Lakers are going to expect them to shoot a 3.  Instead of semi-open 3s they could get wide open mid range shots.  If someone comes out to help, easy lay up/dunk.  You will live and DIE by the 3 but you can live and not die by wide open mid range jumpers.  They have enough shooters to make that a legit plan of attack with Dwight still working in the paint.

Hopefully Stan Van Gundy is spending more time talking to his team about that then he is talking to the media about point guard minutes.  That's not even an exploitable spot with out Nelson being healthy so I don't see why he's focused on that so much.  He spent more time talking to the media about who will start, what his thoughts were on the PG situation than he did trying to tell his team not to give up on the game in hand.  No wonder his team seemed unfocused, he himself did not seem that focused.

Because, in this case, a perimeter 2-pointer is just as bad as a 3-pointer, if not worse.  You have to shoot an even higher percentage of long-range 2's to make it even with the 3, and either way, you're still stuck with outside shots against a better-rebounding team.  Not to mention, long-range 2's don't give Howard as much room to operate.

Orlando is an interesting team, and they've got a lot of good pieces and a style that so far, has worked for them.  HOWEVER, I don't feel they've really faced the multi-faceted threat that the Lakers are yet, and they've not yet ramped up to play such a team.

I would get into that (l)Eastern Conference/W(b)estern Conference thing again, but I've already seen folks talking about this being the first real challenge Orlando has faced.  I don't entirely agree, because Orlando did knock off Boston and Cleveland, but in doing so, they really exposed a lot of weaknesses in Boston and Cleveland.  Has anyone *REALLY* exposed an LA weakness yet?  Well...perhaps...their flip-the-switch mentality.  But that's about it.