| Spurs Have Better Team, But Lakers Have Best Player Authored by Brandon Hoffman - May 21, 2008 - 8:37 pm
| Current Featured Columns | | Merry Christmas, Raptors Fans The Raptors might not be playing good basketball right now, but there are plenty of things for Toronto fans to be thankful for this holiday season.
A Melo Behind The SuperstarsCarmelo Anthony has never been one of the league's most efficient offensive players.
 |
Maynor Using Utah’s Resources
Eric Maynor is an increasingly rare four-year, small college rookie. He sat down with RealGM to discuss how his first few weeks of NBA life has gone and what he has learned from Deron Williams and Jerry Sloan.
|
 |
Why LeBron To The Clippers Makes Sense
LeBron James already plays for a perennial underdog in Cleveland, but moving to the Clippers would allow him to do so in a huge market and with a core that will immediately compete for championships while also having an encouraging long term outlook.
|
 |
‘Home-Heavy Schedule’ Brings Question Marks
The Heat have been plagued by inconsistencies, making it difficult to determine how good they really are this season.
|
|
More from RealGM's Columnists
|
| |
While the cast of characters has changed somewhat since the early 2000 battles, Lakers guards Derek Fisher and Kobe Bryant have faced off against Spurs forwards Tim Duncan and Bruce Bowen, and guards Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili plenty over the years.
Los Angeles and San Antonio met one another in 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004.
The Spurs won in 1999 and 2003 and won the NBA championship in both seasons.
The Lakers won in 2001, 2002, and 2004. Los Angeles won the NBA championship in 2001 and 2002 and fell to the Detroit Pistons in 2004.
Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, and Tim Duncan took part in all five matchups. Tony Parker and Bruce Bowen arrived in 2001. Manu Ginobili was instrumental in San Antonio’s 2003 victory.
Los Angeles and San Antonio met four times in the 2007-2008 regular season and split the season series 2-2.
Game 1
@ San Antonio 107 Los Angeles 92
The Lakers entered as the league’s second-highest scoring team (108 points) but Bruce Bowen held Kobe Bryant to 18 points on 9-for-19 shooting (0-for-5 from the 3-point line) and scored 23 points (6-for-6 from the 3-point line) himself.
Game 2
@ Los Angeles 102 San Antonio 97
Duncan and Parker missed the game due to injury and yet the Spurs lost by just 5 points. Bryant had 30 points on 10-for-24 from the field.
Game 3
@ San Antonio 103 Los Angeles 91
Andrew Bynum was injured and the Lakers hadn’t traded for Pau Gasol. Bryant led the way with 29 points but committed 9 turnovers.
Game 4
@ Los Angeles 106 San Antonio 85
Manu Ginobili was injured. The Lakers played the best second half of the season in this contest. After the game Phil Jackson remarked, “What a half. We came out and played an exceptional second half,” Jackson said. “We were on our heels at the end of the first half, [Tony] Parker was jamming the ball down our throat and we couldn’t seem to find a way to stop him. I thought the second half we came out and made a good defensive stand and stopped penetration.”
Lamar Odom led the way with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Tony Parker paced the Spurs with 20 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists.
Matchups
Point Guard Advantage: Spurs
Derek Fisher is averaging 12 points and shooting 59% from the 3-point line but he doesn’t possess the lateral quickness to defend Tony Parker. Parker’s ability to turn the corner on the pick-and-roll has been a thorn in Phil Jackson’s side since 2002.
Shooting Guard Advantage: Lakers
It will be interesting to see if Phil Jackson places Kobe Bryant on Manu Ginobili full-time or hides him on Bruce Bowen for long stretches to avoid foul trouble. If Jackson decides to hide Bryant, expect Trevor Ariza to get plenty of minutes in this series. Ginobili will destroy Lakers swigmen Vladimir Radmanovic and Luke Walton. If Ariza is too rusty after being sidelined for months with a broken foot, Bryant will be forced to defend Manu.
Kobe will be defended by All-NBA defender Bruce Bowen. Bowen has lost a step and Kobe’s first step looks more explosive than it has the previous three NBA seasons. Bryant is averaging 33 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and is shooting 50% from the field.
Small Forward Advantage: Spurs
Radmanovic played very well against the Jazz. Vladi shot 41% from the 3-point line in that series and is 39% from beyond the arc in these playoffs. Bowen is limited offensively but he remains one of the NBA’s finest perimeter defenders.
Power Forward Advantage: Spurs
What more can one say about Tim Duncan? He’s the greatest power forward of all-time. Tim comes into this series as San Antonio’s third leading scorer in the playoffs (behind Parker and Ginobili) but will have a much easier time against Pau Gasol than he did versus Shaq and Tyson Chandler. Gasol has great length but he doesn’t have O’Neal or Chandler’s strength. Duncan scores most of his back-to-the-basket points after creating separation by initiating contact with the defender. Shaq and Tyson didn’t move. Pau will.
On the other side of the ball, the Spurs don’t have an answer for Lamar Odom. He’s too quick for Duncan, Fabricio Oberto, Kurt Thomas, or Robert Horry. Odom comes into this series averaging 16 points and leading the Lakers in rebounds with 11 a game.
Center Advantage: Lakers
After dominating the Nuggets in the first round, Gasol struggled at times versus the Utah Jazz. Mehmet Okur and Carlos Boozer were extremely physical with him. Despite that, he comes into the series averaging 20 points and shooting 57% from the field in the playoffs.
Bench Advantage: Spurs
The Lakers may be deeper but San Antonio’s bench was huge in their game 7 victory versus the Hornets.
After being sidelined for much of the season, Robert Horry hit two huge 3-pointers and seems to have awaken from his traditional regular season slumber. Michael Finley, Brent Barry, and Kurt Thomas can be depended upon as well.
Sasha Vujacic and Luke Walton are averaging 9 points a piece but Jordan Farmar has struggled and Ronny Turiaf hasn’t received very many minutes. Both of those guys will be called upon in this series. Farmar is the only Laker who has the foot-speed to stay with Parker and Turiaf is the Lakers best man-to-man interior defender.
X-factor: Lamar Odom
As I wrote above, the Spurs have no answer for him.
Coaching Advantage: Even
Robert Horry has played for both Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich. Winning multiple championships under each coach.
If anyone is capable of comparing the two, it’s him and he says Popovich is better:
“Phil wouldn’t yell at the top dogs,” Horry said. “Pop will yell at the top dogs, just like he yells at the bottom dogs. That’s the biggest key. And Pop preaches defense a little more than Phil.
“If you’d have given Pop all the talent Phil had, I think he’d have more rings than Phil.”
The Spurs have the better team.
But the Lakers have the best player.
San Antonio has an advantage at three of the five starting positions and a slight nod with their supporting cast. The Spurs were third in points allowed per 100 possessions this season. The Lakers were third in points scored per 100 possessions.
It’s the NBA’s most gifted offensive player versus perennial All-NBA defenders Bruce Bowen and Tim Duncan. I don’t think Kobe Bryant will be denied.
Kobe has faced the Tim Duncan led and Gregg Popovich coached Spurs defense five times in the playoffs. He was the leading scorer in four of those series — and in three of those four matchups — the Lakers advanced.
Kobe had Shaq then. He has Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom now.
When the Lakers acquired Gasol, Bryant said, “Now it’s time to walk the walk.”
Despite having won three NBA championships, this is what Bryant has been waiting for his entire career. Those teams were Shaq’s. This one is his.
They’ll go as far as he takes them.
Visit Brandon Hoffman's NBA blog, BallerBlogger.com
Feel free to contact Brandon via e-mail (ballerblogger@yahoo.com) with comments or questions |
