Lakers won't make finals, says Robert Horry

[sanity]

Yeah, the way Mike Brown incorporates Nash into the offense should be under a microscope. I wouldn't even expect Kobe to average the most amount of points on their team now, not with how rediculously easy Nash -> Howard on the low block or on P&Rs will be with godly high efficiency.

[LakersSquad]

Yeah, the way Mike Brown incorporates Nash into the offense should be under a microscope. I wouldn't even expect Kobe to average the most amount of points on their team now, not with how rediculously easy Nash -> Howard on the low block or on P&Rs will be with godly high efficiency.

Mike Brown wont be calling the shots on the offense. Thats Eddie Jordans Job now so I have no doubt it can work. Jordan was able to get 29ppg,20.5ppg & 17.6ppg from his stars while coaching the wiz.

[Luigi]

silly will smith, antawn jameson coming out of the bench helps provide spark. steve blake and jordan hill are also not back ups.

Starters are more important than the bench in the playoffs. Starters increase their minutes in the playoffs.

[whocurrz]

If Splitter can take the next step and become full-fledged starting material I think this Spurs team matches up very well with the Lakers. Their bigs won't be able to score as much as LALs but Duncan and Splitter should be able to slow them down somewhat defensively. Plus I think the rest of the matchup favors the Spurs, and their ability to move the ball and hit the wide open shots that their ball movement gives them pretty much neutralizes the effect a defender like Howard can have on them. Plus Tony Parker and Manu getting into the lane to draw fouls, I just don't think the Lakers will be able to stop the Spurs offense without another perimeter defender and Kobe having to play great perimeter defense.

Last year the Spurs throttled them despite the huge advantage down low the Lakers had, and although Nash should help, Pops found ways to slow him down before. I think it could be a very tough series for both teams, and if the linefavoring the Lakers was very high, I would consider betting on the Spurs for a chance at big money.

lol Is there anyone you don't think matches up well with the Lakers?

What? Spurs, Heat and OKC are the only teams I've ever said match up well with them with a legit "chance" at beating them in a series. I guess Memphis matches up decently but I can't see them beating the Lakers. Where are you getting this from?

I have made similar posts about the Spurs, but that's because I think they're being slept on and truly believe they could match up with them. I think they match up with them better than OKC actually, but could also see OKC winning a series against them.

[DEEP3CL]

Where are all these super deep teams that win championships? A bench really only needs to be 2-3 players deep to be good. What are guys expecting all stars to come off the bench for these teams?

Because they don't know ball Stebo.....it's as simple as that. In the 80's benches were loaded, I would agree to this crazy notion if it were the 80's. Like you said you only need 2 maybe 3 very solid players off the bench. Come playoff time you cut the minutes of rotation players anyway. But guys are fascinated by being "deep".

[LakersSquad]

What? Spurs, Heat and OKC are the only teams I've ever said match up well with them with a legit "chance" at beating them in a series. I guess Memphis matches up decently but I can't see them beating the Lakers. Where are you getting this from?

I'm getting it from you making a statement like this. The spurs haven't really Matched up well vs the Lakers since we had Bynum and Gasol. Last season we was 1-2 vs them but Kobe missed two of those games.

If Splitter can take the next step and become full-fledged starting material I think this Spurs team matches up very well with the Lakers.

I get it from statements like this. IF you got to add an IF on a guy like Splitter then they don't match up well with the Lakers.

I have made similar posts about the Spurs, but that's because I think they're being slept on and truly believe they could match up with them. I think they match up with them better than OKC actually, but could also see OKC winning a series against them.

OKC I think they could be better we'll see next summer. But the spurs I don't think match up with them at all. Kobe & Nash cancels out Gino & Parker the same way Dwight cancels out Duncan. I'm just not seeing it.

[Bravenewworld]

I'm getting it from you making a statement like this. The spurs haven't really Matched up well vs the Lakers since we had Bynum and Gasol. Last season we was 1-2 vs them but Kobe missed two of those games.

OKC I think they could be better we'll see next summer. But the spurs I don't think match up with them at all. Kobe & Nash cancels out Gino & Parker the same way Dwight cancels out Duncan. I'm just not seeing it.

I trust the Spurs coaching staff to adjust to the Lakers far more then the Lakers staff to adjust to the Spurs and since their last title the Lakers have really been an iffy team. Their inconsistencies have really left me to question the team and how they view their competition. Nash against the Spurs does not have a good history, so im not sure how much value i can put on "Kobe & Nash cancels out Gino & Parker". Obviously Manu/Kobe is one hell of a match up that we all love seeing so there is definitely some validity there.
One thing the Lakers definitely have an advantage in is the youth of Howard. That destroys any kind of quality youth the Spurs have and at the end of the day i think that is what we saw happen to the Spurs last post season against the Thunder. Quality youth won out (which does not often happen in the P-O).

Im very interested to see how Nash and Howard fit in with them, its really hard to suggest they will not be a fantastic addition but whatever, we still need to see it before we proclaim anything. As a Thunder fan i am frightened a bit, but at the same time i can handle it and do see light in the way this Thunder team was constructed. In theory they should easily be able to handle the addition of Howard and Nash.

[LakersSquad]

I'm getting it from you making a statement like this. The spurs haven't really Matched up well vs the Lakers since we had Bynum and Gasol. Last season we was 1-2 vs them but Kobe missed two of those games.

OKC I think they could be better we'll see next summer. But the spurs I don't think match up with them at all. Kobe & Nash cancels out Gino & Parker the same way Dwight cancels out Duncan. I'm just not seeing it.

I trust the Spurs coaching staff to adjust to the Lakers far more then the Lakers staff to adjust to the Spurs and since their last title the Lakers have really been an iffy team. Their inconsistencies have really left me to question the team and how they view their competition. Nash against the Spurs does not have a good history, so im not sure how much value i can put on "Kobe & Nash cancels out Gino & Parker". Obviously Manu/Kobe is one hell of a match up that we all love seeing so there is definitely some validity there.
One thing the Lakers definitely have an advantage in is the youth of Howard. .

Nash holds his own vs Parker so I wouldn't worry about Popovich drawing up some plan to stop Nash because it's never happened. D12 usually outplays Duncan. Lakers had a lot of problems last season and some of them came from Mike Browns idea of how to run an offense, Its the reason Kobe went from 19 shots to 23. I can credit him for making us better defensively though.

[Stebo_SSK]

The elephant in the room that no one ever talks about is how well the Clippers play against OKC. Everyone always talks about LAL vs OKC but what happens if the Clips end up playing OKC in the playoffs? They beat them 3 out of times and 2 of those games OKC got blasted.

[LakersSquad]

The elephant in the room that no one ever talks about is how well the Clippers play against OKC. Everyone always talks about LAL vs OKC but what happens if the Clips end up playing OKC in the playoffs? They beat them 3 out of times and 2 of those games OKC got blasted.

Truth

[Day in the Life]

Clippers Lakers WCF. Heat Lakers Finals. Probably the best ratings ever.

[RatherUnique]

Miami didn't have a strong bench in their first year together, though.

Mike Miller had that crap on his shooting hand & Haslem was coming off of an injury & had one good game & faded into obscurity.

and thats why they didn't win

What does the third word in the title of this thread say?

[RatherUnique]

The Lakers can mix and match their 4 all-stars in so many ways it's insane. You can make 11 combinations with them:

Kobe/Gasol/Nash/Howard

Kobe/Gasol/Howard
Kobe/Gasol/Nash
Kobe/Nash/Howard
Nash/Gasol/Howard

Kobe/Gasol
Kobe/Howard
Kobe/Nash
Nash/Gasol
Nash/Howard
Gasol/Howard

All they need is two of their big 4 to be on the floor at the same time and any unit will be effective, preferably one of the guards with one of the bigs. The only time we should see only bench players is during blowouts.

That's exactly how MIA made the finals in '11 with an injured Miller & Haslem.

At least 2 of Wade/Bron/Bosh were always on the floor in the postseason.

You saw in the finals how Peja didn't even play much past game 1 because he would be coming in against either Bron or Bosh. This was a guy who averaged 25 mins/per game against LA in round 2

Starters play more in the playoffs anyway, so a bench's impact is mitigated unless you have legit starters like Harden/Manu coming in.

[Brooklyn_34]

I think people are missing the point....

He is commenting about the BENCH. He is saying that teams that go real deep have very good benches.

He is not talking about LA's starters.

A better bench will definitely help them.

Some are arguing that bench impact becomes mitigated during the playoffs--no sir, not true. Defenses are tighter in the playoffs. Even many elite players will see their efficiency drop. Every point counts. If you can have guys come off the bench and take a scoring load, that will make things SO MUCH easier. That's my take from watching BB for decades.

To be a "lock", LA will need some better bench scoring.

Their bench is thinned out, and has been for years now. Dallas made this embarrassingly clear in 2011.

Horry has a point.

[druggas]

Horry's still mad the Lakers didn't sign him when Malone and Peyton came back in 2004.