RealGM

Who wins in 7?

2009 Lakers (65-17)
G-Derek Fisher
G-Kobe Bryant
F-Trevor Ariza
F-Lamar Odom
C-Pau Gasol
Bench: Bynum, Farmar, Brown, Vujacic, Walton, Powell, Mbenga

2014 Spurs (62-20)
G-Tony Parker
G-Danny Green
F-Kawhi Leonard
F-Boris Diaw
C-Tim Duncan
Bench: Splitter, Belinelli, Mills, Baynes, Bonner, Daye, Joseph

Lakers in 5. That huge frontcourt with Bynum and Gasol blocking shots and Odom being so mobile and able to closeout on shooters and defend pick-n-rolls would have stymied San Antonio. SAS wouldn't have been nearly as successful posting Diaw/Duncan up and getting layups after closeouts. And Odom/Gasol would have abused Diaw on the offensive glass as well. That massive frontcourt dominating on defense and on the offensive glass would allow LA to control the pace of the game.

I think prime Kobe would do well against San Antonio's defense, too. Spurs are a good defensive team, and Leonard is tremendous defensively, but they'd need to focus a lot on stopping the big men. They'd need to choose to slow the bigs or Kobe. Can't have it both ways in my opinion.

Lakers. I think they were the best that season in running out 3 point FG percentage defense, some of the statistical geeks in here may have to check up on that one. Gasol actually plays Duncan well. LO is to long for Diaw. Ariza matches up well vs Leonard. Gasol , LO, Bynum should be able to pound them inside and you got Kobe who would take Leonard the young kid to school if they have him guarding him out on the perimeter one on one like they did Lebron. Lakers in 5

Spurs pretty handily. They have good defenders on Kobe/Gasol and their passing would destroy Lakers defense.

5, maybe 6 games.

Lakers in 6. The peak Kobe-Pau combo is insane, and then you add two huge frontcourt partners in Odom and Bynum, who dominate the offensive boards and contest shots. RAPM gives all the credit on defense that year to Odom, but I wouldn't say that's true, Gasol & Bynum were nice, lenghty defensive players, even tho Gasol wasn't as agile as in his Memphis days. They compare favorably to old-Duncan/Diaw/Splitter, despite Duncan and Splitter being the superior defensive players. Pau is just that better offensively at this point.

In the exterior, you can match up Ariza with Leonard without trouble. Peak Kobe is of course way better than this Ginóbili, and even better than playoff Parker. They can put Leonard on him, don't think Green can do much, but that's a mismatch waiting to happen.

They defended the 3 very well, too. Only real trouble I see for the Lakers is point guard play.

Lakers in 6.

A Lot of you people that are picking Spurs do not realize they were able to run through the NBA because there are no elite teams with size anymore.

The 2011 Mavs are the last team with decent size to win the title.

Gasol, Bynum and Odom is a monster front court.

When you have that sort of size down low it allows your perimeter defenders to play more aggressive defense because there is almost always a center in the game to back you up and correct your mistakes.

Every time the Spurs would blow by the Miami defenders they would either get to the rim or kick it out for a wide open three point shot. They were able to do that because Miami has very little size.

2005 Spurs vs 2009 Lakers is a better comparison.

That series would be a tossup.

Hmmm......I think this one is closer than the voting suggests. I nonetheless go with '09 Lakers; that was an awesome team. Killer front-court, Kobe obv playing very strong that year, too. Fisher could still reliably hit the trey (as could Vlad), so you get some nice floor spacing. They didn't have any significant weaknesses (not that the '14 Spurs did either, I guess).
I'll go with Lakers, but I think it's a tight 7-game series. EDIT: Really, I figure whoever has the HCA wins in 7 (if records are the same as in reality, that'd be the Lakers).

Is Bynum healthy?

Exodus wrote:Lakers. I think they were the best that season in running out 3 point FG percentage defense, some of the statistical geeks in here may have to check up on that one.

You are correct, the Lakers led the league in defensive 3pt FG PCT.

Lol, the 2009 Lakers had one of the 5 easiest title runs in the modern era. They literally didn't play against any standout teams.

Houston with Aaron Brooks as their best player, the Denver Nuggets and a young Magic team. They also weren't particularly dominant during their title run, either.

Bynum was nowhere near as effective as he was in the next few years, too.

Phil Jackson's vanilla system would get destroyed in today's era, too. The Lakers played an antiquated style of basketball that is obsolete in today's league. Spurs have way too many weapons, they probably win in 5.

Phil Jackson's Lakers teams have always struggled against ball movement and penetration. Fortunately for them, they rarely played against any quality perimeter talent with a competent frontcourt(including the 3-peat Lakers).

Rob Diaz wrote:Lol, the 2009 Lakers had one of the 5 easiest title runs in the modern era. They literally didn't play against any standout teams.

Houston with Aaron Brooks as their best player, the Denver Nuggets and a young Magic team. They also weren't particularly dominant during their title run, either.

Bynum was nowhere near as effective as he was in the next few years, too.

That Nuggets offense was spectacular. Melo, Billups, and Nene were a force.

The Magic were pretty good (great defense, good offense) especially in the playoffs. Sure they didn't beat any great teams but no one made a good series out of it other than Houston (Who had Battier, Artest, and Yao who are all better than Aaron Brooks).

Rob Diaz wrote:Phil Jackson's vanilla system would get destroyed in today's era, too. The Lakers played an antiquated style of basketball that is obsolete in today's league. Spurs have way too many weapons, they probably win in 5.

Phil Jackson's Lakers teams have always struggled against ball movement and penetration. Fortunately for them, they rarely played against any quality perimeter talent with a competent frontcourt(including the 3-peat Lakers).

This is when I realized you must be trolling. No one who's ever seen the Triangle would call it a vanilla system. And surely no one would say a team from 2009 is outdated.

Taking the 09 Lakers. Too much size, near peak Kobe & Gasol, and the team had good depth. 6 games.

2009 Lakers are incredibly overrated. Played some awful teams on the way to a title:

-a weak Jazz team dealing with injuries all year
-Yao-less Rockets team who's best player was Aaron Brooks...and they needed seven games to beat them
-a George Karl Nuggets team. A joke of a coach who's only made it out of the first round once in the eight years he coached the Nuggets. Best players were chuckers like Melo and JR Smith
-a Jameer-less Magic team in the Finals who's two best scorers were Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewi

If Aaron Brooks and the Rockets could frustrate them the way they did, I see no reason why a superior team like the '14 Spurs wouldn't beat them in five or six games.

LA in 6. D-Wade, LeBron (at times) and the rest of the rotation played horrible perimeter and post defense. The Lakers size and shot-blocking also prevents SA from posting up and slashing the way they did in the Finals. Kobe would also go off on San Antonio as he usually does while Gasol is much tougher to handle down low than any Miami big. Wade sucked hard. I don't see any Laker falling off like that.

I don't think Kobe has ever lost to the spurs in the playoffs with a good supporting cast around him. Kobe is the one player that would always destroy the spurs

Depends on which Lakers show up. The ones vs the Rockets or the ones vs the Magic? But then again the Spurs were much better than both Denver and Orlando.