Spurs vs. Lakers in Western Conference Finals

[shobe_81]

Who Wins in a 7 games Western Conference Finals Series?

Spurs Roster:

Coach: Gregg Popovich

Starting 5: I would suppose Manu starts (since he is right now) even though Finley could, and Kurt Thomas starts for Match-up purposes.

PG: Tony Parker
SG: Manu Ginobili
SF: Bruce Bowen
PF/C: Tim Duncan
C/PF: Kurt Thomas

Bench & Reserves:
Damon Stoudamire / Jacque Vaughn
Michael Finley
Ime Udoka
Matt Bonner / Robert Horry
Fabricio Oberto / Ian Mahinmi

Lakers Roster:

Coach: Phil Jackson

Starting 5:

PG: Derik Fisher
SG: Kobe Bryant
SF: Lamar Odom
PF: Pao Gasol
C: Andrew Bynum (if he gets back healthy this season and plays)

Bench/Reserves: They are very versatile at who plays PG/SG/SF from Bench so I'll just list them at whichever position

Jordan Farmar
Sasha Vujacic
Trevor Ariza / Luke Walton / Vladimir Radmanovic
Ronny Turiaf
Chris Mihm / D-Mbenga

Key Match-ups/Questions:

How will Lakers attain Tony Parker because Quick PG speed, & penetration & kick (aka Brokeback Mountain according to PJackson) is the Lakers weakness

How will Spurs defend Kobe Bryant now that he has Gasol & Bynum inside? As great as Bruce Bowen's defense is, they need more than 1 guy to defend Kobe. I do think the Addition of Kurt Thomas helps on defense.

IMO:
Parker > Fisher
Kobe > Manu
Odom > Bowen/Finely
Duncan > Gasol
Bynum <=>? Thomas

I think Lakers win in Game 7 depending on how Kobe performs (facilitating the offense and staying away from hurting his Pinky).

[lukeridenour]

couple reason why i like spurs, no one on the lakers can stop duncan, no one on the lakers can contain parker and ginobili, spurs bench is superior because of experience, spurs in general has a great deal of experience, bowen is a fine option defensively but were about to see more of udoka(the man lebron said gave him most problems defensively).

[RoxFan08]

Geez, can we wait for the playoffs please? More than 5 threads a day concerning the Lakers greatness on this board. It's getting old.

[hermes]

boy i'm a laker fan
and i'm getting a little tired of these lakers threads as well

[Griever24]

^^ this thread isn't on the Lakers greatness at all .... it would seriously be a great matchup and could go either way in my opinion ...

[LALakers4ever]

Kobe > Duncan in the playoffs

LAKERS FTW!

[jzmagik]

Lakers in 4.

[dm17415]

Kobe > Duncan in the playoffs

LAKERS FTW!

Duncan's 4 rings will disagree with that statement.

[LiquidFire]

i think i hate every single laker fan now. no offense tho.

[HarlemHeat37]

I want to see this matchup..I don't want the easier matchup for my team, I want the best, which happens to be the Lakers right now..I want to see Kobe and Fisher crying on the bench like they did in 2003..

it's a pretty even matchup IMO..Duncan and Kobe are going to have the same advantages IMO..Duncan faces 2 solid defenders in Gasol and Bynum, while Kobe is going to go up against 2 capable defenders in Bowen and Udoka..both are going to have their hands full defensively, with Duncan guarding Gasol or Bynum, and Kobe guarding Ginobili..

Parker will have an advantage over Fisher, and I take it that Odom will have the advantage, if Manu is guarding him..

Kurt Thomas was definitely a trade that needed to be made to counter the Lakers duo up front..he is a solid post defender, and he'll be able to put a body on one of the guys up front..he can make the mid-range J consistently, Oberto too, which will take one of the Lakers front court players out of the lane..

LA might have the best bench in the NBA, which will be a nice asset..Spurs bench is good too, but not as good..both teams are full of shooters..coaching is even, while the Spurs have an advantage with chemistry and experience, although I don't think the Lakers will have a problem in that regard..

it'll be interesting to see how Bynum responds from his injury, because that will be a major factor if this series were to happen IMO..difficult to pick..

[MT1983]

This thread will get really ugly.

Gotta go with the Spurs. They've got the experience and know-how that the Lakers don't have. They're also one of a handful of teams that have the personel to contain the Laker 'juggernaut'. Also, the Lakers still don't defend all that well. They give up 100+ points pretty consistently. You gotta go back a long way to find a team that gave up over 100 ppg and won the title.

[at87on]

Kobe > Duncan in the playoffs

LAKERS FTW!

Duncan 4 rings and 3 Finals MVPs and Kobe inability to get out of the first round post-Shaq would say otherwise.

[shobe_81]

Why are some people getting Butt-hurt from this thread "OMG another Lakers Thread"!

This can be a very good series, the Match-ups are great, the coaching & overall team success. I'd sure rather watch this series than the Lakers v. Suns because this one is more competitive.

If Kurt Thomas performs well, I think Spurs are legit at winning the series.

I think SUN April 13 will be a statement game from either Lakers or Spurs when they face each other because of the addition of Gasol and Thomas.

[shobe_81]

-= original quote snipped =-



Duncan 4 rings and 3 Finals MVPs and Kobe inability to get out of the first round post-Shaq would say otherwise.

I don't think he was being fully serious!

And BTW, Kobe has Gasol & Bynum now, remember they also got rid of Smush, Cook, and Kwame Brown!

[LALakers4ever]

-= original quote snipped =-



Duncan 4 rings and 3 Finals MVPs and Kobe inability to get out of the first round post-Shaq would say otherwise.

99' Spurs win
01' Kobe destroys the Twin Towers
02' Kobe leads 3 comebacks to overtake the Spurs
03' Spurs make Kobe & Fish cry
04' Kobe drops 42 after court, and Fish follows up with 0.4

Lakers 3 wins
Spurs* 2 wins

[Phil Jackson]

The Lakers will win because they have Kobe Bryant.

[Raptors90102]

I think the WCF will involve the Spurs and Suns.. Lakers will need another year to really get on track completely. They'll have to make huge adjustments when Bynum comes back and that might be bit of a problem. Besides, their front court can't contain Tim Duncan (quite frankly, no one can) and Ginobli can be a real pain in the ass to defend.

Spurs will win their 5th this year, book it. As much as you guys hate it, its going to be a Pistons vs Spurs finals.

[at87on]

-= original quote snipped =-


99' Spurs win
01' Kobe destroys the Twin Towers
02' Kobe leads 3 comebacks to overtake the Spurs
03' Spurs make Kobe & Fish cry
04' Kobe drops 42 after court, and Fish follows up with 0.4

Lakers 3 wins
Spurs* 2 wins

How many of those Lakers wins were without Shaq?

[shobe_81]

Spurs will win their 5th this year, book it. As much as you guys hate it, its going to be a Pistons vs Spurs finals.

I can only dream

*sigh*... Spurs are fun to watch BUT when you put Spurs Vs. Pistons, it becomes a dead Half-Court battle and then it gets really boring.

[The Laker Kid]

I'm starting to hate the Laker fans for starting threads to make them "feel better". Geez guys I know we have a formidable team, but these Laker feel-good threads is getting out of hand

Can't we just wait til the postseason?