The 2009 NBA Finals Thread...Lakers win series (4-1)

[TheCount]

Is it week 1 yet?

Is that what we decided? I don't even remember.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Ever heard of Skip To My Lou?

Lord knows Fisher won't be a problem for him to dribble circles around.

Also Gasol can hit the jumper occasionally but he's not a jump shooter by any stretch, most of his offense comes from posting up. I don't think there's a way to neutralize Howard defensively, Illguskas took a bunch of shots away from the basket and wasn't able to do it but overall, the Lakers are certainly better defensively than the Cavs and unlike the Cavs that have run their entire offense through Lebron, Phil doesn't allow the Lakers to just give the ball to Kobe and stand at the corners, watching him work.

And Slate, why aren't you rocking your sig? Not going to honor your word now that you've witnessed the horror?

Tyronn Lue? I thought we were having a serious conversation here. My bad.

Gasol is shooting 56% from the field. Hey can shoot the 18 to 20 foot jumper. He's very good in the post but he can shoot the jump shot as well. That means that if he moves out on the parimeter, you have to honor him. It doesn't mean that he's a jump shooter. There is a difference but where Howard is concerned, it doesn't matter. Howard will have to play Gasol, even if he goes outside. That means that Kobe, Ariza and Odom can all drive the basket. All of them can put the ball on the floor and none of the Orlanda match-ups can stop that. If Howard is under the basket, then it's much tougher but if he has to play Gasol outside, then it's going to be much tougher for Orland to prevent any of those guys from taking it to the hole or pulling up for the short jumper.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

So Bynum is just going to be a foul machine? lol wow so he's completely out of the game plans I guess. Odom is a terrible defender. He's soft and can easily get beaten off the dribble. The Magic cause you to scramble on defense and their ball movement kills you.

I think you'll see Bynum play a lot fewer minutes in this series. Odom typically plays the small forward. In this series, he probably plays the PF. The matchup that will be more difficult for Odom, IMO, is down low. I don't see him having too much issue with the PF putting it on the deck and taking him to the hole.

Orlando shot right over Cleveland. They won't be able to do that with the Lakers. You wan't to say that ball movement with Orlando is devistating? OK. We'll see.

 

[kev8822]

Should be a great series with lots of close games. LA wins the PG matchup the less PJ plays Fisher. Brown has been FAR better on both ends. So has Farmar. Fisher has played so bad, you would think he is trying to throw games.

Lewis will try and take Lamar off the dribble and likely have some success, but Odom will post him up with incredible ease. It's going to force Dwight to double on Odom wich will lead to easy baskets for cutting Lakers like Ariza, and Gasol.

I think the Lakers win in 7 if they win game 1. I think they win in 6 if they win the first 2 games.

If the Lakers play like they did in game 6 against Denver this will be a short series. But my Lakes are SO UP AND DOWN since the Bynum injury. If he was playing like he did before he got injured (26/13/2.5) this would be a romp. The kid right now looks lost mentally and physically.

Hopefully the week off will help Lamar's back also.

 

[TheCount]

Tyronn Lue? I thought we were having a serious conversation here. My bad.

Gasol is shooting 56% from the field. Hey can shoot the 18 to 20 foot jumper. He's very good in the post but he can shoot the jump shot as well. That means that if he moves out on the parimeter, you have to honor him. It doesn't mean that he's a jump shooter. There is a difference but where Howard is concerned, it doesn't matter. Howard will have to play Gasol, even if he goes outside. That means that Kobe, Ariza and Odom can all drive the basket. All of them can put the ball on the floor and none of the Orlanda match-ups can stop that. If Howard is under the basket, then it's much tougher but if he has to play Gasol outside, then it's going to be much tougher for Orland to prevent any of those guys from taking it to the hole or pulling up for the short jumper.

No, not Tyrone Lou.

I'd actually like to know where you got that 56% jump shot number, I was looking last week for a place that separates post points from jump shots when calculating percentage and couldn't find one.

Yeah, you have to defend Gasol, but you think other teams haven't tried to pull Howard away from the basket all year? I mean I don't know what you consider "outside", but if Gasol is trying to drag Howard out by taking the ball 15 feet from the basket, seems like that hurts them as much as the Magic, I don't think that's a good plan.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

I'll completely admit that I'm very much anti-Lakers. I'll root anyone against them, thus I'm hoping the Magic destroy them. I'd love to see Kobe lose a second straight finals. That would be hilarious.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

No, not Tyrone Lou.

I'd actually like to know where you got that 56% jump shot number, I was looking last week for a place that separates post points from jump shots when calculating percentage and couldn't find one.

Yeah, you have to defend Gasol, but you think other teams haven't tried to pull Howard away from the basket all year?

I did not seperate the shots taken in the paint from all shots. I simply said that he shoots 56% from the field. However, here is a link that breaks it down just a bit, as of 4/16/09.

http://www.82games.com/0809/FGSORT7.HTM

Gasol shooting 46% from the field and 64% from the paint.

 

[SLATEmosphere]

Is that what we decided? I don't even remember.

Ya because you wanted all the newbies to look at it.

 

[SLATEmosphere]

I think you'll see Bynum play a lot fewer minutes in this series. Odom typically plays the small forward. In this series, he probably plays the PF. The matchup that will be more difficult for Odom, IMO, is down low. I don't see him having too much issue with the PF putting it on the deck and taking him to the hole.

Orlando shot right over Cleveland. They won't be able to do that with the Lakers. You wan't to say that ball movement with Orlando is devistating? OK. We'll see.

shot right over Cleveland? LOL did you even watch the series. Magic had the Cavs scrambling on defense and getting transition three's by ball movement. They got WIDE open shots. Lakers D is not fundamentally sound at all. I just worry that their shots will be ice cold for the first two games because of the long break. They've never waited 6 days to play a game before this season. The only hope for the Lakers is for the Magic to just be ice-cold.

 

[TheCount]

I did not seperate the shots taken in the paint from all shots. I simply said that he shoots 56% from the field. However, here is a link that breaks it down just a bit, as of 4/16/09.

http://www.82games.com/0809/FGSORT7.HTM

Gasol shooting 46% from the field and 64% from the paint.

Ah, thank you for the site sir.

46% is definitely respectable. I just don't know that taking your bigmen away from the basket is a good plan. It screws up position for rebounds and makes rotations to the perimeter easier for the other team and unless he's way out there, Dwight is athletic enough to recover.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

shot right over Cleveland? LOL did you even watch the series. Magic had the Cavs scrambling on defense and getting transition three's by ball movement. They got WIDE open shots. Lakers D is not fundamentally sound at all. I just worry that their shots will be ice cold for the first two games because of the long break. They've never waited 6 days to play a game before this season. The only hope for the Lakers is for the Magic to just be ice-cold.

Yes I did and I will go further and say that most of the outside shooting did not come off of transition. I mean, if that's what you saw, OK, but that's not what I saw. I guess we'll see what happens. I don't know how you can say that the Lakers defense is not sound. I guess I would ask you why you believe this?

 

[SLATEmosphere]

Yes I did and I will go further and say that most of the outside shooting did not come off of transition. I mean, if that's what you saw, OK, but that's not what I saw. I guess we'll see what happens. I don't know how you can say that the Lakers defense is not sound. I guess I would ask you why you believe this?

I didn't say that most of their three's came off transition. It's either transition OR breaking down the defense by penetration.

 

[SLATEmosphere]

If Gasol is taking 10-15 foot jump shots you can kiss this series goodbye for the Lakers. I'll take that all day over Gasol doing his girly left hook shot over 6"9 C's and PF's.

 

[NextGenBoys]

If Gasol is taking 10-15 foot jump shots you can kiss this series goodbye for the Lakers. I'll take that all day over Gasol doing his girly left hook shot over 6"9 C's and PF's.

I'm sorry but I take anything you say basketball related with a grain of salt.

You give Gasol space on 10-15 footers and the Lakers sweep the series. Thats a main part of his game is his midrange jumper.

Do you watch basketball?

 

[NextGenBoys]

I didn't say that most of their three's came off transition. It's either transition OR breaking down the defense by penetration.

No. They didnt. Again, do you watch basketball?

Most of their three's game off of ball reversal due to the presence of Howard inside.

Inside-Outside game is the main catalyst of Orlando's 3-point shooting.

...Basketball is my main sport, so I can do this all day.

 

[SLATEmosphere]

I'm sorry but I take anything you say basketball related with a grain of salt.

You give Gasol space on 10-15 footers and the Lakers sweep the series. Thats a main part of his game is his midrange jumper.

Do you watch basketball?

:laugh2: Sorry I don't need your opinion.

Magic=2-0 against the Lakers in regular season. They know how to beat them and it was because they let Gasol shoot. It's mismatch city and BYEnum is just trash and will be a non-factor this series other than doing a "hack-a-dwight" all series. Kobe will get his, just like LeBron got his.

 

[SLATEmosphere]

No. They didnt. Again, do you watch basketball?

Most of their three's game off of ball reversal due to the presence of Howard inside.

Inside-Outside game is the main catalyst of Orlando's 3-point shooting.

...Basketball is my main sport, so I can do this all day.

It's all those things. Dwights kick out to perimeter shooters from double teams that causes the defense to scramble off a pump fake, which allows the shooter to get in the lane which causes the defense to collapse and then they dish it back out. I can do this all day too..I'm pretty bored in class so keep trying.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Ah, thank you for the site sir.

46% is definitely respectable. I just don't know that taking your bigmen away from the basket is a good plan. It screws up position for rebounds and makes rotations to the perimeter easier for the other team and unless he's way out there, Dwight is athletic enough to recover.

I think it's more a question of making Howard and Orlando work. Making Howard do things he's not entirely comfortable doing. Orlando, IMO, relies on Howard to block shots, change shots, rebound and score in the post. I think that it's a matter of making him work. The Lakers are a pretty good rebounding team. In fact, they lead the NBA in rebounding this past season. All of them are pretty good rebounders but if your the Lakers, if you have Howard away from the basket, that probably means that your getting a nice lane or Kobe is posting somebody up. I'll take that match up. I think it would be tough for Orlando to defend this. I don't know that Howard can play Gasol effectively if he doesn't deny the ball to him. That probably means he has to front him. I think that if Howard allows Gasol to get post position, Gasol will be effective. He can shoot the hook with either hand, he can face up and he can shoot the jumper. If Gasol can average 18 to 20 points, that means that Gasol is winning that battle IMO. The harder Howard has to work, the better LAs chances are. Howard, IMO, is the guy for Orlando. Everything works off of him. If you can make him work on Defense, then you can impact his offensive contributions. L.A. works through Kobe. There is no chance, IMO, Orlando stops Kobe. He's going to get his and that means that the Laker offense will probably continue to click. To me, Gasol is important because if he can make Howard have to focus on his game, then Howard becomes isolated in the match up. I don't see Orlando having a good transition game against L.A. because, unlike Cleveland, L.A. is more athletic then Orlando is IMO. Howard is the key for Orlando IMO. If they can wear him down, they can beat Orlando. If Howard completely dominates Gasol, which I don't believe will happen, then I think Orlando has an excellent chance of winning. JMO

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I didn't say that most of their three's came off transition. It's either transition OR breaking down the defense by penetration.

Which leads me back to the original point. You don't have the guy who can break the L.A. defense down off the dribble IMO.

 

[NextGenBoys]

:laugh2: Sorry I don't need your opinion.

Magic=2-0 against the Lakers in regular season. They know how to beat them and it was because they let Gasol shoot. It's mismatch city and BYEnum is just trash and will be a non-factor this series other than doing a "hack-a-dwight" all series. Kobe will get his, just like LeBron got his.

I know you dont need it, but I feel obliged to give it.

Now, the Magic also had Jameer Nelson for those two wins in the regular season. Notice how it is REGULAR SEASON. This is now the finals where almost the entire Lakers team has been. No one on the Magic has been there, except Tyronn Lue, and he doesnt count because he is the 12th man.

And if you want to let Gasol shoot 10-15 foot shots as Howard stays under the rim, its going to be a short series. The Lakers match up extremely well against Orlando.