BraveHeartFan;2795437 said:
Who was it that stopped Kobe last year in the finals? I'll admit I don't remember the series much but something tells me no one shut him down last year either.
You just don't shut Kobe down. You worry about shutting everyone else down and let Kobe do what Lebron tried to do, win by himself.
The Lakers most likely will win this series, and probably win it pretty easily (Unfortunately) but I'm certainly pulling for the Magic to beat them.
Kobe was crap his last two Finals appearances. Tho, it was against an alltime '04 Piston defense and a Celtic defense that was very dominant last year. This Magic defense was the best in the league IMO, but they're not dominant like those ones were. That being said, they did a real good job of throwing bodies at him this season and making him struggle to get his shot, so I expect him to have some low spots.
That being said, no Jameer is huge. He was the leading score in both the wins against L.A. and Fisher constantly gets abused by PG's who are able to penetrate(see Brooks in the Semis). And even if he does return, he'll be the back up and wont be much of a factor.
Alston's penetration is very average, so I doubt he'll give L.A. major problems. Him and Jameer are about the same with their passing and rebounding abilities, and Alston is probably a better defender, but he's nowhere near the constant offense that Jameer was this season.
The thing about it to me is L.A.'s two biggest weaknesses on defense just happen to be the Magic's two biggest strengths.
1. Pick & Roll with Dwight.
2. The 3 point shooting.
The Lakers Pick & Roll defense is crap when exploited and they're very inconsistent at guarding the 3, so it's gonna be interesting to see how they adjust.
I expect Hedo to have some struggles in this series as he's not gonna have the normal size advantage he does with Ariza guarding him. The only clear cut advantage the Magic have is Dwight and he's gonna have to be much smarter with his fouls in the series than he was against Cleveland. Obviously, he doesnt have to deal with Lebron attacking and getting bogus calls, but the Lakers frontline is far more dominant inside compared to the jump shooting Cavs.
This series to me really hinders on Dwight's ability to stay on the floor and taking advantage of the 1-on-1's and finding the open shooters for the double teams. He's gonna have to have the best 6-7 game stretch of his career for the Magic to win this.
Nooooo way
