Well, we are certainly going to get any exciting final four, that much is certain. I would be shocked if at least one of the series didn't go seven. The spurs are the team that has the best chance of beating us, its going to tough. I hope we can pull this out.

Repost: Just posted at the very end of the last thread...
Regarding the resigning of Lamar and Drew:

We must do both end of discussion. Lamar has proven that he is EXTREMELY important to the success of this team and has been playing at such a high level recently. Drew is a no brainer. If anyone of the "big 4" is expendable its gotta be Pau (even though I think he's signed for a few more years, anyone know exactly?). He is good but not great and semi repetitive at the center position. Now don't get me wrong, I like Pau and want him on the Lakers for a long time but if I had to chose 3 out of the 4 players Pau would be the odd man out.

Lamar = Finals MVP

GO LAKERS

Bring 'em on. I won't say that I'm not a little bit nervous. But this is how you earn a championship: by taking down the defending champs.

Go Lake Show!

The Chuckster talkin' 08 Lakers better than the Shaq / Kobe Lakers?

There's a time wastin' debate for off days... but until then, IT"S ON.

Lakers in 5.

NAW ALL THE HYPE PREDICTION'S BEGIN.............A SWEEP...................................LAKER'S IN 5, 6, OR 7.................. THE ONLY THING CERTAIN...................SHALL BE............................MY BRONZE STATUE................FOR ALL TOO " BEHOLD" AND " ADMIRE ! ! ! ! ! ! !

jon b...i disagree... sorry man..
I think fisher has the speed to stay with parker..for the most part...i am not scared of the spurs....trust me.

bring back that torch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

vamos los lakers!!!

whoops. new computer- that last vaguely homoerotic posting about Horry was mine.

also, from the last post

"On a side note, if you're thinking that May 19th, 2008 marks the first time "chillax" and "loggy" were used within ten minutes of each other, I'm inclined to concur with that hunch. 'Twas a groundbreaking day for vocabulary, indeed" - AK

I don't think there was a single comment on the last thread observing that that whole post was friggin hilarious. I was actually thinking exactly that. Brilliant work. I can finally almost see why you get paid for this.

I hear what you're saying, John B.

But the truth is this: if we didn't have to go through the defending champs on our way to the championship, the season would be tainted.

Gasol gives Duncan nightmares.
Kobe will take advantage of Bowen, although Udoka is a good defender, too.
Don't forget that we'll have another defensive stopper in Ariza.
Lamar should average 18/12/6 in this series.

This is going to be a tough road to the Finals, but what better way to gain momentum? By beating the reigning champions, then heading into Detroit with a 2-0 lead.

Go Lake Show!

I think the Lakers can beat the Spurs if they do two things....stay at home on the Spurs' 3 point shooters and they have to trust and execute their offense.

I believe Lakers vs. Spurs will truly be the NBA finals.
Its gonna be winner take all.
They will be hammered, they will be tested, but.... they will fight back eventually still emerge victorious.
Lakers in 5 or 6 games.

What I wouldn't give to have been a fly on the wall at the Lakers team dinner tonight. I think it would have been inescapable to Kobe & Co. that there's a reason the Spurs are the defending champs, and that it is right that the road to the NBA Championship should go through San Antonio. Those guys are poise under pressure. They have been through this before together and the Spurs have the best coach in the NBA, after PJ.

That said, the Spurs are a team the Lakers know well. The coaching staff knows what they can do. There is no player on the Spurs who is a mystery. The ways that Pop changes up things is well documented.

What's to come is a battle of which team can execute better for the most minutes per game. This is Death Match 2008, pure and simple. Based on what we've seen in the Playoffs, so far, this must be the Bench Mob's best series to date. The Machine must be well oiled at every appearance. I hope to see Mbenga for at least three minutes per half, to body-up Duncan and take him out of his rhythm.

Most of all, great Defense and consistent rebounding. I'll trade fewer points from Lamar for a greater effort around the boards. If the Lakers can master it, frequent rotations in defensive assignments would keep the Spurs from getting comfortable. And we'll need early time-outs if the Spurs take us out of our rhythm. This is an epic battle of wills and wits.

We know the Lakers are rested. If they're both rested AND ready, they can keep the Spurs on their heels from the opening tip. Fasten your seat belts. Stock up the beer. And remember: This is our team. This is our year. Go Lakers!

Awesome, just like old times :)

Exactly how I placed my bets. We'll kick them Spurs and go to the Finals.

Go Lakers!

The bonus is we'll beat the team that beat the stinking Suns.

Go Lakers!

Gasol's length will really bother Duncan - I actually think the Lakers can get away with single covering Timmy for long streches.

The Spurs barely held off the Suns - how the heck are they going to contain the Lakers?

16...15...14...13...12...11...10...9...

Spurs four years ago are no longer the Spurs of today.

Can you imagine a player like Jennero Pargo could put them at the brink of losing the huge lead? The Hornets were a wild bunch, I didn't expect Byron Scott to coach in that manner like releasing wild horses them from corral taking wild and early shots as if they were just playing during the season. He should no better being a Showtime Laker. It was only an individual game, no teamwork, so spacing and poor decision-making. They really deserved to lose this game. Parker and Ginolbli are still good slashers, but not as agile as Deron and/or CP2.

Fisher is the only one who is old with the Lakers but he destroyed the Alamo defense with his 0.4 sec shot, a shot that broke down the spirit of every texan. On the other hand, Spurs has our former Laker money player, Robert Horry. So this will be battle of the olds. It is not a disrespect to the Champs but throughout the year Spurs showed not enough energy to kick in or the endurance to run with the Lakers and put a transitional defense, break up the passing game, the Kobe factor, the Laker pick and roll. Bowen is effective when Kobe becomes an individualistic player not when he is a playmaker. Lakers lost to SA when Gasol was still with Grizz'. This time, I don't think Duncan can execute his pivot moves and pass by the tall hands of Pau, LO and Vlad. Those are the three long players that produced a solid D and led to easy fast breaks for the Lakers against Nuggets and Jazz. Kobe, Fisher and Sasha are the crazy mice that steal balls from a cornered player. Ariza will be added to these mice group and will provide additional spark on the bench,

Wow, this is a great feeling - no more Smush, no more Kwame, no more Cookie to break our hearts and we will be playing against an old San Antonio. For the first time after three dark years, our faith on strenght of purple and gold has been renewed. I am not an everyday optimist here but with this match-up I say Lakers will take the WC in 4-2. Mark my words, Kobe & Co. will play in June.

A couple of posters have mentioned Ariza - he is the wild card. SA doesn't know how to game plan for LA with him. Who will he guard? Who will guard him? If the Lakers ever go small with Kobe, Ariza, Fish, Odom & Sasha they will be far more athletic and quicker than SA - 4-5 minutes/game with that lineup in certain spots could result in some easy baskets and tire the Finleys and Horrys. With game 1 less than 48 hours after tonight's game, it is imperative the Lakers take game one. Ariza will be the key to the whole series - you heard it here first at 10:08 PM Monday 5/19.

woohow, lakers in 5. :D

The Lakers can and will beat the Spurs if they remain focused, execute the triangle offense, don't get trigger happy at the 3-line and don't commit silly turnovers. It's going to be a good series. GO LAKERS!!!

I'm so thrilled that the Lakers will be playing the defending champion Spurs. This is how it should be. This is the Lakers opportunity to take back what they have worked so hard to get.

This series is going to be a hoot!

Lakers in 5.

The Spurs were tired... I mean exhausted during the fourth quarter. Had they been playing against the Jazz as their lead was dwindling, they would have lost. They tried to keep their legs alive for defense, and pretty much failed, and they clearly had no legs at all on offense. They were used up from a long season and two rough playoff series.

Does anyone really think they'll be fresh on Wednesday? Or that they'll be able to fight for more than two quarters?

Lakers take game 1 on a platter. Game 2 follows the same pattern, with an element of mild desperation on the Spurs' side because they don't want to be down 2-0 again. But of course they lose and say to themselves we'll repeat what we did with the Hornets. Problem is the Lakers will unquestionably steal a game in SA and be back home to close leading 3-1. And of course they will close.

I agree with Hollinger: Lakers in 5.

And we are off to the WCF!
Spurs vs. Lakers - Round 1!
Gloves are off and we are ready to fight!

Those dissin on Fish thinking that's our weak spot - just remember he has the bitter taste of losing when it counted most recently. Fish had his family worries and didn't play so well - he will want to redeem himself most and this is his stage. I expect Fish to get rid of the ghosts from last year and go off in this series. He is our wild card.

And bring on Trevor - don't care when - I just want him to play - make him annoy Parker and dunk right in Horry's mug.

BENCH MOB - show up and DEFEND the fort!

LO and PG will come out swinging because they aren't going to waste this chance. MVP won't have to do much urging with this group - they can dump the Spurs right back into the Riverwalk and march upright into the Finals.

GO LAKERS!!!

mmm let me allow myself to enjoy this moment again ... lakers in western finals vs spurs ... time to put the champs to sleep for good ... the reign of the laker dynasty begins on wednesday

yup I'm most definately happy

If you want to win a championship, you should go through the defending champs.

Lane
http://losangelessource.com/lakers/

Duncan vs Gasol.
Duncan's bank shot is the most overrated shot in basketball. People make it seem he never misses when in fact he does and quite alot. Gasol has the speed and the length to bother Duncan. I don't think this is a bad matchup at all. Duncan compliains on literally every call against him and I thought Gasol was a whiner. Do not double Duncan.
Manu vs Vlad/Walton/Ariza
FORCE HIM RIGHT. PERIOD.
Kobe vs Bowen.
No one can guard Kobe, Bowen included. Popovich employs the hack-of-blank. The Lakers should bring in Newble and Mihm to do hack-of--bowen.
Odom vs Thomas/Oberto.
Major Mismatch. Should exploit every time down the floor.