greetings

this is NOT 2-3-2 format (only the finals r)

it is still 2-2-1-1-1

4-1

in the past few games, Bowen was just a prop against kobe

also lets not forget that Stern is in haven with the lakers-celts possibility

his lover boy king james, chocked at the end. so did CP3. as in nature, after a few stings, hornets die.

The story of the series: the best offense in the NBA - Lakers - meets the best defense of the NBA - Spurs.

Look for Kobe to be taking as many FTs in this series as in the Utah series. SA will try to tempt Kobe to take low percentage shots as Bowen tries every dirty trick in the book. Bowen will try to slap Kobe's injured pinkie at every opportunity. But KB has matured and knows he got his MVP by knowing exactly when to score and when to facilitate.

Lakers have the best ball movement in the league and may be one of the best in the history of the game. The triangle is working better than ever. Spurs have the most stable team defense in the NBA - everyone knows his role, nobody gambles and they play terrific help defense. they have good individual defenders who also know good position defense.

Defenses can beat even good offensive teams when the offense comes from individual player talent. But the brilliant Laker offense is built on ball movement not just on Kobe's individual talent anymore. Gasol and Odom are the primary reasons why the triangle is working as well as it has been. Both are unselfish players who know when and where to pass the ball. Even at the prime of Shaq's Laker years, the Spurs played the best defense versus Shaq. The problem for them is that now Gasol and Odom are much more mobile and dynamic even though not as dominant one on one as Shaq was. With Kobe's singular ability to break down opposing defenses, and Pau/Lamar's ability to post and pass, 3 pt shooters like Fisher, Sasha and Vlad are often left open. when they start hitting from long range the Lakers then have the perfect inside-outside offensive balance.

Tom...
Great observation about Tim's bank shot. He doesn't make many at all and those that he does make are only from the left side of the court. His best spot for his outside shot is at the top of the key.

Outlaw...
Why not 2-0 coming back to LA? But first things first...the Lakers have to beat San An-phony-o first!! LOL!!

There is one thing about Bob Horry we all know: He knows how to win a big ball game. Whether it be by hitting a game winner or changing the course of a series in his favor by making a dirty foul, he's the go to guy. I remember when he was a Laker, I didn't see him as a dirty player. He was just known for hitting clutch 3 point baskets going back to his days in Houston. Well, here we go again: The LA Lakers Vs. The defending Champion San Antonio Spurs. Wow. I can't believe this is where we are. Lets forget for a second about the way the year started for the lakers and where they are now and lets focus on the fact that the Spurs found a way to make it to the Western conference finals despite being blown out and and beaten badly by the both teams it played in the playoffs this year. Wow... I was almost sure they would be eliminated by now. But those Spurs are tough man. They are scrappy, and with a guy like Bob Horry on your team, you have a weapon that few teams have. I don't much appreciate that weapon any more. Gone are the days when I admired Horry for his seven Championship rings and his uncanny ability to hit the big shot when it mattered most. Welcome now the era of Bob Horry the Jerk. This guy is really looking like an a-hole to me at this point. I know most of you have seen the highlights of his most recent hard foul against David West of the Charlotte Hornets: Its been replayed over and over again but I can't watch it without wondering how the league can overlook that kind of dirty play and not take action against him. Last year was even worse. Horry takes out Steve Nash in one of the most dirty plays I've ever seen and because the Phoenix bench jumps in the protect their guy they lost their top guys for a crucial game seven. David Stern penalizes both teams instead of seeing more clearly that that was a premeditated attack by Robert Horry that did exactly what he planned for it to do: Set the Spurs up to win the series and ultimately the championship. What a joke. The rules are the rules but sometimes a situation needs to be looked at as a singular event that has to be handled in as special way. The league and David Stern have no problem handing down stiff penalties and consequences to players, coaches and refs who violate it's rules but when the rule book helps out one team while destroying another (see Mike D'Antoni's subsequent firing) I think things need to be more thought out. I respect the Spurs very much and I am very scared of the prospect of them facing the Lakers this year. But on the other hand, if the Lakers are really the best then they should beat the Spurs this year...this is if Robert Horry doesn't find a way to take a cheap shot at Bryant, Gasol or Odom and cripple the lakers chances with some ridiculously hard foul that should get him suspended indefinitely (but won't). I mean hey, you have to respect his rings but lets play basketball here, not ice hockey. I see the Lakers taking it in seven with a Sasha Vujacic head butting Horry on his final last second 3 pointer that rims out... Getting both knocked out of the game: Sasha with the tech and Horry with a concussion. Go Lakers.

Sean Douglas
myspace.com/seandouglas1
labelgrade@gmail.com

Hey AK or BK,

One of these ad post was able to break in.

If you want to win a championship, you should go through the defending champs.
Lane
http://losangelessource.com/lakers/
Posted by: Your Source Los Angles Tickets | May 19, 2008 at 10:53 PM

OK, on to my post:

No matter who the Lakers play in the WCF, I still think that the fire inside has been lit and they can torch any team to a 4 and 0. Especially with this current SAS team. They've been blown out twice by NOH and that shows they're in their "death knell".

The Lakers have learned a valuable lesson playing UTA. And that is to keep the foot on the opponent's neck and never let them back in the game. So, watch and wait for the team to sweep the defending champs!

GO LAKERS!!!

i am a little nervous. i really am. but i believe and will continue to believe we can win this; and triumph as NBA CHAMPIONS.

dunk. dunk. dunk.

Go Lamar!
Go Kobe!
Go Sasha!

GO LAKERS!

Why are any of you guys scared about the Spurs? For the first time in years they look really vulnerable. They pull out tough need-to-win games but so do we. They do match up pretty well against us and New Orleans would probably have been the path of least resistance.. but dude.. we are the freaking Lakers.

Farmar is gonna have a resurgence in this series and the Laker mob is gonna explode. Ariza being back --- I'm so freakin excited.

GO LAKERS!!!

Lakers in 6.

I love the idea of the Lakers beating the spurs on
the way to a championship.

So much DRAMA on TNT. :)

Okay, some remarkably astute observations...

The Lakers win with offense. No offense (punny, huh?), but it is what it is. They outscore their oppenents. Saint Anthony's is the exact opposite. So both teams line up strength vs. strength on one end, weakness vs. weakness on the other. The x-factor, then, is rebounding and the ability to push the ball. Advantage Lakers.

Here's why: Saint Anthony's plays a three guard line-up, almost exclusively. Bowen is listed as a forward, but he's a natural two-guard, as is Ginobili. What the Hornets lacked was a small forward who plays well inside, both rebounding and back to the basket.

The Lakers have THREE such players:
1) play Sasha and Fish in the back-court - and move Kobe up front. Make Bowen play him in the post or on wing iso's. Bowen's strength is chasing wing scorers over the top of high screens. Put him on an island instead, where all three officials can watch the strong-side action. Saint Anthony's can't refuse the challenge - because Brucie is their only hope, and if they concede that matchup early, the chessmatch goes to Phil.

2) play Luke at the 3 - and force Ginobili to play post defense against a savy triangler like Walton. Ginobili is a renowned flopper - but Luke doesn't charge from the post. He's good at finding cutters, and has solid post footwork - the swingthrough, dropstep, up and under, etc. He's bigger, stronger, and comfortable starting the offense with his back to the basket. He gives the Lakers an edge on the boards, can box out any of SA's frontcourt players, take any of their bigs of the dribble, and at the other end, he can gaurd Bowen.

3) play Gasol and Turiaf together! Turiaf can handle the likes of Thomas and Oberto, and threaten their D with the midrange wing jumper, and is very effective on help defense and boards. This moves Odom to the three, and basically forces Ginobili on to Kobe, while at the other end, Odom can play Bowen and because of his length and quickness, can play off of him and disrupt their high pick and roll. In fact, with this arrangement, Odom can run the point, see over the defense, and Kobe/Fisher/Sasha can run Parker/Ginobili ragged on baseline exchange screens with two big bodies down low to "headhunt."

So, while no one scenario is going to work perfectly, the Lakers have multiple options by which to impose their game on Saint Anthony's, all of them operating within their established offensive sets and all within the comfortable skill sets of the players. Should SA change their lineup to counter this disadvantage, then the chessmatch is on, and Phil Jackson is Bobby Fischer - and more pieces on the board as well.

You guys are so full of yourselves! Having spent the last 2 weeks on nola.com, I can tell this is going to be hellishly fun. Let your hen master Philip make fun of the city, let Kobe (rapist...errr...allegedly) score 50. At the end of the day, the better TEAM will win (key word TEAM) and I say Spurs in 6! GO SPURS GO!!

Good Morning Charles
Good Morning Morning Mob: Bozz, Toad “Pig” Miller, HmrHed . Edwin G
PsychedLakerGirl, JohnnyP, JesterGuru, Exhelodrvr, JustAnotherMambafan
Jon K, LakerTom, FairweatherFatty

IT’S TIME

Be careful what you ask for, cause you just might get it.
You said you wanted the Spurs, You got them, deal with it.
If you want to be a champion, You have to beat the best
So the championship this year, Is the Finals in the West.
It’s only right that the Lakers, Play the current NBA King
Let there be no media excuses, When the Lakers win the ring.
Big Shot Rob how you doing, I knew we’d meet again
Surely you know that, There’s no way your Spurs can win.
Be strong “Big Shot” Rob, Take your whipping with class
But no matter how you take it, The Lakers will whip your @ss
They say your leader Duncan, is so fundamentally sound
He’ll forget those fundamentals, when we pound him in the ground
The Spurs were a classy champion, On that we can agree,
But Class my ass, the Lakers are, The team of destiny
Forget about the Finals, This round is for everything
Win this round my Lakers, and you will win the ring.
IT’S TIME my Laker Nation, This Series, THIS IS IT!
The Spurs are starting to realize, they’re in some e deep SH+T
Two teams go in, One team comes out
There can be but one, That one’s the Lakers no doubt
So bring on the introductions, Toss the ball and let it rip.
It won’t be long, the Spurs’ll be gone & we’ll have the championsh

Good morning LAL friends!
What great comments and insight from everyone. I love the historical perspecitves and the fresh young/old sumaries. You guys are on it!

Tempo, execution, ball control.

I think we will be taking pages out of SAS book. DEFENSE wins championships but we will score more points and they can't stop that.

This is the best way for us to make this a dream year - taking out the champs!

GO LAKERS!

OUT FREAKING STANDING SIMPLE TO THE POINT ANALYSIS:

1. Does anyone really see SA scoring more than 90 ppg against us?
2. Does anyone really see us not scoring 95ppg or more against them?
If you answered No, No, then the answer is simple. At least that is the way I see it.....
Posted by: pslakerfan | May 19, 2008 at 11:33 PM
THAT'S IT IN A NUTSHELL FOLKS I'LL GO ET THE CONFETTI NOW.

Edwin Guerco,

Great Post.

TSphere,

No, the Spurs will be absolutely tired when they play us on Wednesday. Anyone would, but especially a bunch of thirty-something athletes with 10 years of wear. They just finished a late game seven on Monday night. They have to travel Tuesday to a time zone they haven't played in yet and then they have to play in a hostile arena on Wednesday night.

They are going to be TIRED and the Lakers are going to be rested and hungry. I don't expect to see much rust on our Lakers. I expect a team that will be like a young prize fighter out for blood against the aging champ who has just stumbled out of his corner, his right eye bruised and swollen.

GO LAKERS!

pslakersfan,

1. "Does anyone really see SA scoring more than 90 ppg against us?"

Yes, I do. I think we'll push it against the tired Spurs and that will create offensive opportunities for the Spurs. However, I do not see the Spurs scoring more than 100 points for more than one game in the series.

2. "Does anyone really see us not scoring 95ppg or more against them?"

Nope. I think our worst game against the Spurs we'll probably score around 102 points. I think our series average will be 106 points.

Conclusion: Lakers in six. (Five if we are able to steal the first game in San Antonio).

Prediction: Winner of the Western Conference Finals is 75% likely to win the NBA Finals.

In Summary: This series is HUGE! The Dynasty begins now.

GO LAKERS!

Good Morning Mamba24, Good Morning Charles, Good Morning ALL of Laker Nation!

Great work again Mamba! Thanks!

Well, we get the pleasure of showing that the current champ is once again incapable of winning a ring in an even numbered year, and showing all of the NBA that their time has passed. SA is too old and while Pop will have them focussed, they had to use all they had to get past NO, and will not have enough left for the Lakers. We win this in seven toughly fought games, and will have the confidence to know we will beat either the Pisstons or Leprecauns in 5. Let's tip it off and get this run started!

RESISTANCE TO THE FOURTH LAKER DYNASTY IS FUTILE!!!!!

8 TO 15!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nice LO7 article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/sports/
basketball/20odom.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=
rss&oref=slogin

GO LAKERS!

*** THE SERIES VS THE SPURS ***

OUR 2 BIGGEST ADVANTAGES AND HOW TO EXPLOIT THEM

&

OUR BIGGEST WEAKNESS AND HOW TO SOLVE IT

Advantages -
1) Kobe, of course. MVP and best player in the game. But in addition to his scoring, its a no-brainer that they're going to put Bowen on him full-time. So what we need to do is isolate and post up Vlad (or Ariza if he's healthy) on Genobli/Finley. Huge size advantage, and if a big man comes over to double, it feeds right into advantage #2...
2) Our big men. Ya they have Duncan, but we have BOTH Pau and Lamar and they don't have anyone who can cover whichever one that Duncan doesn't. The one they don't use Duncan on can have a field day going around (Lamar) or over (Pau) Oberto/Thomas/Horry. And if we post our SF on on their guard and they double, its dunk city for whichever big man they leave open.

Weakness-
No doubt about it, its the PG position. MAYBE Derek can stay with Parker for 15-20 minutes, but last season's playoff MVP is faster and much younger, and Derek won't be able to cover him for the full number of minutes he plays. And though I see a bright future for Farmar, he's over his head this year. Williams ate him for breakfast and Parker will be even worse.
Solution? When Derek's on the bench and Parker's on the floor, play a Kobe-Sasha tandem at guard and let the MVP cover Parker. It won't have to be for a full game, and remember from the Team USA games last summer how Kobe loves to cover "the other team's best player?" Well OUR best chance is to put him on Parker for 15 minutes a game. His size and skill alternating with D-Fish's toughness should make Parker's life difficult enough to offset the Spurs' advantage at the 1 spot and let our big men dominate.

If we do all that, Lakers in six!!

Revmaxx you mean Lakers in 6

Good morning everybody!

One more day 'till gameday and I'm already at my wit's end. It seems like I'm one of the few who are actually nervous about this series and who thinks it'll drag out to seven games. That homecourt advantage sure looks good right now though. As long as that cheap a$$ punk Bowen doesn't take Kobe out with a chainsaw, I think we'll prevail. Lakers in seven.

-bozz-

And the trolls come rolling in...SWEET!

Ariza is the X-Factor of this series. Yesterday's report of that reverse dunk at the end of practice is mega encouraging.

We're gonna get our shots - NO DOUBT. We just gotta play 48 minutes of strong, hardcore defense every game.

Bench Mob: It's your time. Time to show the world why you have been aptly named.

And, for goodness sake, watch out for cheap shots from Bowen & Horry (Et tu, Roberto?).

Lakers in 6.
Game Day Prayer at 10:00 AM sharp TOMORROW (or sooner if the K-Bros get the page up quickly).

Laker fans are right....this is going to be a stroll in the park. I think someone already went to get the confetti. Enjoy the feeling of ignorant bliss while it is upon you, because it only lasts about two weeks. That is when you will realize this series wasn't going to be so easy. That is when you realize you should have shown some respect for talent, teamwork, and tenacity. Laker fans got it made. Enjoy the show, Los Angeles Leeches. We've been here for years.

Go Spurs Go!!!

Lame Spurs blog to start crashing:

http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblogs/courtside/archives/2008/05/tom_orsborn_la.html

GO LAKERS!

Wow! I know i am treading on enemy lines here. I live in San Antonio and of course am a Spurs fan. I want to say that this is the series that we have been waiting for as well Lakers Fans! Lakers vs. Spurs. YOU CANNOT GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS! I cannot for these games to start.

On that note: The main thing that the Lakers need is the depth in thier bench. Sorry guys but your bench is not deep enough to make a statement. The Laker starting line is what is going to cause our headaches obviously. Though I am not a Lakers fan i will give credit when it is due, Gasol and Kobe are a badass duo. This will be extremely exciting to watch. Can't wait for Wed. night!

Spurs in 7

GO SPURS GO!

Fundamental...TROLL deluxe...

You have been here for years???

hahaha...being there doesnt warrant you CRAP.

We have been in the playoffs...55 out of 60 years...what does that have anything to do with it...

Meaning..

Lakers 14 titles
Spurs 4.

Yah, come back after you win 10 more....

later troll loser

Lakers in 6...hell 5 maybe..