Can The Lakers Be Beat??(Official 3-Peat Thread) (1 Viewer)

[ikiru]

ok Ill bite...

Can the Lakers be beat? In a seven game series, signs point to no. However, they aren't very tough mentally this year. They have lost a lot of games to some really low ranked opponents.

The success of the Lakers has been their supporting cast. Im talking about Fox, Hory, Fisher, etc... Teams can (and do) shut down either Shaq or Kobe, and one of them is insufficient to win a game. Dallas beat LA by shutting down Kobe and making sure the supporting cast didnt pick up the slack. Shaq had his points (32) but Kobe only got to contribute 12. The next leading scorer (fox) had 16. Contrary to popular opinion, Dallas can play defense. Its just their tempo that makes the stats look like they cant. They dont have a dominating defense, but good enough.

Sacramento is on a bit of a slide. They haven't been playing good ball and to beat Dallas in the second round, they need to get things together. However, Utah isn't out yet. They are tough at home and if they force a game 5, the momentum will be in their favor.

San Antonio is another tough team. Being a Mavs fan, Im glad that Dallas only has to face one of these guys. SA has a good chance of taking the series to 7 games, provided all of their players are healthy. The Robinson/Duncan combo really started to click at the end of the season. They did win the midwest division after all.

This year may belong to the Lakers, however, considering the strides that Dallas has made over the past couple of years (even over the past 4 months), and considering that none of their players are really that old, Dallas may be the team to beat in the next couple of years...

Round 2 of the NBA finals may prove to be the best round 2 in a while (at least in the western conference).

-ikiru

 

[KeithH]

The Lakers will win it all again. They can't be beat. Go Lakers!

 

[Carlo_M]

I don't think Laker fans believe their team to be unbeatable. As I said, EVERY LAST PLACE TEAM had a win against the Lakers. They just seem to turn it up at the right moment, and that is the sign of a winning team.
As far as margin of victory goes: does anyone remember the 1990-91 UNLV men's basketball team that went undefeated in the regular season and killed everybody? Went on to lose to Duke in the final. So in fact, the "W" is the important thing.
Besides, Portland (as well as most teams in the West) are so talented that I wonder why anyone thinks that the Lakers should be winning by a large margin. With the exception of Shaq and Kobe, every other team in the West Top 4 is deeper when you factor in the top 10 players. They didn't kill teams last year, but that doesn't change the fact that they went 15-1, best all time.
And who wants to watch fifteen games decided by 20+ points, anyway? At least they are keeping me riveted to my seat.
Bottom line: I love to see good, close games. The Lakers and Celtics matchups of the 80's? Classic! And rarely did one team mangle the other - that's what is fun to watch, not a one-sided rout.

The Lakers do not match up well against Sac. I guarentee you if the Lakers go on a couple 5-7 minute droughts against Sacramento/Dallas like they did against Portland, when they finally snap out of it they will be down by 25 not 5 like they were against Portland.

This season: Lakers were 3-1 against BOTH Sacramento and Dallas. 2-0 against each at Staples, 1-1 at Sac & at Dallas. Last playoffs they swept Sacramento in 4. And has been pointed out, Sac and Dallas play no defense, so the chances of the Lakers going on a 5-7 minute drought are about as likely as Mark Cuban not shouting at the refs during any given game.
As was said before, defense wins in the playoffs which is why SA scares me the most. But the Van Exel + LaFrentz acquisitions make Dallas more potent, and Sacramento finally got a real point guard with Bibby (I'm going to miss White Chocolate's ill-advised shot selection), so anything can (and probably will) happen! I look forward to a great playoff this year!

 

[KeithH]

Carlo said:

The Lakers and Celtics matchups of the 80's? Classic! And rarely did one team mangle the other - that's what is fun to watch, not a one-sided rout.

I remember the Lakers beating the Celtics 148-114 in Game 1 of the '83-'84 finals in Boston. Of course, the Celtics went on to win the series. But, and there's always a big but, the Lakers did beat the Celtics in '84-85 and '86-'87.

 

[Adil M]

UNLV lost to DUke in the Final Four.

The Lakers can be beat. The Lakers is Shaq.

 

[KeithH]

Adil said:

The Lakers can be beat. The Lakers is Shaq.

If Shaq were to get hurt, then the Lakers are certainly vulnerable. However, with Shaq, forget about it. The Lakers will be champs with Shaq in there.

 

[RossTerry]

spurs fan here...

assuming the spurs finish seattle (which i think they will)

the second round match up of SA vs LA 'should' be good.

the 2 previous playoffs when SA played LA, each team swept each other

1999 spurs swept the lakers

2001 lakers swept the spurs

hopefully san antonio wont 'roll over' like last year.

i hope they beat LA and shut up phil jackson

 

[Chris_Anders]

ok here goes....

Sacramento is on a bit of a slide. They haven't been playing good ball and to beat Dallas in the second round, they need to get things together. However, Utah isn't out yet. They are tough at home and if they force a game 5, the momentum will be in their favor.

Well here's a news flash.. Kings beat the Jazz tonight. They now have some momentum going their way with a tough series victory in Utah, and they have the week off.
The Kings were tough on D against the Jazz, I watched every game and I can honestly say that they didn't give Utah to many easy points. I think they held the Jazz to below 88 points a game, if not less. Yes, it is the Jazz, but man do they know the playoffs. Anybody remember when the Jazz beat the Kings 3 years ago in the first round? I do. This time the Kings are the solid team.
They can beat the Lakers, if they make it that far. Dallas is going to be tough primarily because of the sudden change in tempo the kings face in going from Utah to Dallas. But I think this first round was the true test.
Anybody else remember Don Nelsons Warriors with Run TMC? They won 55 games and had the highest scoring offence in the league, minus the playoff experience. I think that Dallas is in the same league as those Warriors of old. The are a dangerous bunch, but could wilt at any moment.
San Antonio....Tough. By no means a gimmie for the Lakers. That series should go at least 6 or 7 games with Duncan battling shaq.
Ok, the girlfriend is harrasing me. I could write more, but alas, my battle is currently the battle of the sexes.

 

[Christopher Chung]

Hey Carlo, very good points about the Lakers magin of victory, I'll keep quiet about that....for now I'll say that the closer games are more exciting, but its just the fact that every says "dominating", when "Dominating" to me means a very decisive win; 15+ pts or so I say... but I guess that's just the chip on my shoulder.
And Ross, yes, lets hope Phil will finally be shut up with his snide-a$$ remarks. Yeesh, he gets under my skin!

 

[Chris_Anders]

Go kings

 

[Dan Keefe]

I am a Lakers fan and I do believe they are unbeatable. I truly be surprised if any team gets more than one win in a series against them. This is the playoffs, focus is greater. Don't look for them to sleepwalk like they did against bad teams during the year.
I just heard that Tim Duncans father passed away and he will miss tomorrow's game against Seattle. My condolences to Tim and his family.

 

[Juan_R]

I just read the same thing on ESPN.com it is tragic and my condolences are with his family. Danny Ferry is also scheduled to miss game 4 because of a bad wrist. I think this series is going to go the distance. Seattle is lucky.

 

[DanaA]

As a long time Laker fan, as well as a King's fan, I have to point out a couple of things I feel are incorrect. First off, the Kings only allowed 2-3 points more a game than the Lakers this season. Players such as Christie, Pollard, and Jackson are GOOD defenders. And, even though Bibby isn't a great defender, no one should confuse his defense with Jason Williams. Don't forget how Stockton completely destroyed Williams emotionally three or so years ago. That certainly didn't happen this year. Secondly, people are harping on how close Utah played the Kings this year. Well, the Kings put the Jazz away quicker than any other team since the late 80's - that's a long time. If the Kings win the Dallas series, I don't feel they will lay down and roll over for the Lakers. Remember, last year the Kings were playing with an injured Chris Webber and had Williams, not Bibby, at the point. Two years ago, the Kings forced the Lakers into a game five before losing. In my opinion, this years Kings are better than any of their previous teams and the Lakers are not as strong as the prior two years. The Kings had the best regular season record with their star player missing almost 30 games. That said, I still would expect the Lakers to win, but don't feel it's a given as some here do.

 

[Chris_Anders]

Well said DanaA

 

[Dan Keefe]

I don't agree that the Lakers aren't as strong. On paper, they certainly do look like the weaker team. But the two intangibles they have are Phil Jackson and the Championship experience of the last two years.
Sacramento has to get past Dallas. If that series goes seven games, and I believe it will, LA will be fresh and rested(I think they will sweep either Seattle or San Antonio)
We shall see...
dan

 

[DanaA]

I'm really going to enjoy the Dallas/Sacramento series. You're right Dan. They could well wear each other out. As far as matchups, the greatest I saw were the Magic Lakers vs. the Bird Celtics. A lot of future Hall of Famers on those teams. In fact, I wish I could see a series between the Lakers of then and the Lakers of now. Kareem might be pushed around by Shack, but I think the Lakers of the 80's would win, just too strong of a supporting cast. Think of players like not only the great Magic, but Bob McAdoo and James Worthy (both I think now in the Hall), Jamaal Wilkes, Cooper, Nixon or Byron Scott, depending on the year, Rambis, and on and or. Ironically, Divac was Kareem's replacement, if I recall correctly. What a team!!!

 

[Juan_R]

It's going to be interesting now that the Mavs beat the Kings in Arco again. Did anybody watch this game, total up and down the court type tempo. If the Kings want to win they need to slow the tempo down.

On the Spurs Laker series I think the Spurs are going to come out with all they got tonight. The only problem is that if they do and don't win then it will be all over for them. I think game one was there best chance because the Lakers were rusty and Shaq and Kobe were gone for a while and the Spurs could not capitalize on that. You also have to give the Lakers some credit for that as there defense really steped up.

 

[Carlo_M]

I agree Juan. Tonight's game is do-or-die for the Spurs. If they win, it's a whole new series (and they retake home court advantage). If they lose, it's over.
I know this sounds crazy, but it's on the NBA's website. Did you know that in the history of 7 game series, the winner of game 1 ends up winning the series 80% of the time (.797)? That's crazy! Now this doesn't mean that the home team wins 80% of the time, as the visitors sometimes win game 1. But I guess if the home team wins, it keeps their edge alive, and if the visiting team wins, it swings home court advantage to their favor. I just didn't think the figure would be that high.
OK, here's the link

 

[Juan_R]

Not only that Carlo but I read were the Spurs are 0 and 17 when they loose the first game of a series and Phil is 32 and 0 when winning the first game of a series. I also think Shaq is going to come out mad because he did not win the MVP. Don't get me wrong I don't think he deserved the MVP this year but he is going to want to make a point.
Here is the link,
http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2002/...7/1379151.html

 

[Carlo_M]

Yeah, Shaq plays best when he's angry and feeling slighted...even if it's perceived rather than actual slighting.

Hey, speaking as a Laker fan, let him come out mad!