ikiru
Stunt Coordinator
- Joined
- Jan 17, 1999
- Messages
- 138
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
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