The Lakers could as well with hot Kobe and with a supporting that's...at least halfway breathing. They might give the Suns a headache and even win the series, cause Phil seems to know how to exploit their achilles heel (Poor Rebounding, Control in the Paint, and Clock Management) better than most other coaches.
This Suns team is more stable than last years team with Kurt Thomas and Amare back in the lineup. I can see Kwame and Bynum fouling out much faster now that the Suns have somewhat of an inside. The pick and roll would hurt them tremendously. This time it will be Amare going inside, not just Diaw taking midrange jumpers and fadeaways.
Very good post. I give the Lakers a slightly better chance of beating the Suns than the Nuggets but having Amare and Kurt Thomas changes the Suns dramatically. Either team would be doing well to win one game; extremely lucky to win two.
The Lakers problem is they can't outscore PHX, and they don't play defense. That's asking to be sucked into PHX's tempo.
The only teams that can beat the Suns will play rock solid defense and play a very focused and deliberate half court game. Those teams are SA, Dall, Hou, Utah and maybe the Clips (experienced playoff savy backcourt if Cassell is mostly healthy, and they have Brand to go through as well). Denver and the Lakers will get smoked by the Suns--they have much better chances to win versus the Spurs where Kobe/AI/Melo going off can make half court affiairs go down tot he wire. Heck, the Suns beat the Lakers last year (won the last 3) without Amare or Thomas (basically no inside presence). Bell and Marion are great guys to make Kobe work and the rest of the Suns will just murder the Lakers--this Suns team is a terrible match-up for the Lakers.
they gave it to jordan, who got trapped in the backcourt, who passed it up ahead to pippen, who dribbled up and gave it to grant who immediately whipped it to an open paxson. on this play it appears they threw it to parker who shot it immediately. you have to give the star the ball, if they draw the D and let someone else shoot, that's cool, but let them decide. not smush parker. and the lakers should much rather play the spurs than suns. the suns have more inside players than last year and their offense will tear through the lakers D. the spurs don't present the threat of just blowing them out like the suns could and kobe going off could potentially negate the spurs halfcourt defense somewhat, which is their biggest strength. kobe going off on the suns won't matter nearly as much b/c the suns just want to score, and they will, a lot, against the lakers. the lakers could get lucky that the spurs methodical halfcourt O isn't quite on, or that kwame and bynum's length somewhat frustrates duncan. they've actually beaten the spurs this season and went to OT another time.
Hasn't S.A. won 2 titles in the last 4 years? Doesn't defense matters in the playoffs? I guess you all forgot that team has given Dallas the most trouble is not Phoenix, but S.A. Don't be fooled but San Antonio can score too? Why people on this board so scared of the Suns, and not the Mavs or the Spurs? Only because we stuggle with the Suns, and other teams play them pretty tightly. Really you could say that with one or two different calls or plays that S.A. could be your 2005 NBA champions. SA is still the prime class of the west to beat in the playoffs, like Lakers where with Kobe & Shaq, just because they don't have the best record or are statistically flashy. People knew that they were the biggest dogs on the block when playoff time rolled round. I'm sure the Jazz would love to have the Suns as 2nd Round Matchup moreso than the Spurs or the Mavs. The Jazz are 3 - 0 against Suns, and can dictate the game at any pace they like and have enough defenders to slow down the Suns offense. Kobe & the Lakers would have much better shot at Phoenix. Kobe could go off on S.A. defense (one of the best in league), but he could really go off on the Suns who play next to none (similar to same teams that Kobe got 50 and 60 against). The Lakers only have to worry about playing defense against the Suns, and because they will naturally get alot of opportuntities on offense. I doubt that S.A. lets him have back to back big games in the series, unlike Phoenix would. S.A. has always been tough team for the Lakers to play even when they Shaq and the titles. The Spurs even beat them with some of their best teams. Most people will say the Spurs is an uglier draw than the Suns, because they are former champions (x2) and most likely most balanced team in the league. They have true MVP (season/finals) in Duncan, who really can take over a series and win it for his team.
