I think the Lakers can, they proved they could hang with them last year and I don't see why they couldn't duplicate that. As for us, it'll be damn hard to get past the Suns. The Suns are what the Sonics were to the Rockets teams in the 90s. We just couldn't beat them and they always seemed to have our number. But hey, maybe they'll slip up like the Sonics did.
Yeah, everybody's jockeying Phoenix and I still don't think they can do it. In fact, I'd rather face Phoenix than Dallas. To beat Phoenix, you have to control tempo, run clock, don't be tempted into taking all the wide open 3 point looks they give you, run your offense deliberately, balance the floor, and get back defensively. If we run our offense right and don't fall in love with the 3 point shot, with Yao, we can beat Phoenix. And we can beat them a lot easier than we can beat Dallas. As much as nobody has an answer for Steve Nash and those guys racing up and down the court, neither does Phoenix or anybody else have an answer for Yao. An offensively aggressive Yao will get Amare and any player in this league that is defending him in foul trouble. Somehow, I don't think we are going to see our complete team at it's peak until playoff time. I have to wonder sometimes if JVG isn't just waiting to break out a can of Bonzi whoop ... once the playoffs start. He could be running him out there major minutes, designing plays around him, etc. and he seems content to just piddle around with Bonzi while he is on the court for a few minutes every game. And he's obviously going to take his time bringing Snyder back. Plus, if we make a trade for a Chucky Atkins type player, it will take a little while to mesh him in with the team. Van Gundy has had our defense really humming since early in the season. Their rotation has been a thing of beauty to watch. It's like they are a ballet. They all move in sync with each other, pushing the penetrators to help, cutting off the paint and forcing opponents to take off balance jump shots from too far out for them to be efficient. But, I have to believe that JVG still has a lot of tricks up his sleeve offensively that he is not going to break out until the playoffs roll around. Bonzi is too potent. And we really haven't exploited the pick and roll at the top with our point guard and Yao/Chuckie yet, nor have we really exploited the pick and fade plays with the point and Juwan or another shooter. We're just running the basic plays and JVG is letting McGrady free lance off of them. I still think there are plenty of options to implement such as Bonzi's post up game combined with Yao at the top, McGrady on the wing, and Head and Battier in the corners. I'm telling you, JVG is holding back on us with the offense. I still believe that before this season is through JVG will give VSpan some minutes at the point to get a look see for what our offense can do with him operating out of the pick and roll. I think he is going to give him one extensive look. It may be down towards the end of the season, I don't know. But I think JVG wants to know what he's got and what he can get from VSpan before we head to the playoffs. He knows VSpan aint a shooter, he knows VSpan is a pick and roll point. He's going to find out how effective VSpan can be in that role before playoff time.
The only team I fear is phoenix and nash. Every other team we can beat in a series, no problems. Rockets need to control the pace against the suns, and so far I haven't seen them do that much.
Don you have said it again- 'The Truth' Jackson & Riley are only great managers of established top talent [in bunches] Great Coaches can coach the raw college draft pick as well as manage.
The difference is our matchups, Battier on Ginobli makes ALL THE DIFFERENCE in the world to us. San Anotonio is like us they only have people who can create on that team....and if you shut them both down...they struggle. DD
The Lakers record now considering Mihm is out for the season, Kwame is hsit, Odom's been out forever, and Smush is probably the worst starting guard in the league... Give them credit. Your argument was valid and popular a couple of years ago, but Phil Jackson continues to make his team better than its talent. We don't know for a fact that the Bulls would be a dynasty and MJ the greatest ever if Phil Jackson hadn't arrived. We know they'd be excellent, but 6 championships? Come one... Phil Jackson is an excellent coach because he understands his weakness - X's and O's. So what does he do? He outsources that stuff to people who are only good at that, and he does what no other coach can match him with - motivate his players to all overachieve. I wish JVG woulf consider outsourcing offensivive philosophy.
Thank you. I completely disagree with the idea we cannot beat the Suns in a series. In 04/05, we won the last 2 meetings with them, one game was a 2nd half blowout in Phoenix dominated by Yao, the other (also in Phoenix) was a close one where Tracy basically carried us the entire game. Last season they smoked us each game. People, get this out of your mind! We didn't have our full team and fell victim to their style of play, which is geared to demolish undermanned teams. The only reason we lost the first game to them this season in Phoenix was because of Yao's early foul trouble. We roared back in the 3rd quarter but everyone ran out of gas. If Yao hadn't sat most of the 1st half, the Suns wouldn't have built up the big lead. We also didn't have Tracy. The next game we didn't have Yao or Tracy and, once again, we ran out of gas because of being undermanned. Call me crazy, but I think JVG has Phoenix figured out. If you get back on defense, deny Nash's passing lanes and play energetic on the perimeter, the Suns will miss most of their 3 pointers. In the last game, our perimeter players stopped hustling (out of exhaustion) and we couldn't pull it out. The longer their offensive possessions take, the less the Suns like it and they committ more turnovers and make dumb passes. It's almost like they come unglued. This is why they tend to blow big leads. The Mavs are another story. They are a tougher matchup for us. I consider them the mountain we need to climb, not the Suns. Even so, we can take them with a healthy roster.
It's tough for the Suns to beat a good half court team in a 7 game series. When the defense is tight, they really dont have a goto threat IMO. When they shoot hot, they are hot, but so do we. They space the floor well, but again I have to see they can beat a rock solid defensive team in a 7 game series.
Here are the teams in the west that I think will give the rockets most trouble Most to least Suns>> dallas> lakers> spurs> utah> Twolves> nuggets.... and all the other teams should be blow outs I predict the playoffs will go accordingly: 1 dallas 2 suns 3 spurs maybe lakers 4 utah 5 lakers maybe spurs 6 rockets 7 twolves 8 nuggets I think 3,5, and 6th place are really iffy right now... any 3 teams can end up anywhere... so we may end up playing either the spurs, lakers, or jazz in the 1st round, and if we win we will either see dallas or the suns in the 2nd round (scary 2nd round) who would u guys rather play in the 2nd round?? and there are too many teams competing for 7 and 8(it doesnt really matter, the 7th and 8th place team have no business competing in the playoffs, they are all going to get murdered)
The Wolves just fired their coach, and you think they'll finish ahead of the Nuggets? Are you kidding me? The Nuggets right now have a legitimately good chance of overtaking Utah for the Northwest division title.
I havent seen the new AI Melo combo yet, but I feel the melt down is awaiting in Denver. In addition, I would rather have two super-duper star an in-out combo like us than the out-out combo. Tighten up the D, AI and Melo will take ill-advised shots.
I rather see the mavs in the second round......something about the horses of phoenix that scare me. If we get to far ahead we should lose some games on purpose. I hate the fact that JVG made us play the mavs instead of the kings in the 05 playoffs.
If you have the best defense, the best center(by far), and the most dangerous playoff scorer on your team then you are a threat to any team in the league that is not 82-0
I don't see a meltdown. To me, they are Dallas back when Dallas had Nash and Nelson was running all those crazy lineups. They are going to be sick offensively but a leak'n sieve defensively. Their defense is what will kill them. They're not a contender........this year. But they will be tough to deal with because they can go go go.
They have some good defensive bigs -- Camby, Nene, Najera. And they should be a good rebounding team (well, if they didn't leak out so much they would be). I don't think it's the defense, so much as their ability to score in the half court. Their efficiency drops a ton as the shot clock winds down, and in the playoffs against good defensive teams it will be harder for them to thrive with their fast break game alone.
It would help if Melo would play his best in the playoffs. Maybe having AI on the team will help because you know AI will bring his "A" game. If Melo does too the Nuggets may be a threat to reach the Finals.
i don't see the lakers having any chance of a championship. They're playing extremely well right now but they don't have the players, esp. the big men, to really compete. Might get to the second round but that's about it. So that leaves only the Rockets.
That is true, but when the old coaches had those squads, Pippen/Grant & Kobe still were not fully developed. Correct?
You realize that both Kwame and Odom have been out with injuries. Their big men are: Kwame: 6'11, 270 Bynum: 7'0, 285 Cook: 6'9, 250 Odom: 6'10, 230 That's seems like plenty of big men to me. Earlier in the season I didn't take the Lakers seriously but I do now. There is no team in the WC they cannot beat in a 7 game series.
