Why are the Trailblazers a Bad Matchup For the Lakers?

Blazers play very similar ball. The Lakers are bigger and more athletic than pretty much everyone else, but Portland is big and athletic too.

 

I'm sure that Rockets scouts would study the matchups between Blazers and Lakers and find out the LA's weaknesses because they clearly showed them against the athletic Blazers team.

But I also think that there's certain media hype around the LA-Portland matchup, those are only three-four games that are regular.

Playoffs are something else...

 

Portland made both Kobe and Gasol forced to play defense with Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge. Although, they could have just put Kobe on Batum, Rudy or Outlaw. All 3 of those guys are capable of making jump shots, while during the season Battier had a horrendous shooting.

Our best offensive players are Luis Scola and Yao Ming. We can only forced Gasol to play defense, but we can't force Kobe too. Blazers also have similar weaknesses to the Lakers as well. Both of them struggle with their PGs and their SFs. Lamar Odom really is probably the most inconsistent player in the league, he has never even reached his full potential really. Those are my thoughts on why the Blazers are a worse match-up against the Lakers than the Rockets.

We probably will give them a better run for their money since we are more experienced though.

 

same case as to why utah is such a bad matchup for us.

but the main thing is that it is hard for the lakers to win at the rose garden.

 

I would only say that the Lakers are too good of a team to not find a way to win at the Rose Garden in a playoff series.

 

i believe its a myth. just because portland beat the lakers couple times doesn't mean they are a bad matchup. didn't the phillys swept the rox, who cares we are still 10 times better then them

 

the only reason this is being talked about is because the lakers cant win in Portland for many years. it has nothing to do with this years blazers team. lakers had no trouble with portland at home

 

really nice points.. their frontcourt and bench has played us pretty well this year.. if we can slow them down in the series I think we have a great chance to beat them... odom will be key for them.. should be a physical and fun series

 

They need to study the Celtics/Lakers series last year. We don't have that size up front though. The Blazers and Celtics both had size at the 4.

 

they can execute in the 4th quarter at Portland, they have great length and they're physical, Gasol got owned by oden on many plays in Portland.

 

The "bad matchup" is overrated. Portland strength's are LA's weaknesses but that's in the regular season. LA would have done away with Portland in 5 had we not done it for them.

 

I think Houston just had to be themselves and focus on playing their best and they'll be fine. If they start thinking about matchup problems or how great the Lakers is or whether we can beat them or not...that's when they're losing. You have to be strong and confident...because nothing can beat strong mental toughness. If Houston can come out and be mentally tough like they did against Portland and treat LA like Portland (by that i mean, knowing you can play with these guys) then we give ourselves a chance to success.

With that said, i believe in the Rockets because we have more players this year that are mentally tough and strong minded.

 

I believe it has something to do with Portland being yhe best offensive rebounding team and lakers being one of the wrose...not 100% sure on, but I remember reading or hearing this somewhere

 

The Lakers don't have an overwilling matchup to exploit. Aldridge matches up EXTREMELY well with Gasol, and that robs the Lakers of the ace up their sleeve. Kobe obviously has an advantage over Roy, but we're talking 35 ppg against 25. Odom isn't a major issue for outlaw.

The Lakers trotting out a tall, athletic, versatile lineup (sans PG) gives most teams fits. Not Portand.

They will be tough for us to cover, given that Yao and Scola aren't quick enough to handle a Gasol/Odom frontcourt well, and Landry at 6-6 can't bother their shots.

IMO, this is a series where we need to unleash Ron on Odom and perhaps Gasol at times. They don't respond well to physical play, and Artest can stay in front of them.

It'll be paramount that Yao exploit his advantage on offense to the fullest. 16 ppg won't be nearly enough to keep him out on the floor if Gasol is pulling him away from the basket.

Evan

 

With this in mind...If Kobe is defending Wafer, I'd love to see him running around and attacking the rack. If Kobe is defending Artest or Battier, let's try to get them one-on-one in the post, dishing out some physical punishment. I think you've got to wear his arse out on BOTH ends for us to win this series. (And have Yao outscore Gasol/Bynum by about 10/game).

 

because Pau and Aldridge is a wash

so is BRoy and Kobe

Outlaw is very similar to Odom

Oden and Pryzbilla would make Bynum work for everything

add to the mix a huge spark off the bench in Rudy Fernandez

Blazers had a bunch of young athletes who are very talented, just like the Lakers. it would have been a dog fight between those teams. Its just unfortunate they didn't get to play the Lakers. I think they would've beat them.

 

Lakers might be bigger, but our team is much more stronger, more physical.

How was Boston able to get away with being physical with kobe in the finals last season? I didn't watch any of the games.
If we are allowed to play that way, we can win this.

 

I don't get it. If Portland are so similar to Lakers, why do we match up so well with Portland but not Lakers? (3-1 in reg season vs Portland but 0-4 vs Lakers)

 

Kobe > Roy
Gasol > Aldridge.
Lakers Role players > Blazers role players.

Gasol plays much tougher than Aldridge as weird as that may sound. Gasol is much more aggressive offensively, and much more mobile than Aldridge is. Also, Kobe is a much more consistent shooter than Roy by a lot. Roy missed a lot of open jumpers when they were trying to exploit Yao's pick n roll defense. Kobe has one of the most consistent mid-range and 3 point shots in the league.

Not only that, but often times since the Blazers-Bulls years. Phil Jackson has outcoached Adelman. Especially in the Kings-Laker years. Although Adelman's team is different now and Jackson's team is different now. We are certainly not favored to win the series.