Spurs are not similar to Dallas in any way, Dallas has a faster tempo thet favors the Warriors, Dallas are also choke-waiting-to-happen. If you see this year matchups between GS and Spurs they were without Duncan for the first game and the second was an overtime loss before the ASB.
If you are going to say SA hasn't beaten anyone then you surely can't be on the Lakers tip because they have been killing scrub teams as well as of late. If SA and LA matchup I don't see how LA can win. They have no one to stop Duncan, and Parker and Manu typically play well against them. LA is overrated IMO. They need to improve defensively.... The funny thing is I think Dallas matches up with SA the best, out of Western teams at least.
san antonio will dispose of the warriors. unlike dallas, san antonio has certified team killers. parker, manu and timmy > dirk, jet, joho.
Posted on espn's hollinger rankings under the mavericks section: This may be the funniest delusional rambling from a mavs fan ever.
I think if Bynum returns and can be 90% of what he was earlier in the year, I think that changes things considerably. What he can give them defensively and on the boards might be enough to take down the Spurs. Gasol's only a so-so defender, but he can stay with him man all over the court. At 7 foot and with a long wingspan, he can affect shots. Bynum won't win an individual matchup with Duncan but he will make Tim work hard in the post. If Bowen is tacked on Kobe, who guards Odom? Manu? He'd be giving up a full 4 or 5 inches! On the other end, Kobe or Odom would do a *reasonable* job guarding the Bowen-Manu pair. If Gasol or Bynum can cheat off Oberto or Thomas and help protect the rim, it neutralizes Ginobili's quickness advantage. Parker will be able to cause the Lakers a lot of problems with his ability to get into the paint. There's not much they can do there other than send the occasional double or collapse into the paint and hope the shooters don't burn them. The last thing I'd say is that the Lakers' chances come down the most on how much triangle they run as opposed to Kobe-ball. When they have a lineup of Fisher/Farmar - Kobe - Walton - Odom - Gasol and run the triangle high post (sharing, moving the ball around to the open man), they're unstoppable. All 5 can shoot with very good range, and defenders can't camp by the basket, opening it up for slashers. This is a lineup that's perfect for the triangle, and I don't think anyone can defend it fully. Evan
the lakers on paper match up very well with ANYONE in the west, they have great size and depth. but we all know you dont get a trophy for being paper champs. bynum/turiaf gasol/vlad odom/luke/ariza bryant/sasha fisher/farmar/fake coby thats damn good depth.
Gasol's only a so-so defender, but he can stay with him man all over the court. At 7 foot and with a long wingspan, he can affect shots. Bynum won't win an individual matchup with Duncan but he will make Tim work hard in the post.[/quote] What has Bynum shown you to make you think he can consistently make Duncan work in the post? What I remember from Bynum is that Kwame Brown was the best post defender for LA. Bynum put up very good numbers against teams without big, physical frontlines...but his play against teams with those kind of frontlines was so-so. I believe SA owned him in their last game without Duncan. Gasol may be able to stay with his man but will he be able to keep the Spurs frontline off the boards? Who usually guards Odom? If Bynum is back that means Odom is at SF and probably not in the paint. And if LA wants to go to war trying to take advantage of Odom and relying on him to dominate then go right ahead. I think LA will have a tougher time with Parker and Manu than SA will have with Odom. That offense may be great at scoring but who is going to play defense? You have Gasol manning the five, Odom guarding a PF and Walton trying to hold someone. Defense wins championships....
