Lakers vs. Celtics: Match-ups

[cuckroller]

I think in the first three minutes someone like Posey or Rondo or Perk or Kg or Ray or PP or really anyone ought to clothesline Kobe and then get on with the game. Only this time nobody helps him up

Both teams have problems of image in the League.  This kind of stuff feeds into what I personally consider to mistakenly be the image problem of some past Celtic teams.  Hopefully you are not intending to win the series by crippling the key players...

[Eja117]

No of course not. When Kobe was allowed to punch Bibby in the face nobody was crippled

[Analyst]

The thought about hurting Kobe makes me wonder what team the refs will be playing for. The C's lead all teams in fouls per game in the playoffs (I believe we beat Detroit despite the refs). Doc did a great job of not letting the players get distracted after the horrible foul call on Pierce's 3 pointer.

What I've noticed since the infamous LA-Portland game 7 was that refs wait for momentum changers to make the bad call and they always,always,always go the way of LA. See LA-Portland - LA-Sacramento, LA-Minnesota or even the horrible no foul call in the last series. Bad calls will be made against LA but NEVER when the game is on the line.

Do any of you remember the playoff game between LA-Minnesota when Kobe tied the game on a three point shot and one (foul) when there was no Timberwolve within 4 feet of him?

How are the refs picked for the finals?

[Eja117]

There's a big difference between clotheslining Kobe on a breakaway and "hurting" Kobe   

[Roy Hobbs]

There's a big difference between clotheslining Kobe on a breakaway and "hurting" Kobe   

But if one thing should lead to the other, none of us would be shedding too many tears.

[Bahku]

There's a big difference between clotheslining Kobe on a breakaway and "hurting" Kobe   

But if one thing should lead to the other, none of us would be shedding too many tears.

Well said, Roy (TP) ... though I'm glad it was you who said it! 

[oneofthesedays]

The matchup I see here is a difference of Styles - East vs West.

The west has flash while the east has D and D wins. The Lakers have the worst D of any team the C's have faced in the playoffs (Atlanta averages 8 blocks per game against Boston) while the C's defence is the best in the NBA. They have a way of making good offensive teams look bad.

Perkins D is very under-rated while Odom's is over-rated. If the Lakers had any interior presence they might have a shot-but they don't. I can't believe how the so-called experts are picking LA. It doesn't make sense. The stats just don't point top the series going that way.
C's D vs. Kobe. Take the D.

Before you put too much credence on how LA beat SA look at this:

The mighty San Antonio Spurs were a combined 2-6 vs Boston, Detroit, Cleveland and Atlanta.

Detroit was a 5-3 vs LA, Utah, San Antonio and Denver.

You put too much credence in the regular season. 

The Lakers are a very good defensive team, not elite but very good.  They are able to cover up their weaknesses quite well.

Trust me, the Celtics won't be scoring anywhere near 100 ppg.  Phil Jackson is THAT much better a coach than Doc and I can assure you he will throw some wrinkles that Doc isn't prepared to handle.  One thing Phil does better than anyone else in the league is take away the most comfortable options a team has and force them to score in ways they don't usually do. 

[Barnabas]

The matchup I see here is a difference of Styles - East vs West.

The west has flash while the east has D and D wins. The Lakers have the worst D of any team the C's have faced in the playoffs (Atlanta averages 8 blocks per game against Boston) while the C's defence is the best in the NBA. They have a way of making good offensive teams look bad.

Perkins D is very under-rated while Odom's is over-rated. If the Lakers had any interior presence they might have a shot-but they don't. I can't believe how the so-called experts are picking LA. It doesn't make sense. The stats just don't point top the series going that way.
C's D vs. Kobe. Take the D.

Before you put too much credence on how LA beat SA look at this:

The mighty San Antonio Spurs were a combined 2-6 vs Boston, Detroit, Cleveland and Atlanta.

Detroit was a 5-3 vs LA, Utah, San Antonio and Denver.

Offense is just as important as defense.  San Antonio played great defense on Kobe, but the Laker offense overwhelmed that said defense.  Plus, San Antonio's offense just was not good enough.  It could be due to Ginobili not being himself.  If Radmanovic was such a bad defender, how was it that Ginobili had an inconsistent series?  Gasol played respectable defense against Duncan.  Maybe Perkins could have done a better job, but it would have been a different style of defense than Gasol used.  There's more than one way to get things done.  Gasol used his height to bother Duncan, whereas Perkins probably would have been more physical, pushing Duncan away from the post.  The Lakers play much better defense than a lot of Boston fans give them credit for. 

[Analyst]

The matchup I see here is a difference of Styles - East vs West.

The west has flash while the east has D and D wins. The Lakers have the worst D of any team the C's have faced in the playoffs (Atlanta averages 8 blocks per game against Boston) while the C's defence is the best in the NBA. They have a way of making good offensive teams look bad.

Perkins D is very under-rated while Odom's is over-rated. If the Lakers had any interior presence they might have a shot-but they don't. I can't believe how the so-called experts are picking LA. It doesn't make sense. The stats just don't point top the series going that way.
C's D vs. Kobe. Take the D.

Before you put too much credence on how LA beat SA look at this:

The mighty San Antonio Spurs were a combined 2-6 vs Boston, Detroit, Cleveland and Atlanta.

Detroit was a 5-3 vs LA, Utah, San Antonio and Denver.

Offense is just as important as defense.  San Antonio played great defense on Kobe, but the Laker offense overwhelmed that said defense.  Plus, San Antonio's offense just was not good enough.  It could be due to Ginobili not being himself.  If Radmanovic was such a bad defender, how was it that Ginobili had an inconsistent series?  Gasol played respectable defense against Duncan.  Maybe Perkins could have done a better job, but it would have been a different style of defense than Gasol used.  There's more than one way to get things done.  Gasol used his height to bother Duncan, whereas Perkins probably would have been more physical, pushing Duncan away from the post.  The Lakers play much better defense than a lot of Boston fans give them credit for. 

The Lakers have managed to give up 99.5 points per game in the playoffs so I don't feel I've under-rated them. They've also scored 106. They are a team that relies on a quick tempo. The C's can play both ways. Their pass oriented offence is designed in a way that doesn't allow a team to take out one of their big three and still have an edge. The C's can win even if any ONE of their 3 guys are innecective. The Lakers can't win without Kobe. He'll probably average the quietest 28 points per game in NBA finals history. Rmember that when Kobe gets desperate he tends to play like Kobe, trying to take over the game by himself - putting up ill advised shots - forgoing wide open teammates - etc...
Anyway I analyze it this seems to be an over-rated Lakers team.

The C's may have had a disappointing playoffs until know but their still in the finals having beaten last years Eastern conference champions and the team with the second best record in the NBA.

[cuckroller]

There's a big difference between clotheslining Kobe on a breakaway and "hurting" Kobe   

But if one thing should lead to the other, none of us would be shedding too many tears.

I guess here we must disagree.  There is really no way to calculate the effects of what might be considered an "intimidation" foul.  These are big, powerful men, and once you get them up in the air, there is just no way to foresee what the consequences will be.  For some time, I have been quite wary of the laxity with which the League allows the close proximity of photographers on the baseline.  I guess it will take a dirty foul, with career-ending consequences before people will get the idea.  Sadly, I was already a fan during one of the darkest periods of League history.  Perhaps, you might remember it as well.  I speak of the period when, in particular during playoffs, dirty fouling (with the tacit desire of putting out key players) was pretty prevalent.  What I call the "Enforcer Period".  It is still hard to put from my mind the horrible consequences of the absolutely brainless act by Kermit Washington (from my team).  Other than him, we also had other enforcers during that period, as did most of the quoted teams, e.g., Lucas.  If any of the players of the Lakers, including Kobe, commits a voluntarily unnecessary and intimidatory foul, then they should be suspended at once and the period of suspension should be commensurate with any possible consequences to the "victim" of the infraction.  I extend this also to other sports.  Just in your backyard, I still cringe to this day, the news of one of my most favorite NFL wide receivers, for a clothes line hit of life-changing consequences.  I speak of Daryl Stingley.

No, I just hate dirty play, and dirty players, and I care not if they are found even within the ranks of the teams which I may follow.  Call me an old fuddy-duddy, but that is the way I see it.

[wahz]

No node to Kobe over PP. Its just reality.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/fc/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=piercpa01&p2=bryanko01


Paul is a bigger man, more physical, plays better position d, and is nearly as quick.

[Hrvoje]

No node to Kobe over PP. Its just reality.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/fc/h2h_finder.cgi?request=1&p1=piercpa01&p2=bryanko01


Paul is a bigger man, more physical, plays better position d, and is nearly as quick.

Bigger, more physical, better d, BUT not nearly as fast as him

[oneofthesedays]

I would love to see Doc put Pierce on Kobe, but we all know that won't happen because Kobe would light him up.

Playoff Kobe != Regular season Kobe.

[Roy Hobbs]

Playoff Kobe != Regular season Kobe.

Career playoff averages:

24.2 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 4.6 apg, 44.7% FG%, 2.9 tpg

Career regular season averages:

25.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 4.6 apg, 45.3 FG%, 2.9 tpg

Um, yeah...  he really elevates his game.