Lakers vs. Celtics: Match-ups

[CoachBo]

Very creative, and very self-serving. I agree with absolutely nothing you've said.

Your bigs don't defend. Gasol not at all, Odom not well. Perkins is an excellent defender, whether you want to admit it, and he's going to beat on Gasol from the opening tip of the game one until the final play. And when he's not beating on Gasol, P.J. Brown, Glen Davis and Leon Powe will be beating on him. Gasol is soft, and if you're basing dissent on his play against an over-the-hill Duncan, an old Camby and a Utah center who's just barely there, then I hope Gasol agrees with you. He's in for the surprise of his life.

You've got no answer defensively for Garnett. None at all. Garnett will score whenever he wants throughout this series. Odom can't stop Garnett. Gasol's below average defensively. I'd be more concerned about this matchup, frankly, if you had Bynum. Neither Gasol nor Odom is going to keep any offensive coach awake with their defense.

And Garnett's the defensive player of the year. He'll shut Odom down. And quite frankly, I fear Josh Smith's athleticism a lot more than anything Lamar Odom's indifferent game brings to the table.

As for Bryant, you seem to forget that he put up enough bricks in the first two games between these teams to build a house. He's going to see multiple defenders, and he's going to be frustrated. Count on it.

You have a nice team and this will be a good series. Just not as nice as you think.

[Green matters]

Now, Garnett is the greatest help defender I've ever seen, but if he and Perkins are preoccupied with Gasol, that leaves Odom(10 REB avg) free to clean the glass.  Additionally, Odom isn't inexperienced like Josh Smith, an offensive non-factor like Ben Wallace, or slow and perimeter-oriented like Antonio McDyess.  Garnett will have to work harder to guard a fast, long, 6'10" combo-forward  that can and will cut to the basket in anticipation of a nifty pass from Gasol, one of the NBA's best passing centers.  And while Garnett is head and shoulders more valuable than Lamar Odom, you have to agree that Odom is superior to the 3 PFs Garnett has faced in these playoffs.
   

Depends if Odom shows up. You're comparing a player (KG) that is consistent with one that is not

[tanner]

It is impossible to discuss the Gasol-Perkins match-up when a lot of Celtics fans imagine him to be Moses Malone 3000.  Gasol is shooting 53% in these playoffs while being guarded by the likes of Marcus Camby, Mehmet Okur, and Tim Duncan.  Are you people assuming Perkins is a better defender and rebounder than Duncan or Camby?  Maybe you've been intoxicated by Perkins play of late, but it is time to wake up and smell the coffee:  If Gasol can be effective against those 3, there is no reason he won't be effective against Kendrick Perkins.  Get real!

You stated Perkins is an excellent defender.  That is rubbish.  Rubbish!  Marcus Camby is an excellent defender.  Tim Duncan?  Excellent defender.  Kendrick Perkins?  Sorry.  While I do not doubt he plays with passion and intensity, that isn't enough.  If that were the case, I'd be all be warning you of Ronny Turiaf.  Perkins is not synonymous with excellent defense.  Sorry.  And Gasol tallied more offensive rebounds against Duncan, so he is not chopped liver in that regard.     

It's funny you include Okur among the defensive stalwarts Gasol has faced in the playoffs. Anyway, of the three you mentioned, Duncan is the only man-to-man defender better than Perkins.  Don't let the DPOY award Camby's received fool you.  He's an excellent weakside defender but the guy is poor man-to-man.  How poor?  I refer you to stats from 82games. 

Opponent PER and eFG% (PER and eFG% allowed against opposing centers) in the regular season:

Camby - 28.7, 63% (Yes, 63%--not a typo). Apparently those are his playoff stats.  Regular season--17.9, 52%.
Perkins - 14.2, 46%
Duncan - 16.9, 48%

The problem with Perkins is consistency and early foul trouble.  The last series though, Perk  put in his most consistent performance and wasn't called a lot of early fouls.  I don't how effective Perk will be on Gasol.  A lot will depend how much physicality the refs allow.

[oneofthesedays]

You C's fans crack me up.  Perkins better than Duncan?  Oh boy, why don't you go to SpursTalk and try and argue that point.  Duncan is the best post defender in the league, he may not LOOK like a dominating defense presence but he alters more shots than anyone else in the league.  The fact that he can do so without getting into foul trouble is all the more amazing. 

The bottom line is after facing Duncan for 5 games, Perkins isn't going to surprise Gasol.  He's already seen the best there is.

[tanner]

You C's fans crack me up.  Perkins better than Duncan?  Oh boy, why don't you go to SpursTalk and try and argue that point.  Duncan is the best post defender in the league, he may not LOOK like a dominating defense presence but he alters more shots than anyone else in the league.  The fact that he can do so without getting into foul trouble is all the more amazing. 

The bottom line is after facing Duncan for 5 games, Perkins isn't going to surprise Gasol.  He's already seen the best there is.

Did I miss something?  Where exactly is that statement--Perkins better than Duncan?

[chibi]

Very creative, and very self-serving. I agree with absolutely nothing you've said.

Your bigs don't defend. Gasol not at all, Odom not well. Perkins is an excellent defender, whether you want to admit it, and he's going to beat on Gasol from the opening tip of the game one until the final play. And when he's not beating on Gasol, P.J. Brown, Glen Davis and Leon Powe will be beating on him. Gasol is soft, and if you're basing dissent on his play against an over-the-hill Duncan, an old Camby and a Utah center who's just barely there, then I hope Gasol agrees with you. He's in for the surprise of his life.

You've got no answer defensively for Garnett. None at all. Garnett will score whenever he wants throughout this series. Odom can't stop Garnett. Gasol's below average defensively. I'd be more concerned about this matchup, frankly, if you had Bynum. Neither Gasol nor Odom is going to keep any offensive coach awake with their defense.

And Garnett's the defensive player of the year. He'll shut Odom down. And quite frankly, I fear Josh Smith's athleticism a lot more than anything Lamar Odom's indifferent game brings to the table.

As for Bryant, you seem to forget that he put up enough bricks in the first two games between these teams to build a house. He's going to see multiple defenders, and he's going to be frustrated. Count on it.

You have a nice team and this will be a good series. Just not as nice as you think.

Tim Duncan averaged almost 20 pts, 11 reb, and 2 blocks over the course of the season.  How on earth did you conclude that he is over the hill?  Gasol held Duncan to 40% shooting in the series, about 10% less than his season average.  Was Gasol just lucky?  No, amigo.

Oh and by the way, I wanted to point out a mistake I made earlier.  Gasol guarded not Okur but all-star Carlos Boozer; and effectively, might I add?    

As I pointed out earlier, Odom's game isn't predicated on scoring.  The addition of Gasol has freed him from the responsibility of scoring and allowed his excellent passing and ball-handling skills to flourish.  If Garnett wants to devote himself to locking up the 3rd option and never leave his side, that is fine with me.  If he does, Gasol and Bryant will feast on Perkins and Allen.  And if he doesn't then Odom likely contributes with cuts, rebounds, and easy putbacks.  

I haven't forgotten Kobe's poor shooting against the Celtics earlier this season at all.  If this were the same Laker team and the same Kobe Bryant, then I would expect more of the same.  But that is not the case.  The same high level of teamwork that makes the Celtics defense so impressive is mirrored by the teamwork and chemistry the Laker offense has today.  There's a reason teams are reluctant to throw defenders at Kobe these days:  MVP-level decision-making coupled with effective personnel.  That tactic may have worked against Joe Johnson and the lowly and inexperienced Hawks, but not against the best team in the West.

I think I've been perfectly fair in my assessments.  How realistic are you being?  You, for example, think Tim Duncan is over the hill.  If Duncan is over-the-hill, what is PJ Brown?  And age hasn't stopped Camby from leading the league in blocks or averaging 13 rebounds.  And the advantages Gasol has over the likes of Davis and Powe?  I could make a list!  Three that come to mind are height, speed, and skill.    

[BudweiserCeltic]

Very creative, and very self-serving. I agree with absolutely nothing you've said.

Your bigs don't defend. Gasol not at all, Odom not well. Perkins is an excellent defender, whether you want to admit it, and he's going to beat on Gasol from the opening tip of the game one until the final play. And when he's not beating on Gasol, P.J. Brown, Glen Davis and Leon Powe will be beating on him. Gasol is soft, and if you're basing dissent on his play against an over-the-hill Duncan, an old Camby and a Utah center who's just barely there, then I hope Gasol agrees with you. He's in for the surprise of his life.

You've got no answer defensively for Garnett. None at all. Garnett will score whenever he wants throughout this series. Odom can't stop Garnett. Gasol's below average defensively. I'd be more concerned about this matchup, frankly, if you had Bynum. Neither Gasol nor Odom is going to keep any offensive coach awake with their defense.

And Garnett's the defensive player of the year. He'll shut Odom down. And quite frankly, I fear Josh Smith's athleticism a lot more than anything Lamar Odom's indifferent game brings to the table.

As for Bryant, you seem to forget that he put up enough bricks in the first two games between these teams to build a house. He's going to see multiple defenders, and he's going to be frustrated. Count on it.

You have a nice team and this will be a good series. Just not as nice as you think.

Tim Duncan averaged almost 20 pts, 11 reb, and 2 blocks over the course of the season.  How on earth did you conclude that he is over the hill?  Gasol held Duncan to 40% shooting in the series, about 10% less than his season average.  Was Gasol just lucky?  No, amigo.

Oh and by the way, I wanted to point out a mistake I made earlier.  Gasol guarded not Okur but all-star Carlos Boozer; and effectively, might I add?    

As I pointed out earlier, Odom's game isn't predicated on scoring.  The addition of Gasol has freed him from the responsibility of scoring and allowed his excellent passing and ball-handling skills to flourish.  If Garnett wants to devote himself to locking up the 3rd option and never leave his side, that is fine with me.  If he does, Gasol and Bryant will feast on Perkins and Allen.  And if he doesn't then Odom likely contributes with cuts, rebounds, and easy putbacks.  

I haven't forgotten Kobe's poor shooting against the Celtics earlier this season at all.  If this were the same Laker team and the same Kobe Bryant, then I would expect more of the same.  But that is not the case.  The same high level of teamwork that makes the Celtics defense so impressive is mirrored by the teamwork and chemistry the Laker offense has today.  There's a reason teams are reluctant to throw defenders at Kobe these days:  MVP-level decision-making coupled with effective personnel.  That tactic may have worked against Joe Johnson and the lowly and inexperienced Hawks, but not against the best team in the West.

I think I've been perfectly fair in my assessments.  How realistic are you being?  You, for example, think Tim Duncan is over the hill.  If Duncan is over-the-hill, what is PJ Brown?  And age hasn't stopped Camby from leading the league in blocks or averaging 13 rebounds.  And the advantages Gasol has over the likes of Davis and Powe?  I could make a list!  Three that come to mind are height, speed, and skill.    

The problem with your analysis is that you use and ignore season stats or playoff stats when it's convenient to your argument. Duncan wasn't as efficient in the playoffs as he was during the regular season period, so don't overstate the influence of Gasol's defense on him. Also, wouldn't the putrid performance of his buddy Ginobili with his bad ankle and all make Duncan force a ton of shots that he normally wouldn't have? He's usually quite good with his shot selection, I saw him forcing a ton of shots against the Lakers mainly because Ginobili was so ineffective, and it started to show during the New Orlean series.

Man, why are you bringing up his defense on Carlos Boozer for? Everyone knows he didn't play well during all the playoffs... everyone knows he had a bad back that was killing him.

Anyways, this is not about Perkins vs Gasol, Odom vs KG because our defense doesn't work that way. There's constant switching and constant help defense from everyone. They'll get defenders from all sizes coming to them at different angles and forcing them to get the ball in postion and places were they're not comfortable in.

And yes, the way Perkins has been playing defense during the playoffs, he can be argued to have played better than Duncan particularly on the help defense side. You can only notice this if you see the Celtics defense play consistently, and see the huge level of responsibility that Perk carries in it.

You've already stated as much that you haven't seen Perk much, so why argue against it? You clearly know little about him. In the words of the Pistons, "Perk is killing us"... expect more of the same against the Lakers.

[chibi]

Very creative, and very self-serving. I agree with absolutely nothing you've said.

Your bigs don't defend. Gasol not at all, Odom not well. Perkins is an excellent defender, whether you want to admit it, and he's going to beat on Gasol from the opening tip of the game one until the final play. And when he's not beating on Gasol, P.J. Brown, Glen Davis and Leon Powe will be beating on him. Gasol is soft, and if you're basing dissent on his play against an over-the-hill Duncan, an old Camby and a Utah center who's just barely there, then I hope Gasol agrees with you. He's in for the surprise of his life.

You've got no answer defensively for Garnett. None at all. Garnett will score whenever he wants throughout this series. Odom can't stop Garnett. Gasol's below average defensively. I'd be more concerned about this matchup, frankly, if you had Bynum. Neither Gasol nor Odom is going to keep any offensive coach awake with their defense.

And Garnett's the defensive player of the year. He'll shut Odom down. And quite frankly, I fear Josh Smith's athleticism a lot more than anything Lamar Odom's indifferent game brings to the table.

As for Bryant, you seem to forget that he put up enough bricks in the first two games between these teams to build a house. He's going to see multiple defenders, and he's going to be frustrated. Count on it.

You have a nice team and this will be a good series. Just not as nice as you think.

Tim Duncan averaged almost 20 pts, 11 reb, and 2 blocks over the course of the season.  How on earth did you conclude that he is over the hill?  Gasol held Duncan to 40% shooting in the series, about 10% less than his season average.  Was Gasol just lucky?  No, amigo.

Oh and by the way, I wanted to point out a mistake I made earlier.  Gasol guarded not Okur but all-star Carlos Boozer; and effectively, might I add?    

As I pointed out earlier, Odom's game isn't predicated on scoring.  The addition of Gasol has freed him from the responsibility of scoring and allowed his excellent passing and ball-handling skills to flourish.  If Garnett wants to devote himself to locking up the 3rd option and never leave his side, that is fine with me.  If he does, Gasol and Bryant will feast on Perkins and Allen.  And if he doesn't then Odom likely contributes with cuts, rebounds, and easy putbacks.  

I haven't forgotten Kobe's poor shooting against the Celtics earlier this season at all.  If this were the same Laker team and the same Kobe Bryant, then I would expect more of the same.  But that is not the case.  The same high level of teamwork that makes the Celtics defense so impressive is mirrored by the teamwork and chemistry the Laker offense has today.  There's a reason teams are reluctant to throw defenders at Kobe these days:  MVP-level decision-making coupled with effective personnel.  That tactic may have worked against Joe Johnson and the lowly and inexperienced Hawks, but not against the best team in the West.

I think I've been perfectly fair in my assessments.  How realistic are you being?  You, for example, think Tim Duncan is over the hill.  If Duncan is over-the-hill, what is PJ Brown?  And age hasn't stopped Camby from leading the league in blocks or averaging 13 rebounds.  And the advantages Gasol has over the likes of Davis and Powe?  I could make a list!  Three that come to mind are height, speed, and skill.    

The problem with your analysis is that you use and ignore season stats or playoff stats when it's convenient to your argument. Duncan wasn't as efficient in the playoffs as he was during the regular season period, so don't overstate the influence of Gasol's defense on him. Also, wouldn't the putrid performance of his buddy Ginobili with his bad ankle and all make Duncan force a ton of shots that he normally wouldn't have? He's usually quite good with his shot selection, I saw him forcing a ton of shots against the Lakers mainly because Ginobili was so ineffective, and it started to show during the New Orlean series.

Man, why are you bringing up his defense on Carlos Boozer for? Everyone knows he didn't play well during all the playoffs... everyone knows he had a bad back that was killing him.

Anyways, this is not about Perkins vs Gasol, Odom vs KG because our defense doesn't work that way. There's constant switching and constant help defense from everyone. They'll get defenders from all sizes coming to them at different angles and forcing them to get the ball in postion and places were they're not comfortable in.

And yes, the way Perkins has been playing defense during the playoffs, he can be argued to have played better than Duncan particularly on the help defense side. You can only notice this if you see the Celtics defense play consistently, and see the huge level of responsibility that Perk carries in it.

You've already stated as much that you haven't seen Perk much, so why argue against it? You clearly know little about him. In the words of the Pistons, "Perk is killing us"... expect more of the same against the Lakers.

What a hypocrite!  You completely sidestepped Gasol's performance against Camby in the first round.  It's convenient to forget about that, isn't it?  Because that would weaken your argument!

If Boozer's back was killing him, how is it that he was able to do everything *but* shoot?  Could you explain that how he was able to run, jump, cut, block shots, set picks, and rebound at a high level?  Are Boozer's back muscles located in his hands?  Is that it?  Gasol lucks out again!   

You assert Duncan was not himself in the playoffs, conveniently forgetting his dominance of Shaq in Round 1.  In Round 2 he had to deal with double-teams and Tyson Chandler and still put up decent numbers.  Are you willing to concede Chandler is a good defender?  Chandler's opponents have an eFG% of 50%.  Pau Gasol?  48%.  I'm not going to accept the claim that Ginobili's poor shooting led to Duncan forcing shots until you establish a link.  I don't really see how the former leads to the latter.  How did you arrive at this conclusion?     

And why did I waste all this time writing about what the Lakers like to do on offense and point out potential problems and mismatches? when there's no way the Celtics can be beat! cuz perkinz! kg will pwnz u!  nu-uh! ur teamz still sux! cuz defense!  hee-haw! 

god, your bias sickens me.     

[Bahku]

Recent posters below: You might want to take a minute to review the CeticsBlog rules ... there are no personal attacks or name-calling allowed. Personally, I think we've been pretty gracious welcoming Lakers Fans here ... the least you can do is observe the same considerations we give to you. Thanks.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Very creative, and very self-serving. I agree with absolutely nothing you've said.

Your bigs don't defend. Gasol not at all, Odom not well. Perkins is an excellent defender, whether you want to admit it, and he's going to beat on Gasol from the opening tip of the game one until the final play. And when he's not beating on Gasol, P.J. Brown, Glen Davis and Leon Powe will be beating on him. Gasol is soft, and if you're basing dissent on his play against an over-the-hill Duncan, an old Camby and a Utah center who's just barely there, then I hope Gasol agrees with you. He's in for the surprise of his life.

You've got no answer defensively for Garnett. None at all. Garnett will score whenever he wants throughout this series. Odom can't stop Garnett. Gasol's below average defensively. I'd be more concerned about this matchup, frankly, if you had Bynum. Neither Gasol nor Odom is going to keep any offensive coach awake with their defense.

And Garnett's the defensive player of the year. He'll shut Odom down. And quite frankly, I fear Josh Smith's athleticism a lot more than anything Lamar Odom's indifferent game brings to the table.

As for Bryant, you seem to forget that he put up enough bricks in the first two games between these teams to build a house. He's going to see multiple defenders, and he's going to be frustrated. Count on it.

You have a nice team and this will be a good series. Just not as nice as you think.

Tim Duncan averaged almost 20 pts, 11 reb, and 2 blocks over the course of the season.  How on earth did you conclude that he is over the hill?  Gasol held Duncan to 40% shooting in the series, about 10% less than his season average.  Was Gasol just lucky?  No, amigo.

Oh and by the way, I wanted to point out a mistake I made earlier.  Gasol guarded not Okur but all-star Carlos Boozer; and effectively, might I add?    

As I pointed out earlier, Odom's game isn't predicated on scoring.  The addition of Gasol has freed him from the responsibility of scoring and allowed his excellent passing and ball-handling skills to flourish.  If Garnett wants to devote himself to locking up the 3rd option and never leave his side, that is fine with me.  If he does, Gasol and Bryant will feast on Perkins and Allen.  And if he doesn't then Odom likely contributes with cuts, rebounds, and easy putbacks.  

I haven't forgotten Kobe's poor shooting against the Celtics earlier this season at all.  If this were the same Laker team and the same Kobe Bryant, then I would expect more of the same.  But that is not the case.  The same high level of teamwork that makes the Celtics defense so impressive is mirrored by the teamwork and chemistry the Laker offense has today.  There's a reason teams are reluctant to throw defenders at Kobe these days:  MVP-level decision-making coupled with effective personnel.  That tactic may have worked against Joe Johnson and the lowly and inexperienced Hawks, but not against the best team in the West.

I think I've been perfectly fair in my assessments.  How realistic are you being?  You, for example, think Tim Duncan is over the hill.  If Duncan is over-the-hill, what is PJ Brown?  And age hasn't stopped Camby from leading the league in blocks or averaging 13 rebounds.  And the advantages Gasol has over the likes of Davis and Powe?  I could make a list!  Three that come to mind are height, speed, and skill.    

The problem with your analysis is that you use and ignore season stats or playoff stats when it's convenient to your argument. Duncan wasn't as efficient in the playoffs as he was during the regular season period, so don't overstate the influence of Gasol's defense on him. Also, wouldn't the putrid performance of his buddy Ginobili with his bad ankle and all make Duncan force a ton of shots that he normally wouldn't have? He's usually quite good with his shot selection, I saw him forcing a ton of shots against the Lakers mainly because Ginobili was so ineffective, and it started to show during the New Orlean series.

Man, why are you bringing up his defense on Carlos Boozer for? Everyone knows he didn't play well during all the playoffs... everyone knows he had a bad back that was killing him.

Anyways, this is not about Perkins vs Gasol, Odom vs KG because our defense doesn't work that way. There's constant switching and constant help defense from everyone. They'll get defenders from all sizes coming to them at different angles and forcing them to get the ball in postion and places were they're not comfortable in.

And yes, the way Perkins has been playing defense during the playoffs, he can be argued to have played better than Duncan particularly on the help defense side. You can only notice this if you see the Celtics defense play consistently, and see the huge level of responsibility that Perk carries in it.

You've already stated as much that you haven't seen Perk much, so why argue against it? You clearly know little about him. In the words of the Pistons, "Perk is killing us"... expect more of the same against the Lakers.

What a hypocrite!  You completely sidestepped Gasol's performance against Camby in the first round.  It's convenient to forget about that, isn't it?  Because that would weaken your argument!

If Boozer's back was killing him, how is it that he was able to do everything *but* shoot?  Could you explain that how he was able to run, jump, cut, block shots, set picks, and rebound at a high level?  Are Boozer's back muscles located in his hands?  Is that it?  Gasol lucks out again!   

You assert Duncan was not himself in the playoffs, conveniently forgetting his dominance of Shaq in Round 1.  In Round 2 he had to deal with double-teams and Tyson Chandler and still put up decent numbers.  Are you willing to concede Chandler is a good defender?  Chandler's opponents have an eFG% of 50%.  Pau Gasol?  48%.  I'm not going to accept the claim that Ginobili's poor shooting led to Duncan forcing shots until you establish a link.  I don't really see how the former leads to the latter.  How did you arrive at this conclusion?     

And why did I waste all this time writing about what the Lakers like to do on offense and point out potential problems and mismatches? when there's no way the Celtics can be beat! cuz perkinz! kg will pwnz u!  nu-uh! ur teamz still sux! cuz defense!  hee-haw! 

god, your bias sickens me.     

Just pointing out the facts and how you're OVERSTATING Gasol's effectiveness defensively. All through the thread you like to ignore season stats that are not in favor of the Lakers, then comes Duncan and you drive his FG% down our throat when he wasn't as efficient in the playoffs period, so what Gasol did on Duncan (as good as it may have been in your mind) wasn't as great of an accomplishment statistic wise as compared with comparable performances recently. If you want to draw a comparison of Gasol defense on Duncan, you should have used his playoffs stats. Sure he underperformed efficiency wise, but it wasn't that big of a performance drop as you are making it out to be especially with the Ginobili situation killing their offense. It was quite clear, since Ginobili had become their go-to-guy for the most part throughout the whole year... you could see Duncan delegating more to him, you can see a different focuse of attack from the Spurs. Ginobili not being effective affects everyone in the team.

Ignore Camby? Why should I bring him up, I had no reason to comment on his match-up, was simply pointing out flaws in your argument... as getting the facts straight, the ones you ignored. And as a previous poster pointed out already, Camby is not a great on-ball defender... no need to keep harping on an already established fact.

As for the Ginobili thing, well you can simply see how Duncan stopped looking for him and forcing up shots... you can see how Ginobili stopped looking for his offense, someone who opens up the floor, gives Duncan easy looks through his penetration etc. Their offense became stagnant, Duncan started overdoing it a bit. It's all about shot selection. You want a bit of credit for Gasol, sure lets give him some... but there are a ton more things going on with the Spurs' offense that affected Duncan even more.

[cuckroller]

A quick comment from a Laker perspective.  I do not think that anything particularly useful can be gleaned from any comparison between Duncan and Garnett.  Though these players play the same positions, they set up differently and their strong shots are not the same.  Duncan likes to turn toward the basket and shoot off the glass - I saw Gasol in many occasions throw this intent off by trapping Duncan's elbow on either side (usually his right elbow as he backed in to gain position.  Garnett will normally in these occasions go to his very fine, and I might add, usually indefendable turn-around step-back one step elevation shot (don't know what to call it so I just described the motion). I guess someone could try to defend against this taking of post position by doing what they used to do with Jabbar, that is body up, get him leaning backward against you, and then removing the defenders body counterweight in the hopes that the offensive players just loses his balance backwards. Other power forwards have basically the same shot and in most cases it is not defendable, e.g., Rasheed Wallace, and the Power Forward for Portland (forget his name).

[Who]

Gasol's defense on Duncan is very under-rated. He did a very good job on Timmy.

Tim's FG% is roughly the same as when playing Tyson Chandler and the Hornets. Only New Orleans sent a double team Duncan's way 90% of the time he caught the ball near the rim. Despite Tyson and the defense, Duncan was able to control the paint and because of that his team was able to control the tempo against the Hornets, unlike against Los Angeles.

Duncan got force fed shots? So what. He got force fed shots last year against Kurt Thomas and he still made more. Thomas played phenomenal defense on Duncan, he gets lots of credit.

Gasol's just an odd defender. His post defense is weak for a guy his size and talent, he doesn't hold position well down in the post. But his length allows him to effect so much, even when he's initially beat, and he never gets the defensive credit he deserves for that.

[Who]

I actually think Lamar Odom defends KG better than any of the previous primary defenders he's faced in the playoffs - Josh Smith, Ben Wallace, Antonio McDyess -

How much does that mean? Well not a thing. It means absolutely nothing. KG didn't get stopped by any of those guys, he stops himself from destroying them all. He could have killed each one of those guys with sublime ease if he attacked them more often. KG will be very effective against Odom.

[Eja117]

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

[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.