BOS vs LAL matchups discussion

[j804]

Is it now safe to at least poke at possible matchups if for a upcoming Celtics and Lakers finals? I mean lets be real the Suns are undersized and just not good enough, and we arent going to lose 4 in a row.

What matchups or things do you like in our favor.....OR there favor if we face each other?

[PosImpos]

Rondo has a huge advantage over Fisher.

Kobe has the advantage over Ray, especially posting him up.  Kobe might not love having to chase Ray all over the court through screens, though.

Pierce vs. Artest is interesting...have to think Artest's physical D could really bother Pierce, but supposedly Pierce has played well vs. Artest over the course of his career.  Artest won't make Pierce fight too hard on the defensive end, either, since he's not much of a threat.

Garnett vs. Gasol is the key matchup of the whole series, in my opinion.  Garnett needs to find a way to contain Gasol, especially on the pick and roll, and he needs to be able to score (ideally bringing him out of the paint).

Bynum vs. Perkins is kind of a wash.  Bynum is injured, but he's better on offense.  Perk should have no trouble guarding him - Bynum is nothing compared to Howard.  Perk isn't much of a threat on offense.

Sheed / Davis vs Odom: Probably the X-factor for the series.  Whichever team gets more production from their side of this matchup could be the one that wins it.

TA vs Brown / Farmar: Brown and Farmar are better on offense, TA is a much better defender.  Kind of a wash, though TA will be instrumental in covering Kobe; I don't think either Brown or Farmar will be a big problem for Rondo or Ray.

Really tough to say which way it falls.  Both Kobe and Rondo can take over games.  The Lakers have at least 3 really dangerous weapons, while the Celtics have even more (yet slightly less dangerous).  The Celtics will need Rondo or KG to take over to win the series, unless Paul totally owns Artest.


Finals MVP prediction:  Either Rondo or Gasol.  Yes, I said it; Gasol.

[More Banners]

Rondo has a huge advantage over Fisher.

Kobe has the advantage over Ray, especially posting him up.  Kobe might not love having to chase Ray all over the court through screens, though.

Pierce vs. Artest is interesting...have to think Artest's physical D could really bother Pierce, but supposedly Pierce has played well vs. Artest over the course of his career.  Artest won't make Pierce fight too hard on the defensive end, either, since he's not much of a threat.

Garnett vs. Gasol is the key matchup of the whole series, in my opinion.  Garnett needs to find a way to contain Gasol, especially on the pick and roll, and he needs to be able to score (ideally bringing him out of the paint).

Bynum vs. Perkins is kind of a wash.  Bynum is injured, but he's better on offense.  Perk should have no trouble guarding him - Bynum is nothing compared to Howard.  Perk isn't much of a threat on offense.

Sheed / Davis vs Odom: Probably the X-factor for the series.  Whichever team gets more production from their side of this matchup could be the one that wins it.

TA vs Brown / Farmar: Brown and Farmar are better on offense, TA is a much better defender.  Kind of a wash, though TA will be instrumental in covering Kobe; I don't think either Brown or Farmar will be a big problem for Rondo or Ray.

Really tough to say which way it falls.  Both Kobe and Rondo can take over games.  The Lakers have at least 3 really dangerous weapons, while the Celtics have even more (yet slightly less dangerous).  The Celtics will need Rondo or KG to take over to win the series, unless Paul totally owns Artest.


Finals MVP prediction:  Either Rondo or Gasol.  Yes, I said it; Gasol.

Nicely done (TP).

The key to the series, to me, is how they decide to handle Rondo.  Obviously Fisher isn't up to it; my guess is Fisher guards Ray, and Kobe takes on Rondo, at least for key stretches.

All the other matchups will be less important if LA has to leave their man to help on Rondo penetration.  Rondo will find the open guy, the ball will move around furiously, and we'll get good looks.

[SCBirdman]

Kobe will most likely guard Rondo, leaving Fisher on Ray.

Here are the Lakers match-ups with Boston, and then I will list our match-ups with them.

Rondo- Kobe

Ray- Fisher

PP- Artest

KG- Gasol

Perk- Bynum

I think out of these match-ups, Ray Allen has the biggest mis-match. I think most of the others are dead even.

Hopefully KG will have a strong offensive performance against Gasol, drawing him away from the hoop and in the pick and roll/pop game.

Artest usually gives Pierce fits, I don't know if this changes in the Finals or not.  Kobe will play off Rondo when he does not have the ball. Rondo will have to hit some end of shot clock jumpers for us to be effective on offense.

When LA goes to the bench, Who guards Lamar Odom? I am assuming BBD gets the call there when KG is not in the game.

Sheed picks up Gasol when Bynum is paired with Odom.

Fisher- Rondo

Kobe- Ray Allen/ Tony Allen

Artest- Paul Pierce

Gasol- KG

Bynum- Perk

I think our defensive match-ups are as good as can be expected. I think the key will be keeping Ray out of foul trouble because we are going to need his offense.

I am concerned about Gasol, because he has really become a much more physical and tougher player than the 2008 version. With Bynum starting along side him, this will be a big-time match-up for KG.

I think, again, keeping PP out of foul trouble in this series will be key, as he has been foul prone in these playoffs, minus game 3 of the Orl. series.

I think Rondo can defensively dominate Fisher, and his ball pressure and not allowing Fisher to get end of shot clock 3's will be crucial.

Bottom line, I think the C's will need all 5 Bigs in this series, because LA has the size and the depth that will cause Boston trouble. Imposing our will on them defensively early in the series will be crucial. Hopefully the formula will continue of stealing one of the first two games in LA.

Boston may have to go to 9 or 10 deep. Marquis Daniels may be needed to play Kobe or Artest.


Both teams present problems for the opponent. Hopefully The C's momentum, grit, and toughness win out over LA's finesse.

[CoachBo]

Any discussion of individual matchups misses one critical point to the outcome of the series:

The Celtics' team defense is FAR superior to anything the Lakers have faced, and far superior to the team defense the Lakers play.

Huge advantage to the Celtics in the series.

[Who]

I think the Celtics have an advantage with Ray Allen against Derek Fisher and the Lakers have an advantage with Odom against BBD/Sheed.

The rest of the matchups seem to be fairly neutral.

Two variables -- (1) how well Rondo does attacking Kobe and how disruptive Kobe is playing off of Rondo (2) how well Bynum is able to perform on both ends of the court due to injury

[greg683x]

Any discussion of individual matchups misses one critical point to the outcome of the series:

The Celtics' team defense is FAR superior to anything the Lakers have faced, and far superior to the team defense the Lakers play.

Huge advantage to the Celtics in the series.

True, but you can also make the case that the Celtics have faced 3 teams where they really only have to try and lockdown one player.  Dwayne Wade in round 1, Lebron in round 2, and Dwight Howard in round 3.  The Lakers have Kobe and keying in on him is #1, but the other teams we've played do not have a supporting case as talented as Odom, Gasol, and Artest.  As superior as the Celtics D looks right now to anything the Lakers have faced, the Lakers offense looks more polished and superior to anything the Celtics have faced.

This is gonna be a very, VERY even series IMO.   I think it all rides on whether or not Rondo can really burn Kobe, or if Kobe is gonna be able to help off of him A LOT.  After all, the last time we met we had Eddie House to keep Kobe honest.

[RebusRankin]

How well does Kobe guard Rondo with that sore knee?

[CoachBo]

TOTALLY disagree with that characterization, especially in this series, where going in we were considered to be at a potential disadvantage with Carter, Lewis and possibly Nelson.

There's a LOT more to defensing Orlando than "locking down Dwight Howard." A lot more.

The Lakers haven't seen anything close to the man defense, the rotations and the help-side work the Celtics will throw at them - not even in the same stratosphere - and that doesn't take into account the physical nature of the Celtics team defense. Bryant will get beaten up - and he should. Hit him, body him and be as physical as possible against an injured player.

HUGE advantage, people. Dwell on the individual matchups all you want, and exaggerate them with LA's success against inept defenses, but the team defensive concept is why Boston wins any Laker series.

[ibby]

Rondo WILL NOT guard Kobe.  As good as Boston's team defense is putting Rondo off of the main facilitator (Fisher) and onto the main scorer is not going to work.  Plus Kobe would just post him up all game long.  

It's like LeBron v. Rondo, it happened for a few posessions, but it was not the main matchup.

[LB3533]

This thread is too early.

[FallGuy]

Any discussion of individual matchups misses one critical point to the outcome of the series:

The Celtics' team defense is FAR superior to anything the Lakers have faced, and far superior to the team defense the Lakers play.

Huge advantage to the Celtics in the series.

Not only that, but L.A. hasn't  faced a real front line in these playoffs. That's being overlooked when we talk about how well the Lakers are playing. Boston's just about finished blitzing the two best teams in the east, either one of which could have beaten L.A. The Lakers have had a relatively easy time with short frontcourts (OKC), injured frontcourts (UTA) and soft frontcourts (PHO). That's all about to change.

[xmuscularghandix]

I'll break it down like this.

2008 Celtics VS Lakers= Celtics in 6 (really in 5 because game 6 was a BLOWOUT!)
Score over the series: 613 - 558

Celtics:

Rajon Rondo < New Rondo
Ray Allen = Ray Allen
Paul Pierce = Paul Pierce
Kevin Garnett > Slower Garnett
Kendrick Perkins < New Perk is smarter more experienced
PJ Brown < Rasheed Wallace
James Posey = Tony Allen (IMO the way TA is now is better)
Leon Powe < Glen Davis (was the starting PF through 2 series)
Sam Cassell (the need for a backup pg has been removed do to Rondo's rise)


Lakers:

Derrick Fisher > Slower Fisher
Kobe Bryant = Kobe 2010
Vladamir Radmanovic < Ron Artest
Lamar Odom < Pau Gasol
Pau Gasol < Andrew Bynum
Sasha Vujacic = Jordan Farmar
Luke Walton < Lamar Odom
Jordan Farmar = Shannon Brown
Ronny Turiaf > they don't have another big due to the addition of Bynum.



Celtics in 6. Our defense will dominate again. But we wont be overwhelmed on the road like we were in the first half of GM3 and 4.

[Celtics17]

I haven't watched enough of the Lackers yet but am getting ready to now. I gotta say though, the defense that I saw us play in last nights game is the best I have seen in the NBA, probably ever! I just dont think the Lackers can handle it barring some injury.

[greg683x]

TOTALLY disagree with that characterization, especially in this series, where going in we were considered to be at a potential disadvantage with Carter, Lewis and possibly Nelson.

There's a LOT more to defensing Orlando than "locking down Dwight Howard." A lot more.

The Lakers haven't seen anything close to the man defense, the rotations and the help-side work the Celtics will throw at them - not even in the same stratosphere - and that doesn't take into account the physical nature of the Celtics team defense. Bryant will get beaten up - and he should. Hit him, body him and be as physical as possible against an injured player.

HUGE advantage, people. Dwell on the individual matchups all you want, and exaggerate them with LA's success against inept defenses, but the team defensive concept is why Boston wins any Laker series.

Ok I see your point, Im just not trying to take the Lakers lightly here.  I do not agree about the Magic though.  Artest, Gasol, Odom, and potentially Bynum >>>Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis and Jameer Nelson.  While the Magic supporting cast are very good players, I think the huge key to success regarding Orlandos offense is that there really are No teams out there besides the Celtics that can really Man Up on Howard.  Which leaves somebody on a team filled with great shooters always wide open for a jump shot.  I'm sure youre gonna point out to me that theres more to Orlandos offense than that, but I think other than the barrage of pick and rolls they throw at you, thats really the meat of it.

Go Celtics!