Who is dreading the "ultimate ewing theory" with the Lakers?

[SparzWizard]

I pity whoever has to play the Lakers in the first round.  You think the Spurs lost intentionally to them tonight so they'd move down to the 2nd seed?

They COULD stop the Spurs, but no way they are getting past the high-speed tandem duo of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant of the OKC Thunder. Those two will torch Steve Blake/Steve Nash and World Peace alive. Perkins have plenty of experiences in defending Howard in the past. Ibaka can deal some damage against Gasol. Thabo Sefolosha can work on Jodie Meeks.

And then there's the bench. Kevin Martin, Derek Fisher, etc...

[indeedproceed]

I never thought about it but with Stern that kind of nonsense is possible.  Trouble is there is no "Ewing" in this draft.

He's not talking about the draft, he's talking about the "Ewing Theory" made popular by Bill Simmons.

The basic premise of the theory is that a team for whatever reason actually plays better when the guy who is the face of the team (and usually assumed to be the teams' best player) goes down or signs somewhere else or whatever.

[fairweatherfan]

I never thought about it but with Stern that kind of nonsense is possible.  Trouble is there is no "Ewing" in this draft.

He's not talking about the draft, he's talking about the "Ewing Theory" made popular by Bill Simmons.

The basic premise of the theory is that a team for whatever reason actually plays better when the guy who is the face of the team (and usually assumed to be the teams' best player) goes down or signs somewhere else or whatever.

Yeah, but the original theory involved the team not having won much of anything with the "irreplacable star".  Doesn't really fit in this case.

I think, as usual, the Lakers will be better without Kobe than people would expect, but they have little to no chance against the Thunder or Spurs in the 1st.  Just way too thin at every position but C.  I am looking forward to Spurs/Rockets now, though.

[Kane3387]

Nope. Not worried at all.

This team will likely get swept by OKC who they will be playing if OKC wins one of the next two.

Perk is the best Dwight defender on the planet. Serge will give Gasol issues defensively. With Kobe out the Lakers have no perimeter weapons other then Nash.

Nash is also banged up and will be eaten alive by Russell.

They have no one who can defend KD and RW.

I think this series will be a laugher.

Dwight is not a top 5 player currently. When he took the crap Magic team to the finals, (A team that had another All-Star in Lewis and where Hedo was their best player in the Boston series) Dwight was healthy and didn't have a bad back.

[Celtics4ever]

No way they play better without Kobe lack spines and he demanded excellence.

[Snakehead]

No way they play better without Kobe lack spines and he demanded excellence.

Also demands: the ball on offense.

Yeah and they did so well last year too.

[ScoobyDoo]

I don't think they could beat OKC, San Antonio, Denver, The Clips or Memphis in a seven game series, with or without Kobe.

Also, put a little size and physical play on Dwight and he disappears - that's why Perkins always has, and will continue to, make life miserable for Howard.

[Atzar]

With Kobe out, this LA team is basically like Howard-era Orlando, but with Gasol.  They want to kill you on the glass, force-feed Howard (and sometimes Gasol) in the post and are otherwise content to launch threes.

Ultimately I don't think they can beat OKC in 4 out of 7 games.  Perkins was made to check Howard, Ibaka can handle Gasol and OKC's perimeter rotation is way too athletic for LA.  Steve Blake cannot hang with Westbrook, and when Nash gets back that problem only gets worse.  MWP can cause problems for Durant in half-court situations, but not when Durant gets out on the break.

It might be more challenging than most 1-vs-8 matchups (certainly more than Heat-vs-Bucks) but I don't think they can win it unless Metta punches Durant in the throat and takes him out for the season.  Which, now that I think about it, may not be so far-fetched. 

[CelticSooner]

Who's going to guard Durant and Westbrook? Certainly not a old Lakers team that gives up over 100 points a game. Maybe if they played in the East they would have a shot.

[BballTim]

Who's going to guard Durant and Westbrook? Certainly not a old Lakers team that gives up over 100 points a game. Maybe if they played in the East they would have a shot.

  If they can't guard Durant and Westbrook it's unlikely they could guard James and Wade.

[twistedrico14]

I'm sorry but the Lakers have no chance at all against OKC.

[LarBrd33]

Sure it'll be tough for any team to stop Durant/Westbrook or Wade/James...

But in a league obsessed with "going small"... you'd think that having two dominant 7 footers would be a huge advantage.  Who guards those two if they decide to pound it inside every possession?

[Celtics18]

Sure it'll be tough for any team to stop Durant/Westbrook or Wade/James...

But in a league obsessed with "going small"... you'd think that having two dominant 7 footers would be a huge advantage.  Who guards those two if they decide to pound it inside every possession?

Perkins and Ibaka, Duncan and Splitter, Marc and Randolph, Asik and Smith/Motiejunas . . .

[CelticConcourse]

Sure it'll be tough for any team to stop Durant/Westbrook or Wade/James...

But in a league obsessed with "going small"... you'd think that having two dominant 7 footers would be a huge advantage.  Who guards those two if they decide to pound it inside every possession?

Perkins and Ibaka, Duncan and Splitter, Marc and Randolph, Asik and Smith/Motiejunas . . .

And then the supposed Gasol/Howard, West/Hibbert, Lopez/whoever, etc...