Western Conference Round 1: (2) Phoenix Suns vs. (7) Los Angeles Lakers

[kabacho]

Whos guarding Devin Booker?

[ShawkFactory]

Whos guarding Devin Booker?

This is why Caruso needs to start.

[tpols]

Whos guarding Devin Booker?

Caruso could easily take him. Whose guarding Anthony Davis?

[OmniStrife]

It's either Suns in 6 or refs in 6.

[dankok8]

I predicted a sweep initially but I see the Suns winning one game. Lakers in 5. The Lakers are not only a much better team but they match up so well. Suns just lack the size to deal with AD and Drummond could actually look really good in this series.

[tpols]

I predicted a sweep initially but I see the Suns winning one game. Lakers in 5. The Lakers are not only a much better team but they match up so well. Suns just lack the size to deal with AD and Drummond could actually look really good in this series.

Chris Paul will iso mismatch Drummond out of the series.

[GrayGoat]

Whos guarding Devin Booker?

Who is Devin Booker guarding? This could get ugly fast lol

[rawimpact]

Suns in 6

G1 - Suns Win
G2 - Lakers
G3 - Suns
G4 - Lakers
G5 - Suns
G6 - Suns

[Pipes2.0]

Bron never lost in the first round and it's not gonna happen in year 18.
Tough luck for the Suns.

[Nike D'Antoni]

This will be easier than 2006 for Phoenix.


Steve Naah vs Kobe back then

Chris Paul vs Lebron today

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1r7L...rofHillpeople3

[Nike D'Antoni]

Bron never lost in the first round and it's not gonna happen in year 18.
Tough luck for the Suns.

This is the West, not the East.

[LBJ]

G1 - Suns
G2 - Lakers
G3 - Lakers
G4 - Lakers
G5 - Lakers or Suns
G6 - Lakers


Lakers in 5 or 6.

[Im Still Ballin]

Drummond got like 8 or 9 offensive rebounds when they played -- and beat -- phoenix.

Will that matchup work again? Not sure.

If it doesn't, the Lakers absolutely MUST make adjustments fast. I'd personally:

- Start Marc Gasol
- Move Schroder to the bench
- Start either Caruso, Matthews, or McLemore

Doing these three things will maximize spacing and shooting for LBJ and AD. The bench will get a boost as well from Schroder.

The only other question would be if you completely cut Drummond out of the rotation? Do you play Montrezl over him? Or does Drummond play over Montrezl? Or should you cut both of them out, play Marc 25 MPG, and have AD play the center for significant minutes?

AD played 60% of his minutes at center in the playoffs last year. Considering he played 36.6 MPG, that's roughly 22 minutes per game at center. If Marc played 25 MPG, it'd work out perfectly.

Anyways -- we'll see what happens.

[Im Still Ballin]

My prediction:

Lakers in 6.

They split the first two games, steal homecourt, win both home games, lose game 5, close it out game 6 at home.

[bladefd]

Drummond got like 8 or 9 offensive rebounds when they played -- and beat -- phoenix.

Will that matchup work again? Not sure.

If it doesn't, the Lakers absolutely MUST make adjustments fast. I'd personally:

- Start Marc Gasol
- Move Schroder to the bench
- Start either Caruso, Matthews, or McLemore

Doing these three things will maximize spacing and shooting for LBJ and AD. The bench will get a boost as well from Schroder.

The only other question would be if you completely cut Drummond out of the rotation? Do you play Montrezl over him? Or does Drummond play over Montrezl? Or should you cut both of them out, play Marc 25 MPG, and have AD play the center for significant minutes?

AD played 60% of his minutes at center in the playoffs last year. Considering he played 36.6 MPG, that's roughly 22 minutes per game at center. If Marc played 25 MPG, it'd work out perfectly.

Anyways -- we'll see what happens.

Probably don't want to move Schroeder to the bench without risking him putting on a temper tantrum. We don't need that right now. Just keep starting him but slash his minutes down to 20mpg and call it a day.

Drummond I think would be okay with moving to the bench. I would definitely start Gasol then Drummond or Harrell can play whenever AD sits. I would give Gasol 20mpg at C, AD 15mpg at C. Switch between Drummond/Harrell for the remaining minutes depending on what the situation calls for. Ultimately, Harrell might be the odd man out due to size limitation and not being a good defender. Drummond is at least an elite rebounder and has the size/length to fill up the paint when he plays the 5.