I will give you 75 e-dollars if Phil EVER decides to start Ronny over a healthy Pau, playoffs or not. As a matter of fact, I'll even toss in an e-cookie.
Heck man...that e-cookie is all I need! Mmmm....cookies!
really...our team needs to close out 4th quarters man.
KILLER INSTINCT!!!!!
There are too many 4th quarters where teams out score etc.
Look at Miami...they almost came back...ATL...we were up by 8 heading into the 4th. That game against GS..........Lakers need to handle business in the 4th and then we can start talking about going deep in the playoffs.
damn right
the one thing i'm dissapointed this season, is our clutch play. we loose too many games in 4thQ!!!
on paper, we have the pieces to take it all.
but im worried about our mental toughness. Odom often goes down under pressure. Pau is yet to win a play-off game. Rest of guys are rookies. Only Kobe + Fish have a nacessary play-off experience, but still its only 2 out of 15.
i wonder if we can keep up with teams that have more vets
Honestly nothing about the Suns worry me, come playoff time if everybody is healthy Shaq will be in foul trouble every game with are frontline. Glad to see Marion gone, I like the fact that Diaw will be on Odom. We will make a statement with them after the all-star break without Bynum, the Lakers will win by double digits.
Frontcourt is equal:
Odom = Grant Hill
Gasol = Amare (actually, give the nod to Amare)
Bynum = Shaq (Shaq's experience, strength negates Bynum's assets. both are foul prone)
Bench strength goes to Suns, imo:
Barbosa is the best player off either bench.
Diaw is extremely good.
Lakers good, but very young (butts will pucker up in crunchtime).
Final analysis...assuming everyone is full strength, home court advantage will be CRITICAL.
Frontcourt is equal:
Odom = Grant Hill
Gasol = Amare (actually, give the nod to Amare)
Bynum = Shaq (Shaq's experience, strength negates Bynum's assets. both are foul prone)
Bench strength goes to Suns, imo:
Barbosa is the best player off either bench.
Diaw is extremely good.
Lakers good, but very young (butts will pucker up in crunchtime).
Final analysis...assuming everyone is full strength, home court advantage will be CRITICAL.
Barbosa is all they got on the bench Diaw is good but inconsistent. The Lakers bench kills their bench overall with the depth they have. In a backcourt that has Bryant I would never call them equal. Not taking anything away from Nash but Kobe is Kobe.
Also, don't forget that by losing Marion and Banks, the Suns bench looks a lot less impressive. They still have a great 6th man and a pretty decent big man in Skinner, but they could not survive any significant injury from this point on.
They've played lots of games with a 7-8 man rotation, but that can bite them in the a$$ as it can wear them down for the playoffs.
While keeping my fingers crossed (knock on wood) that Kobe will play through his pinkie injury, that Laker 2nd unit is very competitive (Sasha, Radman, Farmar, Turiaf). The Suns cannot throw a second unit on anyone because they have none.
I think that with a full strength laker team we could beat the suns in play-offs. Bynum i believe would really give old shaq a run for his money, and probably win that ultimate battle. the rest would be won on our team play and strong team play. remember by the playoffs then team will be even more gelled than it is now, plus we still got bynum to come back
how do you put the phoenix bench ABOVE the lakers, are you freaking kidding?
no doubt that point goes to the lakers by far. vujacic, turiaf, farmar.. nuff said
how do you put the phoenix bench ABOVE the lakers, are you freaking kidding?
no doubt that point goes to the lakers by far. vujacic, turiaf, farmar.. nuff said
Alot has to do with Barbosa, who could prob start for alot of other teams. I think we have better depth too, but a guy who can score 30 at any time and has killed us in the past can be a bit intimidating coming off the bench.
Shaq and Amare can cause problems on offense no doubt.. but both are foul prone. Very much so this year. I think if at times they can switch Bynum on Amare and Gasol on Shaq on offensive sets to make those 2 play defense they will get 4 to 5 fouls by the 3rd easy. This is why Skinner is there for them. He is great for them.. he hustles, runs and attacks... but his defense is very very underrated. Watching the games he gave bynum more problems than any other player. He is Amares backup at the PF slot and has played some CTR.
On the defensive end I think Bynum can negate shaq. He has played well against physical Centers (howard, J Oneal) and Forwards (boozer, Amare). His athleticism and leaping/timing have made him a terror. He is now in the minds of people who dare to go into the paint when he is there. He can alter shots just by being in the vicinity. His Help Defense is great too.. as he can close the lane quickly on people driving to the hole and usually gets a block.
Gasol to me is not as polished on defense. I wish he would focus more on it as he has the length. His lack of a Bigger build allow players to push their way to the hole and post him up.If he gained more mass it would possible effect his speed . Yet what he brings on offense makes up for his defensive holes. He can finish, face up and pop, drive and glide, or post. Also his passing is no slouch as well.
Ariza/Lamar to me is the xfactor in the matchup. Ariza has played great in the games he was there and his no fear attitude to the hole can make their defenders take notice of him and make them lose track of Bynum , Gasol or Ariza himself for give n go's. His defense on Hill or Bell has been disruptive and he can hold his own against them on the run as he is quick as hell.
Lamar used to matcup with Marion and in many ways they negated each other out. It will be interesting to see how G. Hill will try and guard him.
PHX used the run n gun to beat us in the past as all we really had was half court sets. Yet now we can run and gun and beat them at their own game in the 2 meetings we were at full strength. We still have a half court set.. it is PHX who has to get used to the half set and who will do what and set up where for the shots.
I look forward like a mofo to the games we meet up.
Reading this its a damn shame you don't post more frequently.
If I take anything from this game as a Laker fan, I'd say that there's not much to worry about the Suns' defense
hopefully when Bynum comes in, that will keep Amare from doing whatever he wants on offense. I still don't think it's a good sign when Amare can score 30+points. If the outside shooters get hot, that's bad news.
Still glad the Lakers came through on the road, spoiling Shaq's debut and overcame the highly motivated Suns.
well with that game out of the way theres a chance nobody has to be concerned about shaq anymore... we probably won't meet up in the first round of the playoffs and unless we meet in the conference finals that will be the last time we see shaq this year...
If I take anything from this game as a Laker fan, I'd say that there's not much to worry about the Suns' defense
hopefully when Bynum comes in, that will keep Amare from doing whatever he wants on offense. I still don't think it's a good sign when Amare can score 30+points. If the outside shooters get hot, that's bad news.
Still glad the Lakers came through on the road, spoiling Shaq's debut and overcame the highly motivated Suns.
it's important to realize that San Antonio is probably the real threat in the West...they play Defense and they just added more defense/experince with Thomas...
it's important to realize that San Antonio is probably the real threat in the West...they play Defense and they just added more defense/experince with Thomas...
Re: What truly concerns me about Phoenix...
