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Well, here we go again! and as a basketball fan I can't be happier then seeing a Lakers vs Spurs match up. Both teams are exciting to watch, and both have some of the most dominate players in the game.
This will be the 4th time in five years that these teams have met in the playoffs, and all four times the winner has gone onto win the NBA title; so essentially this could be for the NBA championship trophy.
Lakers got the big named free agents in the off-season(Malone and Payton), but failed to get any other real free agents; they added Jamaal Sampson who isn’t even on the playoff Roster; Horace Grant, who has been injury plagued the past few seasons; and Byron Russell who's career has gone steadily down hill since leaving Utah. the Spurs on the other hand did lose David Robinson, and tried to fill the void with Rasho Nesterovic; which is a huge downgrade. but they added talented guys like Hedo Turkoglu, who is a capable playoff player; and Robert Horry, who knows how to win championships, and knows the Lakers(he was there last season).
The Lakers went for big name free agents to try and fill big holes left from last year, but even with the addition of Payton and Malone the Lakers still have holes left; their bench still isn't Championship caliber; Payton and Malone are starting to show their ages, especially on Defense; and the Lakers still don't have anyone to back Shaq at center. The Spurs on the other hand didn't have many holes to fill(keeping together a championship team really pays off), they did have to plug the big whole at Center when Robinson retired. but Rasho Nesterovic has done an adequate job at center. and the rest of the spurs spots where filled pretty good; they just brought in a better bench to help them out; which in the long run looks to have made the defending champions even better.
Break Down
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Lakers | Spurs | Favorite |
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Point gaurds: | Gary Payton | Tony Parker | Parker is good but he still is young, and Payton is amongst the best of all time. so I'd have to say that the advantage goes to Payton |
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Shooting guards: | Kobe Bryant | Bruce Bowen | Well Kobe is an allstar, but Bowen is about the only player who plays good D on Kobe. Kobe will score most his points when he is being guarded by someone else. Kobe will still get the Advantage |
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Small Forwards: | Devean George | Hedo Turkoglu | Small forward spot is one of the spots the Lakers are weak: Turkoglu seems to be a nice fit here for the spurs. Advantage goes to the Spurs. |
| Power Forwards: | Karl Malone | Tim Duncan | Tim Duncan has owned Karl Malone since 1999, and nothing will change in this series either. the Spurs will take a hugh advantage of this matchup |
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Center | Shaquille O'Neal | Rasho Nesterovic |
Shaq is the most dominate Center in the NBA; Rasho is an average center, do the math. Shaq will totally dominate here, and look for the Lakers to try and counter the Duncan-Malone matchup with Shaq. |
| Bench | Derek Fisher
Rick Fox
Stan Medenvenk
Kareem Rush |
Manu Ginobili
Robert Horry
Jason Hart
Malik Rose | Manu probibly would have been a canadate for 6th man of the year had he played the entire year off the bench, he brings energy and enthusiaism to the court, which none of the Lakers bench players do. the lakers will have the advantage with the Fisher-Hart matchup, so look for the Spurs to play Parker alot more. |
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