Currently, in this Utah/Laker series it's pretty much known the Lakers will win this series in what is most likely 6 games; 25% chance it goes either 5 games or 7; 10% chance it goes 4. The Jazz are nothing without Andrei Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur... that's their 3rd and 4th best player after Deron and Boozer. But what comes AFTER the Jazz series is what scares me....
The Spurs are a legit contender this year. Not only did they add Antonio McDyess (solid veteran savvy) to put next to Duncan, they also have rookie surprise Dejuan Blair who is nuts and brings it every day; speaking of bringing it, this kid named George Hill is no force to be forgotten. Their best lineups are when they have Tony Parker at PG, Hill at SG, Manu at SF, Duncan at PF, and then McDyess or Blair or even Bonner at Center.
Good thing I didn't forget about Richard Jefferson, their nice little pickup that allows them to play in many different ways; I've even seen them go with him at PF essentially with Duncan at center and Parker, Hill, Ginobli on the court too. It worked a bit against the Mavericks as they matched RJ up with Dirk; knowing smaller/longer players with speed cause Dirk the most problems on offense. That entire schematic was done well most the games and went unnoticed to most.
They had a very unique rotation last series and to end the season: George hill starts at PG while Bogans starts at SG I believe and Tony Parker comes in off the bench AS WELL AS Manu Ginobli; dual 6th man of the year? Hah. That's some serious firepower considering you already have Duncan's 20 points, Hill's 15, RJ's 12, and McDyess' 8-10 points in that starting lineup (Bogans around 5ppg now).
But then look at what you are bringing off the bench: Tony Parker (All-Star Caliber top5 PG) and Manu Ginobli (a top5 SG when healthy and best 6th man in the league).
Look at how the Spurs so EASILY managed to knock off the Mavericks (yes, the stacked/expensive Mavs with Caron Butler and Brandon Haywood to clone Dampier... and oh yea they had Kidd and Marion too, while of course Dirk did his own thing. The Spurs treated that like the regular season and the players didn't even get and "wear and tear".
-Check these out:
- Spurs Round 1 (6 games) Player Stat's (Complete Playoff Stats to date)
- Manu Ginobli: 19.0 Ppg, 5.0 Apg, 3.7 Rpg. 2.3 Spg, 10 Treys; 33.2 Mpg
- Tim Duncan: 18.2 Ppg, 9.5 Rpg, 2.7 Apg, 1.0 Bpg, 50% Fg; 37.2 Mpg
- Tony Parker: 15.8 Ppg, 5.7 Apg, 3.7 Rpg, 1.0 Spg, 47% Fg; 31.5 Mpg
That's your Big 3 getting legit "rest" for it being playoff time. Duncan did somewhat carry that series while Ginobli and Parker helped close it, with help. But just you can look and see how important those 3 are. Manu is playing like the second best SG in the NBA, jsut behind Kobe, and he's still fresh. Those Big3 are used to playing 40-44 minutes in playoff games, so this is legit.
And as you can see, if the series gets close and the 3 players have to log 40 minutes a game they will be scoring 70+ points combined possibly.
- George Hill: 14.3 Ppg, 3.8 Rpg, 1.2 Spg, 50% FG & 50%-3pt; 34.8 Mpg
That's the surprising 4th productive player. Richard Jefferson is starting and averaging 9.2 ppg and 4.2 rpg in 32.7 minutes a game; not exactly productive you'd think. But RJ has really turned into this intangible type of player, sort of like Battier.
As a Laker fan, I just think this to myself... "What Spurs players will likely have at least one 20+ppg in the series....
- Ginobli, Duncan, Parker, Jefferson, Hill, and then McDyess could go 20/10 one night and Roger Mason could be hitting his shots and put up 20 on any given night. While only the Big 3 average near 20 Ppg, their are plenty of others that can have one. Even Dejuan Blair and Matt Boner have had 20+point games.
So why am I praising this Spurs team? I'm not quite sure, but I have this feeling they take the Suns, AGAIN, in 6, and then the Lakers and Spurs go 7 baby. I said at the start of the season "If the spurs were Healthy come playoff time, and the McDyess + RJ thing worked out and gels, they will be at the top".So here we are Laker fans. Playing Utah.... who has little chance... and then taking on this crazy San Antonio Spurs team (likely). Can anyone really stop Duncan's 20/10's? And I don't want to bring up the PG matchup where Tony Parker will eat us up for lunch at times; this is where Farmar and Brown need to come in and step it up some more: Brown will have to guard Hill a lot I bet, with Fisher and Farmar on Parker the most (but maybe even Kobe or Artest).
Check back later for my analysis on what the match-ups would/will be and what the Lakers need to do to win a 7 game series with a healthy Spurs roster.
( Yes, I did write this like it was fact that the Suns had zero chance to win )
PS: The Spurs won a title in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2010 seems like a way to cap the decade eh.
PSS: Remember what Duncan did the last time the Suns tried to test them?
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