---Why do we match well with the lakers?---

[Mickinator 0]

I've read a lot of posts saying we want L.A. because of the match up problems we pose for them. But I think its just the opposite... I will say a number 0-10 then the team name meaning they have the advantage. Zero being nuetral, and 10 being a VERY high advantage.

 

Point Guards: Derek Fisher has been off, but hes tough, and he seems like the type that will take advantage of Rafers slim body and may even post up a few times. When the back-ups are in, Farmar is better than AJ in my opinion. Unless Jameer plays, the slight edge has to go to the Lakers.

[+] 1 Lakers

 

Shooting Guards Kobe Bryant vs CLee / Pietrus.

Heck, we may even throw Reddick on him to see what he can do, but I think we have 3 decent perimeter defenders at this position that will try and contain Kobe, but we still know who has the advantage here...

[+] 8 Lakers

 

Small Forwards Obiously the main players here are Lamar Odom and Hedo Turkoglu. This is where they match up with us very well. They both play the same way; can both can be point forwards, shoot the 3 ball, and drive to the basket. Of course if all depends on which Hedo shows up, (the 30% shooter or 50% shooter). Yes, Hedo has the more of a advantage from the perimeter, but Odom is better down low than Hedo is. We may even see T. Ariza guarding Hedo because of his pesky defense. I know we have the better back-up (MP vs... Luke Walton?), so I'm going to give a slight advantage to the Magic, although the starting SF are very evenly matched.

[+] 2 Magic

 

 

Power Forwards: I hope the Lakers go with a different line up here, because I dont see P. Gasol guarding Rashard Lewis, especially on the perimer, so my guess is either Odom or Ariza (probably Ariza) will be guarding him, and I think that is bad for us. Hes lengthy like Lewis, can exploit Rashards bad dribbling skills, and can easily keep up with his when Lewis drives or goes out to the perimeter. The best thing I can see Rashard doing here vs Ariza is taking him to the post, where hes been excellent this post season. Last series against the Cavs, this would have been a + 7 for the Magic, but since he will be going against a much capable defender of the same body type, I'm only giving it a +2. If Gasol guards him... Rashard should take him everytime of offense, but defensive against Gasol will be tough for lewis, considering Gasol is somewhere around 7ft with long arms. I know Rashard will get his points, but I'm just saying, it will be much more difficult.

[+] 2 Magic if Ariza is playing him

[+] 0 Nuetral if Lewis has to guard Gasol

So I'm fiving it a [+] 1 for the Magic because of the average.

 

 

Centers: Everyone thinks Dwight will manhandle Bynum down low, but hes big, and we all know Dwight does poorly vs. tall and/or heavy defenders... (Gasol = tall, Bynum = heavy too). I'm sure Dwight will get his points, but the Lakers will put up a fight. If Bynum is on him, I expect Dwight to use his speed and quick spins to get around him. It will be kinda like him going against Perkins, Bynum and Kendrick have similar body types, but Perkins is still a better defender so Dwight should do better than he did that series. Obviously if they even think about sending Gasol on him (which they won't), then just back him down to the rim and get the easy 2. D. Mbenga may come in to stop Howard, and hes actually another big guy, which (as said before) Howard doesn't bold well against. But with the athletic advantage Howard has, it shouldn't be a problem. And we all know Gortat is a very underrated defender, especially 1v1, so I don't suspect him to have trouble with Bynum, Gasol may be trouble though.

[+] 6 Magic

 

With all the numbers combined, it come outs to be [+] 0 Nuetral. It does show, however, that the Lakers have the back court advantage, and Orlando can take control of the front court. I know some players will have off games or even a off series, so its hard to calculate the right advantages either team has.

 

What do yall think? Who has the advantages per position and why do we match well with the Lakers?

[Mickinator 0]

I've read a lot of posts saying we want L.A. because of the match up problems we pose for them. But I think its just the opposite... I will say a number 0-10 then the team name meaning they have the advantage. Zero being nuetral, and 10 being a VERY high advantage.

 

Point Guards: Derek Fisher has been off, but hes tough, and he seems like the type that will take advantage of Rafers slim body and may even post up a few times. When the back-ups are in, Farmar is better than AJ in my opinion. Unless Jameer plays, the slight edge has to go to the Lakers.

[+] 1 Lakers

 

Shooting Guards Kobe Bryant vs CLee / Pietrus.

Heck, we may even throw Reddick on him to see what he can do, but I think we have 3 decent perimeter defenders at this position that will try and contain Kobe, but we still know who has the advantage here...

[+] 8 Lakers

 

Small Forwards Obiously the main players here are Lamar Odom and Hedo Turkoglu. This is where they match up with us very well. They both play the same way; can both can be point forwards, shoot the 3 ball, and drive to the basket. Of course if all depends on which Hedo shows up, (the 30% shooter or 50% shooter). Yes, Hedo has the more of a advantage from the perimeter, but Odom is better down low than Hedo is. We may even see T. Ariza guarding Hedo because of his pesky defense. I know we have the better back-up (MP vs... Luke Walton?), so I'm going to give a slight advantage to the Magic, although the starting SF are very evenly matched.

[+] 2 Magic

 

 

Power Forwards: I hope the Lakers go with a different line up here, because I dont see P. Gasol guarding Rashard Lewis, especially on the perimer, so my guess is either Odom or Ariza (probably Ariza) will be guarding him, and I think that is bad for us. Hes lengthy like Lewis, can exploit Rashards bad dribbling skills, and can easily keep up with his when Lewis drives or goes out to the perimeter. The best thing I can see Rashard doing here vs Ariza is taking him to the post, where hes been excellent this post season. Last series against the Cavs, this would have been a + 7 for the Magic, but since he will be going against a much capable defender of the same body type, I'm only giving it a +2. If Gasol guards him... Rashard should take him everytime of offense, but defensive against Gasol will be tough for lewis, considering Gasol is somewhere around 7ft with long arms. I know Rashard will get his points, but I'm just saying, it will be much more difficult.

[+] 2 Magic if Ariza is playing him

[+] 0 Nuetral if Lewis has to guard Gasol

So I'm fiving it a [+] 1 for the Magic because of the average.

 

 

Centers: Everyone thinks Dwight will manhandle Bynum down low, but hes big, and we all know Dwight does poorly vs. tall and/or heavy defenders... (Gasol = tall, Bynum = heavy too). I'm sure Dwight will get his points, but the Lakers will put up a fight. If Bynum is on him, I expect Dwight to use his speed and quick spins to get around him. It will be kinda like him going against Perkins, Bynum and Kendrick have similar body types, but Perkins is still a better defender so Dwight should do better than he did that series. Obviously if they even think about sending Gasol on him (which they won't), then just back him down to the rim and get the easy 2. D. Mbenga may come in to stop Howard, and hes actually another big guy, which (as said before) Howard doesn't bold well against. But with the athletic advantage Howard has, it shouldn't be a problem. And we all know Gortat is a very underrated defender, especially 1v1, so I don't suspect him to have trouble with Bynum, Gasol may be trouble though.

[+] 6 Magic

 

With all the numbers combined, it come outs to be [+] 0 Nuetral. It does show, however, that the Lakers have the back court advantage, and Orlando can take control of the front court. I know some players will have off games or even a off series, so its hard to calculate the right advantages either team has.

 

What do yall think? Who has the advantages per position and why do we match well with the Lakers?

[lemanyak 0]

First I want to say that these series will be much harder for Magic,because Lakers is a real team,not a one man team like Cavs.They have a good coach and good players.For me their Guards are much better than Orlando Guards,but Orlando has better Forwards.The key will be Center,because they have really good Center players.I hope Howard will play like he played in the last Cavs game and Lee will play much better than he played since these games.

[NameLess Scrub 6]

The thing here for me is the lack of Jameer. It looks like they can't handle Jameer, and we would have Rafer coming from the bench.

 

Jameer torched them in the regular, and for me that would be the X factor.

 

But the sad thing is, Jameer won't be there, so they will not be too worried about the PG position, unless Rafer shoots well consistently.

 

Kobe can shoot consistently unlike Lebron, so it will get ugly. The only thing that's better with Kobe is that he's slower and weaker than Lebron.

 

Stan must do a great coaching job and the Magic must play with real intensity to win this series. Keep Kobe working, keep their bigs under control and keep the spot up opportunistic shooters like Fisher, Vujacic, Walton and the rest back.

 

I don't think the matchups favor us. It's just that they are less physical than the Celtics, but without Jameer it has gotten ugly. For one, it's sad both teams are not complete.

 

I'm looking forward to see how Stan responds.

[TheGreen1 0]

quote:

Originally posted by Freex:

The thing here for me is the lack of Jameer. It looks like they can't handle Jameer, and we would have Rafer coming from the bench.

 

Jameer torched them in the regular, and for me that would be the X factor.

 

But the sad thing is, Jameer won't be there, so they will not be too worried about the PG position, unless Rafer shoots well consistently.

 

Kobe can shoot consistently unlike Lebron, so it will get ugly. The only thing that's better with Kobe is that he's slower and weaker than Lebron.

 

Stan must do a great coaching job and the Magic must play with real intensity to win this series. Keep Kobe working, keep their bigs under control and keep the spot up opportunistic shooters like Fisher, Vujacic, Walton and the rest back.

 

I don't think the matchups favor us. It's just that they are less physical than the Celtics, but without Jameer it has gotten ugly. For one, it's sad both teams are not complete.

 

I'm looking forward to see how Stan responds.

 

I agree. However, Jameer MAY return, so that would be a whole new way to screw over the Lakers if we can get Jameer up to acceptable levels.

 

Kobe is slower and weaker then Lebron sure, but he's also older too. The dude is the oldest superstar I still know of. And when I mean oldest superstar, I mean that he's old but he's still a HUGE contender.

[Dancing Barry 0]

My accessment is about the same in regards to the forwards. It's a big question mark for both sides.

 

One thing you guys need to factor is, Gasol will be on Dwight a good portion of the time. Bynum always picks up two quick fouls within six minures of tip off.

 

If you want to add another factor to compare; You'd give PJ a nice advantage over SVG and I'd say intangibles sway to the Lakers's side as well.

[bhnole 153]

Rafer will be key against the Lakers, Fischer struggles to stop dribble penetration which Rafer is very capable of. The question is whether he does it under control and makes the right pass when help comes. Too often he makes a bad shot or bad pass when the help defender cuts him off from the rim.

 

If we can win the PG battle we will have a shot at beating the Lakers.

[Howard 0]

Put Bogan on Kobe, he frustrates Kobe. Oh wait, we have tyron lue...never mind.

[Svanxx 30]

Rashard can school anyone on the Lakers who is sent on him.

 

The Guard matchup is where we're weakest, and CLee has already shown that he can slow down Kobe, or wear him out at the end of game.

 

I know if we put JJ out there, they won't guard him with Kobe. That's because JJ will run around the whole time, and they don't want Kobe wasting energy on defense.

[NameLess Scrub 6]

We need to wear Kobe down. He has lost a step.

 

It's easier said than done, but after watching Kobe get so tired vs the Nuggets it looks like a good defense can get the job done in that part.

[ma 6]

I think the x-factor will be Our 1 and 2-guard play. Especially the 2-guard.

 

Kobe is known to roam on defense, and leave his man open a lot of the time. Especially if he doesn't respect the guy (i.e. Rookie Courtney Lee). I think if Lee can produce strong offensive games, Kobe will be forced to defend him closer. This means less double teams for Howard, and tired and slower Kobe on the other end.

[KillingInTheNameOf 63]

X-Factors In This Series...

 

Mickael Pietrus:

 

Pietrus was out or limited during the regular season matchups. Kobe ate Orlando alive simply shooting over Bogans and Lee. Pietrus' length allows him to contest Kobe's shot better & guarding Kobe will seem like a walk in the park after guarding LeBron for 6 games.

 

Don't get me wrong...Kobe is still the best player in the league imo. But, LeBron's size & strength is going to be like taking practice swings in the on-deck circle with a donut for Pietrus.

 

Just as important, Orlando's SG's were a complete non-factor offensively against LA during the regular season. If Pietrus can continue to chip in 12+ points per game it will help minimize the huge advantage LA has at SG.

 

Trevor Ariza:

 

Radmonovich was actually a big factor during the regular season with his size and ability to knock down 3's. Ariza looked lost against the Magic, but he's taken his game to another level since.

 

Can Ariza's athleticism give Hedo problems defensively & can Ariza knock down 3's in volume???

 

Every PG in this series:

 

Jameer was HUGE during the regular season, he's out or limited. Can Rafer give the Magic an advantage here, can Jameer play, & be productive? The Lakers have been struggling to find production offensively from this position all year long. D-Fish can't buy an outside shot so far in the playoffs & that points to Shannon Brown having a bigger role than most would imagine.

 

The Key Players In This Series:

 

Andrew Bynum & Pau Gasol:

 

Gasol should be able to eat RaShard up in the post when he's at PF, but he wasn't able to during the regular season. Bynum was largely ineffective against Dwight during the regular season and his role has been very limited in the playoffs so far.

 

I think the Laker game plan is to pound the ball inside to Bynum early & attempt to get Dwight in foul trouble. Pound the rock into Gasol & Odom to exploit RaShard.

 

It's a game plan that sounds good in theory for LA, but one they often abandon quickly.